Kansai Gaidai University

I´m going to attend Kansai Gaidai University The University is located in Hirakata approx. 22 km from Osaka.  The University area is divided into two campuses, "Nakamiya Campus" and "Gotenyama Campus". Both campus areas are quite big so let´s see if I will find my way or if  I get lost... (^_^’) Both campuses, however, looks really beautiful and I can´t wait to experience the atmosphere there.

Kansai Gaidai offered two housing options, the first one is "Global Commons YUI (residence hall)", and the second option is "Homestay". The YUI is located at Gotenyama Campus and was newly built and was finished in April 2018. Although, even if it was tempting to choose YUI, I´ve chosen homestay because I want to experience the Japanese culture and get the chance to practice my Japanese as much as I can. I don´t think I would get the same opportunities from living at YUI because the majority of people living there are non-japanese. There is a big minus though with the homestay system at Kansai Gaidai, you don´t get to know the family that you will be staying with until the start of orientation week. I have read a few blogs about people who had chosen homestay and they had the chance to get in contact with the family at least one month before they went to Japan. This would have been the optimal solution, but it´s what it´s. The reasoning I got from Kansai Gaidai was that they can´t hand out the host family information until my arrival at Kansai Gaidai because they want to avoid confusion which may be occurred by the last-minute adjustments. Hopefully, I will get a family that both the host family and I think are a good match.

If you plan to go abroad and study, I recommend you to think "What do I want to get out of this" and start planning based on that thought. There was actually also a third option where the student can make their own off-campus arrangement, but I think most student that comes to Kansai Gaidai chooses from the two mentioned above. I also don´t think this option would be a good one because you will get more isolated.

If you plan to go to Japan and study, work, travel, etc. and are interested in staying with a family I highly recommend to check the link below which contains some good information about living with a Japanese family.

A home in Japan - what no one tells you




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