My second week at Hokkaido University of Education began with an introduction to classes. I had essentially picked out my classes at the end of the first day, however at that stage I was unaware that the classes that were not labled 'Beginners' or 'Intermediate' had classes run concurrent in a separate room for lower level competency.
International Culture
Japanese Language 1
Japanese Language 2
Japanese Language 3
Japanese Foundations 1
Japanese Foundations 2
Japanese Culture 1/2
Japanese Culture 2/2
Are the subjects that I have been able to select for my competency level this semester.
What does confuse me at times however, is the inconsistency in level of difficulty; for example, I am taking beginners International Culture which is an appropriate level for myself... on the other hand, the Intermediate Japanese 1-3, work out of exactly the same text book as Japanese Foundation 1 and 2, designed for 'beginners' apparently... once again, maybe something got lost.
On the note of text books, that is something that I have had to budget in somewhat... at my home university at least, most - if not all of our study material is provided online or in inexpensive readers available through the University Bookshop... here however, it is a completely different story. For several of my classes, I am required to purchase no fewer than three prescribed textbooks - at roughly ￥3,000 each... whilst I understand that these books may come in good use in the future, I am struggling to justify purchasing $200+ of textbooks when I am actually studying in the target country... however, when in Rome. As a side, I understand that some people have to (I myself have been there, too) purchase hundreds, if not a thousand dollars worth of textbooks a semester, but once again, it's not as if there is an option to be immersed in 'psychology' or 'medicine' language and operate as a language sponge... my thoughts anyway.
I'll find something more interesting to blog about with regards to classes tomorrow... on another note, I get Internet in two weeks. Yahoo!!
Friday, 20 April 2012
First Week
Although I was told to be at the University at 9:00am on
Monday, April 2, I arrive there and again some sort of miscommunication had
occurred and I was not supposed to be there until the following morning...
nevertheless, it got me out of the dorm and in a mood to start exploring the
walking distance area of the city near the Uni/Dorm... and find Ichizenya
Donburi, as well as Sukiya... two places that I frequented quite a lot during
my first week and a half in Hakodate.
Fast forward to the next morning.
I arrived at the university and met the two other new Australian exchange students; Eleanor and Savannah. Savannah is one Japanese Level higher than myself at James Cook, and Eleanor attends university in Sydney.
The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily. This involved the following:
Fast forward to the next morning.
I arrived at the university and met the two other new Australian exchange students; Eleanor and Savannah. Savannah is one Japanese Level higher than myself at James Cook, and Eleanor attends university in Sydney.
The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily. This involved the following:
1) Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho
2) Hokuyo Bank Account
3) Japanese National Health Insurance
3) Japanese National Health Insurance
The University took us through the applications in this
order, however I will discuss them in reverse.
The Japan National Health Insurance is a wonderful
programme; in the event you are required to pay medical bills, it creates a
thing called a 'Self Pay Rate 30/70". This means that you (or hopefully
your travel insurance) will only have to pay 30% of the medical bill. On that
note, if you are required to source your own Travel Insurance, you may be able
to barter them down on cost given that it is mandatory to register for the
Japanese National Health Insurance initiative.
The Hokuyo Bank Account is the account from which Hokkaido University of Education will automatically draw your rent from on a monthly basis... It is (at current) an in expensive ￥4300 a month, and on the proviso that you are not a recipient of the JASSO Scholarship, you will receive a payment from the University of ￥100,000 a year for the duration of your exchange, paid into your Hokuyo Bank account each quarter. It's not much, but it covers rent per month and roughly half of utilities (￥9000 a month).
The Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho is, other than being quite a long work when Romanised, an ID card that allows you to act as if you were a Japanese National... nearly. It allows you to get a bank account, and the bank account and the Gaijin Card act as your "100 Points of ID" and allow you to get National Health Insurance. It also allows you to get things such as a Mobile Phone, Internet, and anything else that you have to prove your 'validity' in the country for. It's about a three week waiting period from application to receipt of the actual card, however until then, you are provided with a temporary one which you are required to keep on you at all times - and by rights with your passport. The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily.
The Hokuyo Bank Account is the account from which Hokkaido University of Education will automatically draw your rent from on a monthly basis... It is (at current) an in expensive ￥4300 a month, and on the proviso that you are not a recipient of the JASSO Scholarship, you will receive a payment from the University of ￥100,000 a year for the duration of your exchange, paid into your Hokuyo Bank account each quarter. It's not much, but it covers rent per month and roughly half of utilities (￥9000 a month).
The Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho is, other than being quite a long work when Romanised, an ID card that allows you to act as if you were a Japanese National... nearly. It allows you to get a bank account, and the bank account and the Gaijin Card act as your "100 Points of ID" and allow you to get National Health Insurance. It also allows you to get things such as a Mobile Phone, Internet, and anything else that you have to prove your 'validity' in the country for. It's about a three week waiting period from application to receipt of the actual card, however until then, you are provided with a temporary one which you are required to keep on you at all times - and by rights with your passport. The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily.
I was taken that afternoon to the Softbank Store which is
nearly right beside the Male Dorm by one of the existing exchange students. He
turned the potential three hour event of me being in there by myself, into a
thirty five minute experience. I walked out with unlimited texts* and a 30
dollar recharge, and a brand new prepaid mobile for less than ￥6,500. Roughly $70 Australian
Dollars.[*Japanese Mobile phones tend to send emails rather than 'texts',
and the best thing is that you can email ANY address. You will also be able to
set up an Email Address that goes directly to your phone only... quite a useful
feature.]For the rest of the week, I - unfortunately, frequented Sukiya and
Ichizenya Donburi... say no more.
Monday, 16 April 2012
19 days past the mark.
Although I have been in Japan for close to three weeks now, it is only now that I have been able to get access to the Internet on a regular basis (which disappoints me quite a lot, as I was hoping to be blogging on a regular basis from the time I arrived in the country).
I currently have Internet access at the University's International Students Room, and have intermittent access to the WiFi connection of another Exchange Student in my dorm; I have however, applied for my own Internet service and should be receiving it in the next three weeks or so at the low price of ￥4400 a month.
The following will be my best attempt to surmise the last three weeks including my arrival to Narita, transit to Tokyo, flight to Hakodate and arrival at Toka-Ryo.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 29 Arival in Narita:
Arriving in Japan was quite a surreal experience. It was my first time out of Australia, and I honestly had no idea as to what I should be expecting. It was quite comforting arriving at Narita Airport and having English spoken to me, yet, at the same time put me into a false sense of security when I had to clear customs. Realistically, the last time I had seriously spoken Japanese was during my end of year examination, and that had been November of 2011. Whilst I had done some personal study in the five months between then and departing/arriving in Japan, it had been nowhere as effective as I would have liked it to have been, and I suffered severely; it was quite a humbling experience to have done relatively well mark wise at university and then arrive in the target country and feel that you might as well be classified as mentally retarded. The one thing that I gained from this however as I continued my stay in Narita, was the more uncomfortable a situation I placed myself in, the harder I had to work to get/convey what I wanted.
Clearing customs with no problems arising, I stepped out of the Airport into a chilly 11*C evening. Knowing that I had a shuttle bus coming at some stage in the next 30 minutes, it was time to throw English out the window. I made my way to the Bus rank beside the airport and asked the closest guide from where the Shuttle Bus to the International Garden Hotel Narita was leaving from and when. My flight - having come in a few minutes early, I was able to catch the earlier shuttle bus. It took about 35 minutes to transit from the Airport to the International Garden Hotel via the Narita Hilton and the Hotel which has a perpetual Christmas theme, just opposite my own.
Arriving at the Hotel, I experienced Kei-Go for the first time in my life. Not only was it confusing, it made me feel like what I'd been studying for the last three years might as well have been Chinese... the staff however were used to providing service to Flight Crew of International Airlines and even the trainee behind the counter was able to look at me and say 'Check In?' and "Passport please", which was a great help.
The ￥4300 which I paid for my room for a night was an absolute joke. The quality was excellent, and although the room consisted of a bed, en-suite and television, trying to find anywhere of that quality in Australia for an equivalent price would have been impossible. The restaurant downstairs is Italian themed, and whilst I love Italian food, there is just something about it being cooked in Japan - That is not to say it was not delicious because it was... I've just never seen Italian food served with Wakame on the side.
March 30 First Day in Narita:
I walked the short distance (probably 25 minutes or so) from the Hotel to the Aeon shopping centre and spent a few hours there. Whilst a wonderful experience, it was somewhat daunting (again) to have such a lacking command of the Japanese Language... I did however meet a couple of English speakers with whom I was able to converse.
