Before I came here, to hear the situation in Japan how foreign people are treated, I was afraid it would be impossible for me to make friends here, but now everyone looks at me as a good friend. Also at dormitory you can learn the modern life in Japan a little influenced by western culture even if it may not be classical Japanese life. Yes, that's a kind of a bonding experience so the foreigner as a title disappears and I can be just Crazy Lisa. I definetely suggest to studentes who come here to stay in a dorm. I think dorm is a good place to learn Japanese.
Dorms are kind of love and hate relation.
A lot of OYRs do not know the commitment of dorm, they come here not knowing what a dorm is. In ICU catalogue there are very weired letters describing dorms that you don't understand. I had a chande to see the dorms before I came and knew how they are, but for a lot of students it must be a shock to first see them, dirty rooms and everything. As a regular international student, I think thing are not always fair with Japanese regular student, such as the language requirement or the whole system of graduation. Things are not stable for us and you don't know what' s going to happen next year.