carlhoots-blog

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I asked a couple at the picnic area if I could take a picture of their dog - it had the cutest little dress and hair bows! <333

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Some of the views from the mountain paths at Hiraodai

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Trip to Hiraodai

On the Sunday of our first week in Japan, we had a field trip to Hiraodai Countryside Park. 

In the morning we all gathered in front of the university main gate to wait for our mini bus (and cars for the few left without seats) and then we headed off out of the city. The concrete landscape soon gave way to green mountains on all sides and we found ourselves driving up the side of one of them. Although it was cloudy, it was quite humid that day so we soon found ourselves removing jumpers and jackets. 

First we went to visit an old natural cave. We had to take our shoes and socks off and wear rubber sandals into the cave - an interesting experience trying to find any that were the right size! It was quite chilly inside and damp, but I really enjoyed it. Sadly I had to leave the cave before everyone else as there was an area of knee-high water and I don't handle water so well, but my friend and one of the student supporters kindly came with me.

Next we climbed back up to the top of the hill and walked to a lovely picnic area to have lunch. I had my first home-made bento that day and it was surprisingly acceptable XDAfter lunch we finally got round to doing some hiking up the mountain and after a lot huffing and puffing we reached the top. The view was incredible! We could see Kitakyushu in the distance and another city on the coast on the other side of the island!

Thankfully we had the Monday after that off uni due to a national holiday, so we could rest our legs :'D

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Classes

After we had rested a little over the weekend we went into uni to sit the placement test to determine the level of language classes we should be taking. The classes are numbered J1 to J6, with J6 being the highest level available. To my surprise (and pleasure) I was placed in J4 with five other students. I have sinced dropped to J3 for my kanji class as I felt completely lost with the speed and number of kanji we were learning in the higher set. The teachers are all very kind (with a couple of them being quite strict) and all the language classes are taught entirely in Japanese.

I also have to take a compulsory Japanese culture class which involves taking part in a variety of field trips and cultural activities. Those in sets 4 to 6 take another class as well which seems to be a discussion based one with a strong emphasis on group work. I’ve only had that class once so far so I don’t really know what to expect at the moment but our teacher is lovely.

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The First Week

After our hectic journey here, I was looking forward to getting a bit of a rest before lessons began the following week. Alas it was not meant to be...

The day after we arrived there was a group outing to the shopping district in the city. We rode the monorail (which had some great views) and headed off to the shops. I managed to find a reasonably priced hairdryer, and bought a whole load of supplies from the 100yen store (which is a lie, everything’s actually 108yen, they just don’t include tax when they talk about the price -_-). We had lunch together with the other exchange students and our Japanese supporters and then a few of us had to head back to uni for some form filling. 

We were introduced to another international student, but one who studies at Kitakyu full time, not just on an exchange program like us, and he took us to the Ward Office. We filled out all the pension, insurance, and registration forms and then we were free to go. The following day it turned out there was a mistake on our forms so we had to go back to the office and fix everything. In the afternoon there was a fieldtrip to a robotics company which was really cool!

On Thursday I had the morning off, but in the afternoon was our orientation where we met our teachers and the office staff, and went through a few safety talks with the police and local authorities. On Friday I had the riveting task of opening a Japanese bank account - which I still don’t know how to transfer money into from my home account - and then in the evening we had the welcome party where I met some people who were soon to become my first real friends here.

An exhausting week for sure, but I made some friends and I didn’t have much time to stop and wonder what I was doing with my life :’D

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The view from my apartment block

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Getting to Japan

So before I made any friends and got to try out the DELICIOUS variety of Japanese food, I had to actually arrive in the country.

I flew from my local airport down to good ol’ Heathrow and met up with a friend who would be going to the same university as me in Japan. There was a lot of the usual waiting around, gawking at ridiculous airport food prices etc. and then we could head off on our flight bound for Shanghai. The plane was pretty nice, the movies were okay and the food was edible. My friend (whom I will refer to as Tomato from now on) and I were getting pretty excited and were not overly bothered by the prospect of sitting down for 10 hours. 

However, after a little while I suddenly started wondering what on earth I was doing. I was sitting in a plane heading for the other side of the world, leaving my family and friends behind to go and fend for myself for a whole year! I had never even left my own country before and now I’m leaving everything I know behind me. Go big or go home amirite. So I had a bit of a cry - also partly down to the movie I was watching (A Monster Calls possibly not being a great choice when parting with your loved ones) and then managed to calm down.

We arrived in Shanghai Pudong airport, waited around for our next flight then got on the plane again. And we sat there, in our plane, on the ground, for about three hours before the staff announced that our flight was cancelled.

Cue a plane full of people running around an airport for hours before being bundled into a bus and sent to stay the night in some random hotel. Thankfully we got a call the next morning saying our flight had been re-arranged.

Eventually we arrived in Fukuoka and to our great relief, the university party was still there to pick us up. They gave us our welcome packs, took a few group pics and then drove us to our accommodation. Alas there was only just time to call my family and let them know I had arrived safely before we were dragged off to uni to meet the other exchange students and then go get something to eat together. As exhausting as it was, it was lovely to meet everyone and actually get some decent food.

One of the Japanese student supporters took me and Tomato to get some basic necessities - breakfast for tomorrow morning, toiletries, a cup so we could actually drink something etc. - before walking us back to our apartments. I don’t remember a great deal after that so I can only presume I managed to crawl into my futon before passing out in exhaustion.

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Quick Introduction

Heyo! I’m Charlotte, also known as Carl (it’s a long story), and this blog is gonna be me documenting my experiences as an exchange student at a Japanese university. My home university is Oxford Brookes in the South of England and my actual home is in the North East of Scotland. As well as sharing my own personal experiences for my friends, family, and future self, hopefully I’ll be able to share some useful info and tips for other Brookes students going abroad and just anyone who might be interested in uni exchanges.

よろしくね！