Georgia Brandi

Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Exchange to Kansai Gaidai University, Japan

For the first five months of 2006, I attended Kansai Gaidai University, which is situated directly between Osaka and Kyoto, proving to be very convenient for travel. My first impressions of the University were the strict class bells (to my surprise) and a cafeteria; all of which felt much like an American high school. It was a complete change to the very casual lifestyle at my home university. Although I found it a bit awkward to begin with, the facilities were interesting; I never imagined a vending machine could be used for so many purposes! The biggest shock, though, were the bicycles. I have never seen so many bicycles in one place! There were literally hundreds lined up at the University. A key to University romance seemed to centre around bikes too, having watched the boys with electric scooters pushing their love-interest up the hill, sat on her bicycle. So of course I had to get one too! I called her Maple; she was pink with a grey basket. Although I had no offers to be pushed up the hill, Maple proved useful for late night trips to Mr Donut for some 100 yen donuts.

I was extremely fortunate to stay with a host family for several weeks and experience a typical Japanese home, food, and the most bizarre TV shows which even my “Okasan” (host mother) laughed at inquisitively. Even though I later chose to live at the student dormitory, I continued to receive support from my host family, taking day trips to see the cherry blossoms in Kyoto and a bird zoo in Nara. I never would have guessed that the first time I saw a toucan would be in Japan!

The two biggest highlights of my exchange were the many day trips, many unplanned and haphazard, and the vast array of people I was able to meet at Kansai Gaidai. My first day trip was to Kyoto, and we planned to visit Kiyomizu temple. Although this was our destination, it seemed around every corner and on every street in Kyoto there was a shrine or temple to walk through and buy more “o-mamori” (good luck charms) to hang off your bag, or souvenirs. I returned several weeks later to see the magnificent lantern festival where the streets of Kyoto are lit up with various styles of lanterns and beautiful ikebana displays.

Traveling and studying in Japan built up my confidence and enticed me to experience as much as the guidebooks could offer. During Spring Break, I traveled on a lone venture to a place called “Koya-san” which is a mountain, a very big steep isolated mountain, with a dense population of Buddhist temples. It is popular to stay at a Buddhist temple for a night at Koya-san and do morning and evening prayer with the monks. There is also a beautiful cemetery, where the monks are laid to rest, that I was recommended to walk through because of its serenity and beauty. So that’s what I did, and it was unbelievably beautiful and peaceful. This was a contrast to the hustle of the Kyoto flea markets, where most “gaijin” (foreigners) would pick up an old kimono for 500 yen!

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience in Japan. I find myself wishing for a vending machine with my favourite drinks or a bizarre clothing store to look around. But in the absence of these Japanese comforts, I will always have the 99 yen food store “QQ” song to sing: “Q, Q-Q…Q, QQQQ”. I can’t wait to go back!

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