Orientation and First Weeks
After settling into the dorm, we later had a dorm orientation to better acquaint ourselves with the amenities and rules of the dorm. A few days later we had our official orientation at the Shirokane campus, where I got to meet my Japanese buddies that the school had assigned me, and they showed me around the campus.
Accommodation and Living
After arriving in Japan, I made my way to my dorm and checked in. I was assigned to the Okusawa dorm, as I had chosen the Shirokane (The Tokyo campus) as my campus. The dorm itself is quite nice, each room comes with a desk, metal drawer and a large closet. The bed has storage underneath, and the dorm supplies a blanket, pillow & pillow cover, as well as a bedsheet. Each room is also equipped with an air conditioning unit, which can be used as a fan and or heater as well. The common areas of the dorm consist of the dining hall, kitchen, laundry room/shower room and the washrooms.
Learning and Adaptation
The lectures here are much smaller when compared to lectures at SFU, typically its mostly other international students from the dorm as well as a handful of Japanese students. The schedule is quite similar to SFU’s in terms of class times and how long each class runs.
Cultural and Environmental Observations
The weather here is very similar to Vancouvers, aside from the wind being much stronger, and the fact that it is much more humid here. Occasionally there are typhoons and earthquakes, however the earthquakes I have experienced while in Japan have been very minor and were over within seconds. Wandering around the stations underground is a very fun way to pass the time, there is an abundance of food, interesting little stores and beautiful clothing to be found when traversing some stations.
Social and Extracurricular Activities
In terms of social and extracurricular activities, I chose to spend most of my time with the new friends I made at the dorm, typically shopping, sightseeing or eating at various restaurants we would stumble across while exploring. I also attended international cooking classes, which were meant to bring together both Japanese students interested in learning English and exchange students who wanted to get to know native Japanese speakers, as well as meet other exchange students. I also attended the school run programs meant for exchange students to experience Japanese culture, such as the Japanese cultural orientation day and the international bus tour, both were extremely fun and allowed me to learn more about Japanese culture.
