Hello my dear readers!
Since I came back to germany from my
year abroad at Tsukuba University in Japan, a few weeks passed. I
first struggled quite a bit with beeing back again but now I'm fine
and I thought I could use this blog for sharing my experience of
going abroad, studying in a different country (In my case: in
Japan) and maybe help some of you who are going abroad for the next
year or who plan to do so in the future (^w^)/
First of all: if you have the chance to
go and study abroad I think you should go for it!
I know that there
are a few downsides of going away for a year (especially because this
leeds to the situation of leaving friends and family behind), but you
can learn, grow and experience
SO MUCH, that it weighs off every
struggle you will have (and you WILL have them, believe me ;3). But let's start with first things
first, shall we? I want to do a short series of blog entrys about
this topic, so let's get startet!
About Studying abroad 1
- How to get there and how to prepare
for studying in Japan
The first question to answer is: how
will you manage to get the chance to go abroad?
In my case it was obviously the easiest way to go to Japan with the exchange program my university is offering. If you are interested in studying abroad and if you are a student, you should check this possibility first. Exchange programs offer the chance of getting a sholarship which will make it much easyer for you to finance your stay abroad.
If Japan is the country you wanna got
to this helps a lot, since the tuition fees are quite expensive and
living there isn't cheap as well. Moreover university exchange
programs are fairly well organized and you can save yourself a lot
of trouble and work if you use them to go abroad.
There are other ways to get there
though, for example with a work and travel agency or as a language
shool student / language teacher, but I want to focus on the university exchange program
here because that was what I used and how I made my stay abroad
possible ;3
So, how do you get a place in such a
program?
Well, you have to have good grades.
It's not impossible to get a place with middle-rate grades, but it's
way easyer with good grades. I'm studying Japanese at my university
which also helps I guess if you want to go to Japan especially.
For my application I had to write a
text about my motivation to go abroad and I had to choose a research
subject which I wanted to work on in Japan. The motivational text got
approved and I was invited to an interview afterwards. The personal
interview I had was with 2 professors and 2 ambassadors of the
exchange program. It was a group interview with other students who
wanted to apply too, and the professors would ask us questions about our
general knowledge regarding the university we wanted to go to and Japan in general
(history, culture etc.) as well as about our motivation to go there
and why we choose the universitys we wanted to go to.
In this Interview we where compared to
each other (In my group there where 3 other students). If one
couldn't answer a question the others could try to answer and there
where a few discussions in which you could show your knowledge. And
you really should show what you know because in that situation it
doesn't helpt to be shy and let the others talk all the time. You
have to show that you really want to go abroad and that you worked
your ass off for a chance like that (don't be harsch and a smart-alec though XD' Just...be nice ^^).
I think the interview was the hardest
part of the applicaton process because if you failed this interview
you didn't get a place in the program. I had to try twice to get it
right there, so don't be overwhelmed if it doesn't work out right
away, keep on trying and learn from your mistakes! Another good
advice I got was to ask other students which already got into the
program about their interview and which questions where asked etc..
It helps a lot to be well prepared ;3
After I passed this interview there was
a lot of paperwork which had to be done. You have to apply at the
University abroad, apply for your Visa as a student in Japan and a
ton of other things which are important have to be done. You have to
book your flight, check your insurance and stuff and then you are
almost ready to go.
Almost. I mean, you could go now, if
all the paperwork is done etc., you have your flight, know where you
will stay...but there are still things you can do to be prepared even better.
My university offered a workshop about
experiences you will make while staying abroad and culutre shock etc.
It can be very beneficial for you, if you visit such workshops. I
learned a lot there which helped me abroad and it was for free! I think most Universitys / their
International Offices are offering such trainings, so take advantage
of this and use them to prepare yourself!
It also helps a lot to get in contact
with people that are at your home university right now, but which are
originally exchange students, coming from the university you are
going to abroad. In my case I met a few people from Tsukuba
University before going to Japan and we stayed in contact until they
went back to Japan and I got accepted at their university and went
there! It's great to start your stay abroad, already having friends
at your new university, so don't let this chance go by!
 |
| Picnic in Tsukuba also with a few japanese friends I already got to know in germany ^^ |
I hope this will help some of you who
are planning to go and study in Japan! If you have questions don't
hesitate to ask in the comments-section ;3
The next time I will write about the
stay abroad itself a bit more, so stay tuned ^^
