Living in The Dorm

Hi everyone,

This time I wanted to highlight what it’s like living at Nanzan’s Nagoya Kōryū Kaikan—one of its female dormitories. Nanzan gives students the option between dormitory or homestay. If you choose to live in a dormitory you will be assigned whichever corresponds to your gender identity. For female students, you will be assigned either Nagoya Kōryū Kaikan or the Rainbow House. Only Nagoya Kōryū Kaikan belongs to Nanzan University. Other dormitories are privately owned. For male students, Nanzan has Yamazato Kōryū Kaikan and another dorm whose name I forget, but it’s located in Aratama-bashi—a half-hour train ride away.

I will talk about my own experience at the dorm, because I think it will help those who are still deciding between dormitory or homestay. Nanzan’s online description of Nagoya Kōryū Kaikan’s facilities is accurate. It comes with a living room, two bathrooms, a shower and bathtub, and a fully-equipped kitchen. You don’t have to worry about buying dishes and utensils; those are also provided. It does not, however, have an oven. It has a small oven for bread and small pizzas, but unless you tinker around a bit with it, you cannot bake with it. You are responsible for buying your own groceries and washing your dishes. Make sure you keep the common room and kitchen clean! Oh, and it doesn’t come with a blender! I bought my own blender, because I needed it to make my spices from home.

Each suite has one Japanese student and three international students. Despite my initial nerves, I got along with my roommates. We all had very similar sleep patterns, and we’re all quiet. Also, having access to the TV was pretty useful. I could sit at the table, studying, and listen to the TV. Your Japanese roommate helps you with registering at the local city hall, so you’ll coordinate a day with your roommates so everyone can go. It’s a pretty simple process, if not just a tab bit tedious. It does take longer than an hour, so make sure you choose a time that allows for flexibility.

Your Japanese roommate also takes care of buying toilet paper, soap, paper towels, and common and shared condiments. You give them 500 yen a month for this.

The cleaning is organized differently throughout the suites. For us, we just made sure to keep all the spaces clean, especially after we've used them. Then, we all sort of did our own part. My friend’s suite, in contrast, has assigned chores every week. It really just depends!

Since it is a single-gender dorm, the opposite gender cannot enter the living quarters. Both YKK and NKK have community rooms where anyone is welcome as long as they have a resident signing them in. The community room is open until 11 p.m. every day. You can host gatherings and parties. Alcohol may be consumed in either the community room or personal rooms. Both community rooms have some gaming consoles available for use. Make sure you clean up after yourself!

All the Japanese students in NKK were super welcoming, sweet, and open to conversation. I really appreciated it. I think it made NKK feel a lot more like a home. I also enjoyed the times spent with my roommates. I do not regret choosing to live in the dormitory. It really fit my lifestyle.

Until next time,

Leslikarina