Back in Japan: Studying International Relations @ Ritsumeikan Graduate School

Hi everyone, here comes a short update from Japan..!

After having spent my holiday in Bolivia working as a volunteer, taking classes in Spanish and not to mention traveling around the country I'm now back in Japan ready for a new semester.

That is to say, I am no longer an exchange student at Ritsumeikan University like I was before, instead I'm a full time student enrolled in their master degree program for International Relations, more specifically the Global Cooperation Program.

The characteristic clock tower at Kinugasa

But besides the master degree in International Relations Ritsumeikan also offers a so-called DMDP (Dual Master Degree Program), which means that you have the opportunity to go abroad to one of their Partner Universities and take a master degree there as well. If you work hard enough that means you have the opportunity to take 2 master degrees in 2 years.

And even though I haven't 100% made up my mind if I'm going through with it or not I am taking a lot of credits this semester to ensure that if I decide to take the double degree I'll have enough credits to finish my master at Ritsu in a year.

Normally you need 30 credits to finish your 2-year long Master Program at Ritsumeikan, and this semester I'm taking 21. This way I will have more time to write my thesis next semester!

So far it is going good, but that might be because we haven't started to get a serious load of homework in a lot of the classes yet. I will definitely be busy once we get started for real..!

But still, I think this semester will be nice. I also finally got the chance to take classes in other languages than Japanese, so this semester I'm taking a Spanish and a German Reading & Discussion class. Which has been going well so far.!

Banners at my campus (Kinugasa)

Also, since I came back I got myself a new apartment; I now live in a little village in the forest north of Kinkakuji. It is a nice place, and they are arranging some activities in the local community that I get to participate in as well, such as an 運動会 (local sports day, actually this weekend) and a festival　(祭り).

I guess Ill be writing another blog post about my apartment and so on later, cause both the apartment in itself and also the village is really nice. Only thing is that I don't have internett in the apartment yet..  But still it is not that bad, because it makes procrastinating a bit harder! Haha..

Anyway, I am heading to the gym in some 10-15 minutes, so I better get going. Hasta luego!

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.