Japanese Language School in Kyoto - Maikeru in Japan

 

 Image 1: School premises: in front of the school`s entrance 

Arriving to Japan was nothing but easy. Little did I anticipate that just before my planned flight to Japan a global pandemic would break out. I still consider myself super lucky to be able to even arrive in Kyoto and to be able to have a nice experience of studying Japanese in Kyoto. To make a long story short, instead of arriving in March 2020, I arrived to Japan in October 2020 and I arrived to Kyoto in a middle of a global pandemic. How crazy is this! One thing I was very impressed with the school was the crisis communication. As the pandemic was breaking out, the school continued to monitor the global events including the decisions by the Japanese government on border controls and communicated clearly to us what was happening. I want to actually highlight that Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language has a very strong administration. I arrived to Kyoto in a middle of the pandemic and I believe this was possible thanks to strong and competent communication and administration from the school. Believe me – this period was not easy to the students nor the school. For me one of the main choices why I chose the school is because before arriving to Kyoto I felt a competent and professional administrative support with my questions and application. And after I arrived to the school, throughout my stay here, I feel supported very well administratively. For me this is an important thing. Whenever I go to the office with a question, I always get a competent answer. 

The other factor that influenced my choice of choosing this Japanese school in Kyoto was that the Kyoto Institute of Language and Culture is based on a campus of a Kyoto Arts and Design school. I like the campus of the Arts and Design School. The location is simply beautiful.

The school`s building is located next to a small waterfall structure and a wooden terrace to rest during breaks. I absolutely like going to school and look at the artificial waterfall.

Image 3: Artificial waterfall, on campus 

 

 Also, the campus is located on a hill. So, if you venture up, you can admire a beautiful panorama of the area. I am guilty of having taken naps up there during the autumn season. 

I have mentioned that this Japanese language school in Kyoto is based on a campus of a university of arts and design. I like that as the campus has an artsy and designy feel. For example, there is a café downstairs and an exhibition hall. What is cool about it that the arts and design students exhibit their students’ projects and as Kyoto Language and Culture student you get to see the various exhibitions free of charge.

 

Last but not least, there is a school cafeteria. It is open every day from 11:00 till 14:00. They serve various meals: from a lunch set to a bowl of ramen and a chicken rice dishes. The cafeteria is extremely affordable and makes my day. The meals are delicious (to me) and cheap.

Image 8: Lunch set at the uni`s cafeteria 

And moreover, there is a variety of meals every day as there are various food stations to choose from. This set-up serves me well as every day after class I go with my friends to have lunch at the cafeteria and afterwards, I dive into the homework. The classes are intensive and having a convenient meal between the class and the library makes logistics easier for the day.

 Lastly, prepare to study. The teachers speak to you in Japanese and you have opportunities to practice your Japanese. For example, we had an opportunity to present on a topic related to our countries. I created a poster with pictures presenting the winter season in my country. I then stood in front of my classmates and presented the winter in my home country in Japanese.  They asked questions and I had to answer – all done in Japanese. Cool, isn`t it? By creating the poster, I also learned different vocabulary such as “seaport is frozen”, “sledging” or a “snowman”. With the poster presentations, I also had an opportunity to learn about my classmate`s home countries. Here, at KICL, you will meet friends from all over the place. I never had, for example, friends from Taiwan and I discovered super kind and intelligent people. How cool is this – to hang out with your bestie who happens to be a Taiwanese and you speak only Japanese. I just this school to be able to speak Japanese, so I appreciate such opportunities to speak Japanese more outside of the classroom.

 Image 10: Presentation in Class