Irina Negoita, Study Abroad semester at Kansai Gaidai, Japan

Descriptions of study abroad programmes by students who participated in them are - to be straightforward about it - a little propagandist in nature and usually too "shiny" to be true. This one, however, is 100% true, with the good and the bad, and merely mirrors the absolutely wonderful time I had in the fishy islands of Japan.  

By far the most memorable parts are the social and cultural activities, which means weekly trips to neighbouring cities (on cheap, yet very comfortable and fast trains), indoor and outdoor parties (to which one would usually ride a bike and end up in the middle of a spooky, yet charming park, next to a lake), cultural village and city tours guided by Japanese students with the sweetest accents, and a delicious (yet low fat ;-) ) culinary experience - to name but a few.

For the first time in my life I lived in a student dorm - but Japan style! For newcomers, which we all were, the couple in charge of our seminar house seemed to have made excellent police officers, with their fair... yet strict rules. I was personally put to order a few times for raising my voice outdoors after 22:00 since we lived in a nice residential neighbourhood and Japanese houses have deplorable sound insulation. But we all learnt to see this with humour and grew fond of our cop-like Okaasan (mother) and Otoosan (father).  

I built friendships that may last a lifetime, and now actually miss the dorm atmosphere and lifestyle - not to mention the impeccable conditions. The Kansai Gaidai campus is also recently renovated, very modern and a pleasure to stroll through after class.

Academically speaking, I was happy to see that most courses were actually related significantly to Japan or Asia in general, which complemented nicely the Western oriented classes I had been taking at Vesalius as an IA student. The system was otherwise no big change, quite American-style liberal arts, mostly American professors and small classrooms - surprising for an entirely Japanese university, isn't it?

The classes were also, to tell the truth, not extremely challenging, also not to be taking lightly of course, but organised well enough to leave one with a good amount of time to travel and embrace the non-academic part of your study abroad.

There are many cultural events organised on campus, to which the Japanese are dedicated heart and soul, and which are very internationally oriented. The biggest one was called the "International Festival" and I offered to represent Belgium for this "world booth" presentation.

Besides the world booths, there were costume parades, national food booths, (I survived that day on some very interesting Korean miniature "pizzas"), a singing contest etc. all prepard by students.

As for the rest, it seems overwhelming to summarise in a few paragraphs... The cities I saw: Osaka, Kyoto - both 40 min away from our dorms - Nara, Kobe, Tokyo, were this blend of Japanese shrines and temples, traditional streets, architecture, houses, and this seemingly separate Western world of skyscrapers, modern institutions, European foods, and mega-stores. Never have I seen more addicted fashion mongers than in that country, from all year round shorts and tan, to endless luxury brand items.  

As for the night life, it opens up a new array of possibilities, from quiet Japanese jazz and blues clubs or tea houses with geisha waving fans in the background to blinding disco-style clubs with pole dancers and stunningly handy bartenders. The rest should be left to the imagination ;-)

All pictures courtesy of Irina Negoita