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Exchange in Tokyo (1)
Intro
Strap in for a long recount on my exchange program, why I went, and how I fared traveling abroad for the first time. This is just part 1 covering my first month or so, but I plan to write in depth about my whole trip so stay tuned.
Sections
- Why I went to Japan
- Traveling to Japan
- My first weekend in Tokyo
- Moving in to Izumi International House
- Other tales from my first few weeks
- Getting started at school
- Wrapping up (for now)
Why I went to Japan
Given that this is the most common question folks ask, I'll start by explaining my rationale for doing an exchange. Feel free to skip to the next section if you're more interested in my experiences there! A few factors and years of chance events led to my decision to study at Meiji.
Initially, I wanted / was required to study a foreign language as part of my degree. I prioritized picking one with a non-latin alphabet to experience another writing system. There were many available, but as early as elementary school, I was fascinated with Japanese and Chinese culture, their histories, and literature. Then, of these two, I'd read Dazai and Soseke and enjoyed Japanese music, TV, and anime, so I landed on studying Japanese. When making that decision, I was only 18. I had little exposure to other countries, but what I knew of Japan felt meaningful nonetheless - enough to motivate me to study the language for the next five years.
Then, I didn't understand the nuance of logographies vs. something more phonetic like a syllabary. In this regard, I was lucky to pick Japanese as a first language over Chinese, which I now find more challenging. For those who don't know, Japanese has two phonetic syllabaries, Hiragana and Katakana, that contain set numbers of characters. Each represents a syllable, similar to how letters of the English alphabet represent a sound. Functionally, Hiragana spells native Japanese words, and Katakana is for foreign words. In contrast, Chinese uses a logography where characters symbolize meaning rather than sounds, making it more different from English than Hiragana and Katakana.
However, that isn't the whole picture. Japanese implements a third writing system called Kanji, a subset of Chinese. This logography contains over 10,000 unique characters. These characters are the ones that typically appear in art or calligraphy and, again, are not phonetic.
Fortunately, learning most of them isn't necessary for most communication, but a few hundred of the basic ones can be helpful for reading. Of course, they also look cool, but make sure you ask a native speaker before accidentally tattooing "Chicken Noodle Soup" in Kanji across your back - something that actually happened; look it up!
While studying Japanese, I was exposed to more about the country, culture, and people. The island's natural diversity and urban beauty amazed me. From these aspects, my desire to travel and live there grew until the day I boarded my flight to Tokyo!
Traveling to Japan
Naturally, I was nervous to live abroad without knowing anyone at my destination AND how international travel & customs would go. This was my first time leaving the US, so despite having my papers in order, my anxiety had me convinced that I would be arrested on arrival. While packing the night before, I had a panic attack and couldn't sleep well. I remember attempting to memorize my exact train route to my hotel AND an entire 3D map of Shinjuku station to avoid getting lost - a futile task 😅.
Of course, it doesn't help that I had procrastinated on some of the trip prep. For example, my move-in date for Meiji's Izumi International House was three days after my arrival. To bridge this gap, I had to book several nights at the APA Hotel in Sugamo, which I waited to do until the night before my flight 😅. Against my nerves, however, the trip went smoothly. From Memphis, I changed in Dallas and hopped on a Japan Airlines that carried me to Tokyo. Not even a bump of turbulence!
Back on the ground at Narita airport, my anxiety grew with every step towards customs. While filling out the entry paperwork, I broke into a sweat, something I'd never been nervous enough to experience prior! In fact, that only increased my paranoia about looking suspicious enough to be stopped by a customs agent. Finally, someone took me to a helpdesk where my documentation was examined. There, they asked whether or not I planned to work while studying (which I said possibly yes to), then they issued my residence card and released me.
After double-checking that Sprint's $5 / month Japan roaming add-on was working on my phone, I meandered around searching for the KeiSei Skyliner, a $25 express train into the city. After working my way down to the station beneath the airport, an extremely polite ticket vendor gave me detailed instructions to my hotel in Sugamo! She even drew the path on a foldable map!
