The International Center at Ritsumeikan University provides various types of housing to international students. In the 2017 spring semester, a few AIMS students have been staying in a shared apartment at Oak Town Higashi Ibaraki. Here is a story from one of the residents.

Story of Mr. Muhammad Anggada Putra Prabowo, Universitas Indonesia

This is the first time I have lived with roommates, especially roommates from different countries. My roommates are Mr. Nuthep Piriyapong from Thailand and Mr. Katsuya Mizuguchi from Japan. I enjoy my life at Oak Town Higashi Ibaraki, because I have roommates who share the same interest with me, which is music. I am also so grateful that I have a Japanese roommate. He is so helpful. He has helped make my life easier since the first month I lived here.
Living together also makes our living costs relatively lower than usual because we can share a lot of things together. The hardest and the most challenging part is that we have to respect each other and adapt our behavior so that we do not bother each other. Because of that, I have tried to change my behavior and emotions a bit. For example, when we use shared things, we make sure that they are clean after we use them. When we have problems like difficult homework, financial problems, etc., we try to help each other. When someone gets angry or makes me angry, I will try to understand the circumstances because we have different backgrounds and we cannot force our norms onto others. This will indirectly improve myself to become a better version of me. My life here is more wonderful than I expected before coming. What a great experience!

This photo was taken in mid-April when our Japanese friend, Yuta, came to our room. Nook cooked Thai food for us. On that day, Katsuya had not yet come to our room .

A relaxed time in the living room in late June