It was three years ago when I first heard about Waseda University and the exchange programs it had with my university, and naturally I started to dream about one year abroad in Japan. Deeply interested in Japanese language, culture and history, I am currently engaged and about to finish undergraduate studies with a major in Japanese Studies, which lectures are given at University of Geneva, 60km from Lausanne. When studying such a language, it is known and advised that one should try to spend some time in Japan in order to improve its language abilities and to have a direct experience, not only through books. As university students, we have the great opportunity to do this and the structures that allow it.
University of Lausanne has exchange programs with Kyoto, Hiroshima and Waseda University. Regarding to the contents of the programs proposed and my own objectives, receiving also advices from friends and teachers, I decided to apply to the Intensive Japanese Language Program of Waseda through my home university international exchange office. As it consists in one year of intensive Japanese language study, this program would be the best to strengthen and increase my knowledge about this country and be able to use Japanese as a second language in the future. In addition, having a very high reputation among other universities in Japan, Waseda University was definitely a good choice. From University of Lausanne two students were selected and receive a scholarship. One is from the Business School (HEC) and studies in SILS program, the other is writing these words. So the choice was made and I took off in September 2004, leaving my studies in Switzerland in parenthesis to immerse myself in Japanese culture for oe year.
A year…it seems quite long in the beginning, sometimes scary if you think you are going to live in Tokyo, worldwide famous megalopolis with a population about twice more than my country. It was not the first time I came to Japan so the culture choc was not so hard. A year…seems quite long but is then quite short. After the first month I was in Tokyo, normal life started, I realised that I was here not as a tourist but as a student, an inhabitant. And this was a strange but pleasant sensation. Hey… I live in Tokyo! Till now, and I hope till the end, this stay as an international exchange student was a wonderful experience. The program at Waseda allowed me to receive a very good Japanese instruction and increased my level a lot. We had many activities that introduced us to different aspects of Japanese culture. In October for instance we went to Hakone for the week-end, soaking in onsen and discovering traditional ryokan food. The campus life is also very active. Sports club, theatre, dance, calligraphy, shakuhachi or conversation clubs, there are plenty of activities that are part of the student life here. Having a passion for martial arts for years, I joined the karate-bu in September last year and I train everyday with them. Being the only foreigner in the team was not always easy but it finally allowed me to practice my Japanese outside school and getting deeper in the country’s culture. Apart from that, life in Tokyo is great. Starting from ever-entertaining Shinjuku with its thousands of restaurants and bars, to the particular shitamachi atmosphere around Asakusa and Taito-ku, or the incredible dynamism of the early-moring Tsukiji Fish Market, I never got bored here. Then I chose to stay in a dormitory instead of doing a homestay or trying to find an (expensive) apartment. It was for me an important aspect of my life here, allowing me to bee independent and meeting people from around the world at the same time. I got lucky, the dormitory is small and we managed to create a family ambient in this place.
So for those who are interested in doing a year studying abroad at Waseda University, I cannot but encourage you to apply. You may already have knowledge about Japan and its language or not, the structures of the international programs are wide and diversified enough to provide you what you are looking for. Apart from the lectures, the student life at Waseda is very vivid, there are festivals or events all the year, quite a big proportion of international students too, and all this made it a unique, unforgettable and useful experience. And then as I said, Tokyo is….Tokyo. Good luck!
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