I finally began to relax on the platform. Waiting for the train to arrive, I realized it was my first time in an underground train station. The excitement of the wind rushing into the tunnel was akin to being next in line for a roller coaster. When my train finally arrived, I hauled my regrettably heavy suitcases over the gap and aboard the coach. Settling in for the half-hour journey, I mistakenly brought my luggage to my seat, and it was quickly suggested that I move the bags to a compartment near the entrance.
En route, the countryside gradually morphed into the largest city I'd ever seen. One moment I recall being particularly magical was when I overheard a child exclaiming to his father that he could see the Tokyo Skytree. I wanted to see it too! Following their line of sight, my eyes landed on the tower in awe. Then, just before arriving at the destination, the Skyliner began weaving tightly through tall apartment buildings like a snake, which shocked me even more!
Exhaustion from travel caught up with me as we pulled into Nippori station, and I broke into a sweat of uncertainty again. Using the instructions I'd received, I knew my ticket was good for the Skyliner AND the trip to Sugamo, but I didn't know how to use it to board the next train! Between fiddling with my bags and trying to slide the paper ticket into the gate, I clumsily dropped my heaviest suitcase. It slammed the ground loudly in front of an elderly Japanese woman whose face was mortified. I was sweaty and embarrassed and could feel a crowd of eyeballs on me, so I was mortified, too. Collecting myself, I proceeded to the platform to board the famous Yamanote Line northbound.
It was nightfall when I arrived at the hotel, and I had been up for nearly two days of travel. At check-in, I was told I had reserved a smoking room, a delightful discovery for a weary, sinus-sensitive traveler. I figured I'd go to my room and call the booking company to fix this mistake. As the door opened, a wall of stale cigarette air overwhelmed me. Before requesting to change, I had to learn how to turn on the lights, which, as it turned out, required the hotel keycard to be inserted into a slot near the entrance. I've since been to hotels in Australia and the US that do the same, but this was my first time encountering such a thing.
After charging my depleted phone battery back into the double digits, I called the booking folks and was referred to the front desk. I had low hopes that they could fix the situation, but they were surprisingly apologetic and accommodating, making the change without any extra charges! In fact, the concierge even bowed and carried my bags to the new, non-smoking room. Whether or not the booking was made in error remains a mystery, but they didn't bat an eye while helping me. Thanks, hotel man!
Anxiety sweats coupled with a lack of water had left me dehydrated to the point of having cotton mouth. That and hunger led to the second hiccup: a perceived language barrier. Was there an actual barrier? Not really! Academically, I was way past being able to order food in Japanese, but this was my first time speaking the language to accomplish something material. Reflecting on it, I feel embarrassed since a McDonald's was just across the street!! Nevertheless, that day, my brain invented enough reasons for me not to, so I hid in my hotel, starved and thirsty, while exploring the Japanese Netflix catalog. It wasn't all bad, though; they had the entirety of Avatar: The Last Airbener and Korra, which US Netflix hadn't added back then!
I knew I would survive the decision to go hungry, but I was dying for something to drink. My next hurdle was to research whether or not I could drink from taps in Japan, which I discovered was fine. Not all countries have safe tap water, so definitely research that first or, when in doubt, boil it.
With my thirst sorted, the heat was becoming unbearable. Time to turn on the AC, but nothing happened when I clicked the remote!? After tripple-checking with Google Translate that I understood the AC remote's Kanji, still nothing worked. That night, without understanding why it wouldn't work, I went to sleep hot, sweaty, and without a shower (I also couldn't figure out how that worked either since it was connected to the sink and all??) My only light win to enjoy was falling asleep while watching Avatar.
By all metrics, my first day in Japan was a goofy failure, but I was pretty green on traveling and adapting to the little differences I encountered. The shower, toilet, hotel, website layouts... All of these seem small, but adapting to everything all at once for the first time was overwhelming.
