Adventures of Anette: SKP

Showing posts with label SKP. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Trying out the Kimono Club @ Ritsumeikan

Anette 10:27:00 PM

As I have explained about earlier in one of my post, it is quite typical for Japanese students to join a so-called circle (サークル) or club where they can practice things they like, or have an interest in. I just got myself a kimono a couple of months ago thanks to the Toka-Ebisu festival I participated in, so one of the things I really wanted to try out this semester was a club that could teach me how to actually put the kimono on by myself.

During the orientation week at Ritsumeikan I got the contact information to the leader of the kimono-club (circle), and I contacted her and asked if it was ok if I participated. Luckily it was, and so I dragged along my friend Larissa in the last moment to check it out! Turned out there were quite a lot of students interested in trying out the club, and for our first day we all got the chance to get dressed up by the other girls who already had been members for a semester or more.

Getting ready for kimono!

Larissa gets help with her kimono

Both of us all dressed up! Yay!

Almost done!

Photo time!

Some of the kimonos you might end up wearing if you join the kimono-club

It was really nice to try out the kimono-club, and the members were friendly too. We did feel welcome, and I would have liked to continuing going to the club if it weren't for my shoulder. I haven't really decided what to do yet, but I do think that I'll have problems putting the kimono on because the movement of my arm still is quite limited x(
Anyway, it seems like a good club! If you become able to put on the kimono by yourself they might even let you lend the kimono some time! Would be nice for instance if you want to walk around in Kyoto in kimono, wear kimono at a hanami or something like that^^..

Some more facts about the kimono-club:
Membership: 6000 yen for a year
Meetings: Every Wednesday
Contact information can be found on Ritsumeikan's home page!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

SKP

Spring in Japan: Sakura Season and Hanami in Kyoto!

Anette 8:04:00 AM

One quite particular thing about the Japanese culture, is how they like things that are pretty, but at the same time things that are fragile or fugitive, or in other ways imperfect. Perhaps that is why they like the sakura 桜 (cherry blossom) so much.. Every year the trees brings new and beautiful flowers, but the flowers only lasts for a couple of weeks, until their petals falls to the ground. If there is a heavy rain the long-awaited hanami might even get washed away along with the flowers. The sakura is a sign of spring, and Japanese people (as well as us foreigners) likes to gather in parks/shrines/etc to drink with friends and watch the pretty flowers. This event is called hanami, and it literarily means to "look at flowers" (花見). Like last year I have already been to a couple of hanami-events, and the pictures in this blog is from the hanami I went to with the Study in Kyoto Program (SKP)-students in the Maruyama-park (円山公園) behind Yasaka Jinja.

Compared to last year the sakura flowers bloomed really late, so I didn't get that many good shots this time. Anyway, thanks for reading my post, I'll be back with more soon;)

Sakura over a gate in Gion

One of the traditional streets in Gion

During hanami there are a lot of stalls where one can by small portions of different types of Japanese food, such as takoyaki, okonomiyaki, etc etc. Here is the stalls + the sakura

Nanzen-ji 南禅寺

Students ready for hanami

A group picture with some of my fellow students

Another 集合写真 with more or less all the hanami participants

The Yasaka-jinja exit

Related blogposts

All blogposts from Osaka

All blogposts from Kyoto

All blogposts about hotels

All blogposts from Japan

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave me a comment or question below!
~Anette

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

SKP

Ritsumeikan School Festival 学園祭 2011

Anette 11:16:00 PM

This weekend it was time for another school festival at Ritsumeikan University, more specifically at Kinugasa Campus, where I am studying. The campus had been nicely decorated for the occasion, and the whole place was filled with people. And not just students; there was a lot of kids, and what seemed to be parents or grandparents too. Clearly the festival was popular among all generations.

Ritsumeikan's east school gate decorated for the festival

Some more decorations on campus

Me, Yuki, Asami and Yuji at the school festival

The Rits Fes, the name of this festival, is one of the biggest events at school, especially for people who are active in interest circles (サークル) or or clubs (クラブ). This is the chance for them to show off what they have been practicing the last year or semester, and also a chance for them to earn some money by selling different types of food.

Stands where members of the different activity clubs and circles are selling food

On the Kinugasa Campus there was small stands everywhere with people selling anything from typical Japanese food such as oden, yakisoba and takoyaki, to more western food such as sausages.

They do also have small flee markets spread around campus, where one for instance can support volunteering groups by buying second-hand products. Some of the volunteer circles also sold products that had been made by locals in countries like Cambodia or the Philippines.

A volunteer circle selling second-hand products

Another special thing about the school festival is all the performances; every thing from live music to various styles of dancing, people who has specialized in jump rope entertainment. The clubs and circles have been practicing really hard for this festival, and it is quite impressive to see them in action.

Traditional Japanese music being performed

On campus you could hear not only traditional Japanese music, but also a vide range of Western music.

