Studies: an overview

Again, long time no see!

I continue to be busy but now that I have a couple of mid-terms behind me (and more ahead), I thought I'd write about studying here in Kanazawa University.

I belong to the KUSEP programme which means that I have to get at least 10 credits per semester if I want to complete the programme. Five of these credits must come from Japanese classes, and the remaining five come from other courses (two credits per course). For Japanese classes, you must have a general class (three credits), a kanji class (one credit), and a skill-specific class of your choice (reading, writing, listening; one credit). The credits change a bit if your Japanese skill level is very low but for the rest, this is how it goes.

Before the classes start, there's a placement test to divide the students based on their Japanese skills. It's possible to change the level during the first two weeks if you or the teacher feel like the current level is too high/low, but after that it is not allowed.

North campus. All of my classes are there.

Now, before I started studying here, I was under the impression that the Japanese classes will be completely in Japanese whereas the other classes will be completely in English. If you're under the same impression, I can tell you that you're wrong. The Japanese classes are in Japanese, yes, but I'm only taking one course that's completely in English, and the only reason for the language is that it's being taught by an American. The others spend quite a lot of time talking in Japanese, the amount depending on the person. But on the other hand, my Japanese book has the vocabulary and grammar notes in English. I thought we'd have to learn the meanings through Japanese which would've been much harder so I'm glad it's this way, haha.

As for my studies, I'm taking the following courses:

Japanese C2
Three times a week (two grammar and reading classes + one conversation class; separate exams for the two), three credits. C2 is the middle level, the levels being A/AA, B, C1, C2, D, E, F. A is the lowest level, and the AA course covers both the A and B courses in one semester. For me, the C2 pace feels a bit slow even though there are many new pieces of grammar for me. I'm planning on attempting to cover the D level by myself before the spring semester so that I could proceed straight to E. I haven't yet asked if it's okay to do that, though, but I feel like that would suit me better than continuing to D.

View from the bridge connecting the north and central parts of the campus.

Kanji 4
A kanji test every week, 20 kanji (=one chapter in the book) per test. The placement test placed me in Kanji 4 but the teacher had us take an additional exam during the first lesson. According to that test, I should've changed to Kanji 3. However, I already had a listening class at the same time as Kanji 3, so I asked if I can stay and was allowed to. Kanji are a difficult means of dividing people, anyway, as each textbook has its own order of kanji. If I could decide, they'd be thought in the JLPT order to avoid problems when switching schools. I may not be suited for Kanji 4 based on this book, but there are still some kanji I know even in the last chapter. Makes a whole lot of sense.

Intermediate Listening
For skill levels C2 and D. Watching dramas, learning related vocabulary, reading some parts aloud and so on. The class also includes two drama skits (the first of which was this week), meaning that you pick a short part of one the dramas and perform it (1-3  persons in one group) after practicing. After next week's mid-term exam, we'll watch the first episode of Attack on Titan! I am definitely hyped, it's currently my favourite anime and I can't wait to do a skit on that next year!

A garden connected to a tea room. Visited during the tea ceremony class.

Writing 1
For skill levels C1 and C2. I expected that we'd spend the lessons studying how to write a certain type of essay or e-mail, but half of the time we actually just start writing and go through a model text after that. Lately we've done some small exercises before writing, though. I think this class has helped me a lot with remembering how to write kanji.

Japanese Politics & Diplomacy
The only course I'm taking that has a foreign professor. The classes are basic lectures: the professor talks and sometimes asks a question, we listen. At first the lectures were hard for me to listen to as I've grown accustomed to language classes as well as remote lectures (allowing me to do something while listening, and to take notes on my laptop) but as we got to World War II, it became easier both due to re-learning how to cope with these kinds of lectures and because war history happens to be of great interest to me. Writing notes by hand is really boring, though, but my laptop shuts down if it's not plugged in. (There's a problem with the battery, that's why.)

The garden of Nakamura Memorial Museum.

Law and Society in Japan
In these classes, we're always divided into groups of four or five in which we listen to the professor and occasionally discuss a topic. The means of dividing vary from initials to reversed postal codes. Before starting the actual class, we also tell our small group about our week to practice Japanese (if you're an exchange student) and English (if you're a Japanese student). Our professor is very relaxed and nice. He also likes heavy metal. :D

Japanese History
It didn't say so in the syllabus but as the professor speaks Japanese most of the time, the skill level required for this class is C1. I personally think that a person on a lower level could manage if they worked hard enough but well, it wasn't up for me to decide. Like the law and society classes, the history classes also have occasional interaction between Japanese and foreign students. We're also sometimes asked about the history of our home countries, like we're asked about the situation of our home countries in the law and society class. The history professor is my favourite professor. He's funny, and he even brought a katana to class this week! (It wasn't sharp, no worries.)

The katana our history professor showed us.

