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Student report on study abroad program in Akita (AIU)

(Story by Hayley McCall)

For any Â鶹Æƽâ°æ student interested in studying abroad in Japan, I would wholeheartedly recommend the exchange program with Akita International University. While AIU is undoubtedly a more rural campus, the countryside environment allows for many unique experiences as opposed to larger Japanese cities. To me, studying abroad is all about diving headfirst into an environment unfamiliar to you. As an international institution that routinely hosts exchange students from around the globe, AIU is well equipped in this specific aspect.

Even for students not as well versed in the Japanese language, I would still say AIU is extremely English friendly. Classes in a variety of different fields are offered, and all except for the Japanese language classes are taught in English. And since you’re in Japan, of course, there are many opportunities to improve your Japanese proficiency. One of my favorite experiences at AIU was volunteering at a local kindergarten for a day. A few other international students and I led English activities about our home countries, we played games, and stayed at the school for lunch. The university also hosts larger scale trips around the prefecture a few times each semester, and I’d definitely recommend those as a guided way to explore more of Akita. Outside of these more curated experiences, most of my favorite weekends at AIU were spent just getting on the train and exploring Akita. Each small town has its own qualities and traditions to offer if you’re brave enough to go adventuring.

One thing that’s very unique to AIU even among Japan study abroad programs is its truly international environment. Each semester students from around the globe come to AIU, and as much as I learned about Japan during my time there, I also learned about dozens of other countries from my friends, classmates, and dormmates. This definitely wasn’t something that I expected, but it’s something that I really came to appreciate.