A few issues, but overall a great learning experience

I would suggest this program for anyone who has already taken Japanese classes and wants to go to Japan in order to improve their Japanese. Nagoya is the third largest city in Japan, but less international than Tokyo, and so there are fewer people who will try to speak English to you. The Japanese classes at Nanzan are also manageable, but intensive, and there’s a decent amount of homework. You’re more or less forced to use Japanese and to improve in Japanese. If you don’t speak a lot of Japanese and want to go to Japan because you like anime… this program probably isn’t for you.

Other than Japanese, I took Japanese Society, Traditional Japanese Literature, and Woodblock Printing. Japanese Society and Woodblock Printing were both fantastic (although not as intense as the Japanese classes). Both were done in a style that let you personalize your learning experience and read/make what you wanted to. Traditional Japanese Literature was pretty disappointing – the professor rambled a lot, and we didn’t get to discuss literature very much. I heard other students complaining that non-Japanese classes at Nanzan can be very hit or miss.

I stayed with a host family, which ended up being a pretty negative experience. The members of my host family fought constantly, and they didn’t seem to want to spend a lot of time with me. In retrospect, I really wish that I'd chosen to live in the dorm. Luckily, when I decided I couldn't take living with my host family any longer, I was able to move to the dorm.

I loved the friends I made in at Nanzan, and I got a lot of chances to explore Japan with them. We were able to explore Nagoya and the surrounding areas a lot during the weekend. A fun thing that we did often was to go to izakayas - informal bars where you can also eat lots of yummy Japanese pub food.

On top of traveling with friends, the IES field trips were really fun (and a part of the reason I chose this program). You get the opportunity to stay in traditional Japanese inns and eat traditional meals. It's really expensive, and an experience that I definitely wouldn't have had if I didn't study abroad with IES. That was probably my favorite thing about the IES programming.