In 2017, I spent several months in Japan as part of my student exchange at the University of Rikkyo. In the past, I had studied for a semester in England. However, this particular experience in the land of the rising sun was truly a unique one from beginning to end. That’s why I decided to dedicate some posts about my exchange and life in the bustling city known as Tokyo.
The first days in Tokyo
After travelling for over 15 hours I was FINALLY in Tokyo! 🥳 That week the university provided buses to drive students from the airport to the dorms. But you know that I do nothing like the others. I landed late in the evening… the day before the beginning of the semester 🤡 which allowed me to enjoy public transports for my first night there 😭.
The next morning, at the University of Rikkyo, after attending a meeting, I met my two buddies and my academic advisor.
The first days were about doing back and forth between the university and the dorm: managing paper works (enroling courses, university club…) and attending meetings. I remember that once the topic was on how to behave in Japan. Nope, you didn’t misread it 😌. If you know Tokyo, Roppongi was on the black list of the places where we should be.
It went like this for about ten days. Most of the meetings were interesting like the seminar on “what to do in an earthquake?” 🤗. But some were just “useless”. There were days where we would go to the university to get one document then another one the day after. In my head I was thinking “why you just didn’t give both yesterday?” 😑. However, when I look back on it I’m not surprised anymore. That’s just how Japanese administrations operate. One thing at a time 😉.
How do you respond to an earthquake? The answer in the video 😬👉🏽
The University of Rikkyo
As I explained it in the previous post, getting this exchange had been really challenging 😂.
So a quick introduction to Rikkyo University ✨ The institution is divided in two places, one is located in Ikebukuro while the other one in Niiza. Rikkyo is a private christian university. That’s why the architecture of some buildings might look like a monastery.
Amongst the 600 international students that the university welcomes every year, the majority comes from the United-States, China, South Korea, Germany and Australia.
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The accommodation
As for the accommodation, I had different options. Whether to live in a shared-house/flat, in a host family or in a dorm. I didn’t want to make things complicated so I decided to stay in one of Rikkyo’s dorms: the Global House Shiiki. The dorm was 30 minutes away by train from the university.
When the manager showed me my room, you have no idea how surprised I was. Not only the room was smaller than I expected but I found out this day that I was going to share the kitchen, the shower and the toilet with the other students. Lucky me 😂Actually there are two dorms with the same name and I was sure that I had booked the one with the individual toilet (obviously no 😂). I can already hear you saying what a diva I am. Well, I’m sorry but this is the minimum requirement when you know nothing about other’s hygienes 😂.
Each room was furnished with a fridge, a sink, a shelf, a bed and a wall-mounted air conditioner (essential to survive winter and summer). Last but not least, we also had a remote to control light 😍.
My dorm didn’t offer this option but in the others for a few extra yens, the residents had an access to a canteen for breakfast and dinner.
I swear the room was smaller than it looked in the video 😂
It was my first time to experience living in a dorm. Let’s say that there are pros and cons. On one hand, as part of the cons I would definitely say the midnight curfew and the rule of not having guests. That’s harsh when the average age is 22 years old. I guess that’s why only a few people respected them 🤭.