My first weekend in Tokyo
Sugamo's shopping street near my hotel:
It was Saturday morning, and on my first adventure out of the hotel, I had two goals to achieve: find food and visit the train station to acquire a Suica transport card. Just outside my hotel, I bumped into a couple from Chicago. While chatting, they clued me in about the AC issues in Japanese hotels.
Apparently, air conditioning is deactivated in the winter in most places around Japan. This was in late February, so I was out of luck. However, they recommended that I open the hotel window to cool the room, something I'd never encountered in hotels around the South so I hadn't considered the option at all. These windows didn't open by a crack either; they swung fully open like a door! From then on, I slept comfortably with the winter breeze cooling my room (I like it extremely cold).
On the way to Sugamo station, I stumbled upon my first randomly located vending machine, a well known phenomenon around the country. I bought several bottles of water for only a few hundred yen! At the station, after struggling with the Suica card machine, another helpful person taught me how to register properly! On a hot streak of wins, I headed to McDonald's to try my luck at ordering breakfast. I even did some extra shopping for Onigiri at the adjacent Family Mart.
Many helpful people made my first weekend in Japan bearable despite my unshakeable panic. By Sunday night, I'd ventured around the area, tried plenty of Onigiri, and discovered what became my routine breakfast: a small coffee & McMuffin set that was less than $2 USD!!
Moving in to Izumi International House
No one informed me that taxis here cost $20 million per mile, so imagine my surprise when my trip across town cost $80! However, the car was pretty fancy, having in-seat screens, tons of legroom, and, not to mention, the driver wore white gloves. This quality of taxi is commonplace in Tokyo.
But why did I need a taxi in a city with such spectacular public transport?? Because I was terrified of carrying 60kg of luggage through Shinjuku station, of course! I also didn't want to disturb the local elderly more than I already had. As for the ride, I saw my first flowering cherry blossom just coming into season and quickly snapped this picture that I later learned was the entrance to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden:
I arrived to a warm welcome from other students and staff, unpacked, and made my first group trip to the nearby by Don Quixote. This was a shocking experience in and of itself in comparison to American variety stores like Walmart or Target. The layout and marketing were extremely chaotic, the placement of items was impressively cluttered, and a trippy edit of Alice in Wonderland was playing on a TV attached to the wall above the staircase to the basement. In fact, this TV looped the movie the entire time I was abroad. Everytime I shopped there, I would disorient myself if I focused on it while walking down those stairs.
That evening, we went to TGI Fridays in Shibuya to have dinner and get acquainted. Everyone was super kind, and it was great to make friends early on. Plus, us newbies enjoyed picking the brains of the previous semester's students on studying at Meiji and how life was in Japan.
Regarding the dorm, each unit was a 6 or 7-bedroom suite with a communal kitchen and dining area. Izumi had a central garden and a rooftop area. Luckily, my dorm was one of the few that did not have a nightly curfew. Given that the age range was 21 - 26 year-olds, this policy was nonsense. Everyone apparently shared that opinion because even the dorms with this policy weren't successful in enforcing it.
There were plenty of amenities nearby, including the previously mentioned Don Quixote, a grocery store with fresh food (resulting in nightly discounts on unsold lunch boxes, a pro tip 😉), and a street of restaurants by the station, such as McDonald's, Starbucks, the ramen chain Ippudo, and beef bowl shops like Matsuya. Nearest to the dorm was a convenience store called Ministop that had my favorite snack, chicken nuggets in a cup 😂.
Despite 100% of our time being free outside of classes, we often got together for cultural outings like cherry blossom viewings or parties. For example, nearly all of my dorm grouped up with local Japanese students to go cherry blossom viewing at Meguro River and Inokashira Park in Kichijoji.
