We are expecting the arrival of 34 students in the JASIN Program in the Spring Term 2010, from. U.S.A. 29, France 2, Britain 2, Germany 1. 20 of the 34 are beginning their studies from the Spring Term and the other 14 began the program in the Fall Term 2009.
In the parallel program, Nagasaki International Communication Studies (NICS) there will be 83 students: from China 72, Korea 4, Taiwan 7.
There is a total of 397 foreign students in the university when you include degree-seeking students and students in other programs.
The students coming from Europe and North America should plan to arrive at the Fukuoka International Airport on the day of Monday, September 20. They will be met at the airport by a representative of the JASIN Program and taken to a hotel in Fukuoka for an overnight stay. The group will travel on to Nagasaki by bus or train the morning of the 21st.
If you plan to come to Japan before the 20th, to visit friends or travel around, you can meet the group in Fukuoka on the 20th, stay in the same hotel, and travel together with them to Nagasaki on September 21st. The other option is to make your way to Nagasaki yourself. Be sure to arrive at the college by 11 a.m. Tuesday, September 21st for the beginning of Orientation.
For most students, the accommodation stay begins the evening of September 21st.
You can come to Nagasaki before September 20th. However, doing so means you will be responsible for your own accommocation for that time.
There are two very important considerations that you must abide by if you come to Japan early. The first is to make sure the Program knows that you are coming early and knows your whereabouts at any given time while you are in Japan. We may have very important reasons to contact you. The second is that you either meet up with the group in Fukuoka on Monday, September 20th, or that you report to the university by 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 21 (See #2 above).
Yes, you may send things ahead to the following address:
Please keep in mind the following:
The hotel is a very short 200 meter walking distance from the main train station in Fukuoka, Hakata Station. To get to the station, we will use the subway which departs from directly under Domestic Terminal 2. The subway costs 250 yen and takes less than 5 minutes. Keep in mind that you will have to walk around the airport a bit, go down then up escalators to take the subway, go through the turnstiles, and get on and off the subway train as well.
For those arriving in Fukuoka directly from a foreign country (i.e. Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong) you will be arriving at the International Terminal which is across the runway from the Domestic Terminals. A free shuttle bus connects the International Terminal to the domestic ones.
Many prescription medicines, and even some medicines sold over-the-counter in other countries have never been approved by the Japanese medical authorities and are therefore illegal in Japan. A common source of trouble is with medicines for allergies such as asthma. Please check with the nearest Japanese consulate before you leave your country.
It is absolutely imperative that you at least learn the phonetic writing systems of hiragana and katakana before you come to Japan. The beginning Japanese language text book is written entirely in Japanese and assumes that you know the above two systems of writing. If you don't have access to appropriate learning materials to teach you hiragana and katakana, you can contact the program (jasin@tc.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp) and we can send you some.
The all-female dormitory on campus has 320 single rooms, each with a toilet, bath room, bed, desk, telephone, chair, air-conditioner and heater, and a hot plate and very small counter. Besides the cafeteria, the other facilities include a coin-laundry, lounge, and computer room. The curfew for the residents is 10:30 p.m. and visitors are not allowed. Overnight stays away from the dorm have to be approved in advance.
Foreign student residents of the dorm in the past have praised the experience as an excellent way to interact with the Japanese students of the college and practice their Japanese in a close, Japanese-language environment. However, some have expressed difficulties in adjusting living under the restrictions mentioned above.
Ampelos.pdf
Home stays are with families in Nagasaki who live in apartments, condominiums, or houses. As you can imagine, the conditions in each home stay vary widely. Some of the host families live near the college and other live the other side of town requiring as much as an hour's commute. Some of the host families have small children, some are older and retired, and some are single parents. Most spend a lot of time and attention on their students, but some are rather busy. Some place restrictions on their student similar to those above for the dorm residents, and some are more lax. However, all the host families are volunteering to be hosts to students because they hope to introduce aspects of Japanese culture to you and they also hope you will be earnest in trying to learn to speak Japanese.
Homestay
The program will send you information about your host family(ies) by post about one month prior to the beginning of the term.
Those of you with outstanding fees will be notified of such on an invoice sent by post from the Program before you arrive. All the fees are due to be paid in full during Orientation, and the fees must be paid in Japanese yen cash. The invoice will also contain information on sending your outstanding fees before you arrive by bank transfer. Recently, most students choose this option in order to avoid the hassle of getting together a large amount of cash once in Nagasaki.
NOTE: You will not be allowed to either register nor attend any classes until your fees are paid in full.