Dancers having a show at the main stage

Live wrestling show

..with quite some action..

New of this year was that people had found more creative ways of getting the visitors to use money. One could pay to get a massage, or to play a game of the Chinese board game Mahjong. And with tattoos still being a bit taboo in Japan, it might have seen nice to many of the Japanese to get a henna tattoo instead since it can be easily removed..

Those interested could try a quick game of Mahjong

Or just have a relaxing foot massage.

An overview of the west side of campus

The only bad this about the school festival is that it makes it quite hard to concentrate when you are in the library or the research room to study, because there are so much noise outside! Haha.. Since it was in the weekend I guess it still was a nice excuse to take a brake in the studies though.

I actually went to this festival last year as well, and I wrote about it on this page.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

SKP

About Seiki-classes at Ritsumeikan

Anonymous 12:26:00 AM

This semester I have been taking classes as a so-called seiki-student at Ristumeikan.
This might sound a bit mystical, but seiki is just the Japanese word for normal or regular (正規), which in this case means that I can take regular classes at Ritsumeikan with the Japanese students.

Personally I took

-3 obligatory seiki-classes

-2 Japanese Culture-classes (Ikebana/Flower Arrangement and Wagashi/Confectionery )

-1 Seiki-class for exchange students (Japanese Economy)

-3 classes with the regular Japanese students.

As a seiki-student you do have quite a lot more options than a regular student, or even a regular Japanese student, cause you can take almost any class you want. Unfortunately there are some courses you can't take though; I'm specially talking about other language classes besides Japanese. Personally I wanted to study other languages beside Japanese, but it seems Ristumeikan doesn't allow that.

But in general, like I said, it is pretty much up to you which classes you want to take. There are 3 obligatory seiki classes, which is grammar, listening and reading. In other words, the same as in the regular SKP program. And then there are some seiki-classes specifically designated for exchange-students. These are classes conducted in Japanese about various topics, the only difference between these classes and regular classes you take with the Japanese students is that.. There are no Japanese students..?
And the other thing I have noticed is that the seiki-classes for exchange students demands a lot more work than regular classes you take with the Japanese students (but since I only took one of these classes this semester I'm not sure if this is applicable for all classes).

The regular classes I took this semester was: a class about International Relations (国際関係学), a class about ethnicity and racism (goes under 特殊講義) and Sustainable Development (持続可能な開発).
So far I haven't had any problems regarding my classes, and I've even got relative good grades on the tests I've had which is kind of nice when "all" the others are natives. In all these classes I am the only Western student, but I've heard some of the students speaking Korean so I guess I'm not the only foreigner at least. Not that it matters, really..
i have to say though that my classes are quite big, so the chances of making new friends aren't really that big I think, unless that is one of your goals. I've got so many nice friends at Ristumeikan already, so I must admit I don't take it that seriously.

Anyway, for those who wants advices considering choosing seiki-classes, I would recommend reading about as many different classes in the online syllabus as you can, and find some classes that is based not only on the final exam, but also on for example attendance, reports or small tests beside the final exam. The first couple of weeks you are free to try out as many classes as you want, so have fun! ;p
You can find Ristumeikan's online syllabus here (The class code is written at the end of the url in each of the pages for the different classes).

授業: 持続可能な開発

Sunday, February 13, 2011

SKP

Ritsumeikan University 立命館大学: Kinugasa Campus

Anette 7:30:00 PM

This blogpost is mainly going to be concentrated upon my school Ritsumeikan Daigaku, which is a private university situated in the north-west part of Kyoto quite close to famous temples like Ryoanji 龍安寺 and the Golden Pavilion; Kinkakuji 金閣寺.

According to their web page, Ritsumeikan actually has a history dating back to 1869.

The pictures from my blog have all been taken at Kinugasa Campus, but in addition to this Ritsumeikan also consists of a couple of other campuses, not to mention some high schools and the university in Beppu.

Anyway, since we are having our spring break holiday right now the pictures I´ve taken might make the school seem kind of abandoned, but I can promise that it usually is quite lively. ;)

---

The Ritsumeikan clock tower, which actually can be spotted from quite a distance..!

Vending machines seems to be a must no matter where you go in Japan, and so of course we have more than a couple of them at Ritumeikan as well..

The library, which has almost been as a second home for me the last couple of months.. Haha..

Opening time is usually from 9-22.00, but in the weekends they only stay open till around five/seven. Not to mention that the opening hours also are quite reduced during the holidays.

Some banners advertising for some of the "circles", or interest clubs, which one can join at school. There are quite a lot of different circles, reaching from manga and drawing clubs, to sport or volunteer clubs as well.

To the left there is a small stage sometimes being used for entertainment or speeches, especially during the first weeks of the new semesters.

Recently Ritsumeikan are trying to make the school a smoke free environment. That is to say, smokers can smoke as long as they do it in one of these.. Cages..?.. :P

Well, at least it is probably warmer to smoke inside the cage than outside during the wintertime.

