Your room- Contains a desk with chair, clothes bureau (like in freshmen dorms), and a very large closet (for your futon and everything else you bring)- We roomed with one other person, leaving the third room available for anything else- You will have a communal kitchen with cabinet for dishes and silverware already there. Only cold water comes from the faucet. A stove is also provided with a few pans and small bowls.- Large Shower provided for each room. - A/C in each room, along with a balcony overlooking a small river and then the campus We lived on floors 4-6, stairs and elevators can be used.

Where you liveNishikawa Heights

5 min from your classes, 10-15 min from stores by foot, 10 min by bike from everywhere you could possibly need to go, 45 min from downtown by bike, or 30 min from the train station by busMostly just program participants in the building, but also your teachersWasher/Driers on floors 4 and 6, community rooms on 3 and 5, and internet room on floor 3 – only 7 ports (wireless router might be nice)Study room available 24/7 with Internet

Total Estimated Cost

Depends on what you want to do…Plane tickets = $1000

Food = $8-16 per day, or $320 - $640

School activities = $100

Host family gift (beforehand) = $30-100

Then whatever else you want to spend on omiyage and the Long Weekend

Spending 6 weeks in Japan = priceless

2007 course projectMake a Rube Goldberg machine

Work in pairs of Japanese and American studentsWarabashi engineeringSpent several meetings talking with other groups in English and Japanese explaining about our ideasHave a final presentation of the machine and brief speech about it in Japanese (your partners will help you).

Courses

Rose Japanese courses prepare you well for the coursesGood vocab buildingThursday Conversation

PartnersLots of good reviewDon’t sweat the placement exam

(written and verbal)Excellent teachers

Places to go…

Electronics storesbook storespretty much every sport and club for it availableused everything storeshyaku en storesthe bakeryrandom places with funny signsDowntownKaraokeBowling (round one)Hyakumangoku Matsuri (Festival)…

Karaoke

Fun Stuff to Do

Trips

AnimizuKanazawa Castle and KenrokuenDowntown shopping centerOkashi (Candy) makingNinja Dera, Geisha District, samurai houseHomestay and Long WeekendSeisan Gijitsu (Robot Factory)

Homestay

Get gifts beforehand2 day, 1 night stayAny number of different familiesThey’ll take you to do anything… literally, so be careful what you ask forChallenging, but they understand!Sometimes you get another program participant to go with you

Long Weekend

Dream big, dream nowPlan ahead

Infinite possibilities

Useful expressions

Daijyoubu desuI’m/It’s ok.

Kore wa onegaishimasuI’d like this (ordering in restaurants).

Betsubetsu de onegaishimasuWe’d like to be billed separately.

Onaka ga suita.I’m hungry.

Things we wish we knew beforehand / useful tips

Leave room in your luggage – LOTS of roomBuy luggage with wheels… seriouslyMake a budget beforehand for each week to keep you on trackKeep a journal (at least if you get a grant from the HSS department)Get a coin purseDon’t be a jerk with the bikes!Rent bikes early and often, and get out!Spend time with the Japanese studentsDon’t forget the region restriction on games and DVDsThe outlets there work the same as the US, only they have slightly less volts – DO get a 3 to 2 prong plug for your lappy, though.Internet will be scarce.You do not need superior Japanese speaking skillsDon’t be afraid to talk in Japanese! They are all there to help you learn.If you have to call home, buy headphones with a microphone in them and download Skype so you can talk for free.JR Pass available if you want to ride the train a lot on the Long Weekend or afterward. Only available to foreigners and runs about $300 for a week (maybe a little less) – check around for best prices. Increments of 1, 2 and 3 weeks available

Other fun things

Tons of vending machines

Karaoke is awesome

You will most likely be the only non-Japanese you’ll see

Don’t be a jerk with the bikes!

After