It was the 31st of March 2016 and after months of preparation, it was eventually time for me to say my goodbye’s and to officially start university life. Scared but excited at the same time, I left my home in Bandung, Indonesia, and flew 6000 km to Tokyo.
Barely knowing any Japanese, I was welcomed by my tutor who kindly helped me with everything I needed to get started as an international student here at Tokyo Tech. Like all the other international students, GSEP students are each assigned with their own tutors (preferably a senior with the same nationality as you) to help with official matters such as registration procedures, opening a bank account, getting to know campus grounds to all sorts of daily-life questions. Your tutors will help a lot in the first few weeks at Tokyo Tech, and even throughout your stay here.
I was then taken to our university dorm, located in Umegaoka, which is around an hour’s train ride away from the Ookayama Campus. Dorm life is a new experience for me, and besides the never ending laundry plus the “occasionally-missing-food” situation, there are many positives aspects to it too. From having a friend help you with homework, cooking meals together, to having someone accompany you through situations such as earthquakes. Last month I experienced my very first “big” earthquake which measured around 4SR, it was terrifying, but fortunately living in a dorm meant that I had friends right next door. I couldn’t have imagined if I were already living alone!
A few days later on April the 4th we all set to campus early in the morning to join the Entrance Ceremony, a ceremony held to officially welcome the new students of Spring 2016. Unfortunately, the weather was not in our favor and it was pouring rain, but even so the atmosphere was still incredible. Spring had arrived and all the beautiful pink cherry blossom leaves had bloomed, making the scenery even more pretty. Students were gathering up in lines, mostly in black and navy formal attire, queuing in order under dripping umbrellas ready to enter the Gymnasium where the ceremony was held, chatting with newly met individuals next to them, and laughing along to the jokes I unfortunately didn’t understand.
At the ceremony we all sang the Tokyo Tech anthem, and heard speeches from student representatives. A special surprise was that Tokyo Tech’s president Mishima gave his welcome address in English, something no other Japanese university had done before, which made the event even more special. After the entrance ceremony we then filled all the necessary registration forms, and ended the day with a small GSEP welcome party with all our tutors, lecturers, professors and GSEP faculty. It was an incredibly tiring day, but one I will remember forever.
Living life so far not only as a Tokyo Tech student, but as an international student as a whole has definitely been challenging, having to overcome homesickness, adapting to countless new situations and struggling at coursework, but even so, the experiences and knowledge I have gained and hopefully will keep on gaining as a student here is definitely more rewarding. Not to mention that I am constantly surrounded by positive and motivating people around me that help overcome the difficulties and help shape my experiences here. I am lucky to have had a very warm welcome to Tokyo Tech, and I am looking forward to giving my warm welcome to the new students of 2017.
