Most people, though not all, usually choose a country related to their field of study, or somewhere they\u2019ve been interested in for a while. In university you\u2019re usually\u00a0drawn to people from those areas that you\u2019re interested in. This makes moving to a\u00a0different country a lot easier if you have friends. My home university is very international,\u00a0with students from all over the world coming to study. It\u2019s also a very big university and\u00a0allows a large number of exchange students to come each year. This created a great\u00a0opportunity for me to make a lot of Japanese friends, and as my major was Japanese, I\u00a0took an interest in finding people who I could practice my new language skills with.<\/p>\n
That being said, when I chose my exchange university, I chose the school where I knew the most amount of people. Granted it was only 4 people, one of them being my ex-boyfriend, it was still a great gateway into meeting new people and making friends. One of\u00a0my friends introduced me to a girl who I would become great friends with as the year\u00a0went on, all of it starting from her helping this poor stranger from the airport to the dorm.<\/p>\n Both of them being residence advisors at the dorm also really helped the process of\u00a0making friends \u00a0faster as\u00a0I frequently got invited to all the parties happening.\u00a0Having people you know your exchange university is also a great because if you\u2019re\u00a0ever in trouble or need help, they are there for you \u2013 especially in Japan, or some country\u00a0where they don\u2019t speak your native language. I had a few problems in my first few months\u00a0of exchange, whether it was issues with my bank or trying to get a phone, and having my\u00a0friends there to help me and go with me to translate conversations was a life-saver.<\/p>\n If\u00a0you\u2019re a ball of stress and anxiety like I am, I would definitely recommend going\u00a0somewhere where you know people.<\/p>\n 2. Making friends<\/strong><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have any friends at the university you\u2019re wanting to go to, don\u2019t worry, there are tons of other ways to make friends. Usually exchange universities will\u00a0have all the exchange students do group activities together for the first week of them\u00a0arriving. This is a great way to make your initial friends, even if you\u2019re one of those people\u00a0determined only to make friends only with those who don\u2019t speak English so you aren\u2019t\u00a0tempted to do so. These exchange students are probably just as nervous and anxious\u00a0about everything as you are and it\u2019s always good to have people who you can relate to. I\u00a0met some of my best friends on the first day of exchange while we were all doing\u00a0something as boring as getting our residence cards. One of the girls started talking to me\u00a0and we got really close after that.<\/p>\n Of course, there are other ways of making friends, especially if you\u2019re interested in\u00a0meeting people from Japan. In this case, I\u2019d say the best way is to join a club. While I was\u00a0at Hitotsubashi, I joined the badminton team. Not only did I get a chance to use Japanese, I\u00a0was also able to make friends and go on trips with them to places I probably wouldn\u2019t\u00a0have gone to normally. It was a really fun experience, and the people were really nice \u2013\u00a0though a few of them were too afraid to talk to me, which made it seem like they didn\u2019t\u00a0like me (don\u2019t feel discouraged by that though!).<\/p>\n Another way of making friends is in class. I met a lot of great people in my classes, whether they were exchange students like me, international students, or regular students.\u00a0Classes in Japan tend to be smaller, so it makes it easier to get to know people. At UBC,\u00a0most classes are huge lectures with over 100 people, which makes it incredibly difficult to\u00a0make friends. The change in class size was a huge relief to me.<\/p>\n Finally, go to parties at the dorm. If you\u2019re living in a dorm, there is bound to be parties (in my case almost every weekend). Go out and enjoy the night with fellow\u00a0students, even if drinking isn\u2019t your thing. It\u2019s a great way to meet people; I became\u00a0friends with the most people through parties, even when I wasn\u2019t drinking and just\u00a0socialising.<\/p>\n 3. Choosing where to stay<\/strong><\/p>\n I find this is a question people usually have when they go on exchange to Japan. Usually there are two options: homestay or dorm. I will go through the positive and\u00a0negatives of each in the hope it will help you choose what\u2019s best for you.<\/p>\n Homestay:<\/p>\n Homestay can be a good experience for those who really want to experience a Japanese lifestyle while in Japan. If you\u2019re someone who lives with your\u00a0family, or is worried about feeling homesick while on exchange, homestay might be the\u00a0nicer option for you. You would be able to receive home-cooked meals, have people to\u00a0talk to, and essentially have a second family. It also gives you a great opportunity to study\u00a0and learn the language, which is the number one reason people choose homestay.