#waseda university
I got a message from one of my friends who went to the same school at me during my exchange and asked when I would be arriving in Japan. He’s currently a Waseda student as well so he knows I have to be showing up soon. After telling me he then asked if I had anyone meeting me there, which I didn’t. So, he offered to come meet me at the airport.
So glad I made such good friends back in 11th grade.
I got my dorm placement earlier this week but I’ve been rushing around trying to get documents and such sent off and such so I haven’t had the chance to make a post. (Also I’m a tad lazy.)
Anyways… I got into my top dorm!
The dorm I got into is called WISH (Waseda International Student Housing) and is very new as it only opened earlier this year. I won’t know my dorm placement until the 29th so I can’t start trying to find my suite mates yet but I hope I’ll be able to find them through the facebook group before I arrive.
(Yes there is a FamilyMart on the first floor!)
The WISH dorms are located in Nakano which is a very nice place. In addition to that it’s not too far from both the station and a supermarket.
This is what the average room looks like:
Each student has a private room but they share a living space with 1 to 3 other students.
As you can see there are only tables in there. Each floor has showers and a giant kitchen with multiple stations shared by all the students on that floor.
On the second floor there are music rooms, a gym, big Japanese styled public baths and some other multi purpose rooms.
Anyways I’m super excited to live in this dorm. Move in day is on the 6th but I arrive on the 3rd. That’s fine though cause I’ll just use airbnb for those three days and spend them going to ikea to buy bedding and towels and trying to find a place that will make me a hanko (those name stamps that Japanese people use in place of signing on documents and such).
So a large package came in the mail earlier this week and it was essentially full of lots of papers I needed to sign also these weird student ID card templates that I have to do twice for some reason. And at the very very very bottom of the pile of papers was a letter telling me I received a scholarship that covers my tuition for the first semester! I’m excited because now I don’t have to feel as pressured to get a job right away and can take my time finding something I like and works well for me.
So something in the back of my mind was telling me to check the website of the dorm I want to get into (http://www.waseda.jp/wish/english/) tonight and it’s a good thing I did because registration had opened up. The application could all be done online and it mainly asked basic personal information and which dorm I wanted to be in. There were only four questions that seemed the type that would match me up with a roommate which were:
- Do you get cold easily?
- Are you messy?
- Do you exercise?
- Do you like to be social?
Besides that there were just a bunch of long response questions like ‘Explain a situation where you achieved something as a team.’ and 'How do you envision yourself in the future?’
Anyways I just really hope I get to be in the WISH dorms because they’re new and pretty, they only opened up earlier this year. I’m not sure exactly when I’ll be informed but it seems as though it will be initially online and then later a packet will be sent to my home.
2nd- Leave for Japan
3rd- Arrive in Japan
8th- Japanese and English Placement Tests (the reason I have to do the English one is beyond me)
9th- Freshman Orientation, Student Visa Holders Orientation and Orientation for Other Foreign Languages
16th- Orientation for International Students on Student Life
18th to 20th- Course Registration Round 1
20th- Campus Tour and Welcome Reception
21st- Whole School and SILS (School of International Liberal Studies) Opening Ceremonies and the Distribution of Student ID cards
25th- First Day of Classes
And somewhere in here my high school I studied abroad at will be having their School Festival and I’m going to try to make it to that and I’m going to attempt to spend some time with my friends I haven’t seen in forever.
Sorry for not posting in forever but since I’ve been back in America I haven’t really had anything Japan related to post about. But today I finally do. (Well technically I’ve known this news for two weeks but I’ve been busy/lazy.) Anyways I’ve been accepted to Waseda University! I’ll be starting there in September as a freshman and I could not be more excited. Once the remainder of materials for continuing the process come next month I’ll make a video detailing how I applied and what I’ll be doing in preparation for returning to Japan.
This means that starting in September I’ll be able to upload new pictures and video about Japan regularly so look forward to it!