I broke my Denshijisho - probably by putting it in my pocket... although it wasn't a tight fit, perhaps I ran into something at some stage... very disappointing to say the least. So, ￥32,000 later, I had myself a brand spanking new 'Sharp Brain PW-A7000'. A far cry price wise from my 'PW-AT790', but functionality wise pretty much the same.
March 31 Second Day in Narita:
Again, I walked to the Aeon Shopping Centre, and from there to the Shinto Temple nearby. I have quite a few photos of this, and will upload them when I get the chance... nothing more to say about Narita Really.
April 01 Transit from Narita to Haneda:
It's nearly ￥30,000 from Narita to Haneda by Taxi (an hour and a half), ￥900 by Train (two to three hours) or ￥3,000 by Airport Limousine (bus) (one hour). You can take as much luggage as you want by Airport Limousine, it's comfortable, takes a relatively short amount of time, and gets you to the terminal you want without any hassle.
April 01 Transit from Haneda to Hakodate:
The flight went smoothly and took approximately an hour and a half... nothing interesting apart from that.
April 01 arrival at Toka-Ryo --> April 2 first trip to the University.
This event nearly needs it's own section and I plan to address the specifics of it in a later post, however it I shall briefly cover the basics of what I experienced.
It was interesting to say the least. Toka-Ryo is a 3 level dorm with approximately 45 rooms per floor. It is a Male only dorm... don't let a pigeon-hole form too soon, although you may be somewhat correct.
I was told that I would meet an English speaker on my arrival, however upon stepping into the dorm, there was not one in sight... I bumbled along in Japanese not knowing what I really wanted to say, until the Japanese Student I was speaking to decided to take me to one of the other exchange students who thankfully, was a native English speaker.
They took me to my room, on the second floor which had been utilised as a storage room for that floor. Although it was a bit disappointing at first (and now, I'm not really sure why) my room at that stage consisted of three pieces of 2x4 timber (which was used to store things above the floor, the pieces sat on the half inch ledge about 7 foot off the ground), a box containing my futon, and a plastic tray with my towel and face washer in it... not what I expected. I was then informed that the store rooms are to be used in such a way that anything that belongs to you, must have your room number on it... anything else is fair game.
I spent that night slightly disappointed... not that I had expected anything to be done for me, I had just expected the words "we will have your room set up for you" to not have meaning lost in translation... it obviously did, but looking back now, so what.
Over the next 24 hours I 'acquired' a lamp, bookshelf (being used at current to place my folding), a fridge (which are a highly sought commodity, a small table, cork flooring and a bed-frame and thick futon floor mattress (to go under my futon), and a kilo of washing powder.
The first night was rough... I didn't know how to use the heater - although the room wasn't cold, then I woke up to the information about showering. Although I'd told myself from the beginning - and knew the case was, there would be communal showers/baths, having a room with over a dozen shower heads and a single (read: huge) communal bath for soaking somewhat blew my mind... Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Japan; body confidence capital.
[I'll continue to post over the next few days my previous two weeks, followed by my preparation for exchange, including relevant forms as well as doctors visits and vaccinations]
I currently have Internet access at the University's International Students Room, and have intermittent access to the WiFi connection of another Exchange Student in my dorm; I have however, applied for my own Internet service and should be receiving it in the next three weeks or so at the low price of ￥4400 a month.
The following will be my best attempt to surmise the last three weeks including my arrival to Narita, transit to Tokyo, flight to Hakodate and arrival at Toka-Ryo.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 29 Arival in Narita:
Arriving in Japan was quite a surreal experience. It was my first time out of Australia, and I honestly had no idea as to what I should be expecting. It was quite comforting arriving at Narita Airport and having English spoken to me, yet, at the same time put me into a false sense of security when I had to clear customs. Realistically, the last time I had seriously spoken Japanese was during my end of year examination, and that had been November of 2011. Whilst I had done some personal study in the five months between then and departing/arriving in Japan, it had been nowhere as effective as I would have liked it to have been, and I suffered severely; it was quite a humbling experience to have done relatively well mark wise at university and then arrive in the target country and feel that you might as well be classified as mentally retarded. The one thing that I gained from this however as I continued my stay in Narita, was the more uncomfortable a situation I placed myself in, the harder I had to work to get/convey what I wanted.
