One of the major cultural differences I’ve experienced here in Belfast is the drinking culture. One of the major reasons, of course, being that the drinking age here is 18, not 21, as it is in the States. This means that alcohol is much more a part of life in university in a casual way, a way it cannot be at American universities. For example, clubs and societies are able…
Food is a somewhat different experience in Belfast than it was at the College of Charleston. First of all, all of the student accommodations at Queen’s University are self-catered, which means that students have to cook all of their own food. The freedom of being able to choose what you want to make for dinner is very nice to have, but having to make your own food does mean that…
To any future study abroad students I would say the very cliche phrase: don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You are going abroad to learn new things and have experiences you can’t have here in the States. That being said, having ties to home helped me a lot. I would set aside time each weekend to call home and I brought a couple of mementos from…
Hello, my name is Maikalani Peterson. I am majoring in Arts Management with a music concentration, and I am minoring in Film Studies. I am a junior who is currently studying abroad this semester in Hirakata, Japan at Kansai Gaidai University. I chose to do this program because I took two years of Japanese at the College of Charleston with Chikuma Sensei and Yamaji. They inspired me to study abroad…
Michelle Taylor Major/Minor: Supply Chain Management, Global Logistics and Transportation Sophomore Host University: Queen’s University Belfast I have wanted to study abroad for years. I actually searched for colleges on the basis of how strong their study abroad programs are. I chose to study at Queen’s because it checked several important boxes for me. First, I wanted to study in an English-speaking country. I don’t have strong foreign language skills.…
Whenever we learn about World War II, Hiroshima is also mentioned due to what occurred there. I love learning about history and visiting historic places, so Hiroshima was on my list of Prefectures that I wanted to visit. When the opportunity arose, we made it happen. We went on the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka which was bound for Hiroshima. After about an hour and a half, we arrived at…
Hi! My name is Salina, and I am a junior. I am currently double majoring in International Business and International Studies. My concentration is Asian Studies. I am studying abroad at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. I love learning languages, so when I got the opportunity to take Japanese at the College of Charleston I was so excited. As I learned the language and was exposed to the culture, I…
Konnichiwa, my name is Aidan Stout and I am a Junior at the College of Charleston. I am studying Computing in the Arts, with a Game Development concentration and I have decided to spend the fall 2023 semester in Japan attending Kansai Gaidai University, located in Hirakata, Osaka. I have taken four semesters of Japanese at CofC, so when I heard about this program, I knew it was something I…
If you’re thinking about coming to KGU to study, statistics suggest that you’re also a super nerd (it’s okay, we all are too). If you frequently delve into nerdy endeavors, you will be delighted to hear that there are lots of video game and hobby stores within walking distance from KGU! One of my favorite stores to go to is called Book-Off, which is a second-hand store specializing in just…
My first few weeks at Kansai Gaidai flew by! Immediately after I arrived, I met up with some other CofC students, some students from other universities, and Japanese students, and went on a day trip to Osaka. We went to Osaka Castle, a maid cafe that received extremely high praise from one of my friends, and ate a bunch of good food. I was surprised that I was already making…
