How badly do you want to go to Japan? Past Review
By John D (Economics, Japanese, The University of Texas at Austin) for
CIEE: Tokyo - Arts and Sciences
It was definitely worthwhile in the sense that it made me realize that I DON'T like Japan that much and DON'T want to live and work there like I had originally thought. In that sense it saved me the trouble of getting a job there and being committed to living there for several years and likely growing to hate it. I learned a lot about myself, spent a lot of money, and made a lot of great memories (and bad ones too). Overall it was a very useful experience and I'm glad I did it, it's just not something I will likely do again.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
In Japan, the real work comes during high school. Students work hard to maintain good grades, and their senior year, they study hours upon hours and go to cram schools and take prep courses to prepare for THE college entrance exam. This exam essentially determines the rest of a student's work life. Thus, when Japanese people are actually in college, the work load is really not too heavy. Some of my courses were quite interesting and I learned a good bit about the subject, but rarely did I feel overwhelmed coming from a more demanding university, like I feel I did. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Strengths: accessible, comprehensive, friendly Weaknesses: sometimes a bit of a language barrier |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Dorms were very small for me (I'm 6'1", 230lbs), but I adjusted and became friends with many people in the dorm, so it wasn't too bad. Also, it was an hour commute into the city, which after several months became quite annoying. |
| * Food: |
Portions in Japan are ridiculously small and food is expensive, so that was not a good recipe for me. Future students that eat a lot and are trying to gain weight should not go to Japan. I am completely broke now because of this. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Cultural events were fun, and had the opportunity to travel all over Japan and see lots of stuff. This was made most enjoyable though because of the good American friends I made while abroad. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I was never sick, but a friend who was bit by a spider and it got infected, CIEE took very good care of him and was there at the hospital to translate for hours. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | it was ridiculously expensive. It also didn't help that the exchange rate got worse while I was abroad. I ate and lived as frugally as possible but sometimes this wasn't enough. Will not be going back for awhile. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Had completed 7 semesters of Japanese (4 courses lower divison, 2 upper division reading/writing, 1 upper division conversation) |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Improving a language like Japanese requires much more than a classroom. I at first attempted to go out and speak as much Japanese as possible, but by the end of my program I essentially came to the realization that I no longer want to become fluent in Japanese and thus, stopped trying. The Japanese course I took was good, though. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | A student very dedicated to Japanese language and culture that already has quite a bit of knowledge in both fields will mostly likely benefit the most. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Money and Banking |
| Course Department: | International Business and Economics - IBE326 |
| Instructor: | Isaka |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This was probably my favorite class because it had the most to do with what I'm studying back home and what I want to do for work. Their was a good amount of reading and homework every week, and although the midterm wasn't too difficult, the final exam was quite challenging. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Credit transfer process is currently underway, so I cannot comment on this at this time. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Public Economics |
| Course Department: | International Business and Economics - IBE316 |
| Instructor: | Otsu |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This was a good course. Professor Otsu works in the industry and is very knowledgeable. His lecture style was a bit monotone and it was easy to fall asleep in that classroom, but overall the course was satisfactory. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | N/A |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Contemporary Japanese Society |
| Course Department: | Faculty of Liberal Arts - SOC364 |
| Instructor: | Oishi |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course was quite interesting and was a survey of basically the problems that have existed in Japan for the past century. There was no homework but 2 readings every week that were discussed in class. The final exam was 60% of the grade, and 2 papers turned in during the semester accounted for 20% each. I learned a lot about Japan during this course. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
