April 19, 2026: Welcome to Kobe

It’s already been a month since I arrived here in Kobe. Originally, this blog post should have been subtitled It’s already been a week, but as you can see, that ship sailed a long time ago.

Long story short, I got hit by a really nasty cold (or maybe two back-to-back) right after the first weekend that sapped all my strength for around two weeks. Since the beginning of April, I’m all good again, but now time flies extremely fast.

Nevertheless, today I finally have some time to write about my experience living and studying here in Japan for the last month. Time to rewind the clock and start from the beginning.

High above the skies

Switzerland, Friday the 13th, 06:30. In just one hour it’s off to Zurich Airport. A friend has graciously offered to drive us there, so after a quick breakfast, it’s time to pack the last things.

I had this week off already, so packing was not all that stressful. But even after numerous years of traveling, it’s always the same thoughts that pop up on the departure day. “Do I have everything?” or “What have I missed?”. Well, if I knew what I missed, I wouldn’t miss it, right?

A fairly uneventful drive to the airport later, it’s time to do the usual. Drop off the luggage, meet with your loved ones, go through security and immigration, and then wait at the gate. Nothing much to write home about.

What is worth writing about is the seat.

Yes. That is indeed business class.

As you might know, we Swiss people are all super rich. My luggage was 2 kilograms heavier just because I wanted to travel with my two favorite gold bars.

Joking aside, the combination of being tall, having a light sleep, and getting squeezed into a flying sardine can for 20 hours does not fill me with joy at all. Three years ago, when my friend and I went to Japan for our camping trip, we decided to book premium economy. He is even taller than me, so having extra space on such a long flight was a welcome change. We mutually agree that this is money well spent.

Two years ago, we did the same, with the difference that I stalked the class upgrade section every day in the hopes of getting a fairly cheap business class upgrade. I don’t remember the upgrade price, but I think the total was cheaper than just booking business class outright. Not including the added stress and effort to check it every day and wallow in “Should I or should I not?”.

So there I was, flying business class for the first time on our national flag carrier.

And boy, do I regret it.

Not because it was bad, no, quite the opposite. Boarding and leaving first is one of the first small bonuses. It is much more comfortable waiting in a business class seat than in front of the gate with everyone else. The food is a noticeable step up even from certain premium economy classes, but I don’t think I have ever made much use of the wider drink section and snacks-when-you-want-it offering. The main benefit for me personally is clearly the even bigger seat and legroom, combined with the ability to fully lie down for sleeping.

This time we did not fly with Swiss, as they do not offer flights to Kansai (KIX) directly. So instead we opted for Hong Kong’s flag carrier, Cathay Pacific. Now, I would rather not write a whole review for the flight; after all, this post should be about my experience in Kobe and not just the flight there, so I will keep myself to a single sentence.

It was good.

That’s it. It was just good. For ranking third best in 2025, I found the service a bit lackluster in comparison to the Swiss flight three years ago.

Tucked away in a Japanese neighborhood

Our flight had a layover in Hong Kong (HKG), which should have been around 2 hours. Unfortunately, our connecting flight had a technical issue with the plane and thus was delayed totaling up to 4 hours. After a quick email to my host family that I would be late, I decided to visit the business class lounge, but it was pretty full with other travelers. This, in combination with it being 07:00 and not having the best of sleep, sorry, no pictures. Remind me to take some when we fly back.

Disregarding the delay, everything else went to plan. We landed, got our eSIM, and the 2-hour commute to my host family could begin.

I arrived around 18:30 at the station, where my host family picked me up. After driving a short way to their home, I put my luggage in my room, had some curry for dinner, took a well-earned shower, and hit the bed.

Honestly, even after a month of living here, I have barely explored the surrounding neighborhood much. It’s mainly a residential area with a few small restaurants sprinkled in between, but since my host mother is a fantastic cook, I barely eat out during the week. I have absolutely no complaints, though. The nearest train station, Shinkaichi (新開地), is around 10 minutes by foot and has both the Hanshin and Hankyu lines running through it.

My daily commute to school from door to door is around 20 minutes. Yes, the train is insanely crowded in the morning, but luckily I only have to drive 2 stations.

Class is in session

Welcome to class, where everybody is Swiss and the points don’t matter.

OK, you got me; I’m exaggerating. Not every student is from Switzerland, but the vast majority are either from Germany or Switzerland. Right now in my class of 11 people, six are from Switzerland, three from Taiwan, one from Italy, and one from Belgium.

Coming to school for the first time on Monday, 16. March, leaving the elevator, and immediately bumping into two other Swiss people that are new really cements the stereotype that Swiss people are truly everywhere.

School is great. Lessons are from 09:00 to 12:15, and, because I’m studying “full time”, another hour in the afternoon. The lessons in the morning consist of learning five to six new Kanjis (the Chinese characters), including some vocabulary they are included in, and all the grammar that is in a single chapter in the Marugoto workbook. The afternoon lesson is called “Japanese Plus” and covers a single topic over the whole week. For example, one week was about earthquakes and what to do in the event of one, and another one was preparing a presentation about our favorite place in Japan.

