Graduation Post

I got back to Sasebo yesterday (almost typed Fukuoka out of habit) and finally have time to write this post. So as you probably know, I've graduated!!! And I managed to wear a hakama for my ceremony, something that I've been wanting to do.

+Whitney Yee I went to go research about Hakama, like I promised. There's a wikipedia page, but it has the "additional verification" thing needed so I searched in Japanese instead. According to this page: a hakama is something worn over the kimono (for girls). There are two types of hakama like 馬乗袴 (umanoribakama) and 行灯袴 (andonbakama). The hakama for males are different too.

As for its history, it was first worn in the 古墳時代 (kofun era) as a sort of trousers. In the Heian period (平安時代), girls of high status started to wear them. And then it was banned in the Edo period, except for court ladies. And then I think it started trending in the Meiji era. And now it's what most girls wear for their graduation.

Luckily, I had my own kimono, so all I needed to do was to rent the Hakama (which was more like a skirt than pants) and have my hair done. Final version:

Graduation Ceremony:

I just realised that I only asked one friend if I could upload the photos I took to this blog, so I guess it'll be scant on photos of people wearing Hakama >< Sorry everyone!

The ceremony was held at this hall and only students were allowed in. Family and guests had to go to lecture hall to watch from the TV screen.

Luckily my bear made it in! It's a present from my cousin :D 

And this is the inside of the hall:

The ceremony was split into two sessions. The morning one was for everyone and the reason why I didn't get enough sleep (because it's held at Ito campus, thus adding to the travel time). The ceremony started with a performance by the philharmonic orchestra. Next, we "received" our degrees, with one person (the one with the highest GPA) from each faculty representing all the students in said faculty. After that, the principal made a speech that was basically "here is what happened in the past and here is what we're aiming for" and then one student rep made a speech on our four years of uni life. After that it was time for the various awards for extra-curricular activities and special programs and the entire thing was done in an hour!

Also, my friend looked really pretty and we all gathered to take photos of her (and then with her) and she said I could post the photo here!

The afternoon "ceremony" was really just us getting our certs and the school making sure we returned our student IDs and filled out the "what are you doing after graduation" forms. Oh, and we were heavily encouraged to join the Old Boys/Girls' Association, and I have no idea if I did or did not.

I actually thought it was pretty nice of the school to give me an English copy of my graduation cert, since everyone else only got the Japanese version.

And this marks the end of my university journey. I can't believe that it's been five years in total - it feels like I just started this blog last year or something (and then I get asked something about my application to MEXT, realise I've forgotten and then I feel the five years). I have been extremely lucky to meet tons of amazing people who have been incredibly supportive and friendly. If it weren't for them, I probably would not have done as well in school and I probably would have had a pretty miserable time as well. And though it was pretty tiring to take two zemis at one go, I am glad to have taken them and worked with my classmates and I would absolutely do the same thing again in a heartbeat.

To end things on a practical note: I rushed to the immigration office right after the ceremony (arrive 20 minutes before it closed) because I needed proof of graduation to change my visa status and my company wanted me to change it as soon as possible. Luckily, I managed to get it done and I'm getting ready to start working in Japan!

I've Graduated! 卒業しました！(Next steps?)

Hey everyone! Just a quick post to say that after five years, my journey as a MEXT scholar has come to an end. Yesterday, I graduated from Kyudai, ending my university studies.

昨日、私は九州大学から卒業できました。あっという間に５年間が終わりました。たくさんの方々からお世話になりましたので、お礼を申し上げたいと思います。ありがとうございました。

I have wondered about what I should do after I graduate (I do have some travel posts which I plan to finish but who knows whether I'll do anything other than work once it's April), since this is blog was started mainly to chronicle my MEXT journey. So if you have any ideas/suggestions, please let me know. And let me know if you're interested in a more detailed graduation post - I'm currently travelling with my family and don't have much internet time or I would have spammed you all with photos right now.

Frequently Asked Questions IV

Another year, another set of questions! I didn't actually think there would be new questions to cover, but here there were! More to learn all the time(:

random plum blossom picture to prettify this post XD

Without further ado:

On the Scholarship

1. If I'm doing NS, can I apply a year in advance and defer the scholarship? (Applicable to Singaporean guys) 

Sorry, guys! I asked, and you can't defer the scholarship. You'll have the apply the year before you are able to leave for Japan. i.e. if you can leave in April 2018, you should apply in 2017. When in doubt, consult the embassy!

2. Do I need to choose which university to go to in advance? 

For the undergraduate scholarship, the answer is no. There is a form, but I didn't know anyone who filled it in. You'll choose your university when you're at TUFS or Osaka University, so there's absolutely no need to worry about that. It might be different for the post-graduate scholarship, but I know nothing about that.

3. What does the embassy mean when they ask for 'original copies'? 

I'm not too sure about that, but I handed in certified true copies and everything was absolutely fine. It's probably a good idea not to hand in the original certificates.