The best way for you to have money sent to you is a tricky issue depending on lots of variables such as the country of origin and your particular type of credit or debit card. Two ways of sending money to Japan that are impractical are by sending personal or cashier's checks or by bank transfer. Checks can take 4 to 6 weeks to cash as they are physically sent to and back from the issuing bank, incurring fees along the way. Bank transfers are relatively quick, around 3 days, but incur at least a 4,000 yen fee on the receiving (Japanese) end in addition to the fees levied on the sending end.
International Postal Money Orders denominated in Japanese yen are practical because they can be purchased at most any post office in foreign countries and can be cashed at any post office in Japan. In addition, they are cheap, incurring about 2000 yen in fees on the sending end and no fees on the receiving side. However, since they are a piece of paper that has to be sent, it takes a week to 10 days to arrive and then they have to be cashed at a post office in Japan during regular postal banking hours.
Getting a cash advance on a major credit card and having your parents pay the bill on their end when it arrives is the most efficient way to get money, that is, when it works. Most foreign credit cards, and some debit cards, work at ATMs located at Japanese Post Office branches, one of which is within walking distance of the campus. However, please be aware that there are often restrictions of the use of credit and debit cards, such as a maximum of 5,000 yen per transaction. A small number of students have found that their credit or debit cards simply do not work for cash advances.
Of course, this varies greatly between people depending on their lifestyle. A rule of thumb is that you will not be able to survive on less than 5,000 to 10,000 yen per week, and that is if you live in the dorm or a home stay near enough to walk to the college and you don't go anywhere or buy anything. A much more realistic figure is 10,000 to 20,000 yen per week. Add more if you intend to socialize or travel, both of which are expensive in Japan.
There is a very small possibility that a class may not fill and may be cancelled. Due to the relatively small number of classes offered, the cancellation of a class is very rare, in fact, to date it has not happened.
Yes, you can. However, since the university is sponsoring your visa, the college is required to know your whereabouts at any given time. If you plan to travel outside of Nagasaki Prefecture, you must notify the International Center of your intention to travel before you depart.
For those chosing the Early Out Option, your last class day will be December 22, 2010, so Thursday, December 23 is the first day you can leave Nagasaki. For those choosing to study to the end of the regular Fall Term, your last class day is January 31, 2011, so Tuesday, February 1, 2011 is the first day you can leave Nagasaki.
For those of you in home stays, you should plan to leave on the "First Day to leave Nagasaki" described above, as that is the end of your home stay period. Most home stay families will allow students to stay a day or two past the "First Day to leave Nagasaki" in order to finish up their preparations to leave. It may be possible to make arrangements to stay on in your host family or the dorm for a few more days. The costs are calcuated at 2,000 yen per day.
By far the most popular tourist destination in Japan is the city of Kyoto near Osaka, the political, cultural and religious capital of Japan for over a thousand years. Nara, also near Osaka, and Tokyo rate high on tourist lists as well. Because it would be difficult, in terms of time and money, to visit these places during the term time, it would be best to plan a trip there either before the term begins or after it is finished.
A very efficient and cheap way to travel around Japan is on a rail pass. Remember that rail passes must be arranged for in your home country and then activated here in Japan.
One option may be to visit these places on your way back home. If your international flights enters Japan through Kansai International Airport in Osaka, or if it enters through Narita International Airport in Tokyo, you could forego the Fukuoka to Kansai or Narita portion of your flight, travel up there by ground transportation, and catch the international portion of your flight from Kansai or Narita. This would save you the necessity of returning to Fukuoka to begin your journey. Check you options carefully with your travel agent.
The Program will assist you in making accommodation arrangements, a home stay or dorm stay, if possible, for the time between terms. Such accommodation will be billed separately.
You will be given an email address on the university's server, if you request one, during Orientation. You will have access to the Internet through the university's computers from September 21st.
The official Japanese Proficiency Test is given twice a year, in July and in early December. Four tests are offered, from Level 4 (the lowest) to Level 1 (the highest).
24. What about bringing electrical appliances to Japan?
The electric current in Western Japan is 110 volts and the plugs used here are the small, two-pronged type, the same as the kind used in North America. Since most electrical appliances are designed to operate in a range of voltages, devices designed for 100 to 120 volts seem to work OK at the Japanese 110 volts. However, devices that generate heat, such as hair dryers and contact disinfectors, tend to burn out after a while. As you might well imagine, most every kind of electrical appliance is available in Japan and it may be your best bet to purchase necessary devices after you arrive in Japan. Interface devices that connect to other larger devices, such as the cord that includes a current converter that is used to recharge your laptop computer, can also be purchased here which will convert the 100 volt current to whatever your larger device needs.
