First Impressions of Campus Life
こんにちは皆さん！We meet again after three days of jetlag-fighting and tiring trips around Tokyo. All fun is done and now we are back to business. For the past two days, we spent some time to walk around the campus (especially during the campus tour) and we got to see some 課外活動 in action. We also got to talk to some of the Japanese students who are living at the Senshu International House dorm. Here, we'll talk about our first impressions of campus life in Japan.
These last few days were hectic, and as we arrived during the weekend, we could only catch glimpses of student life outside of the classroom. Mukogaokayuen is a district with several university campuses converging with each other, and the district is very lively during day and night. There are bowling rooms, karaoke bars, izakayas, arcades, purikuras, bookstores, and many restaurants. On our walk from the Senshu International House to the station, there were also many convenience and 100 yen stores, a drug store, and a supermarket. This complex neighbourhood provides students with all their entertainment and food needs all in a convenient location.
A quick survey with two of our conversation partners revealed that they hang out on the weekends, and during the week, either have their part time job or stay at home to do homework/study/relax. One person had CP preparation courses on Saturday as well. It seems the university students have some decision in their schedules as well as the students in Canada.
During our campus tours, we passed by a kyudo practice. Kyudo is japanese archery that requires much discipline. (If you focus closely, you can see people wearing white through the green fence, unfortunately we were not allowed to go inside). Coincidentally, there was a resident in our dorm who was also a part of the female team. She said they had to practice five times a week, and her arms were quite toned from the constant practice. The structure of teams seems to be more strict, though in sports, discipline is needed to improve as a whole team.
One of our roommates is a part of a tea ceremony circle (茶道）, and she asked her sempai for permission for us to visit a meeting, and hopefully we'll be able to intrude on their meeting on Tuesday, May 19. The tea ceremony circle meets twice a week, and apparently, June is a really intense month full of practice for the お茶会（where another university's tea ceremony circle visits and Senshu's circle has to serve them tea). It's interesting how the relationship between other universities involves club collaborations as well. There was also a person in a K-pop dance cover circle, seemingly less intense-sounding than all the other traditional arts, but until we attend a meeting it is hard to conclude. (Sharon will ask about that circle later) There was also an international circle. They meet once a week, and the circle is really foreigner friendly. They direct tours of interesting places like Yokohama and provide an opportunity to meet tonnes of people. On the day of our arrival, we also saw a baseball practice (Thursday night), and there was one on Sunday morning that we passed by. It was a boy's team, and there seemed to be a female manager that filled up water bottles. The lively university atmosphere that we usually see on Japanese dramas or animes are actually real - and we have experienced it!
The campus was probably the same size as our campus but everything here is so different. One interesting thing we noticed is that the cafeteria at Senshu University is very different from Mac Hall at our university for instance. At U of C, there is no actual cafeteria, rather, a food court where you can get food from different shops. Here, there is a vending-machine like machine that spits out a ticket after selecting your meal combos. Next, you will be bringing the ticket, line up, and pass it to the person in charge of preparing your meal. And then, voila, your lunch! The meals come in ceramic bowls that will be reused and washed by the cafeteria staff, which is notably different than University of Calgary's atmosphere. Japan's waste disposal and environmentally friendly practices are followed to a tee, and it's something that Calgary, or in fact, the whole world, can learn from.
A quick survey with two of our conversation partners revealed that they hang out on the weekends, and during the week, either have their part time job or stay at home to do homework/study/relax. One person had CP preparation courses on Saturday as well. It seems the university students have some decision in their schedules as well as the students in Canada.
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| (弓道 Training field) |
One of our roommates is a part of a tea ceremony circle (茶道）, and she asked her sempai for permission for us to visit a meeting, and hopefully we'll be able to intrude on their meeting on Tuesday, May 19. The tea ceremony circle meets twice a week, and apparently, June is a really intense month full of practice for the お茶会（where another university's tea ceremony circle visits and Senshu's circle has to serve them tea). It's interesting how the relationship between other universities involves club collaborations as well. There was also a person in a K-pop dance cover circle, seemingly less intense-sounding than all the other traditional arts, but until we attend a meeting it is hard to conclude. (Sharon will ask about that circle later) There was also an international circle. They meet once a week, and the circle is really foreigner friendly. They direct tours of interesting places like Yokohama and provide an opportunity to meet tonnes of people. On the day of our arrival, we also saw a baseball practice (Thursday night), and there was one on Sunday morning that we passed by. It was a boy's team, and there seemed to be a female manager that filled up water bottles. The lively university atmosphere that we usually see on Japanese dramas or animes are actually real - and we have experienced it!
The campus was probably the same size as our campus but everything here is so different. One interesting thing we noticed is that the cafeteria at Senshu University is very different from Mac Hall at our university for instance. At U of C, there is no actual cafeteria, rather, a food court where you can get food from different shops. Here, there is a vending-machine like machine that spits out a ticket after selecting your meal combos. Next, you will be bringing the ticket, line up, and pass it to the person in charge of preparing your meal. And then, voila, your lunch! The meals come in ceramic bowls that will be reused and washed by the cafeteria staff, which is notably different than University of Calgary's atmosphere. Japan's waste disposal and environmentally friendly practices are followed to a tee, and it's something that Calgary, or in fact, the whole world, can learn from.
(Pictures coming soon!)
Senshu University is located uphill and is surrounded by forest. Since the university is a little far from the station, a lot of students would walk all the way uphill to the university. It's almost similar to anywhere else except there is so many people walking towards the university at the same time it seems unreal. On the morning of our excursion to Asakusa, we went against a huge wave of students all walking as a crowd to school. It seemed never-ending, and it felt like an integral part of school. Walking to school together was a key part of a relationship, we heard.
Because it is weekend, there is nothing much we can explore. So, the actual adventure begins on Monday where the university will be crowded by people going about their stuff. Until then!
-「武者」（ムシャ）Muhamad and Sharon
-「武者」（ムシャ）Muhamad and Sharon
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