Speaking of earthquakes, in this month there have been two earthquakes I felt so far. A magnitude 4.2 and a magnitude 3.2.

Friends and activities all around

According to my placement test, I would have been put into the A2-2 class. But considering that it has been a while since I last studied Japanese and to be together with my friend in class, I decided to start in the A2-1 class instead. This was a great decision. Yes, some grammar was repetition, but I don’t think I had everything back when I studied. It’s especially rewarding when we look at some grammar, and the next day I can immediately use it to meet up somewhere with my friend.

The classmates are also a great bunch. Because the school is extremely flexible on which week you want to start and how long you stay, there’s a lot of fluctuation in the students. Luckily, most of the people in my class are all staying for a lengthy period, so we have plenty of time to do stuff together. Every Monday, Thursday, and Friday, the school has two smaller and one larger event planned, respectively. These range from playing card games to going to a batting cage for some swings. There’s always something to do, and if there’s not, we just plan and organize it ourselves.

Sakura viewing? The school has reserved a spot in a nearby park.

Taking a tram to Sakai instead of the underground? Yeah, let’s go.

Visiting a high-quality knife shop in Sakai? Oh, what’s this? A traditional house that is now preserved as a museum? Let’s peek inside.

A dinner and drinks with the teachers? Sure, let’s do it on a Thursday. Only one teacher confessed to having a hangover on Friday.

Going underneath the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, one of the world’s longest suspension bridges?

Sounds great. What’s next? Well, let’s cross it, and visit Awaji Island and their beautiful flower fields.

Let’s go even further. All the way to Naruto and their famous whirlpools.

Seems fun. Want to see them up close?

Time to go back. But first, one more look at this beautiful bridge.

That was fun, but exhausting. What now?

It’s onsen time.

Hot baths, oh how I missed thee

Whenever people ask me what I like about Japan, there are always these three things I list.

1. Anime and manga: obviously, because that’s how I got sucked into this culture and country. Even today I keep up with the quarterly releases and read manga (translated into English, for now).

2. The food: it’s not that uncommon to hear that Japanese cuisine is one of the best in the world. I wholeheartedly agree.

3. The baths: this single last reason is a real curveball for most people. Allow me to explain.

The region around Japan is very seismically active. Plagued by frequent earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, this also brings the gift of natural hot springs. Hot springs (温泉, onsen, literally warm spring or warm fountain) can be found all over Japan. There are numerous famous onsen destinations that thrive from people coming to visit and bathe there. 草津温泉 (Kusatsu Onsen), 有馬温泉 (Arima Onsen), and the 別府 (Beppu) region are only a handful of examples. There are various health benefits attributed to bathing in an onsen, most famously their relaxing and therapeutic effects.

In the olden times, many households didn’t have their own bathroom. The onsen’s little brother, the sentō (銭湯, sentou, literally coin hot water or coin bath), is a communal bathhouse that is very similar to an onsen. The main difference is that the hot water in a sentō is not from a natural hot spring and is instead heated up conventionally. While many Japanese residences have their own baths, some still prefer to go to a sentō or onsen for the communal aspect.

For me personally, nothing beats a hot bath after a strenuous day. Dipping in and out of the hot water and chatting with friends — this is my definition of a good evening. Some of my classmates share this sentiment, so it’s even better to soak in the water while Tom shares a story he had, which, according to him, probably involved the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza. To this day he is not sure himself.

I mean, browse through this one. You can even see the aforementioned Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge from here.

The story goes on

Time really does fly.

Before I came here, I really wondered about what I would do with all the time in the day. I thought, “Well school is over at 14:15, so I got every afternoon free to do other things!” and I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Yes, school is over at 14:15, but I’ll probably stay for the activity, go stroll around Kobe, or go bouldering. Then I go home, revise the grammar, do my homework, and then it’s already dinner time. The days feel so short.

Nevertheless, I am truly enjoying my time here. The super sweet host family, the classmates that quickly became good friends, and the teachers who join for drinks and go beyond the regular classes. It’s fun.

I didn’t have any expectations going into this, not because I didn’t look forward to it, but because I have never experienced studying and living abroad. Immediately catching a cold in the beginning was tough, but in the past two weeks, time really flew because I had so much fun.

I think I will leave it at that for now. The first few weeks weren’t that interesting because I was just at home, lying in bed. All these activities happened in the past two weeks.

From today it’s another full week, and the week after, Golden Week starts. Golden Week is the longest holiday period in Japan, from 29. April until 5. May. As we won’t have school during that period, my friend and I may have some plans on what to do. Providing the thing we need is not yet fully booked.

Hopefully everything works out, so I’ll have something fun to write about for the next post. I’ll try to get one out a bit earlier than this one. Until next time!