My Room (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies International Hall 1)

I realised that even though I moved here in April, I haven't posted anything about the living conditions. And I would think that all those that want to come here under MEXT would be pretty curious about this topic (well, I was very curious anyway). So, to calm your worries - the living conditions at TUFS are really great.

The basics: I'm in Hall 1 (there are two halls, although they're building a third hall now). What this means is that I have a toilet in my room, while those in Hall 2 have to share a communal toilet. At least, that's what I heard from the students in Hall 2 (there was something about how that's very uncomfortable during winter).

The rooms themselves are quite small. Including my toilet, I have 15m squared of space. On each floor, the first room is occupied by a Japanese tutor, who is available for advice and support. There is a common laundry area (floor 6 and if I'm right, floor 2 as well) and two common rooms (floor 5 and floor 7). On the first floor, there is a small music room (there's a piano!), a exercise place (you can play ping pong there), a kitchen, a Japanese-style room (occasionally, there are classes like Tea Ceremony there), a TV room (with a very nice TV inside). I think there's also a study room, although most people study in the common room.

So those are the shared facilities. And now, onto to the rooms (basically, my room). So, here are the photos (Warning! A lot of photos ahead!):

 This is my room from the door

 The clothes rack is right next to the door. It's really really small. (Tip: bring as many hangers as you need when you're coming)

 And right below the clothes rack is the shoe rack. As a side note, don't you love Magic Mop? It makes cleaning so much easier!

 We have individual heaters and individual heating bills (remember to always turn off your heater when you're not using it. This is especially since electricity bills are going to go up!). While I've heard of a senpai who (apparently) never turned on his heater for the whole year, I definitely can't do that. I have another senpai that bathed in cold water during winter (with very low electricity bills as a result. If you want to try, his advice was to "try and remain conscious when the cold water first hits you."

 My mini-kitchenette! It's an electric stove (so if you get a kettle, get an electric kettle), but it's adequate for all cooking needs. Or at least, I haven't had to use the kitchen on the first floor yet.

 I use the space below the stove to store all food-related items. In the right corner is my beloved blender. Right now, I go by "which dish uses the least ingredients" method of selecting things to cook because I don't have the space to store a lot of ingredients.

 My bed. There's a board next to it, so I'm trying to fill it up before I leave. All those notes are either prayers or verses.

We have a balcony on which I can hang clothes! Can you see my name on the yellow towel? Well, you can't really see my name on my dogi (simply put, it's the kendo top) though...

 The view from my balcony during sunset! (after a bit of editing)

 The real, unedited view. This is the school track. I wake up to the soccer/baseball team practicing (I wonder how they find time to go to classes since I always see some people practicing....)

I have no space. Which is why all my clothes must be foldable (only formal wear is the exception). And yes, it's over my refrigerator) 

 My bookshelf ^^ Because of this, my room is known as a mini-library (and I lend books out too!)

This is how I decorate my library shelves - with toys from Kinder Surprise (I love Kinder Surprise. Kinder Joy? Not as much) 

I really have no room, which is why my rice cooker is next to my bed....

Just know that the toilet is small but contains a (deep) bathtub, a sink and a toilet bowl. There aren't any full-length mirrors, but there's one small-medium sized mirror hanging over the sink.

So, here's my room. It's small, but really cozy ^^

ETA1: 24/7/2014: If you need to see more of my room, +InasWH did an excellent vlog about it! Click here to go to the video

ETA2: 14/6/2015: If you're looking for information on the Osaka U-Program (the Osaka version of TUFS), +Devangi Yadav made an excellent and detailed post here