My Semester in Japan

I spent a semester studying abroad in Japan and I had a wonderful time. Although advertised as being in Tokyo, the university and housing were actually located at least an hour outside of the city. This was the one thing about the program that I found disappointing. I was still able to go into the city every weekend and many weekdays, but it made it more difficult. However, I know some people enjoyed being a little outside of the city.
The highlights of the experience were the IES staff and the university. The staff went out of their way to help every student have a great experience in Japan, from helping with ordering concert tickets to recommending food tours. They also set up the E-Pal program with KUIS, the partner university. This matched each IES student with a KUIS student before the program started and was a great way to make friends. Many of the students at KUIS study English and are interested in foreign cultures, so there was a really nice exchange. The emphasis on friendships with the Japanese students was a highlight of the program and certainly helped my language skills improve. There was also a student government made up of IES students and E-Pals. They organized events. I thought this was a good idea, however the students who ran it while I was there didn't put in very much effort, and it seemed that all the students missed out on some opportunities as a result.
The academics on the program were not challenging and sometimes not particularly engaging. The language classes were well taught and interesting, but some of the other teachers for the IES courses didn't seem particularly qualified to be teaching their subject. This was a little frustrating, but in the end I was glad to have the extra time to explore in Tokyo.
Overall, I really loved my experience in Japan. The commute into the city and the academics were disappointments, but in the end the friendships I made with students at KUIS made up for the location, and the time I spent exploring in Japan made up for the academics.