The Japanese use a two-pronged plug very similar to the American one. However, few outlets have one slot larger than the other as some plugs require, and none of them have the third grounding plug. Therefore, it would be a good idea to bring some three-to-two prong converters, and try to find ones that have the two prongs the same size.
Most students who own a laptop computer bring it to Japan. It is not necessary to use your laptop at the university since there is easy access to the many computers on the campus. You can access the university's network and the Internet wirelessly from several locations. Note that you will need to prove that you have name-brand and licensed anti-virus software installed on your computer. A laptop would allow you to work at home since your host family may not have a computer, or it may it may not be convenient to use their computer.
It is also relatively easy and cheap to purchase a cell phone with an adapter and a service that would allow you to connect your laptop to the Internet wirelessly. You should not expect to use your host family's Internet connection, if they have one, to connect your laptop to the Internet. Internet connection service is available from the dormitory rooms for 1,000 yen per month. (See #24 above.)
The university has two large Computer Assisted Instruction (CIA) laboratories, one with 41 and one with 57 machines, which are open to student use whenever there is not a computer class being conducted in the room. The rooms are always available for a few minutes before classes begin in the morning, and for a few hours after classes in the evening. In addition to these two rooms, there are two other computer stations, with a small number of terminals, continually open to student use.
All the computers at the college are 2 GHz Pentium 4 running Windows XP and loaded with Office 2007. The connection speed to the Internet is so-so..
There is wireless connectivity at certain locations. A sign-up process is necessary before access is granted and one of the requirementsis that the computer have name-brand or proven anti-virus software intalled.
NOTE: The university's Internet connection is intended for academic research and basic communication with your family and home university. Use of the univesity's Internet connection for other purposes is prohibited.
Cell phones are extremely popular in Japan, and especially so among college students. Virtually every Japanese student has one. In addition, they have been popular with the foreign students because not only will you be out and about most of the day, but they also afford you privacy and help you avoid awkward telephone use problems while you are in your host family's home. Another advantage is they allow people from your home country to call you and actually connect with you, whereas it is very difficult for them to call you at a fixed line and actually catch you there at the same time.
In order to give you practice speaking Japanese, you will be assigned a Conversation Partner who is a volunteer from among the Japanese students at the college. You are to meet with your partner once a week for an hour. What you do during your time with your partner is basically up to you, but activities range from free conversation to asking them to drill you on exercises from your texts to talking about aspects of Japanese culture. Though the students are neither teachers nor experts on Japanese grammar, they may be able to help you with questions you might have concerning your Japanese studies. Each partner is assigned to you for a two-month period.
Independent Study is a way for students to pursue their study on a topic that is not covered in the curriculum of the Program. Students choose Independent Study because they have a keen interest in some aspect of Japan. The range of topics, however is limited to faculty expertise. If you are thinking of Independent Study, be sure to contact the Program about the possibilities well before your arrival in Nagasaki.
The basic pattern is for the student to meet with their faculty advisor three times during the term, once to set out the course of study, once to review an outline of the research paper or project, and once to discuss the instructor's evaluation of the paper or project. This pattern may change at the discretion of the instructor depending on the nature of the study.
In order to be eligible for Independent Study you must write a detailed proposal for your course of study and send it to the Program before your arrival in Nagasaki. The proposal must contain a proposal for evaluation, such as a research paper or a project, the completion of a set of translations.
The college will then consider your proposal and, if approved, will find an appropriate faculty member to oversee your studies. The student will then consult with the instructor as to the exact course of study.
In the rare case that a Japan Studies class is canceled due to lack of enrollment, a student can petition the Program to allow them to pursue an Independent Study in the same topic area at the time of cancellation. (See #16 above.)
The way extracurricular activities, called "clubs," at Japanese universities are conducted resemble the systems at European institutions of higher education; in other words, the activities are initiated by the students themselves and are student lead. Therefore, the activities offered from year to year vary depending on who organizes them. Some which are usually offered are chorus, soft tennis, hard tennis (international tennis), tea ceremony, basketball, kendo, baseball, volleyball, and hip-hop dance. As students of the college, foreign students may organize clubs as well. However, in order to qualify for the financial support which is available to clubs, they must be organized at the beginning of the academic year, April, and must respect the deadline for application and the proper application procedure.
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