The university has started

Hello everyone,

It's already been two weeks since I last wrote a new post, even though I planned to do this regularly. Well, it doesn't matter; I will try my best to get back into a regular rhythm and hopefully write some interesting posts.

My last entry ended a day before the university started. Now two weeks of university have passed, and I want to take this opportunity to share a bit about my everyday life at the university and how the courses have started here.

The Thursday after my last entry, I started my first official day at the university, fortunately starting at the 3rd period, so I could ease into the day relatively relaxed. The first challenge that marks the start of the university day every day is the way to the campus. To get to the university, I need to take the bus, and so far, I haven't completely figured out when and where the bus that takes me to the campus departs. I mean, the basic conditions are there: I know that the bus runs, and I also know that it leaves from the bus station near the JR station Totsuka.

That sounds quite promising already, but unfortunately, the platform and the frequency with which the bus leaves change depending on the time of day. Well, even if it sometimes takes a bit of searching, I have managed to find the right bus with the help of unobtrusively following other people who looked like students, or with the help of bus station coordinators who could clearly see my confusion.

In fact, my partner university, where I am studying this semester, has two campuses. One is the one that can be reached by the aforementioned bus ride. There, I have nearly all my courses. The campus is quite large compared to what I'm used to. With 21 university buildings, it takes some time to walk from one end to the other. Generally, the campus is modern, and the buildings gleam in the sun because they are all completely white and reflect the sunlight.

The other campus is located in Tokyo in Shirokane and feels more like a campus that I would imagine at an English university. With older buildings and plenty of greenery. Here, I only have one single course, and although I really like this one and the campus, I am glad that I don't have to go there more often. Because, aside from the costs of the trip, it is also quite long (about 1 hour), so I am glad to have a significantly shorter commute on the other days.

But enough about the campus; let's talk about the actual courses. I have the opportunity to enroll in a Japanese language course, where I can learn the language from scratch. This course takes quite a bit of time, as it is held twice a week for 200 minutes, and although I think it's great to learn the language, I realize that I find it challenging and have sat in class feeling desperate on one or two occasions.

In addition to the relatively time-consuming and nerve-wracking Japanese course, I have five more courses of 100 minutes each week. They include a mix of economics, politics, art, culture, and one course that deals with various minorities in Japanese society. Unfortunately, one of the courses I originally wanted to take was canceled at short notice due to illness, but all in all, I think I have made some good choices and am learning interesting things here.

But enough about university life; alongside that, I have also done a couple of other things. Here’s a quick recap:

The Saturday before last, I visited the Meiji Shrine in Shibuya and took the opportunity to buy a stamp book, in which I hope to collect many different hand-drawn stamps. I also went out for ramen and had really good vegan ramen.

On Sunday of that weekend, I went to eat on the 28th floor and unfortunately injured my leg slightly while bouldering.

On Wednesday, in addition to university, I bought a small oven for only 15 euros, in which I have already baked banana bread and cinnamon rolls since then. It was definitely worth it 🥰

This weekend, I went to a flea market on Saturday (where I found a nice ring and a pair of sunglasses) and afterwards to a lantern festival that was relatively small but still beautiful.

On Sunday, there was something really cool for me because I had the chance to go to a vegan food festival where I could eat vegan shrimp and gyoza, among other things. It was truly a lovely experience. In the evening, I went to a cinema that not only had a screen showing the main image but also worked with the sides in cooperation.

So, with that, I have come to the end and hope to have given you a little insight into the last two weeks and my everyday life at the university here.

See you hopefully soon

Karo