Andrew Zarate, Study in Japan at Konan Fall 2024
I am currently living in Osaka with a host family along with other foreign exchange students. In terms of location, the home stay is an hour away from the school by train, so commuting to school every day in the morning can be a bit of a challenge. However, Osaka as a base location puts me in proximity to other desired locations, like Kyoto (40min-1hr away), which is famous for its abundant and various temples, shrines, and gardens. Nara (~1 hour) is another nearby location with its famous deer park where you can actually feed and meet the deer that roam the streets. Other possible locations go visit within a reasonable time include Nagoya (2 hours), Wakayama (1-2 hours). When you choose this study abroad program and choose to live in a home stay, unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will get a homestay. However, you will go through another interview process on what you do and don’t prefer at home. For example, if you’re ok with an hour-long commute to school, if you’re ok with younger kids on homestay, if you’re okay with an older family, etc. Of course, saying yes to everything increases your chances of getting a family which is what I would suggest. As to getting a location for a family, it is quite random where you’ll end up. And I was just fortunate enough to get to a great location. Living in Osaka also puts me in the second-biggest shopping city in Japan, behind Tokyo, and the food capital of Japan, with all sorts of famous foods to try. In my homestay, I live with my host mother, her two sons, and two other foreign exchange students, one of them being on the same program as myself. All the boys are around the same age, which makes it very easy for us to bond and become friends. Furthermore, the brothers are able to take us on adventures to places around the Kansai area and at events, like baseball games. This would be my favorite part, as having a homestay family that you get along with opens up various amounts of opportunities and chances that you might not be able to receive if I were to live in a dorm or be located in a more rural area. The pictures above are from trips taken with my host family, one of them being a nature place with endless valley fields, and another a baseball game.
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