One eventful night, a group of us stumbled upon a random party in the middle of Yoyogi Park. While stopping by this crowd of 200 or more folks dancing amongst the trees, we witnessed a drunken Japanese salaryman dive headfirst into a fountain with water less than 6 inches deep. I was convinced he'd died as his face smacked the stone, but instead, he bounced up immediately to exclaim, "I am Japan, Japan number 1" while lighting his damp cigarette - a wonderous sight that sadly wasn't filmed.
Other tales from my first few weeks
Here's a few quick stories that occurred all before going through school orientation.
My run in with campus security
Before leaving for Tokyo, I picked up a Canon 80D with plans for filming way more than I actually filmed. That being said, I still had the ambition to do so during my first few weeks. So, a day after moving into the dorm, I walked to Izumi campus to take some shots. Classes hadn't started, and few people were on campus, but the gate was open, so I headed inside.
At this point, I hadn't been to orientation, nor had I received my student ID. For all anyone on campus knew, I was a strange gaijin (foreigner) invading their gated school with a camera! After 10 minutes of filming, security approached to figure out what I was doing, but we couldn't communicate very well. He may have asked for an ID, and I mentioned I was a Ryugakusei (foreign exchange student), so he led me to the office of someone who handled students studying abroad there.
I'm sure I made a memorable first impression on Meiji's administration since the first outing on campus resulted in my being apprehended by security. After a quick chat between the guard and the exchange coordinator, she apologized to me, introduced herself as one of our contacts, and explained what happened in English. As it turns out, the guard mistook me as an unauthorized member of the press that had invaded campus! Without a student ID, I had nothing proving that I was a student, so he brought me to the office for further inquiry. Luckily, it was no big deal, and I was off the hook!
Leaving the office, I started heading to the dorm when I noticed a vending machine at the entrance with drinks specially branded with the school's mascot, an owl named Meijiro! Of course, I had to buy one because I'm a stickler for good merch, something I'll talk about more next time. For now, here's a picture of the very same bottle:
Purchasing a commuter bike
My next anecdote will benefit from the context that leading up to my exchange program, I had become a fitness freak doing 4AM workouts and OMAD (one meal a day). I also did several fasts of 2 or 3 days because I was super unhappy with my weight. Therefore, I made it a priority to purchase a commuter bike shortly after moving into the dorm, which came with a secure bike garage on-premises. My goal was to stay fit and hopefully see more of Tokyo in the process which would be quite successful!
I'd read beforehand that a shop called Recycle Garden Yoyogi near Yoyogi Park commuters on sale for only $100 USD, so I made the trip there during my second week. Sadly, I've learned while writing this that the store closed a few years ago during the pandemic 😭. Once there, I picked a black one that was equipped with a basket and bell on the handlebars.
In Japan, bikes require registration in case they're stolen or abandoned, a process also required of foreigners. This only took a few minutes to do at the shop, and all I remember them needing was my name, but take your passport just in case. The shopkeep informed me that helmets weren't required for adults, but what was required came included on the bike such as a light for riding at night.
Not wanting to take the bike on the train, I chose to ride it back to the dorm. Since I hadn't ridden a bike in ages, I was quite wobbly which made my trip back a swim or drown kind of situation. After the 30-minute ride, I had gotten the hang of it despite a few close run-ins with cars and pedestrians. I probably should've just taken the train, but here was my route:
Hold Ctrl + Scroll to Zoom In/Out
In the parking garage, I studied the variety of unfamiliar components on the bike I'd picked up. Firstly, the bike came with keys for a lock that's built onto the bike and designed to lock the wheel so that it can't be removed by thieves (not that there ever were any). Next, I had a glossy registration sticker to prove it was mine which I was excited about. Of course, there was a standard bell, but the light was what perplexed me as I couldn't get it to work! Another bike owner in the dorm demonstrated to me that it was meant to be powered by pressing the gear against the wheel of the bike. Essentially, the force from pedaling that turns the bike wheel was captured by the light's gear when activated and put into contact with the wheel. This bit of motion sent electricity to the light, no batteries required!