Japanese Culture through the Way of Tea
One of the "experience in Japanese culture and society" classes. You can only take one each semester (excluding the budou classes). I originally wanted to take a course on the traditional culture of Japan but as the skill level requirement was D, I couldn't take it. I actually can't stand matcha but out of that, pottery, and education, I figured that the tea course would be the best. Seeing tea rooms and tea ceremony equipment has been very interesting! Listening to the Japanese lecturers is hard, though, and not being able to drink matcha has been a bit problematic. I can force myself to drink it but unless I absolutely must, I won't. Luckily, a German fellow student has offered to drink two out of my three cups so far, so I can always sit next to him when in trouble. :D

Tea ceremony equipment.

And that's about it for my courses! I also participated in a teaching practicum; that is, I was a student for Japanese students studying how to teach Japanese to foreigners. This lasted five classes, with ten different students teaching. Some of the classes were really interesting, others were less, but overall it was a nice support for the C2 course. Though I wish we would've had a chance to speak with the Japanese outside the practice lessons.

I've also noticed some things which differ from Finland. One of these is that in the C2 classes (and in other Japanese classes to a lesser extent), the teachers always wonder why a person is absent if they're not present. I'm more used to teachers just taking a name roll, or not even taking one if they know all the students or if it's not necessary.

Another thing I've noted is how several students repeat words to themselves during class, or even (relatively) quietly react to what the teacher is saying with words such as "Oh, I see!" or "Yes." That can actually be rather disturbing even if they're not very loud. I sometimes sit next to a person who does a lot of this, and I find it very annoying. In Finland, the people who do this do it so quietly that you can't even necessarily hear them. I'm used to people speaking in class to each other when they're not meant to, and that doesn't necessarily annoy me unless I can't hear what the teacher is saying, but somehow this quiet repeating and reacting is very disruptive to me. I'm wondering if it's common among Chinese. I'm not saying that all Chinese seem to do it, but the only ones I've heard doing it have been from or around China.

Tea ceremony confectionaries.

And that's it for today! Hopefully I'll have the time and patience to write about the daily life here before Christmas holidays, as well as about my trip to Tokyo which took place earlier this month. I'd love to get to write more specific entries rather than these general ones but I'd also rather not push myself to write when I'm busy and/or really don't feel like it, so excuse my slow pace. :)

Osaka: stopping by

Long time no write!

My first month in Japan has been quite busy due to various deadlines, studies, and simply getting used to the life here. But as it has now been a month since I arrived, I’m finally taking the time to write about the days I spent in Osaka at the beginning of my journey!

Leaving for Japan was surprisingly easy. I thought I’d have a small nervous breakdown at the airport but nope, did not. I also got really lucky with my seat. I had a regular economy class ticket but during baggage drop, it turned out that there was still one better seat available in the plane – and it was given to me! It was a hybrid class, I suppose, with business class seats but economy class service. It was a lot more comfortable than the regular economy seats. It was also great to get better headphones as they blocked noises more efficiently, which made watching movies a lot easier. Finally saw Inception!

From the Kansai International airport, me and Iitu (the other exchange student from my university) headed to the city. Having two suitcases didn’t make moving around any easier but since my hotel (Tennouji Miyako Hotel) was right next to Tennouji station, I didn’t have to cope with them too long. Staying at Tennouji worked out nicely as it’s easy to travel to other parts of the city by train or by subway. There’s also an Animate very close to the train station, and Animate happens to be one of my favourite stores! The hotel was nice, wouldn’t mind staying there again. If I had to complain about something, I’d point out that there is no WLAN. However, since I had my laptop with me, using a LAN cable wasn’t an issue.

View from the hotel window.

After I took my luggage to the hotel, I took a look at the nearby Animate as well as the surroundings in general. After checking in around 14 o’clock, I noticed a problem: my adapter and laptop cable weren’t compatible! I have a multicountry adapter so it’s basically supposed to be able to connect any cable to any socket, but my laptop cable turned out to be too fat for it. I’ve never had such a problem with the adapter before so I didn’t realise to check the cable back in Finland. Luckily, I had checked the location of some stores back in Finland already, and headed for the Yodobashi next to Osaka station. I had trouble finding the adapters to begin with, let alone a fitting adapter since most were not meant to be used in Japan, but after a couple of questions, the right one was found! By the time I got back to the hotel, it was already evening so I stayed there for the rest of the day, cursing jet lag for not letting me sleep early despite having been awake for quite long at that point.

Pokémon Center.

Saturday’s main activity was Kaiyukan, an aquarium in Osaka. The admission fee for an adult was ¥2300. Kaiyukan’s largest pool hosts the species I was most interested in: two whale sharks, one hammerhead shark, and a bunch of stingrays! Sharks and stingrays happen to be my favourite types of sea creatures, and I’ve never seen a whale shark or a hammerhead shark before. The stingrays were also impressive, some being pretty huge, but I have to admit I was hoping to see a manta ray as well. There was also a shallow pool filled with smaller stingrays and other fish, and these you could touch. I have now petted a stingray!

Kaiyukan.

