I've been in Osaka for about a week now, luggage-less until today! =/ I love everything about Japan so far, the food is great and it's not nearly as expensive as i thought it would be, probably because i'm not in Tokyo though. The only thing i don't like right now is that it's about as cold inside as outside, but i guess that's a good thing when the insane summer heat gets here. The reason why i'm in Japan is because i'm gonna study Japanese here for about a year, actually i'm gonna be studying in Kyoto but at the moment i'm living with my girlfriend in Osaka (Hirakata city actually) and i'm not sure whether or not i should move into my dorm in Kyoto or not, we'll see!
Before moving here i had all these things planned on what to do, but now that i'm finally here i don't really know where to begin :S we've been to Kyoto and went to one of those big temples near Gion on new years day, that was great! we've been to Namba and spent a couple of hours shopping (it was more like me being dragged around the mall while other people were eyeballing the silly gaijin(me)) and we've basically been walking around all over Hirakata looking at stuff. I have tons of friends (both Japanese and Swedish) here in Japan in various cities that i'm planning on visiting as soon as i get some time. Should be great!
Also, i really want to meet up with some of the TLers living in Japan (it's probably not too many though, lol) and grab a few biiru's but first i need to settle down a bit here in Japan, trying to get used to having my wallet stuffed with these goooooooddamn 1yen coins, WHYYYYYYYYYYY DO THEY EXIST?!?¤I%)U#
If you have any ideas on what to do, eat, drink, anything let me know! (don't bother mentioning Carupisu water though, i'm already chugging an obscene amount of those!)
Alright, the lightning is about to fry my ass now so i'm out for a while!
Kirin beer is awesome and if u can find some Habu sake(although expensive) u should give it a shot . However ive only been in Okinawa and never mainland Japan so im not sure wats all you can do around there.
I'm gonna look for some Habu sake and see if i can afford to try some i really want to go to Okinawa some day too, but its kind of expensive
Yeah those coins suck! I think my girlfriend has one of those Takoyaki machines so she can make those at home, but yeah, i'm definitely gonna try that when were out eating next time! I think Mani is in Osaka, i plan on harassing him in the future
I'll make sure to upload some pictures soon, i have taken a few in Kyoto and Namba, but my luggage just arrived (with the charger for my camera) so i havent been able to upload any pictures yet.
Same as Hyde and you here, those 1 yen coins were stacking up while i stayed in japan for 4 weeks.
If you gonna Travel around a lot to meet people get that Railway pass thing which lets you travel with every train for some weeks, from slow to superfast. Was really easy to travel around the country with it. Theres also tons of stuff to see in every corner of Japan.
For the food, just try everything. I think i never spend so much on food in other countries, the Japanese have like a shitload of sidedishes they kind of spam you with.
What you totally NEED to do in Japan is to go into one of these Giant Adult Stores. I was at one in Tokyo, that had like 8 floors full of hilarious stuff.
I wish you tons of fun in Japan and dont underestimate the language.
1 yen coins are cool though. They weigh precisely 1g, and they have a diameter of 2cm. In case you forget your weights for your balance beam or your ruler. =P
Lol i must have like 200$ in random Yen coins when i got back from Japan that i havent been able to exchange at any banks, and im not going to open an account at Wells Fargo just to exchange Yen. Shit sucks
On January 04 2010 23:15 Tenryu wrote: Kirin beer is awesome and if u can find some Habu sake(although expensive) u should give it a shot . However ive only been in Okinawa and never mainland Japan so im not sure wats all you can do around there.
You should write a blog and keep us updated with your progress! I was planning on doing the same after graduating~ But I'd much rather learn the basics before getting there~ Should make job hunting easier.
Its not that cold there maybe compared to New England right now, I would love to go there one day to shop and eat!!! Im sure Osaka is very urban and dense like Tokyo, already used to it. But I'll probably just blend in like every other Asian or something.
On January 05 2010 07:58 Chill wrote: Are you on an exchange with a university, or are you actually just staying in Japan for a year to learn Japanese? :O
On January 05 2010 01:26 Robinsa wrote: Welcome to Japan!
Are you going by yourself or with a friend? Also, are you here as an exchange student or are you enrolled at a language school?^
Good luck !
I'm enrolled at a language school in Kyoto, gonna be studying there for about a year. I have been studying Japanese for one year at my university so i'm at least somewhat comfortable with the language, but it's still hard when you actually have to rely on your Japanese because pretty much noone speaks English here except for the very basic stuff.
On January 05 2010 02:11 Foucault wrote: Visit Korea while you're in Japan too. Not very far ;P
Yes i'm planning on doing that in a couple of months when i get a few weeks off of school, my chance to finally see some games live :D
I'm planning on updating my blog during my stay here in Japan (with a lot more pictures now that i can finally recharge my camera). I'm still in the "settling down"-phase so i haven't really managed to do anything spectacular yet.
if you don't mind me asking, did you have to do anything special to enroll, or is it open to anyone? I'm sure that some knowledge of the language is required, but I'm talking more along the lines of it being a special university program, or just open to the general public. And how much does it cost? :O
It's definitely something I'd look into in the future, and depending on everything, might be something I seriously consider.
Either way, I hope you have an amazing time, and I look forward to your future blogs. :D
You don't need anything special in order to enroll, at this particular school you could start in April and October, but if you had more than 200 hours of japanese studied at a university you could start in January as well, which is what i did.
I don't really know how much it costs as they deal with my financial aid directly, but here's the URL for the school, it should have all the info you need.
I have always been interested in Japan which is why i started taking Japanese classes and eventually decided to enroll in this school, i'm gonna have a big debt to pay off but to me its totally worth it to be able to live in Japan for a year and experience everything for real. I have only been here a week and i have enjoyed every second of it so far.
I decided to study in Kyoto because it has that nice cozy traditional Japanese feel to it and it's not that expensive either, it's pretty much the same as in Sweden.
Feel free to ask me anything if you have any questions about it, i'll be happy to answer anything if i can.
I'll check the site out, and thanks for responding. I've also always held an interest in Japan, and would love to visit some day. I started taking some classes in high school, but comparing it to my college experience thus far is laughable. Still, I never studied, so I didn't do all that well. I just finished my first semester before the holidays, and learned more in it than I did in two years of Japanese in high school.
I definitely intend to keep at it, and fore myself to set aside adequate study time, even if I have been pretty lax over the break. Since I just started school more or less, it will be awhile before I seriously look into it, as I'd like to have some sort of degree first, as my studies have already been delayed enough. But it's definitely an option I'll consider, along with further looking into teaching English in Korea/Japan. And I'd imagine that if I wanted to seriously do that, the more I understand of the language, the better.
EPT
but first i need to settle down a bit here in Japan, trying to get used to having my wallet stuffed with these goooooooddamn 1yen coins, WHYYYYYYYYYYY DO THEY EXIST?!?¤I%)U#
i really want to go to Okinawa some day too, but its kind of expensive 
