A great little university

by Conrad Matsumoto
(Odawara, Kanagawa)

I was very fortunate that my first university teaching experience was such a good one (2000-2004). I was way up in the "inaka" (countryside). It was in Shibata, Niigata at Keiwa Gakuen Daigaku: http://www.keiwa-c.ac.jp/

There were only 1000 students which made it a very friendly and cozy university. We knew almost all students at least by face and many by name. There were only 3 majors with English being one of them so the students (for the most part) were enthusiastic and willing to learn/study. I shared the office with 2 other American teachers and our boss, Joy, gave us a lot of freedom and at the same time guidance.

As an avid basketball fan, I was even able to practice with the school's basketball club and coordinated a few basketball tournaments with students.

Probably the only negative thing I can say about this experience was the terrible weather. Niigata is scorching hot and humid in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. And sunny days are hard to come by all year around.

Anyway, they advertise for jobs once every year or two, usually in the ohayosensei.com. It's a great university to start your college-teaching career.