Hello readers. We’re taking a break from the regularly scheduled posts about my life in Japan to look at (focus on a few random things anyway) life as a student in Kyushu University. This is really for my juniors like +Inas Wafiya Haryanto (poor Inas, I always tag you because I talk to you the most) who will be deciding which university to pick later this year. And of course, if you’re thinking of coming to Kyudai to study, this post might come in handy for you too! 

Ok, so we’re now past the halfway mark in my first term of my second year of Kyushu University, so I think it’s time for an update on how life in Kyudai is (if you have any specific questions, let me know and I’ll be sure to answer them/create new posts).

Lessons
Last semester, I attended a QREC course called Technology Marketing II. We used this software called Markstrat which MBA schools also use, and it was basically a really fun course. You can read more about QREC here. I know I’ve mentioned this class in the previous post (along with another class), and the teasers must be killing all of you good students out there, so rest assured, I’ll post a review of the class soon.

*crickets chirping*

No one wants to hear about my fun classes? Too bad, I’ll probably still blog about it anyway. More information is always better when you’re making your university choices.

And with good news, last semester was also the first semester where I had 全休 (zenkyuu) which is a full day without lessons! I managed to schedule it on a Monday too, so I had a three day weekend for the whole semester. How was this possible? Well, I took the mandatory TOEFL and scored high enough to skip several (but sadly, not all) English modules.

This term, I’m taking Bahasa Indonesia in the Hakozaki campus! In fact, I’m spending a lot more time at the Hakozaki campus, which is run down but very convenient to go to, so I’ve got a 乗り放題 (norihoudai – ride all you want) subway pass. There are student prices, so it’s much cheaper than buying the one-day pass all the time.

Campus
I mentioned the Hakozaki campus in my previous paragraph. “Wait a minute” you say “I thought you were at the Ito campus!”

Well, that was last year. From this year onwards, I’ll be spending more time at the Hakozaki campus. In fact, from the second semester of this term onwards, I’ll probably be spending all my time there, and won’t have to go back to Ito!

Hakozaki campus in Spring.

If you’re wondering how that looks like, I went sakura viewing there, so here are the pictures.

Misc. Things
I can definitely say that this semester has less work than the previous years. I’m told that the first semester of the second year is the semester with the least amount of lessons, and so far, it’s holding out to be true. I did, however, join a lot of things*, so I’m probably busier than I was last year. Oh the irony.

*things: “things” here mean quite a few clubs, and baito (part-time work). I’ve had my profile up on a few sites since the end of last year, but it’s only been this semester that I’ve started getting more requests. I’m teaching about three times a week now, but it does vary on when my students (and I) have time.

One other thing that I feel compelled to add is that Kyudai actually mailed my parents (in Singapore) my results for last year. I don’t know if that’s normal for all universities, but it was a shock to me and my family. Good thing I always tell them my marks, so it’s not like they had any unpleasant surprises when they looked at my grades :p

My dad is super impressed with the school because of this though.

If you’re still curious about how life in Kyushu University is, you can look at my first post about Kyudai, and an update about the second semester at the links.