Hi! Let me quickly introduce myself. I’m a third-year mathematics student, a volleyball player and someone interested in travel. When I realised that there was an opportunity to go to Japan for half a year I was ecstatic! All three of my interests wrapped up in one package.
In late March I set off for Japan, two days before the university’s induction event. I was full of excitement and, despite all of my preparations, wildly out of my depth. Arriving in Japan was both scary and exhilarating. I’d never done solo travel before and had never flown for my than 4 hours so the 16-hour travel time was new in and of itself.
In the first few days, I could explore Harajuku and see Meiji Jingu. The freedom to explore a bit before university started was a nice opportunity to find my confidence and soothe my nerves. You would be surprised by how much you can experience just walking around.
Once university started, I found myself swept up by the familiarity of it all. Despite being halfway across the world, university here was much the same as back home; I enjoyed my classes (though there was a severe lack of mathematics modules to choose from), I found my group of friends to hang out with and joined the volleyball team. My classes were taught in English, but there were opportunities to take Japanese classes. The coursework wasn’t too overwhelming and the lecturers were super helpful, I enjoyed most of the modules that I took.
The clubs and societies were mainly made up of Japanese students of course, but don’t let that discourage you! While communicating was difficult at times and meant that it could be frustrating, I can’t express the importance of creating meaningful relationships with the home students. It opens up a whole new world of experiences unique to Japan and makes for truly unforgettable memories!
I’ve had so many experiences during my 6 months in Japan that I find it genuinely impossible to choose a few to talk about or summarise. I can only encourage anyone who is thinking about doing study abroad to go for it! You learn, grow and enjoy so much while immersed in another culture. It is scary, happy, stressful, peaceful and everything in between and I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything.
This was an opportunity only afforded to me because of the university’s study abroad program, the ample support from the study abroad team and the Turing funding scheme. I’m immensely grateful to have had this experience; I’ve come away from this trip a different person than before and better for it.
For anyone wondering about activities to do in Japan or places to go, here are a few recommendations: karaoke, Izakayas (Torikizoku is a good one), Arcades, having Ramen, Udon, Yakiniku, Shabu Shabu, Sushiro, going to Don Qiote (an overwhelming place to be), witnessing the sakura bloom, clubbing in Shibuya (truly strange), Batting, Summer festivals, renting Yukata, etc. This is just a small sample of things you can do in Tokyo alone, but going to other prefectures and seeing different facets of Japan is not something to miss out on either. There is beauty to be found all around Japan, with its rich history, abundance of shrines and stunning countryside; there is never enough time to do it all.
