"Another incredible opportunity to meet and exchange cultures with people from all over the world was at the dorm in which I live. Despite its much-loathed curfew, I have had the pleasure of sharing a flat with women from Korea, China and Brazil in addition to my Japanese roommates. We have spent many long nights chatting about each other's culture, and our experiences and culture shock here in Japan. In essence, it has been a setting where I have made lasting global friendships!" Cathern-Therese Tucker, Montana State University, Bozeman, Kumamoto Gakuen University, Fall 1999
"I decided to live in a dorm, because I didn't think I could function in a home without knowing any Japanese. Later in the semester, I realized that dorm life is a disadvantage when studying abroad. At JCMU, there were only a handful of native Japanese students living in the dorm. As a result, I didn't push myself to speak Japanese outside the classroom. I think this hindered my learning progression." Margaret Veach, Millsaps College, Japan Center for Michigan Universities, Spring 2002
"I was able to move into an apartment with a Japanese roommate that I was introduced to through the International Center. This surrounded me with Japanese, and provided experience of a more typical lifestyle in Japan than one can get by living in a homestay, I think. I enjoyed the freedom of setting my own schedule and meals, and of staying out shopping or sightseeing with other Japanese students when I wanted. However, living in a very small apartment was much more difficult and stressful than I imagined, because it was only one room that I shared with my roommateÑwe had no privacy. Sometimes, making decisions with her was frustrating because of the way that she didn't express her opinion directly, or gave answers or excuses that were vague and seemed contrived. Dealing with a different style of decision-making and conflict resolution gave me real examples for comparison, and ultimately made me comfortable with the Japanese way of approaching disagreement or decision-making. It turned out well in the end, but it did cause some stressful periods during my time in Japan. It has made me appreciate my lifestyle in America in a way that I didn't before. I felt incredibly excited when I returned to my apartment in Kentucky and had an entire kitchen with an oven instead of a hot plate set into the wall of my room; I have learned to be appreciative of having a whole separate room just for a dining table." Laura Marschner, University of Kentucky, Kansai Gaidai, Fall 2000
"I admit I was kind of discouraged not being to experience a host family, but the dorm did have its pluses and minuses. One negative thing was that there was really no one to show us around, at first, or to help us get use to living in Japan. Most of the time, we ended up using the knowledge that we had learned in school, or just finding out first hand. I remember the first day here, some of us at the dorm decided to go for a walk outside to see what was around, it was only suppose to be for 30 minutes; we did not get back until 2 hours later. Or watching five exchange students together trying to figure out how to make their bed, that was definitely an interesting memory. On the other hand, having a public washroom with a big bathtub was definitely a plus. Along with that, having a single room, traditional Japanese meals for breakfast and dinner during the weekdays, and making several friendships, within the dorm, which became very strong." John Hrovat, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Nanzan University, Fall 2001
"I have lived for one year in the dorm, and this has been a positive experience, with all of the normal ups and downs of dorm life. The kitchens are widely and constantly used. It is often said that one cannot learn Japanese while living in the dorm, as most of the residents speak English or their native language (I've learned more Chinese in the dorms than Japanese). There aren't many students who can speak fluent Japanese in the dorm--maybe 20%." Nicholas Scott Napolitan, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Spring 2001
"During my studies at ICU I resided at the 4th Women's dorm located on the campus. I was also able to benefit in many ways through my experiences living in the dorm. Upon first glance of all the policies and rules it may make any liberal and independent female feel like they are living in a jail, rather then a dormitory. . . Rather than being scared off by the endless list of strict rules imposed by the school's bureaucratic Student Affairs Office, I seized the opportunity to live with other Japanese students and five other exchange students from all over the world. . . . Living in the dorm on campus was not only economical, but allowed me to interact daily in Japanese with people that were interested in developing friendships with international students. . . . Every aspect of the dorm life experience proved to be educational. The monthly dorm meetings were structured and maybe could give people experience as to what it is like to organize and run a meeting by Japanese standards. Cleaning duties gave me experience with what it must be like to clean at school like most Japanese students do during high school. Plus, commitment to dorm activities and interaction between other Japanese residents gave insight and experience being a part of a group within a society and culture that places the group as a whole before each individual." Victoria Baxter, State University of NY, Buffalo, International Christian University , Fall 2001
