tsukubablog

Sorry I’m late in introducing myself, it’s been a busy 2 weeks of final high school events.

So let’s begin~ I’m Itzel-Casandra Aceves Chavez…yep, it’s a long name, but I usually just write Itzel A. Chavez and everyone just calls me Itzel.

Let’s see…I’m currently 17 years old and live in a small city called Salinas, which is in California in the USA.

I know English, some Spanish, and some Japanese. I’ve actually been learning Japanese and the culture of Japan for about 5 years, so that really influenced my decision in wanting to go to Tsukuba. I was suuuuuper excited when I found out I got accepted into the school of international studies! My brother was also a huge influence because he lived there for half a year. Then last year I went to Japan with our Japanese club for a week and just fell in love with the country all over again. I always knew I was going to end up in Japan someday, just didn’t know it’d be so soon! Thank you Louis Irving for coming to my school and letting us know about this awesome opportunity~!

Ok enough of that time for some hobbies and other stuff!(i’ll just list some out)

• I absolutely love music, I can’t live without it.
• Been playing the clarinet for a long time and I love it
• Felines are the animals for me (long live cats!)
• like to play video games (RPGs mainly)
• I made a hobby of watching documentaries last year and occasionally still watch them when I have time
• Books are awesome and I love to read them
• Manga is included in that reading 
• So is Fanfiction
• I love TV shows and movies but there’s too many to watch
• Love anime as well
• Dissected a cat in AP Biology, it was really interesting 

And the list goes on, but I should probably reveal more of it as time goes by. Feel free to chat with me at any time, I’d like to get to know more of you! 

So my skype is Kireinami

Add me on Facebook and so on

Sorry if my blogging is random, I’m not a very organized writer when it comes to this sort of thing….well this is the end

for now

Hi, I’m Amy:)

I’m 17 years old, an incessant cat video watcher and I’m a sucky blogger(I’ve had numerous blogs in the past that have all been abandoned.) I’m from Taiwan and I grew up studying in an international school and currently going through my IB exams.  I’ve decided to write a blog before i  continue cramming and turn into an acne-covered agraphobic IB student. I can speak english, mandarin and japanese. I am a person with lots of hobbies. I enjoy listening to indie musics (one of my favorite band the xx is going to Japan in July!), I love photography and am extremely excited to take exciting photos in Japan. I started participating in the model united nation club every since my sophomore year, i got really into it and was elected as the club president in junior and senior year. This is also one of the reason why i chose to major in International Studies in Tsukuba.

I’ve always wanted to study/live in Japan at a very young age. Mostly because of having to be growing up with so many films by Hayao Miyazaki san, and finding Japanese culture extremely amazing and attractive. I was accepted into University of Hong Kong and a couple of universities in Asia, but after attending a summer program in HKU last year, i feel like the city is too suffocating and it just doesn’t seems to suit  me. (I made quite lots of nice people there though! ) After a long chat with my college counsellor and my best friend I’ve decided to go to University of Tsukuba!

Some snaps of my dorm room here in Taiwan. I hate the curtains though, i am excited to decorate my room in Tsukuba. I know it will be a small room, but i will try to make it comfy:)

As mentioned above, i am an active MUNer

 (Hosted a MUN conference at Kaohsiung American School, the girl in the middle)

 (MUN conference in Shanghai with one of my best buddy:)

Lastly, a snap from last year’s sports day with my best friends. I am the girl on the right side of the pic.

I guess this will be the end of my introduction, I am excited to meet my future classmates in university:) Now i’m going to prep myself for the weekend with some past year IB papers and coffee, have a good night! Thanks for reading!

This weekend was Tsukuba International festival. Tsukuba has over 7000 foreign residents from about 100 different countries, so the international festival is a great opportunity to come and see arts and cultures from many different countries, and try many new foods!

Food is a big topic in Japan.  Food TV shows are popular, and festivals are dominated by a wide range of foods.  Tokyo has more Michelin star restaurants than any other city in the world.  However, most students’ budgets don’t stretch to such lengths.  Happily, Japan has a wide range of “B-class Gourmet” restaurants.  These are cheap, but excellent quality places to eat.

This excellent article from Japan-talk.com lists 12 popular foods in Japan.

Of course, there are plenty of other regional specialities – takoyaki (Octopus balls) in Osaka, Gyu tan (cow’s tongue) in Sendai, or Wanko soba (small bowls of buckwheat noodles – eat over 100 in one sitting and get a certificate!  Don’t worry – it’s all-you-can-eat.) in Morioka.

Tsukuba’s speciality, tonkatsu, is #12 on the japan-talk list. 

Well, it’s been a while!  Apologies.

So, it’s Dec 31, and another year is (nearly) safely behind us.  The Mayan apocalypse seems not to have happened, which is good.  It was strange to me, reading the stories about the people who really took it seriously.  People buying up bottled water and canned goods, as if that would be a great help when Cthulhu returns!

Anyway, we’ve had one trimester already and are currently in the application period for 2013.  Our 2012 class seem to be settling into the routine well.  Of course, every year some people take a little longer to get used to their new environment than others, but that’s true at every university in the world.  When I was an undergraduate about 25% of students didn’t come back after the summer holidays between 1st and 2nd year (mainly a result of excess partying, I guess), so I think we’re doing relatively well – at the moment, over 90% of students are on course to complete their studies.

We recently conducted a questionnaire to get students feelings about the experience they’re having in Tsukuba.  While there are clearly areas which need work, over 90% of students reported being “happy” or “very happy” with their experience at Tsukuba.  Over 95% reported that they’d feel happy to recommend us to a friend.  Pretty good results overall.

