Scholarship and school years

Today I posted the first post-selection paperwork for my scholarship. Just a contract/pledge that I accept the scholarship and its rules and stuff, and a copy of my passport.

Like I mentioned, the scholarship starts first week of April. This is because the Japanese school year starts the first of April (or closest following weekday). I don’t know of any other country that starts at this time of the year. Usually it’s either in (August-) September or in January. However, I have met many Japanese people that believe all other countries start at the same time as them. Not so strange actually, have you never been abroad for studying.

Swedish schools usually starts in the middle of August, except for University, which starts first of September (or closest following weekday, you know the deal), and I thought it was like this in most countries before reading about it prior to my high school exchange year.

I was in Japan from October to August the following year, which was totally strange considering the three Japanese semesters, which in high school usually are April-July, September – December and January-March, with about three weeks spring break in March, one to one and a half month summer holidays in August and maybe July, and about two weeks winter holidays around New Years. I came in the middle of one school year, and went home during summer holidays the next.

This is always a problem with international exchange, and different schools/countries/organizations solve it in different ways. Usually you follow either the host or the home country’s school year in accordance to when you come and when you go (when there, you of course follow the host country’s). I was some kind of special case.

Back to this times university studies. I will now wholly follow the Japanese school year and go there in the beginning of April. Then I will study a preparatory year, with mostly Japanese, but some Japanese Affairs, mathematics and stuff as well, and then I will go on to regular Japanese University for four years, and then hopefully get a Bachelor’s Degree.

No schools are decided yet, but it seems like the first year will be in Osaka. While in Japan before I lived in Tokyo, and I have been to Osaka only for all about one afternoon, so I’m very excited. Which I of course would be wherever I would go, but anyways…^^;

I’ve got to learn Osaka dialect! With –hen and ya and uchi all the time!!

It would have been nice to go to Tokyo again, because that city is so wonderful, I love it! It has everything, and in a year I have yet seen nothing! Also, I have friends and family (hostfamily, not biological) there. But it will be nice to live in another part of Japan as well. We will have to see how everything works out.