Just like toilets, beds are different in Japan too! This is what your bed will look like when you come to AIU. No mattress. Thankfully, AIU will let you rent a futon and bedding. :) For about $70...
You also get a sheet, a comforter, a duvet, and a pillow. The comforter, duvet, and pillow all come with pretty white covers which can be removed and cleaned. For a small fee....
There is not a fitted sheet for the futon, so I would suggest bringing one. A standard fitted twin sheet will do. :)
The pillow is perhaps the only weird thing. It is quite small, and filled with something like little beads. Odds are, you have never used a pillow such as this, and I would recommend that you bring your own pillow. I think it is rather an uncomfortable pillow. :P
Yay for bedding! I guess I can say about the many different clubs I am in at AIU. You are officially allowed to join three clubs, but you may go to as many as you want :P I am a member of Badminton club, English Debate club, Honeybee club (Visits elementary schools to spread English ^_^ ), Bible study circle, and Korean club (when I have time to). Joining clubs is pretty important at AIU because AIU is isolated in a Podunk town in Japan. There is not much to do or many places to go outside of AIU, so you should make the best of it.
Classes here tend to be rather different from the classes I am used to taking. The non-Japanese classes seem to either be heavily student presentation based. Which can be boring because you need to read the material in order to understand most of the presentations anyway. Or the content is much more teacher lecture based because it hard for students without a western background to comprehend. Group discussions are very hard to initiate simply because (most) Japanese students do not like to speak in groups or voice opinions. This causes very boring classes when nobody wants to speak at all. -__- But my Japanese class is AWESOME, and that is all that really matters. ;)
I think my writing of English is becoming Japanese... I wonder how the papers I have to write will turn out...
I need to get my camera out. I want to show people the interesting English signs in Japan. They are weird. Anyway, Bus tour on Saturday, so lots more pictures to come!!!! Japanese homework is starting to pile up, need to attack it! Oyasuminasai! (good night)
