How to meet friends in Hakodate?

[Ivo]

Hello everyone,

Hello,

I just arrived to Hakodate and I will be taking an intensive Japanese language course here in the summer.
I would like to make friends with Japanese university students and practice speaking with them (at the same time I'd be very happy to teach them English or other languages that I can speak). I am not looking for dating and I do not want to look for friends in bars.

Are there any popular Japanese websites (similar to craigslist in the U.S.) where one could advertise for a particular location and have a real chance of meeting someone? I can post in Japanese .

Any other advice as how to make friends with Japanese students?

Thank you,

ivo

[Mike Cash]

Join in activities through clubs at the university. Shared interests/activities are the best basis for interaction. Anything else tends to end up feeling forced.

[ullvarg]

When I first got to Sendai I used http://www.japan-guide.com/local/, wouldn't really recommend it though since most of the people there are only after someone to date even though its against the rules and they say they aren't...
So basically id go with Mikes advice :)

[Ivo]

Mike and Ullvarg, thank you for your responses.
Well I can advertise on a dating site, that is okay for I will make clear that I am not interested in dating (I am engaged). The only thing which is necessary for me is to find a site that is widely read. That is basically all I am looking for.
I think the idea of club activities is splendid though and I might really try to look into this.

[ASHIKAGA]

There is "craigslist Sapporo". I am sure people in Hakodate check it out as the two cities are not that far apart from each other.
http://sapporo.craigslist.jp/

[Mike Cash]

Mike and Ullvarg, thank you for your responses.
Well I can advertise on a dating site, that is okay for I will make clear that I am not interested in dating (I am engaged). The only thing which is necessary for me is to find a site that is widely read. That is basically all I am looking for.
I think the idea of club activities is splendid though and I might really try to look into this.

The reason a shared interest/activity is important is that without it you run into the situation of "Hi! I want to meet you and hang out with you just because you're Japanese." And you end up with people who want to hang out with you just because you're a foreigner. Trust me; that gets old real quick.

A shared activity....almost any activity....gives you some reason for interacting and something to talk about. And the activity itself helps to fill in the awkward silent spots.

When I was much younger and around university-age folks, I practiced various martial arts and found it fit the bill perfectly. If that's not your thing, there are of course a variety of other things going on.

These days I do photography for a wonderful group of folks who do traditional Japanese dance. The activity is the basis for the interaction, and we enjoy each other immensely. This year I also joined a local photo club and am the sole non-Japanese member out of about 30 folks. They range in age from late 30s up to 85 years old. We meet once a month and I look forward to it tremendously. Again, our shared interest/hobby is the basis for the interaction. Since I work in a 100% Japanese-only environment and have monolingual Japanese children I don't particularly lack for opportunities to use Japanese and that is not the reason for my joining in these activities, but if I did want to get out and expand my opportunities for using/learning Japanese, they would still be great pretexts for it.

It's a matter of being there and being included even though I'm a foreigner, and not just because I'm a foreigner. I find that distinction to be very important.

[Taiko666]

Talk to people. I met my first Japanese 'real' friend in the galley (kitchen) of the 747 on the way over.

... and my second real friend while walking around Shibuya with my guitar looking for people to jam with.

And that was just the first 24 hours of the Japanese life of a rather shy, unassuming non-Japanese speaking computer engineer.

[Smokey Nagata]

If you play instruments maybe you could join a band, this way you could get to know people.