Now that I’m back in Australia I can finally look back on my exchange in Japan and fully realise just how amazing the experience was and how lucky I was too have been able to do it. As an International Relations student this experience was invaluable, as not only was I able to immerse myself in another culture and learn their language for 6 months, but I was able to form lifelong relationships with people from all around the world, who were also on exchange.

Living in Tokyo also gave me both the ability to travel into the city whenever I felt like it, but it also served as a great nexus to travel all around Japan. Although there was a bit of culture shock to begin with in Japan, as there always will be when moving to another country, it is surprising how quickly I adjusted to life in Japan and now that I’m back in Australia, how unfamiliar all the originally familiar things feel to me.

Staying in Japan also gave me the opportunity to travel to other Asian countries on the way back to Australia after I finished my studies, which only added to the list of great experiences I have had during the semester.

Chuo University was also a great university to study at, as the courses were interesting and they had a great setup for international students that allowed us to not only meet Japanese students, but also let us hang out with other international students, or even teach Japanese students about our own language and culture. If anyone is thinking of doing an exchange I would highly recommend Chuo University and Japan in general.

Sam Fairlie, Bachelor of International Studies undertook an Exchange to Chuo University, Japan in S2 2018

私の日本の生活が楽しいと面白いでした。

Read Sam’s 1st blog post here.