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Presently, I am living in one of the few dormitory housing options offered by Sophia University. Unlike most American dormitories, Koganei Dormitory is entirely male and located off campus. Now, when I say off campus, I’m not talking a little 5 minute drive. It is a whopping 40 minutes assuming there are no train delays and you are able to catch the morning “commuter rapid train”. If you are late and can only catch the local rail, it will take you at least 50-60 minutes.

The station itself, Musashi-Koganei, is fairly quiet. With the exception of the actual station, there is little to do as most of the area is entirely residential. Thankfully, Kichijoji is only 7 minutes away (or 3 stations) and is littered with bars and nightlife.

The dorm building is 5 stories and each floor holds ~10-12 residents. Every room is a single, but on the downside, both of my parents vans are far bigger than my actual room. Each day I have gotten quite a bit of exercise in hiking up and down the stairs. I live on the 4^th floor, but the entrance is on the 2^nd, the dining room, showers (only 2 for the dorm), and large bath are on the 1^st. Laundry is located on the roof and the mini-lounge (smaller than my GMC envoy) is on the 2^nd floor.

Twice a day, the dining room is opened to serve breakfast (7-830AM) and dinner (6-10PM). The food is fairly average. Nothing too special, but nothing horrible. For breakfast, residents are offered either Japanese style or the Japanese take on the Western style breakfast (sadly, no biscuits and gravy or grits). Dinner is always Japanese style. The only complaint I really have is the heavy usage of Japanese mayonnaise, which unlike American mayo is super sugary and sweet Now, as many of you know, I eat almost anything. Rarely am I picky. Heck, the only kind of food I can think of that I truly hate are cucumbers. That was until Japan had to one up the ickiness of the cucumber with the introduction of Japanese mayo-lathered-cucumbers. To say the least, its evil and vile.

The residents of the dormitory have been very friendly and welcoming. Most of the Japanese students are 1^st or 2^nd year students at Sophia University, while most of the international students are 3^rd year or grad students. So far I have met 5 Australians, 3 other Americans, 1 Swede, 1 Spaniard, 1 Frenchmen,s and 1 German. Much of our interactions so far have been based on ridiculing each others’ English pronunciation.

Here is a small list of the dorm rules:

-Curfew (門限 mongen) is at midnight

-Alcohol is only allowed to be consumed in your private residence

-Lights must be shut off when not in the room

-Shoes must be removed at the door, and slippers must be worn at all other times. Different slippers will be used in the bathroom.

-You must must turn your name tag at the dorm entrance to show whether you are “In” or “Out”

-If you plan on staying out past curfew, you must fill out a form notifying ryouchou-san (dorm head) of your plans

Although strict, most of these exist to protect the younger residents. In Japan, adulthood isn’t legally reached until one turns 20. Until then, ryouchou-san is legally responsible for the well-being of the younger students.

Here are a few photos of around the dorm and some of us residents at the zoo.

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