On Kyudai

4. Is Kyudai stressful? (Is it more stressful than Singapore?) 

To be honest, I find it very difficult to compare the two systems, because stress is what you make of it. I know people who claim Japan is much more relaxed, but then you have my sub-zemi, which regularly requires us to stay in school overnight/till it's almost time for the last train, and do tons of projects. It really depends on your choices,  I think.

On TUFS (ok, the order is strange but....)

5. Should I buy a bicycle when at TUFS? 

That really depends on your goals. I'm the type that actually likes walking - my bicycle here is used only to get to the driving range, which is too far to walk to. For me, the grocery stores near TUFS were within walking distance, and if I went further, I took the bus. I do know a lot of people that got bicycles from their seniors/bought one and used it regularly, though. If you're planning to stay within Tokyo, then I think it can't hurt to have a bicycle. Plus, moving it won't be that difficult (probably).

6. What Church did you go to? 

I went to Calvary Chapel Fukuoka, which was a non-denominational Church that has services in both English and Japanese. There is a Japanese-speaking Church nearby as well (my cousin went to that one). I know there's a Catholic Church somewhere, but I'm not too sure where. I think you have to take a train though.

Ok, that's all the questions that I think are applicable to a fairly large number of prospective applicants :D I hope they'll be able to help at least a few people! For more information, check out:
FAQ (the original!)
FAQ (the second)
FAQ (the third)
The anti-FAQ
or the MEXT scholars page. 

Thanks to Jordan, Yuki and everyone else who sent me emails about this! (I'm not sure if you want me to use your name, but if you do, let me know :D )

Oh, and I'll probably update the anti-FAQ with this (if it isn't already written there), but please do not send me questions asking about level of Japanese needed for the scholarship or any details about the scholarship (e.g. how many marks do I need, or can I switch between course ABC and course XYZ), or anything about how MEXT selects their scholars. I do not work for MEXT, and I will not be able to answer your questions. From now on, I will be ignoring all emails that consist solely of these questions. Even if I do reply, it'll just be a link to these posts.

Of course, feel free to ask questions that aren't covered here, or if you want to know if you have a senpai with the MEXT scholarship. If I can help, I definitely will(:

P.s. Totally not related to the FAQs, but lately, I haven't been able to see certain Google+ comments. I am trying to figure out how to get two comment systems installed (anyone able to help?), but in the meantime, if you leave a comment, could you check and make sure it's set to "public" and not just "your circles"? 

ゼミ results (Part 2)

A while back, I talked about how I was torn between two tutorials. Well, today, I got the results for the first tutorial application (we have to application periods - the second one is if you failed the first one).

But first, which ゼミ did I choose in the end? 

As I said before, I really like both tutorials, but in the end, I applied for the Corporate Finance tutorial, and will try to get into the Economics of the Internet tutorial as my sub-tutorial. The reason was that after talking with my family, it seems like Corporate Finance will make me more employable than Economics of the Internet (it doesn't teach programming, it's really just analysing internet companies).

More about the Application Process

For all tutorials, you have to submit a form (printed correctly), either nicely typed out or handwritten. The form asks for your reasons for wanting to enter the tutorial, but different teachers have different requirements. The Corporate Finance teacher wanted us to add the things that we can contribute to the class (mine was basically "I CAN DO FOREIGN STUDENT OPINIONS AND BRING YOU TO SINGAPORE. PLEASE TAKE ME IN").

For the Economics of the Internet tutorial, there was an added 面談 (mendan - interview) which I did because I want to take it as my sub-tutorial. Now that some of my friends are considering whether to take a sub, this requirement is a bit of a turn-off.

In the interview, which took place during a lesson -gulp, I MISSED CLASS-, the teacher asked me about why I wanted to join the class (insert story about ebook revolution and my interest in how it unfolds), and why I didn't want to take it as my main tutorial, and then, he brought out my result sheets and asked me why I only got a C for Microeconomics and Statistics. That last part was a shock. But I managed to explain why, and assuming that there's space in the class, I should be able to take it as my sub-tutorial. YAY!

Announcement of Results (結果発表）

 The results were announced at noon today. Of course, I didn't know the time, just the date, so I went there in the morning and was puzzled at the lack of results. But since we have our 政治経済学 (um, Political Economics?) final exam part 2 from 1pm, I went to study.

Oh yes, Kyudai decided to announce the results one hour before a final exam. And since there was one teacher who had 40 students apply, there are at least 30 students who will be disappointed before they have to take a compulsory exam (This subject is compulsory for us).

The results were stuck on the board. I tried to blur out all the student numbers, but I think you can still get a feeling of what it's like, to be pushing your way through the crowd to look for your number.

My future teacher is all the way on the left.

Thankfully, I got in!

For the exam season, this is probably one of the best ways to end my week.