<\/p>\n On the other side, I\u2019ve heard a lot of bad things about homestay, mostly horror stories of people getting bad host families, or not being able to use Japanese like they\u00a0hoped. Living in a homestay also imposes a lot of restrictions on your lifestyle. Most\u00a0homestay families have a curfew and have restrictions on people staying over. I hadn\u2019t\u00a0lived with my family for over two years due to university, and the thought of going back to\u00a0a restrictive lifestyle wasn\u2019t such an appealing option. Of course, this all depends on your\u00a0host family, but you won\u2019t find out how they are until you\u2019re living with them. You also\u00a0don\u2019t have easy access to friends if you live far away from them, and have less of a chance\u00a0meeting new people and making friends if you aren\u2019t in an environment that constantly\u00a0has you meeting other people.<\/p>\n Dorms:<\/p>\n Dorms are something you have to be careful about while staying in Japan.\u00a0A lot of them have curfews, or strict rules about people staying over or visiting. It\u2019s very\u00a0important that you do your research on the dorms available to you for different schools\u00a0when you\u2019re applying. Half the reason I chose Hitotsubashi was because I knew the dorms\u00a0were very relaxed, and when I compared it to Waseda and Keio, I found that both had\u00a0strict rules on visitors and curfew.<\/p>\n Personally, I didn\u2019t want to have those kinds of\u00a0restrictions put on me while I was on my fun exchange year. While school was, of course\u00a0important, I also wanted to have fun and really enjoy my time in Japan. Plus, I had been\u00a0living on my own for two years with all the freedom in the world, so it was a bit of a\u00a0downgrade having a curfew.<\/p>\n If your dorms are anything like Hitotsubashi\u2019s, there will be a lot of fun parties\u00a0organised either by the residence advisors, or by students ready to relieve some stress.\u00a0Living in the dorm is part of the reason why I was able to enjoy my time in Japan so much.\u00a0All the events organised and the accessibility to my friends was great.<\/p>\n 4. How long to stay<\/strong><\/p>\n When I was thinking about going on exchange and was talking with my friends who had already been, the one thing all of them said was to go for as long as you can. This\u00a0is also my advice to you. Often students get the choice of doing 6 months or a year on\u00a0exchange. Every single person I\u2019ve talked to that only did six months always said they\u00a0regretted not staying longer and that they wish they did a full year.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the thing: It takes about one term to finally get used to living in a foreign place and adapt to the new lifestyle. After six months you know where all your favourite\u00a0hangouts are, you\u2019ve made a lot of friends you have got close to, and maybe even a\u00a0boyfriend\/girlfriend. Having to leave after finally feeling comfortable is probably a lot\u00a0more painful than leaving after a year. It definitely took me at least six months to fully\u00a0enjoy my time abroad. I finally felt comfortable, I knew how to get around in Japan\u00a0without getting lost on the trains, and a lot of my friends were staying for a full year\u00a0which meant I could be with them longer. I really began to feel at home and am really glad\u00a0I got to enjoy another six months in that relaxed state.<\/p>\n If it\u2019s the case that you can only do six months, my best suggestion is make the most of the time you have there. Even after living in Japan for a year, I still felt like I\u00a0missed out on a lot of opportunities.<\/p>\n 5. Finally, step out of your comfort zone<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re like me and are super shy and not very outgoing, then take note of this tip. I always found it really hard to meet new people because I\u2019m very awkward at meeting\u00a0people for the first time. This usually results in me just not saying anything and standing\u00a0awkwardly alone until someone comes up to me. However, during my exchange I forced\u00a0myself out of my comfort zone and tried talking to new people. Eventually I got so used to\u00a0it that meeting new people doesn\u2019t make me feel uncomfortable anymore. This is\u00a0especially important if you\u2019re going to a place where you don\u2019t know anyone. Take a risk\u00a0and put yourself out there.<\/p>\n![\"11717576_10155675975240012_2884467562396191014_o\"](\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/11717576_10155675975240012_2884467562396191014_o-488x650.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"11794242_1623102814626207_3877176612298516784_o\"](\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/11794242_1623102814626207_3877176612298516784_o-650x430.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"1460289_10154693887400012_7513746910940442185_n\"](\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/1460289_10154693887400012_7513746910940442185_n-650x366.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"11892238_10155809153440012_8727624963928213315_n\"](\"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/11892238_10155809153440012_8727624963928213315_n-650x366.jpg\")
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