Pitt Global Experiences

Andrew Zarate, Study in Japan at Konan Fall 2024

The morning routine for the weekdays is the same for all the foreign students in this program. Everyone has language class from 9 am, so depending on how far you are depends on when you would normally wake up. For me, being an hour away, I would usually wake up at around 7:30. From that time I would do any preparations or things I needed to do and head out at around 7:55. Most, if not everyone’s house will be about a 5 to 20 min walk to the station, so it’s always good to know when your train will arrive and to get there a little early. Getting to school also depends on what train line you use to get to school, if you need to transfer, and there is the possibility that the train will get delayed. Usually this happens because of bad weather or a safety issue/maintenance check. After arriving at my station, it is about a 15 min walk to the school, and this is the same for all stations from the school. Classes for foreign students at school are in three parts. First, you will have language class for three sections from 9 to 12 with a 10-minute break in-between every 50 minutes. Afterwards, everyone will have about an hour break to each lunch. I usually go to the school cafeteria because the food is cheap, but also served in large portions and actually very good. Another option is to go to the school convenience store and buy a bento, which is essentially a small meal that you can heat up and eat. The time after lunch depends on the students. Depending on what classes you take, it depends on what times of the week you have these classes, with each “Japan Studies” class lasting an hour and a half. For example, I would take classes until 4 pm on Monday, and until 2:30 on Wednesday. I would have a free period after lunch but then have to take a class from 2:40 to 4:10 on Thursday. Lastly, I would have Tuesday and Friday’s completely free after lunch. For the days that would end around 4 pm I would usually just head back home unless I had plans with friends. However, for the days free after lunch, I would take the free time to study, or venture around the area and Osaka city, shopping, trying new places to eat, etc. Dinner would usually take place anywhere from 6:30 pm to 8:00 depending on the family and whenever they felt like making the meal. Depending on the family, it may be more or less often that you will eat dinner as one big family, or they will leave food out for you when you get home. For my family, it was random, but usually we all ate together 3 to 4 times a week. In terms of studying and time spent outside of class on school stuff, I don’t think it’s very demanding. The hardest class will be your language class, so you’ll spend most of your time doing that, but for the other classes, they are very laid back, and you hardly ever need to study or spend any time preparing for a normal class. In the pictures you can see the kind of meals that would be normal. The sushi is a meal prepared by my host family, where everyone can make, their own sushi with whatever ingredients and eat it. The other meal is a standard cafeteria meal, and while it doesn’t look like a lot you have plenty of options to add onto the meal.