Another picture at the area where you find the most of the international students at campus, as well as the students studying International Relations, languages and so on.

So as an international student at Ritsumeikan, Kinugasa, you are quite likely to end up here.. ;)

.. And that´s all for today. A bit short perhaps, so for those who are interested in reading more about Ritsumeikan, I´ve got a link to their homepage here.

Ritsumeikan in May, with loads of pretty cherry blossoms <3

Monday, January 24, 2011

SKP

Completion ceremony at Ritsumeikan!

Anette 5:36:00 PM

My first semester at Ritsumeikan is over. I´ve had all my exams, finished all my reports and done all of my assignments for this time.

On Friday we had a completion ceremony for the students who has already been here a year/only are staying one semester. Though I´ve still got another semester left, I decided to participate as well. There is not that much to say about the ceremony itself, you have the usual formal speeches and everybody is dressed up nicely.

Vice-chancellor of Ritusmeikan; Monte Cassim, and our student representative.

But there were also some entertainment during the ceremony: The students who took the traditional arts course Shamisen (三味線) preformed some songs they had been practicing during the semester. Shamisen is the name of the instrument they are playing; a Japanese three-stringed banjo. I´ve added a video where they are playing and singing as well, feel free to check it out;)

After the ceremony we had a reception at school, with a lot of more or less traditional Japanese food. 美味しかった！ Of course now that the semester is finished there are students who will be leaving for their own countries. Eki-chan is one of those who has finished her year abroad, and at the reception she, among others, received her completion diploma.

But we did not only spend the evening eating delicious food and listening to speaches. After the reception at school, most of us spent some hours of the evening at a Nomihōdai (飲み放題) where you can drink as much as you want for a certain prize, of course with a time limit to it. Though we only had 90 minutes to go we sure had a memorable night:)

Besides the completion ceremony at school we also had a farewell party on Saturday for the students living in iHouse 1, where everybody brought some food from their representative countries. It was both fun and sad at the same time; I´m particularly bad at saying goodbye, and it is always hard to let go of good friends.

So now I can finally relax and enjoy some weeks of freedom, though I´ll probably still be hanging around the library a couple of weeks more. I´ve prepared myself for the holiday by buying some crime novels by Higashino Keigo, and I must say it is great to be able to study by reading stuff I actually want to read out of interest.. :P

In the end of February I am going to travel a couple of weeks in Japan along with my family, and in March me and Adaora are going to Taiwan, Thailand and Cambodia.

Other posts about Ritsumeikan

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Traditional Arts

Ritsumeikan Traditional Art Course: Ceramics

Anette 5:45:00 PM

Now that I am finished with most of my exams for the semester I´ve decided to write some short blogposts about the traditional art courses I have taken at Ritumeikan this semester; ceramics and calligraphy.

陶芸

Out of all the courses I took this semester, the class in ceramics was by far the one I enjoyed the most. It was relaxing and fun, and at the same time we got to make really nice and unique objects which we could take with us home once they were finished.

The location of the ceramics classes was in Fujihara Togei Studio (藤平陶芸) close to Kiyomizudera, and it takes more or less an hour to get there by bike from Ritsumeikan. (If you look at it in a positive way it is an easy way to get to do some extra exercise every Saturday morning! Haha..)

In the class we got to make among others a tea-set, Japanese Chawan/茶碗 (a special tea cup style) and for one of the objects you choose what to make yourself.

The classes were varied; we learned to make the objects from the bottom and the result was surprisingly good! (Might have been because our teacher saved us every time things seemed to go out of hand)

And besides just the ordinary classes, we also had the chance to participate in a tea ceremony, which were held in a really traditional Japanese house. This was a great experience as well!

A picture of some of the objects we made. At this stage they had just been burned, which you can tell by looking at the color.

In the last class we got to see their original ceramics studio.

Me and my fellow students from the ceramics class gathered at the old Fujihara studio.

The last class we also had a small tea cermony with our teacher and the wife of the owner of the studio, where we drank tea using the Chawan we had made ourselves.

So finally a summarize of the ceramics class:

+ The teacher is great! He is really helpful and engaged in his work.

+ If you are on the verge of destroying your ceramics projects, sensei is always there to help.

+ You get to keep the things you make.

+ The classes are varied, so it never gets boring.

+ You get to try out traditional Japanese tea ceremonies as well.

+ It is easy credits.

+ It is simply FUN!

- The price. Yeah, it is a bit expensive. On the other hand, taking this course through Ritsumeikan is much cheaper than to go to the studio as a private person.

- It is a bit far from school, since the studio is situated close to Kiyomizudera.

- The classes are held on Saturdays in the morning. Do I have to say more?

Anyway, I have no doubt in my mind when I say that this class was great. It was absolutely worth both my money and my Saturday mornings.