Experience report
Name:
Exchange semester:
Academic year:
Host University:
Country:
Max Zeegers
spring
2013-2014
Waseda University, Tokyo
Japan
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
“Finally, my exchange really started.” That was what I thought when I hopped on the plane to Tokyo. I
handed in my application in September 2012 and got the amazing news that I was selected to go on
exchange in December 2012, so you can imagine how long I had been waiting before I finally left for
Tokyo at the end of March 2014. Way more relax then I thought I would be I sat in the plane
wondering what the coming months would bring me. I knew nobody was coming to pick me up from
the airport, so I looked up the exact route from the airport to the dormitory before leaving. This
dormitory was provided by the host University and after being pointed in the right direction a couple of
times I eventually found it. My room was on the fourth floor of a 12 story building and was really nice. I
had my own refrigerator and even my own toilet with sink. The room also had a nice balcony, but they
told me right away that this was only to be used in case of emergency. Showers were shared, but
very clean, so no complaints about that and the dormitory even had a nice laundry room on every
floor. Only downside about the dormitory were the kitchens, these were kind of dirty and I didn’t use a
thing without cleaning it first. But eating out was so cheap, that the ‘dirty kitchen’ problem was solved
pretty easily. By the way, did I already tell you that the dorm had nice lounge on the first floor? This
would become a nice place to hang out or meet up with people over the following months.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Where do you begin with describing one of the biggest cities in the world and definitely the biggest
metropolitan area in the world. Tokyo is so big, that even after living there for about 5 months, I still
feel like I could get lost in a second. The city has no real center, but is made up out of different
districts that each have their own center that will blow your mind. The most famous city center is
probably shibuya, swarming with people day and night. Other big centers are Ginza, known for big
expensive fashion stores. Akihabara, where you can get everything that relates to electronics as well
as everything you can imagine related to gaming. Tokyo, known for the biggest fish market in the
world. Roppongi, known for clubbing. And now I didn't even mention the big centers that Harajuku,
Ikebukuro and Ueno are.
My University was situated in Shinjuku and my dormitory was only a couple of minutes away by foot.
Shinjuku is, like all the other districts in Tokyo, huge and full of impressively high buildings. But one of
the most impressive things in Shinjuku hides beneath the surface and is Shinjuku-station. Shinjukustation is the biggest train station in the world and has over 200 exits and contains hundreds of stores,
so no wonder I can't remember how many times I got lost in it.
My city has a lot of nice places to visit. A beautiful shrine in Tokyo is Meji Jingo shrine and Asakusa
temple is also a nice place to go. The skytree, which is located near to Asakusa temple, is an
impressive building worth a visit. Furthermore, Tokyo has a lot of beautiful parks, like Shinjuku-gyoen.
One attraction, which in my opinion is underestimated since it isn't highly recommended by guides or
websites, is Roppongi Hills. Roppongi Hills gives a great view over the entire city, which is beautiful
especially by night.
TOPIC: Academics
Compared to Tilburg University, Waseda University is really big and has about three times as many
students. In Japan, Waseda University is really well known because a lot of important persons in
Japan have graduated from it. The campus didn’t look that big but had a lot of high buildings. It also
had its own concert hall and a nice garden. One downside was that there where some really outdated
buildings.
During the semester I was in Tokyo, I followed courses as Development Economics, Asian Economy,
Japanese Economy and Normative Political Question. I also learned the basics of the Japanese
language by following some Japanese language courses. All courses were completely different than
any course I ever had since my major at Tilburg University is Accounting. Especially the Normative
Political Question course was something new and something really interesting. Furthermore it was
really interesting to learn the basics of the Japanese language. The courses provided me with a
decent workload, but all work was worth it considering the fact that my grades where pretty good.
TOPIC: Social life
At the start of the semester, some student organizations organized welcoming parties which made it
possible for me to get in touch with both international as well as Japanese students from Waseda
University. I usually hang out with the international students since most of them were in the same
dormitory as I was. Together with those international students I discovered Tokyo and some places
outside of Tokyo. I also had some Japanese friends, most of them worked at a bar close by where we
used to hang out a lot and where we went to get something to eat or to drink.
TOPIC: Living costs
Sadly enough, there were no student grants for my exchange so I had to pay for the entire thing by
myself. Luckily my parents paid my ticket en gave my some spending money when I left. Another
thing that was in my favor was the exchange rate. I spent most of my money on rent and the daily
things like diner and groceries. Other things I spent a lot of money on was clubbing. A lot of clubs
charge entrance fees and drinks are pretty expensive, so a night out can easily cost a lot of money.
Another thing that is very expensive is taking trips to places far outside of Tokyo. I went to Kyoto twice
and the only way to get there is by high speed trains which start at about 100 euros for a one way trip.
In the end rent costs about 500 euros a month and without clubbing and the trips I spend about 300
euros a month on living costs. But I spend more, because I felt like I needed to get the most out of my
exchange experience. I would advice everybody that goes on exchange, to whatever part of the world
they are going to, to try to go there with a budget that allows you to do everything you want to do
without having to think about whether or not you have enough money. Especially traveling the country
and maybe going to countries close by is worth every penny if you ask me.
TOPIC: Culture
I don’t feel like I experienced a culture shock in the first weeks of my exchange. The main reason for
this I think is that I was very open minded to everything that I would encounter in my first weeks. Next
to that, the first few weeks were full of fun and exiting things and left no time to think about everything
that I was experiencing. Of course I noticed a lot of differences between Dutch and Japanese culture.
In Japan people are unbelievably polite. I encountered this politeness everywhere from the grocery
store or a simple restaurant where everybody welcomes customers and thanks them multiple times
for visiting their to just somewhere randomly on the sidewalk when two Japanese persons say
goodbye to each other and bowing multiple times. After a while, I really started to appreciate the polite
behavior everywhere. Another typical Japanese characteristic is that they are very closed and they
even use their politeness to hide behind. Because Japanese have such closed personalities, it is
pretty hard to make Japanese friends. Most Japanese friends I had were more internationally
orientated and they’d had exchange experiences themselves before, making them more open for
foreign students. I didn't really like that the Japanese students were so closed, because I would have
loved to make even more Japanese friends, but still I made a lot of other friends in countries all over
the world.
TOPIC: Personal development
I learned a lot from my exchange experience. One of the most important things I learned is that the
world is a lot bigger than the world I was living in before I went to Japan. The friends I made while
there seemed so wise and experienced and they all had lived in several countries and spoke quit a
few languages. In the future I will try to pursue a job that has opportunities to work in other countries
and maybe even go abroad for my job for a certain amount of time. One of the best experiences in
Japan was hanging out in GB’s café and grabbing some drinks and something to eat with new friends
or just with the people working there. When I was at GB’s, I really felt like I found my way in Tokyo
and the people working there all became great friends and I even went to their birthday parties and a
barbeque they invited me for. The worst feeling I had during my exchange was when I had a really
hard time studying the Japanese language and I even was close to quitting the course. Eventually I
just put in a lot of effort and finished the course with a decent grade.
The thing I will remember most about my exchange I guess are my new made friends and I hope that
these friends will remind me of this fact for a long time to come.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
I would of course recommend everybody to go on an exchange and when choosing a destination just
remember to follow your heart. When I had to choose a destination first I was thinking about Spain
because I really love the Spanish language, but eventually I chose to go to Japan because I really
wanted it to feel a lot different than just a holiday in some sunny European country and more like an
experience I would never forget in a country totally different than anything I ever encountered before.
Furthermore I would recommend everybody to bring a great camera along since making beautiful
pictures is a great way of creating memories.
TOPIC: A picture is worth a thousand words