This year applications look to be around as competitive as they were last year.  However, we are seeing a lot more native English speakers applying; maybe 25% of applicants come from countries with English as a first language.  We are one of Japan’s most internationalized universities already, with about 1700 international students on campus.  Around half our international students are Chinese, with large numbers of South Koreans, Thai, Vietnamese and other South East and East Asian nationals.  Historically, students from the US, Europe, Africa and Oceania are fairly rare.  However, G30 seems to be shifting that balance, with many more non-Asian participants.  I think that’s a real success for our program – we’re able to attract students from many more countries, helping to internationalize the university further, allowing students to make friends and learn about people from all over the world.  At Tsukuba, at least, Global 30 lives up to its name.

One last thing; a member of our commentariat noted an excellent blog – The Japan Guy – which is an American living and working in Ibaraki.  Maybe it’ll interest you to get the experiences of some (non-university person) living in Japan.

Hey everyone,

Apologies for disappearing for so long, but I’m back now.

First off, I would like to formally welcome all of the new students of the G30 program to Tsukuba.  I can’t wait to meet all of you.

I know you all must be pretty nervous about starting school, meeting new people, and speaking Japanese.  I know how you are feeling, because I went through the same thing only a year ago.  So to help calm your nerves a bit, let me pass on some advice to you that my dad gave to me when I was just starting out here.

Here goes…

Do it all.  Don’t hold back.  Eat everything, do everything, make friends with everyone, study everything, accept every invitation, play every game and take every test.

Your life at home has a certain routine.  Accept the fact that your life has just been turned inside out.

I hope you take this advice to heart as I did, because it is important to take chances, and try things that you normally wouldn’t do.  Things are going to be different for you here, but different does not mean bad.  Don’t be afraid to put yourselves out there and “get your hair wet” because the possibilities are endless.

Welcome!

-Molly

Well then, this is my third day here in Tsukuba and I`m slowly staring to get used to this warm weather! I can`t say I`m very fond of the cicadas in the nighttime though, but they are pleasant to hear during the day. I`m also wondering where everyone is at the moment (future classmates and teachers), but I guess we`ll all meet in time. I was put in the Oikoshi dormitory, house 12, anyone nearby? . One thing I find amusing is the fact that almost everyone in my dorm are Chinese, which suits me rather well considering I lived in China for one year during high school. It`s a lot of fun to be able to speak the language again! :) 

Anyway, my personal missions for the following week will mainly be to get a refrigerator and a cheap Japanese cellphone (+ and of course, to do all the things on the schedule handed to us). One of my dorm-neighbors, a very kind and helpful lady from Tunisia, showed me a used wares shop not too far from the Central-library where I can get a rather cheap fridge! Thank you again wonderful neighbor!!! I`m still debating on wheater or not I should get an air-condition for my dorm room, but I think I`ll wait it out. The degrees must drop sooner or later (I hope!) ^^

So, I will be writing another post in the not too far future ^^ I look forward to meeting you all in person!

hi eveyone, it’s steff again, writing from dubai this time!

my mum and i have just arrived from italy and we’ll be meeting my dad soon. he’s coming direct from malta haha. we stopped in italy on the way to get my visa done, because you can’t do it from the consulate it malta. i was freaking out so much about it that when the italian employee at the japanese embassy pointed at the ‘criminal record’ section on the form and said ” if you killed anyone, you must write”, i actually took him seriously and had to think about it for a moment. like ” wait, i’ve killed someone? what? I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE.” i guess i was a little nervous…

…but it all went smoothly and i’ve got the visa. now just to get through the gate without being thought a terrorist and i’ll be on my way can’t wait to get to japan and to meet everyone and to get learning haha

by the way, is “smart” for the entrance ceremony like suit smart? i have one ready! a little luggage- squashed though…

anyway, can’t wait to see you all to the gate!

stef

Five of our new intake of students into Life and Environmental Science have already arrived, and most of the rest will arrive over the next 2 days. This year, 23 new students will join us from 11 different countries. This is our biggest and most diverse intake of students so far, and I think all the staff are excited to meet them. Social Sciences also accepted their largest and most diverse group, with 17 international students enrolling this year. It seems from now on, G30 will only continue to grow and diversify.

We meet each student at Tsukuba center. Some universities pick students up at the airport, but we decided from the first year to make students come to Tsukuba by themselves. Asking students to buy a bus ticket and ride the bus by themselves helps develop a sense of confidence right from the start.

Once they arrive in Tsukuba and get settled in their room, the students have a busy time ahead. Registering at the city hall, opening a bank account, applying for a mobile phone, and buying a bike will take up their first 2 days. It’s a good thing they have tutors, to help with all these things.

On Friday 24th, we’ll take students on their first trip to get to know Tsukuba. We’ll visit the botanical gardens, and to the National Center for Seed and Seedling Research. Last year we took the students to JAXA, the national space agency. JAXA was great, and it was interesting to learn that it is one of the mission control centers for the International Space Station.

The weekend of the 25th and 26th sees Matsuri Tsukuba, a two-day festival and parade in the center of the city. This was great fun last year, and you can see some pictures on the Global 30 Festival webpage.

Then, the following week we have the entry ceremony on the Monday (dress smart, new students!), then, after a whole stack of orientations, Japanese placement tests, health checks, and scholarship applications, we have our overnight orientation at Sashima camp. In this camp, we explain the format of the degree program, explain academic standards, and help students understand just what they’ve signed up for! It’s always fun, and a great opportunity for the students to get to know each other better, bond as a group, and get to know the academic staff.

Finally, after a weekend break, classes start, and the dance continues on for another year….