Saturday, March 5, 2016

U-Program in Handai - Looking Back

It has nearly been a year since I came to Osaka University (Handai) for a year of language preparation under MEXT. There were ups and downs, fun lessons and boring ones, and times where I wondered whether this was the right choice for me. But I'd have to say, this year was a very memorable one and overall, it was a great year!

I don't want to forget the times I've had here, so I've decided to start a blog to look back and to record future stuff. Hopefully, it'll be helpful for the future batches! (Before I came here, I was stalking Eustacia's blog about her experience and thought it was a really informative and interesting read! I always looked forward to new posts. But there was not much information about Osaka's side, so I kinda got inspired, but never got to it until now oops...)

So, first things first, let me introduce a post by my current floormate, Devangi! She wrote a really detailed post about the Undergraduate Program and Dorms here in Osaka! Do check it out!

Next, I'm not sure if this is in time for the deadline, but around this period of time, if you're going to Osaka's U-Program, there's an option to sign up for the Host Family Program. I signed up and was paired with a nice grandma who invited me over for dinner around once every 2 months. During some public holidays or weekends, we would travel around Osaka and Kyoto to sight-see! I'm really grateful for this program because you get to interact with the locals and learn about Japanese culture directly from them! Though I heard some friends didn't manage to meet up with their host family much, I'd recommend signing up!

Moving on to the recap! On the first day we reached Osaka, there was a bus to pick us up from the airport to Handai. If I remember correctly, it was about a 2h? drive, with a stop at a convenience store for a toilet break.
**You might want to get some food at the convenience store! The cafeteria wasn't open and the nearest food place is a 20min walk away (not sure if it was open too cause I went to the conbini 15min away for dinner)

When we reached, it was around 3.30pm? (my memory's a bit fuzzy) and we had a briefing about the dorms. 2 months of rent and a cleaning fee was to be paid upfront (total 53,800 yen). After putting our suitcases in our rooms, there was another briefing about administrative things like applying for a bank account, student ID, insurance and schedules. Everything ended around 6pm+. For the following days we went in small groups to settle the bank account and insurance, and went on orientations regarding the university and its facilities. There were also placement tests for Japanese and English for all. The following week, Japanese lessons started and there were placement tests for Economics + Politics and History for the Humanities Students, Chemistry and Biology/Physics for the Science Students.

The placement test for Japanese decides your class and for English, whether you'll take an additional class after lessons. I'm not too sure about the Science students, but the "placement tests" for Econs+Politics and History felt more like surveys; the classes were based on your Japanese language class.

So that's about it for the first two weeks! I'll cover more after our last exam on Monday!

13 comments:

  1. Yayyyy!
    Cherry it is amazing 😊
    Write more, I shall stalk you from now on

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  2. Stumbled upon your blog for the first time!!! Amazing writing. Hoping to get more nice articles like this one!!

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    1. Hi there, thanks for your comment! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Shall try to write more interesting articles :D

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  3. Hello Cheryl, I'm an expectant Osaka U grad student this coming October (2016) may I just ask if the payment for the dormitory (for 2 months) was handled by MEXT? Or should I bring pocket money with me for this? Thank you so much

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  4. Hello Deziree, sorry for the late reply and congratulations on your acceptance! The payment wasn't handled by MEXT but there was an option to borrow money from the university for those who didn't bring enough. Hope this helps!

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    1. Hi Cherry, Gmail did not notify me of your reply haha! Good thing I rechecked your blog. I am still waiting for the official acceptance letter. My sensei told me that it would be at hand by early July. I'd be at Suita campus. I really hope to meet you soon. Also, about the bus that picked you up. Was it like sort of a free service/shuttle for international students? Thanks for your time!

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    2. Hi Deziree, sorry for the really late reply!! (Had the same problem .___.)
      Ooh I see I see! So I'm supposing you'll be in a dorm near Suita? Was in the Minoo Dorms so perhaps the payment might be a bit different...(And I'd love to meet you too but I moved to Tokyo in April...)
      About the bus, it was arranged by the university and it picked us up in groups of around 10 people (according to the flight arrivals)!

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    4. Wow. That's really nice and convenient upon arrival. Thank you so much for always answering my inquiries, although I still have a lot of questions in mind. Pls.bear with me :) I have questions like for how heavy (maximum weight in kilos) is your check-in luggage allowed to be? And so is the hand-carry bag? Is money exchanger in Japan better?

      Also, I will be under a 5-year program (M.S. to Ph.D). Based on some blogs I've read. If it is 5 years, then my stay in Japan would be a total of 6 years. Since the 1st year would serve as period for me as a research student studying Japanese language. Although I already had and passed my email-based entrance exam. Was it applicable to you too?
      Cause I'm guessing it was?

      Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Take care always! And I'd be stalking your blog ;)

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    5. Feel free to ask!! (Sorry that my replies are usually late though ._.) It depends on the airline but usually either 23kg or 30kg? The hand-carry should be around 7kg or 10kg I think! For money exchange, I'd have to say it depends on your country! (You can check the rates of Narita Airport here: http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/exchange_e/)

      I'm not too sure about the M.S. to Ph.D. programme, but for undergraduate, the 1st year of Japanese was applicable! But perhaps it's different cause the undergraduate programme is purely in Japanese so it was necessary...

      No problem :D Hope this helps!!

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    6. Thank you so much for this info :) I just got mext email.confirmation 2 days ago. And I'm bound to Osaka U Graduate School of Engineering :) thank you so much for giving time answering my questions. Take care always!

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  5. Hi! I would like to apply next year, and was just wondering during the year of language preparation and if you chose humanities do you have to learn economics, politics and history or are there others you can choose? Thank you!

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    1. Hi Niamh! For humanities students, economics, politics and history are compulsory. There was also classical Japanese in my year but it was optional ^^

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