Whale shark.

Hammerhead shark.

A ferris wheel next to Kaiyukan.

Sunday was the shopping day! I headed to Namba’s subway station and, after some wrong turns and accidentally coming across a shopping arcade, found my way to Otaroad. If you’re interested in anime/manga/game merchandise, this is your area. My main target was Kotobukiya’s Tales of Shop. Kotobukiya/Tales of Shop can be found in few cities and Kanazawa is not one of them, which is why I definitely wanted to seize the chance to visit the one in Osaka. I managed to get my hands on the Tales of Xillia 2 compact mirror, the Tales of Xillia 2 rubber strap collection (including the Kotobukiya-exclusive Gaius!), and a bunch of other items. Apart from Kotobukiya, I visited Otaroad’s Animate and various other stores. I also bought my first Ichiban Kuji tickets ever! I received an F and a G prize from the Tales kuji. I figured out what my favourite type of crane game is as well, managing to catch three prizes.

Tales kuji and crane game loot!

On another day, a crane game prize got stuck... But a staff member opened the machine for me.

Powered up my Suica!

Dinner at Hard Rock Café near Namba.

Monday was my last full day in Osaka. After not being able to enter the Animate Café thanks to not knowing that the last week of the Brothers Conflict café was special and required a ticket even on weekdays, I went to take a look at the Osaka castle. It was really hot so I didn’t wander around for long, and I didn’t go inside either. Maybe another time! I also went to search for Mandarake but because of the inaccurate map I had drawn, I couldn’t find it. I returned to the hotel a bit earlier than planned because I was really tired, and wanted to pack my suitcases since there wasn’t time for that on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday, I arrived at the Kansai International Airport before 10 AM and after the chartered university buses arrived, I was off to Kanazawa!

Osaka castle.

Animate Café.

One of the memorable events in Osaka for me was being able to watch the last episode of Attack on Titan on TV. Being able to watch an episode of a series I love as it was airing for the first time felt pretty cool! The episode aired at 2 AM which added an unfamiliar element to the situation as well. Good times! I couldn’t eat my snacks, though, because I realised that would’ve made hearing difficult and I sort of had to hear every single word if I wanted to catch anything that’s going on. :D

So that was Osaka for me this time around. In the next entry, I’ll finally be moving on to the main plot of this story, Kanazawa!

On the way to Kanazawa!

Beginning

はじめまして！

My name is Mira. I'm a political science student from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. I have just started my student exchange in Kanazawa University, Japan, and will write about my time here in this blog. I'll start by shortly introducing myself and by telling about the preparations of my student exchange.

This is my fourth year in the university. I became a Bachelor of Social Sciences last month, nicely in time to finish said degree before my exchange. I've wanted to go on a student exchange in Japan for several years, mostly out of interest towards Japanese popular culture (cosplay, games, manga, anime). However, I'm also interested in the Japanese culture in general, the society, the language... I've studied Japanese for two years in the university and have found it to be an especially interesting language. It's also relevant to my hobbies and possible future plans, so why not go on an exchange in Japan!

After being accepted by the University of Jyväskylä as an exchange student to Kanazawa, we had a couple of months to fill in the application form of Kanazawa University. It included a form filled by a doctor (including a statement of our lung X-rays) as well as a document that we can afford the exchange (either of our student allowance or someone's savings). However, the actual source of income needn't be the one in the form. For example, I am eligible for the JASSO scholarship and will primarily live on that but at the time of the application, I did not yet know whether I'll get the scholarship and couldn't obviously state it as my source of income.

It's quite unusual to not be accepted into a foreign university after being appointed by the University of Jyväskylä and indeed, both of us appointed students were accepted. During the summer, we had to fill in forms such as a dormitory application and also had to inform Kanazawa University of our flights. In September, we received our Certificates of Eligibility and were able to apply for a student visa. Foreigners can only stay in Japan for three months without a visa and as such, a visa is always necessary when staying for longer periods of time. It took about an hour to receive the visa after personally submitting the necessary documents at the Embassy of Japan in Helsinki.

Another necessary preparation was a vaccination check. I needed to renew my tetanus vaccination this year, and also did so for my polio vaccination in case that I visit China. These two vaccinations were free. The vaccinations I had to buy were my third hepatitis vaccination and two against the Japanese encephalitis. The latter were quite expensive, more than 250€ altogether. However, whereas the encephalitis is apparently quite rare, it's also very dangerous. I was told that a third of those infected are permanently damaged, and another third die. The phrase "Better safe than sorry!" comes to mind.

We weren't able to book our flights before July because only then did we receive the information of the exact date to arrive in Kanazawa, October 1st. We decided to spend four nights in Osaka before leaving for Kanazawa. I've been to Japan twice before, to Tokyo and Kyoto, but never to Osaka. Thus, I wanted to see the city, and also seize the chance to do some merchandise shopping!

I guess that would cover enough of the background! Next time, I'll write about my long weekend in Osaka.