福岡大学 (Fukuoka University)

Yesterday morning all the European exchange students living in the International House of Fukuoka University were lead to "Kokusai sentaa" which is a place for exchange or foreign students at the university. There we had orientation to our studies. We got so many papers and we also had to fill some for the health insurance and such. We basically got an example paper which showed us what and how to fill. It really was so strange to copy the kanjis to my paper. Huh, what a job! But at least I learned the kanjis for Fukuoka. (Maybe should have learned them already before..)

After the paper work two tutors came to show us a bit around the university. Oh man, they have a movie room where you can take a DVD or blue ray from the shelf and watch it with a tv screen and good head phones! The restaurants are very nice too since they actually have many portion options and you can see the shape, the price and sometimes even the calories of the dishes. The food is so good! And they have background music in the restaurants too.

After going around in the campus our tutors took us to get the right address to our residence cards and to get the health insurance. They actually took care of all the work and we were just waiting. After that they took us to Tenjin to buy all kind of things we need here: pillows, bed sheets, internet cables etc. We are so lucky since everything is made so easy for exchange students here!

After all the waiting, shopping, waiting and walking we went to a yakitori restaurant. We had a menu that includes several different plates and as many drinks as you want. I actually ate raw salmon, seashells (that I had discovered to be tasty already before) and some pieces of octopus. And I found out that two people in our group don't like tomato either. I am not alone!!

All together our European group is formed by 10 students: 2 from Finland, 2 from Belgium, 2 from England, 1 from Germany and 3 from France. 7 of us live in the International House that is located in 5-10 minutes walking distance from the campus.

The front yard of the International House

Today morning we had language test to place us to the right groups for the Japanese lessons that will start next week. We had grammar, vocabulary and kanji tests plus listening comprehension. Wow, totemo muzukashikatta! I really realized that there is so much to learn but at least I was able to fill some parts of the tests. After all the tests we had a lunch on the 16th floor of one of the campus buildings. Nice view over the campus!

The weather has been pretty warm here. It has been mostly cloudy and the temperature is under +30°C but the air is so moist that we are sweating. I would still say this is still okay. At least when the sun stays behind the clouds.