Top tips for new APU students

By MYAT Min Khant (The Fountain Stuff)
December 21, 2018

September 2018, APU Entrance Ceremony

“When I arrived AP house, I realized that

I could not charge my devices and no food was available.

It was a pretty tough day.” Australian girl, who’s doing

RA (Residence Assistant) in AP house, Jesse said.

Not only new international students

but also domestic students might have the same problems

after they arrived APU.

For examples, Adaptation to the current environment,

communication with strangers, exploration of Beppu, and etc.

These problems do not seem like a big deal, but those

will be serious issues for daily survival.

#1 Adaptation to the current environment

“Everything will be different here if you are not from Oita.”

1st-year student Towa Aonuma said.

Firstly, different food will be the

problem of most students. The best solution is to adapt to

Japanese food in Beppu and APU.

The other way is bringing foods from hometown.

Otherwise, the noodle dilemma will happen.

The second problem that most of the

international students face with is different plug types.

Nowadays, mobile phones and laptops became essential

things in daily lives.

On the first arrival to dormitory or house, those devices

may be out of juice and there might be different plug types

to charge.

Therefore, bring the plug adaptor

or put it on the shopping list.

#2 The clothes

There will be an entrance ceremony and many

activity events. Some events are restricted about clothing.

For example, students must wear

suit only or traditional clothes only. And many clothes

are not necessary for a normal student, or conversely, having a lot

can make confused about deciding what to wear.

Thus, choose the right clothes according to the situation.

#3 Contacts

“It was my first day in APU, and I needed to

contact with my family, but I couldn’t, because

there was no wi-fi or internet,” Jesse said.

Domestic students and

international students who lived in Japan before coming to APU

might don’t have trouble.

But the rest of the students might have to face

the situation without internet.

“Now, AP House provides wi-fi for every single room. But

it’s still better to get a sim card or portable wi-fi router.” Jesse said.

For downtown residences, it would be better to get both

sim card and home wi-fi router because most of the houses

provide only an internet connection.

#4 Cash urgency
“Japan’s cost of living is high,” APS 2nd year student from
Vietnam, Ta Hong Ngoc said.

For the first few months, a new student may need to buy
many things for daily life, such as,
foods, cooking accessories, toilet paper,
the stuff that is mentioned above, and so on.

Besides that, friends may call out to hang out at the weekend
to explore Beppu or seniors may invite to have a meal together.

Any case that needs to spend money
can be happened anytime, like sudden illness.

“New students should have enough
cash to survive for first 1 month”, Jesse said.

“Bring visa card or any card to get money from
their own country will be the best solution to this, ”1st-year student
from Mongolia, BoRo Dolgorjav said.


“All students have their own problems. There will be friends,
seniors who can help. The important thing is to learn
how to get over the problems.” Hong Ngoc said.