"The dorm was disappointing because, although I got to meet many international students, I did not live with Japanese students. Most of my laundry, cooking, and hanging out in the evenings was with Americans, and I had been hoping for more immersion. There were also rules against having guests over, even in the only common area, making it even harder to socialize with people who did not live in the dorm. I wish there had been more options about where to live." Kate Nelson, Transylvania University, Waseda, Spring 2000
"I lived in an international student dormitory located 50 min away from the school. The cost of going to school was about $140 a month. They have a closer dorm that Japanese students live in and international students are eligible to apply for, and I did, but I did not get placed there. The room size is very comparable to dorms in the U.S. and much bigger than normal Japanese rooms. I purposely did not associate myself much with anyone in the dorm except for some Chinese because all the Caucasians always spoke in English. I think staying away from people in the dorm and hanging out with Japanese friends either from school or from nightclubs improved my Japanese dramatically. I am happy I lived in a dorm as opposed to a host family because I like my freedom and don't like restrictions. I sometimes went to friend's houses to meet, have dinner, and stay with their families, which was a good substitute for having a host family." John Woodburn, The Ohio State University, Kobe University, Fall 1999
"While in Kumamoto I stayed in an international dorm provided by the university. The rules were very strict, and this caused a conflict between most everybody living in the dorm and the international office at the university. Many students were very unhappy living in the dorm and told me that they were having a bad experience in Japan. All of the problems and bad experiences that everyone in the dorm was experiencing, I had missed. I believe the other students were spending too much time in the dorm and not enough time outside of it in Japanese society. They did not spend very much time with Japanese friends and would sometimes only leave the dorm for class or to go drinking with other westerners. I believe this defeats the purpose of coming to Japan. I refused to spend a lot of time in the dorm and I hardly spent any time at all with other westerners. If I wanted to spend time with other westerners, I sure wouldn't have gone to Japan. So to me, the dorm was fine as long as you didn't spend your every free moment there." Chad Diehl, Montana State University, Bozeman, Kumamoto Gakuen University, Fall 2000
"Another wonderful experience was living in the 3rd Women's Dormitory at ICU. The people there were so kind and helped us new exchange students with everything. It was very different in some ways from the dorm I was used to at my home university, and some things, like its being an all-women's dorm, with no males allowed to visit rooms, were hard to get used to. But there was a community spirit in the dorm which I loved. I felt automatically befriended and accepted because I was a member of the dorm, and came to think of everyone as my sister. Particularly being an exchange student knowing basically no one at ICU, I was so grateful for the kind community spirit that pervaded the dorm, and things like less privacy than American dorms and obligations like phone duty and meetings were not so hard to live with. Living in the dorm was a very worthwhile experience and I highly recommend it. You can make instant friends and have opportunities 24 hours a day to improve your Japanese and learn 'young people's Japanese'." Rebecca Cataldi, Georgetown University, International Christian University, Fall 2001
"After being awake for over 30 hours I arrived in Tsukuba, Japan, my home for the next year. I was shocked and speechless when I saw my dorm room. It was extremely small, dirty and bare. It looked like a closet with a sink. . . . Even though I was exhausted, the excitement and adrenaline of being somewhere new kept me going through the next busy days. The next culture shock came the next morning when I attempted to shower. The dormitories didn't have their own showers. In fact, all of the thirty dorms in my cluster showered at one place. I had gotten up early on my first full day in Japan ready to shower and get the day started. I looked in my guidebook to find the location of the showers and set off looking. Unfortunately I didn't notice in the guidebook that the showers were only open from 5:00pm until 10:00pm. That evening, during the appropriate hours, I set back out to shower. The guidebook said 'public bath' and I was nervous to see just how 'public' they meant. To my relief, the men and women had their own respective showers. Showering was an interesting experience. First, you buy a ticket from a machine and give it to the man sitting right beside the machine. I always wondered why we couldn't just give the man the money, but I wasn't about to complain. Next, you take off your shoes and go into the changing room. After putting your clothes and towel into a basket, you take your showering items and go into the next room. In the shower/bath room you sit on a stool about a foot high (or less) and shower sitting down. Once you are completely clean then you go (optional) sit in the bath, with everyone else. I was honestly quite freaked out by bathing with other women, but I kept telling myself that it was like sitting in a big hot tub, only without the jets, without the hot tub atmosphere, without bathing suits, and you don't know anyone and everyone stares at you. It was the closest comparison I could make. I think it's fair to say that it took me awhile to feel comfortable showering in this fashion. However, once I got to know people around campus and made friends, bathing became a social event."Kate Beuck, University of Colorado at Boulder, Tsukuba University, Fall 2001