Kansai Gaidai

[Anonymous]

hey, this is my first time to this site, but since i saw this board, i thought i would ask. I'm seriously considering studying in Japan, at the school which my university is established with, Kansai Gaidai University. Anyone been to this school, or know the local area? I guess it's located between Kyoto and Osaka, but exactly how close to them it is i don't know. Any input would be appreciated

[Anonymous]

hey Jeff,

I'm here right now studying for a semester until the middle of December. Absolutely fantastic school - the Japanese education keeps you busy and is overall great, but the lecture courses are, for the most part, a bore and lacking any high level intellectual thinking (it's apparent many of the professors stress actually going out and experiencing Japan). The location is incredible too - it's near so many cool places: like the downtown urban Osaka area, and then the more traditional areas like Kyoto and Nara. I'd highly reccomend coming if you're really interested in learning the culture / language first hand.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[Anonymous]

nice, i wasn't expecting an answer from someone who's going there right now. So what school did you transfer from? How many classes do you have per day? Are you living with a family or in the dorms? How far is it from Kyoto and Osaka, by train or whatever? Have you been by Tokyo? How long did it take to get there and how much did it cost? I have a bunch more questions but i'll limit it to that for now

thanks

[Anonymous]

Jeff,

I'm a 4th year student from DePaul University in Chicago, IL. I've only had extremely minimal Japanese language experience before coming here - maybe a month and a half (and non credit at that...). Hasn't proved to be too much of a problem though.

Right now I have anywhere from 2 to 4 classes a day. I'm taking a total of 5 courses (4 is recommended, but DePaul requires 5 / semester). My school also requires us to stay with a host family - incredible experience, though it can be at times a bit limiting, and getting a good family (like mine fortunately is) is nothing more then luck of the draw. From Kyoto, it takes maybe 45 minutes by train, and about 20 - 30 minutes to Osaka depending on the train you catch. The fares are a little more expensive when compared to the Chicago's train system though. Haven't been to Tokyo yet, as it's about 3 hours away by shinkansen (bullet train) and pretty darn expensive at that.

From Chicago, it took roughly 14 hours by plane to get here, and if I can remember correctly, one semester (everything included: host family, tuition...etc) costed ~$6,000 or thereabouts.

if you have anymore questions, feel free to email me at: bzale@att.net