When I first arrived in Fukushima, I was very surprised how "normal" the city looks and feels. Before coming to Japan, I saw all these fancy photos on the internet of the big cities like Tokyo or Osaka, but Fukushima wasn't like that at all. On the contrary, even though Fukushima is quite a big city judging by the number of people living here, it feels very quiet and rural. The dorm is located next to one of the main streets but there were still a lot of times when there were only a few cars on the street, which I only experienced in very rural areas in Germany. The city is surrounded by mountains which you can see even on the way from the dorm to the station. In general I felt like there is lots of beautiful nature to find in Fukushima.
At the start of University a lot of things about the classes and general life were explained to us. As someone who can only understand a little Japanese I sometime found it stressing as most Staff cannot speak English and I had to get a lot of my information by asking someone who could translate for me. Even though most things worked out in the end, it was very inconvenient to be dependent on someone for important topics.
The classes as well as the whole surrounding system felt very much like a school compared to Germany. I didn't get the same freedom as in my home university and I had the feeling we weren't really seen as "full" adults by the teachers with the way that rules were place upon us.
I had seven 90-minute classes in one week, which is the minimum required to take by our student visa. These classes included: Japanese Language, "Discussing Japanese Society", "Fukushima's History and Culture" and "Internet of Things II". I especially enjoyed participating in the History Class, because we also got the chance to visit different places related to the topics we studied. The teacher was also very enthusiastic about the content of the class which made me actually want to attend the lectures.
With only these few classes I had a lot of free time to spend on other activities. One of the best parts of my student life at Fukushima University was being able to participate in a club. I entered the badminton club for about 4 months and the time I spend their was very fun. Even though it took me some time to get used to training and the group dynamics (being the only international student), this was a very good opportunity to make friends with Japanese students. I was even invited to the 忘年会 ("forget-the-year-party") in December, where I learned a completely new side of most of the people. I think the way Japanese students create bonds in these kind of communities is very different from any sports club back in Germany, which made it a very valuable experience for me. I had a lot of progress in these 4 months because everyone was very supportive and encouraging, even though I wasn't particularly good in the beginning.
Throughout the semester, there were lots of different events organized by the international center, in which we - international students - could participate. Because of that I was able to visit different areas that are not as accessible by public transport as well as take part in events that weren't open to everyone. We got the chance to participate in a Festival in Iizaka, go pick Apples& be part of a traditional tea ceremony as well as visit an impressive cave in the Abukuma Mountain.
In Addition to that, some events were advertised by the international office or recommended to us by our teacher. One of these events that we visited privately was the Torch Festival in Sukagawa.
As most international students were interested in visiting different places and events, it was very easy to find someone to go to whatever you were interested in. Renting cars is also quite cheap in Japan, so we could also visit some places that were further away. Getting Jasso made it possible for me to travel a lot, especially over the winter holidays. I still want to see a lot more in the time after classes have ended, before I have to return home and I can do that a lot more comfortably because of the additional support.
For most of us it was also the first time spending important events like Christmas, New Year's or our birthdays away from our families, but for most events we organized some activities in the common room in our dorm.
Even though not everything was perfect during my stay, I am very happy I chose to come to Fukushima University over some of the more popular cities like Tokyo, because I think I got to experience the authentic traditional side of Japan in a more relaxed environment than I could have in a busy city.
福島大学への留学案内・年間スケジュール
