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Kyoto University

Spring 2017 Chiu Hui Tung (Jessica)

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Part 1: Monthly Activity Log

April

April is the beginning of the academic year in Japan. It was the time to settle things down, like course registration, resident registration at town office and adapting to the life style in Japan. Clubs held orientation activities free of charge every week so I had a great time exploring different clubs. April is also the time for cherry blossom and the scenery is beautiful.

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May

After making decision on which club to join, welcoming parties were held during May. It was the time to meet local friends and chitchat about the life in Kyoto University. During the last week of May, the school organized a trip for exchange students, taking us to Mountain

Koya(高野山) and stayed overnight at a temple in

Arashiyama(嵐山).

June

Deadline for reports started to come in June and academic life got busier, especially during the last week. I went to escape room with a group of friends. It was my first time to play it in Japan. The staff gave hints when he saw we were kind of stuck in the middle. At last, we successfully solved all the questions and won the game. June is also the season for Hydrangea

macrophylla (紫陽花) so check it out before June ends.

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Part 1: Monthly Activity Log

July

Examinations were held during the last week of July and before that, there were deadlines for the reports. One of the top 3 festivals

in Japan, Gion(祇園) is held during the mid of July, bus routes are re-scheduled for this event so be careful when taking buses during that time. My friends and I went to

Mitarashi Festival(御手洗祭り). The temple is located near Yoshida Campus so remember to take a look if you have time. It is a special festival in which you have to walk through a pool of cold water, aiming at cleansing the body and pray for health.

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August

It was the last month of my exchange journey. There was a lot of administrative work had to be done before returning to Hong Kong like visiting the ward office, terminating the insurance, returning membership card etc. During August, I joined the club’s 4-day trip and had a great time there, having BBQ, and visiting the travel spots there.

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Visa Procedures I applied for Visa on Monday and received it on Friday so the whole process was quite efficient. To apply for Visa, I will suggest reserving a time online first to avoid hours of waiting. Remember to bring your ID card (original and copy), passport (original and copy, copy the last page with the signature signed as well), Certificate of Eligibility and a photo (light color background required, get one with a white background to play safe and don’t wear glasses for the photo). You can make copy documents there ($2) or take photo with the photo-taking machine ($50). It cost $275 for the visa application.

Orientation Activities There was a day for orientation, which explained most of the information you need to know for you exchange like course registration, resident registration, traffic rules for bicycles, rubbish separating etc. The contents were important so do not miss it. Kyoto University will send you details before your departure about things to bring on that orientation day. Some time in May, the university organized a free trip specialized for exchange students, spending 2 days at

Arashiyama (嵐山).

International Services & Activities KIZUNA is a place designated for exchange students. You could find language books and comics there, with officers welcoming your visit and are willing to talk to you. It holds monthly cultural events, application by email is needed and many of them have quotas so pay high attention to their notice if you are interested in joining their activities. KIXs organize weekly gathering and monthly events (e.g. day trip and party) so you may take a look at their announcement as well. They have presence on Facebook.

Accommodations There are 5 International Houses and 3 other private accommodation options to choose from. All the detailed information including room types, rent and location could be found on their website (P.9 - KUISO). You will receive an email to apply and you have to make a list of 10 choices and rank them. KUINEP classes are held at Yoshida Campus so I suggest you not to apply for dorms at Katsura and Uji. Note that if you are assigned to a double room, you cannot share a room with others but have to pay the double room rent.

Part 2: General Exchange Information

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Course Registration I have joined the KUINEP program but there were actually no restriction like KUINEP students could only take KUINEP classes so I took classes held by the Department of Economics. KUINEP classes were conducted in English but most of the econ classes were conducted in Japanese so re-consider before you decide to take the class. KUINEP course registration could be done online easily but the application for econ classes was quite old-fashioned in a way that you have to get the signature from the professor and hand in the form to the office.

Teaching & Assessment Methods Classes were conducted in lecture format: the professor prepared Powerpoint for the day and explained the contents. Assessment methods were mainly reports, presentations and final examinations. You could find the syllabus details of each class at KULASIS, similar to Canvas at HKUST.

Sports & Recreation Facilities There are quite a number of recreation facilities like gym, swimming pool, ball court and a practice place for baseball players.

Finance & Banking (including currency / expenses) You could use credit card to pay for the rent and electricity bill. Or else, you could make payments at the convenience stores. There is operation time for ATMs so be aware of the time and take the money you need. It is not required to make a bank account unless you are going to receive scholarship from Kyoto University or JASSO.

Part 2: General Exchange Information

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Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities Lots of clubs were busy recruiting members during April so you could join their orientation activities like joining their weekly meeting or live for music clubs before deciding whether or not to join them. These activities would be held for a whole month so need not to worry even if you could not join certain activity at certain date. I joined two local clubs to meet Japanese friends and had a joyful time.

Health & Safety There are no particular things to worry to travel to Japan. Each exchange student is required to buy the National Health Insurance. You will be subscribed to the insurance when you make the resident registration at town office. If you see the doctor with the card issued, the medical charge will be discounted 70% off.

Food There are quite a number of restaurants around the campus, like ramen, Indian food, spaghetti etc. I am sure it is fun to try out each restaurant with friends throughout the exchange.

Transportation Riding bicycle is the most common type of transportation for university students. You will see them cycling around the campus. The nearest station to the

university is Demachiyanagi (出町柳) and it took around 10 minutes to walk to

Yoshida Campus. I used mainly buses or Keihan (京阪電車) to travel to the city

town Sanjo (三条), Shijo (四条). Each trip cost around 210 to 230 yen.

Part 2: General Exchange Information

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Climate In Kyoto, April was a bit cold for me; the climate was similar to that in Hong Kong wintertime, so I will suggest you to bring thick clothes as well. In summer, the strong sunshine may cause sunburn so putting on sunscreen or using UV-cut umbrella will help.

Communication I bought a SIM card with calling function. You could find a lot of different types of SIM cards at department store like BIG Camera/Yodobashi Camera and find a SIM card that meets your needs. Note that most of the SIM cards with calling function could not be used immediately after the purchase; they could be used only if you have completed the online registration and the company would then sent you the SIM card. I bought the OCN SIM card because this was the only SIM card that I could found which could be used once finished the purchase.

Cautionary measures

I would suggest you to download the app Y!防災速報 provided by Yahoo Japan. It warns you during the time of heavy rain, typhoon, and natural disasters, related information would be shown.

Other notes I would suggest you to apply for JASSO scholarship, though it gives preference to students studying in Japan for a year, it seems like Kyoto University would take a look at the JASSO application and give out Scholarship to selected applicants. I did not apply for the scholarship so I do not have much information so please take it as a reference.

Part 2: General Exchange Information

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Part 3: Checklist of Items to Bring & Useful Links

Many of the items could be bought easily so I just list out some of the important items that you must bring:

• Passport

• Cell Phone

• Personal Computer

• ID photos

• Cash & Credit Card

• Charge Convertor

The dorm provides pillow, bed sheet and blanket, tenants leave their used necessities like hangers, pans, bowls somewhere near the lobby so you could just pick up the ones you need.

Links:

i. Consulate-General of Japan http://www.hk.emb-japan.go.jp/chi/visa.html

ii. KUISO - Kyoto University International Service Office https://kuiso.oc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/top/en

iii. KUINEP program http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/education-campus/international/students1/exchange.html

Icons used are made by [Zlatko Najdenovski] from www.flaticon.com

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