Clearing customs with no problems arising, I stepped out of the Airport into a chilly 11*C evening. Knowing that I had a shuttle bus coming at some stage in the next 30 minutes, it was time to throw English out the window. I made my way to the Bus rank beside the airport and asked the closest guide from where the Shuttle Bus to the International Garden Hotel Narita was leaving from and when. My flight - having come in a few minutes early, I was able to catch the earlier shuttle bus. It took about 35 minutes to transit from the Airport to the International Garden Hotel via the Narita Hilton and the Hotel which has a perpetual Christmas theme, just opposite my own.
Arriving at the Hotel, I experienced Kei-Go for the first time in my life. Not only was it confusing, it made me feel like what I'd been studying for the last three years might as well have been Chinese... the staff however were used to providing service to Flight Crew of International Airlines and even the trainee behind the counter was able to look at me and say 'Check In?' and "Passport please", which was a great help.
The ￥4300 which I paid for my room for a night was an absolute joke. The quality was excellent, and although the room consisted of a bed, en-suite and television, trying to find anywhere of that quality in Australia for an equivalent price would have been impossible. The restaurant downstairs is Italian themed, and whilst I love Italian food, there is just something about it being cooked in Japan - That is not to say it was not delicious because it was... I've just never seen Italian food served with Wakame on the side.
March 30 First Day in Narita:
I walked the short distance (probably 25 minutes or so) from the Hotel to the Aeon shopping centre and spent a few hours there. Whilst a wonderful experience, it was somewhat daunting (again) to have such a lacking command of the Japanese Language... I did however meet a couple of English speakers with whom I was able to converse.
I broke my Denshijisho - probably by putting it in my pocket... although it wasn't a tight fit, perhaps I ran into something at some stage... very disappointing to say the least. So, ￥32,000 later, I had myself a brand spanking new 'Sharp Brain PW-A7000'. A far cry price wise from my 'PW-AT790', but functionality wise pretty much the same.
March 31 Second Day in Narita:
Again, I walked to the Aeon Shopping Centre, and from there to the Shinto Temple nearby. I have quite a few photos of this, and will upload them when I get the chance... nothing more to say about Narita Really.
April 01 Transit from Narita to Haneda:
It's nearly ￥30,000 from Narita to Haneda by Taxi (an hour and a half), ￥900 by Train (two to three hours) or ￥3,000 by Airport Limousine (bus) (one hour). You can take as much luggage as you want by Airport Limousine, it's comfortable, takes a relatively short amount of time, and gets you to the terminal you want without any hassle.
April 01 Transit from Haneda to Hakodate:
The flight went smoothly and took approximately an hour and a half... nothing interesting apart from that.
April 01 arrival at Toka-Ryo --> April 2 first trip to the University.
This event nearly needs it's own section and I plan to address the specifics of it in a later post, however it I shall briefly cover the basics of what I experienced.
It was interesting to say the least. Toka-Ryo is a 3 level dorm with approximately 45 rooms per floor. It is a Male only dorm... don't let a pigeon-hole form too soon, although you may be somewhat correct.
I was told that I would meet an English speaker on my arrival, however upon stepping into the dorm, there was not one in sight... I bumbled along in Japanese not knowing what I really wanted to say, until the Japanese Student I was speaking to decided to take me to one of the other exchange students who thankfully, was a native English speaker.
They took me to my room, on the second floor which had been utilised as a storage room for that floor. Although it was a bit disappointing at first (and now, I'm not really sure why) my room at that stage consisted of three pieces of 2x4 timber (which was used to store things above the floor, the pieces sat on the half inch ledge about 7 foot off the ground), a box containing my futon, and a plastic tray with my towel and face washer in it... not what I expected. I was then informed that the store rooms are to be used in such a way that anything that belongs to you, must have your room number on it... anything else is fair game.
I spent that night slightly disappointed... not that I had expected anything to be done for me, I had just expected the words "we will have your room set up for you" to not have meaning lost in translation... it obviously did, but looking back now, so what.
Over the next 24 hours I 'acquired' a lamp, bookshelf (being used at current to place my folding), a fridge (which are a highly sought commodity, a small table, cork flooring and a bed-frame and thick futon floor mattress (to go under my futon), and a kilo of washing powder.
The first night was rough... I didn't know how to use the heater - although the room wasn't cold, then I woke up to the information about showering. Although I'd told myself from the beginning - and knew the case was, there would be communal showers/baths, having a room with over a dozen shower heads and a single (read: huge) communal bath for soaking somewhat blew my mind... Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Japan; body confidence capital.
[I'll continue to post over the next few days my previous two weeks, followed by my preparation for exchange, including relevant forms as well as doctors visits and vaccinations]
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