Here is a picture taken just after riding to Shinjuku to visit the 2020 Olympics shop. Had to make the trip for the Miraitowa and Someity mascot blankets 😄 which are there in my basket. Still have them too! That ride was also my first test of Tokyo's cyclist amenities which did not dissapoint. Having wide paths and traffic lights dedicated to cyclists was amazing! Furthremore there was cheap, secure parking all over the Shinjuku area.
Setting up life in Tokyo with help from the Campus Mate club
We had a lot of life onboarding tasks to handle before our official orientation, and we received volunteer assistance from a local club of Japanese students. They even have a website here! I made many friends in this group, and one of their purposes as a club was seemingly to welcome incoming exchange students. I met them when they first visited our dorm, introduced themselves, and walked with us to handle several administrative tasks that involved a more challenging language barrier.
After splitting into groups, we went to Setagaya city hall to set up our health insurance. They gave us a room with desks to sit and fill out our paperwork with the club member's assistance! We then went to handle bank accounts and phone numbers. Though these should've been tedious administrative tasks, everyone enjoyed getting to know each other and exploring the scenic local neighborhood.
During the two or three weeks between the move-in date, we did several other events with the club, including an Ohanami picnic (sakura viewing) at Inokashira. The park was extremely crowded that day, and many of us purchased Sapporo's sakura-decorated beer from the local stalls. It was my first time in Kichijoji, so afterward, it was nice that we went back into town, where I was introduced to my favorite Izkaya, Chibachan, the home of the chicken boat! I would frequent the Shinjuku location, a block from the cinema, to drink "baka-sized" melon sours and enjoy literal boatloads of karaage!
Getting started at school
My classes were held in the School of Political Science and Economics at Surugadai campus near central Tokyo, and most of the dorms were located near Izumi campus, a few stops west of Shinjuku. Commuting was enjoyable due to Tokyo's intricate rail network and commuter perks. With my student ID, I purchased the Passmo commuter pass covering my entire semester, which allowed unlimited travel to all stations between Meidaimae and Ochanomizu! This meant taking the Keio line to Shinjuku and changing over to the Chuo line, providing unlimited access to places like Yoyogi and Tokyo Dome City en route (and Shinjuku, of course!).
Isn't that a beautiful station? It was even featured in Makoto Shinkai's latest film, Suzume. If, by chance, you're attending classes at Surugadai, I recommend booking the commuter pass here instead of Jimbocho, the station south of campus. I've taken both routes and knew folks who purchased both, but I preferred having a station slightly closer to Akihabara, which is only a short walk downhill OR one station further than the commuter pass' coverage.
Finally, the day came for orientation. which included information on the four campuses, scholarships, and some rules and regulations to scared us about plagiarism and internest piracy on school WiFi... This was my first commute to Surugadai, so I got lost and arrived 15 minutes late with a few other colleagues from the dorm. After finding our way, we walked into a dead silent classroom of a hundred other exchange students 🥶. The whole thing lasted quite some time, but the campus, namely Liberty Tower, was impressive! My memory fails me, but some time after that, we had smaller meetings within our schools to select courses in English from a long list (I was the school of Political Science and Economics).
I had lofty goals for classes before leaving the US, but after seeing the sights, I desired to explore more than sit in a classroom my whole trip. With that, my strict approach to enrollment centered around two criteria. First, classes were picked that were relevant to my own research interests. Then, I chose some that finished early. For example, one of my classes was scheduled for two or three hours every other day, but its duration was only three weeks. Another finished in six weeks. These classes made the first few weeks of my trip extremely busy since they were accelerated. By mid-May, however, many of them had already wrapped, and I was a free bird.
Wrapping up (for now)
This one's running a bit long, so here feels like a reasonable break point. Eventually, I want to blog about my entire trip, and I have plenty of other amusing stories I'd like to have on paper somewhere 😂. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about studying abroad, or stay tuned for the next part of my stories as an exchange student.