I started coming to Waseda this week. We have not started classes
yet, but I am getting a feel for the University already. First of all,
it is a bit of a pain to get to. My host family lives in Sumida-ku which
didn't look so far at first. It is near Asakusa, for those who are
familiar with the tourist places in Tokyo. Anyway, I have to take three
different trains in order to get from my host family's house to Waseda.
My total commute time is about one hour, which is pretty common.
However, many people sleep during that hour or so. Not me. I have to
stay awake so I don:t miss all of my transfers.
Anyway, once I finally got there, Waseda was pretty cool. I had visited the campus before, so it brought back some good memories. It is a rather nice campus. Considering the fact that it is in the middle of Tokyo, there is a lot of open space. There are actual trees and sidewalks that the cars and buildings have not taken over. Some of the buildings have some slight Roman or Greek architectural influences, but mostly they are just modern, boring buildings. The campus is better than some I have seen in Japan, though.
As I said, we haven't started classes yet. The International Division actually starts classes before the other divisions in the University. The campus is pretty quiet now. From next week, I will be studying such exciting things as: Comparative Japanese and American Management, Japanese Foreign Policy, Japanese Politics, and Industrial Policies in Asia. Of course I will also have two hours of Japanese classes every morning. I am a little curious to see what all these classes will be like. The general rule is that Japanese college students don't have to study much (they do enough studying in junior high and high school). However, since this is the International Division, it is a mix of many teaching styles. Some of the professors are Japanese and some are just visiting.
The International Division also has somewhat "international" students. Waseda has relationships with a number of American universities, so there are a lot of American students here. There are some independent students who just came here on their own. They come from fifteen other countries, but they are definitely outnumbered by the Americans. There are also a few regular Waseda students who are auditing the International Division classes. For the most part, though, it feels like I am back home when I am in my classes. It is rather odd.
I hope to join a club soon so that I can meet some Japanese students. Clubs are very important to students here. Many of them were required to join a club in junior high or high school, so they have also chosen something here. They say there are over 1500 clubs at Waseda. I am working on getting into the badminton club. I am a little worried that they will be a little more serious than I am. I play just for fun, but Japanese people tend to really get into whatever they do.
So, this is my life for the next ten months or so. It should be an adventure. I am starting to get used to Japan. I have found a few good places to eat around campus. I have called on a few old friends for advice. Slowly, I am understanding a few words of Japanese here and there. Life.