Hey kids, my name is Steve Brennison, I'm a senior at the wonderful and lovely University of Georgia, majoring in Japanese.
Last year, as a junior, I had the pleasure of learning under Tony-sensei's tutlage. He helped me much over the year, and continues to do so via facebook and email. I came here to post my blog, which will serve as my testiment in my travels.
This thread serves two purposes, I get to whore out my blog, and to answer any questions you may have about study abroad, the application process, living in Japan, culture questions, or general whathaveyou.
I hope this goes well, I will post your questions and my answers in my blog.
So yea, I leave in about 7 hours of this posting, fire away.
I'm also available in pm, facebook, AIM, skype, and email.
Finally got caught up on your bloggin's today (it was a hell of a weekend--family stuff in far-flung corners of Georgia...)
Ah, yes, that wonderful mix of emotions when starting out... Being a total idiot, I went to Japan for the first time in all the wrong ways (basically, just bought a ticket and went, hoping that everything would Just Work Out. They did eventually, but getting there was pretty unpleasant at times...)
Let us know how you did on the placement test! I look forward to more reports!
Cool. It's been updated today, now with 60% less depressing and 70% more happy
Thanks! I guess I better start looking around. I'll be following your blog, too.
If you want to do the UGA exchange, keep your grades up, I ended up with a 2.99 around the time I was supposed to apply, so I was boned for that.
Look around for programs that look interesting. www.iiepassport.org has a boatload of programs to look at, go to study abroad fairs, etc.
I settled on USAC, because it was a moderately priced year-long program. APPLY EARLY. I cannot stress that enough. My program was 1st come, 1st serve with only 15 slots. I think the deadline for it was like, april or something, I applied in september or october - I was the 3rd person to sign up. That was the most important.
After you get accepted, it's all just randomly panicking to get everything they need for information and whatnot sent to them (such as pictures, filling out their info sheets, copies of documents, etc)
The credit transfer stuff was also a pain.
I hope that answered your question, lemme know if I need to enlighten on anything else.
That sounds like it's going to be fun, I am jealous T_T
I'm a Japanese major too, and one of my major goals is to study abroad in Japan at some point in time. Next year would be optimal, but cicumstances may work against me...anyway, I was wondering if you could tell me what it was like going through the application process - what to be aware of, how to prepare and have a decent chance of making it, how to get scholarships and etc. Actually I might have a lot more questions than that, but I don't want to overload you so I'll save them for later. =D
Thanks if you can answer, and good luck with your studies in Japan!
The edit button seems to disappear after a certain amount of time....
I'll be studying at Kwansei Gakuin.
I just got off the plane and into my hotel, so beer and sleep are needed. Blog update will ensue.
いってらっしゃい！
I think that you should be able to edit the post just by clicking the "Edit" button that should be there somewhere. Is one not displaying?
Regardless, have a safe trip and a great time there!
I read your blog post. "Guilt" is certainly an interesting emotion to experience... Didn't see that one coming!
Good luck with the host fam, too. Remind me where you're going to school? 関西外大, was it?
I can't figure out how to edit these damn things, I posted the link for my blog wrong, it's www.steveoinjapan.blogspot.com/
Am fail.
Hey, for you kids doing Anki, especially if you're doing the JLPT2 deck, DO NOT fall behind. It will hurt. A lot.