Week 2: Classes and Exploring
Hello! I’ve just finished up my second week in Nagoya, so I am going to update on some of the things I’ve done.
I wanted to talk a bit about the class structure now that I’ve gone through a week of them. I’m in Elementary Japanese and it’s actually a lot of fun. The class is about 90 minutes long, but it really goes by quickly. The teachers are very nice and fun. Even though the class is a little early sometimes (8:45AM), I am still excited and alert for the entire time. It also helps that I can get a Redbull from the Lawson on the walk there (the purple flavor is so good..). For now, a lot of the class is just us learning basic phrases to say (all shown in romanji/english alphabet). I kinda wish there was more to do with the hirigana/katakana/kanji, but it definitely would be a lot to cover in 6 weeks and the workload would probably be a lot more. I’m assuming it will be introduced later on once we get passed the “basic survival” portion. The class is very chill and there has only been like one easy assignment per week that we do in class together.
As for the Automotive class, it works kind of like an anthology where different lecturers come in each day and explain a different aspect of the automotive industry. They are about 3 hours long, but there is a 15 minute break halfway through. All of the lectures have been pretty engaging so far, but they only really go into surface level concepts. As for homework, there is a simple one-page report we have to write for each lecture. It’s basically just a check that you were paying attention in class.
We have had one lab tour so far. We toured a professor’s lab on campus where he had car simulators and custom cars with a ton of sensors on them. He used these to test and collect data on elder drivers. It was very cool
MORE ON NAGOYA UNIVERSITY FOR FUTURE NUSIP STUDENTS
There is a scholarship that the program offers called JASSO. It offers 80,000 yen per month, so 160,000 yen overall. It seems like many of the people in the program received this stipend, and it was quite the easy, straightforward application process. I’m not sure how this will change in the future, but it is really helpful and if it is offered, definitely get that form filled out. They give you the money in cash once you arrive. It’s something to keep in mind if financial issues are why you are apprehensive about applying or committing to the program.
The dorms that the program puts you in are off campus and about a 15-20 minute walk away from the classes. There’s a Lawson and 7/11 nearby as well as a few grocery stores. The girls in my dorm haven’t been cooking a lot, but I know some of the boy dorms have been making family meals and eating together which is fun.
There is a cafeteria on campus which has multiple options. There are basic rice dishes, noodle dishes, and a halal section. The prices are pretty good. Depending on what you get, its around 500-700 yen for a nice meal. The cafeteria does get a little crowded around lunch time though. There’s also a few restaurants/cafes between the dorms and the campus, but I haven’t been to any of them.
During the week, I didn’t really do much. I think most of it was just walking around, resting, and doing assignments. On Tuesday, it was one of my rooomate’s birthday though, so we went out to karaoke and a club. It was kind of dead, seeing as it was a Tuesday, but we met some fun Japanese girls and we just yelled kawaii at each other the whole time which was funny. I was able to use some of my very basic Japanese to introduce myself.
My exploring of Nagoya has mainly been through shopping.. There is the main district called Sakae which has a ton of department stores. There’s also this covered market style street called Osu which has a lot of vintage/retro/second hand shops. I haven’t been able to try any of the food stalls yet, but they all look really good and I do plan on trying them out.
On Friday, there was a night market, so me and a few others headed to Sakae to do some shopping before going to that. We went to the Parco there and found this pet store with crazy exotic animals. Like they had a whole capybara on sale in a mall.
We then went to the night market which was really cool. It was on this canal thing, so it was pretty, but very packed. I got deer and wild boar meat sausages which were actually so good. The guy hunted them himself which I thought was cool. I wasn’t sure about the gun/hunting regulations in Japan, so I didn’t know you could do that. There were lots of other stalls selling ethnic foods like Thai, Viet, Chinese, British, etc.
On Saturday, me and a few others went thrifting in Sakae/Osu. Honestly we didn’t end up going to many clothing stores and instead found ourselves drawn to card shops. But we went to this fire Mexican place that had really good food. I had been craving a burrito since the semester ended, so I got a chicken burrito and it hit the spot. It was really good. It’s called ‘Sayulita Tacos & Craft Beer’. There’s a little bit of a wait because there are probably about 14 total seats on the inside, but definitely worth. I will be going back.
The girls in the program also went out to the Peanuts Cafe with the tutors and it was really cute. I got strawberry shaved ice and it was very interesting. It had like a marshmallow fluff on top and some type of jelly at the bottom.
This night we also had Domino’s because there is one right by the dorm. There were some fun flavors but honestly a little mid… I know some of the others really enjoyed it though.
Sunday included more thrifting, but this time I actually went to clothes stores. I got a couple of good items. I also went to this Japanese Italian chain called ‘Saizeriya’ and it’s sooo cheap with big serving sizes. I think it was about $9 for pasta, unlimited fountain drinks, garlic bread, and tiramisu. The food was quite good too. I had the Tarako (Pollock Roe) pasta and it was really good. I will probably get it again before I leave.
Overall a pretty good week, lots of good food. I think I’m going to chill out this week because a few others and I are planning to go to Osaka this weekend and I want to make sure I’m feeling good for that. A lot of people in the program have been getting sick, so I’m hoping I can avoid that. Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope some of this was helpful and engaging.
NUSIP Automotive Engineering Summer Program in Nagoya, Japan
