9 posts tagged “日本”

so.. how's japan?
...such a vague question, i don't know how i should respond. the essential drill? things feel like home now.. there's a basic routine in day-to-day life, which pretty much consists of me being sleep-deprived/braindead on uni days, and sleeping in [read: 3pm] on days off. things happen on the weekend, mainly friday night/saturday/night.. this has led to a pattern of assessment-doing/cramming sessions on sunday while hungover and lacking of sleep. with that insane 0850-1750 schedule the day after, you can imagine possibly one of the worst cases of monday-itis ever.

so yes, things haven't changed much in terms of sleeping patterns.

time goes fast here. assessments with the host uni, impending assessments [the ones that actually matter] due back at UTS.. compiled with ongoing social events with other UTS-ers, Japanese friends and people from JOY, i'm wondering where time goes. [what?! it's been 2mths already?! i've ONLY got 9mths left!!...]

i've definitely been feeling time pressure.. so much so i pretty much had a mental breakdown last week.. a whole lot of confusion with the aikido club; panicking about today's assessments: presentation for japanese film & literature, test for japanese, draft survey for reading for presentation.. the conviction that i'd needed to change my topic for my methodology module [UTS]; the urgency of sorting out tickets for RIJ; and stressing that i wouldn't be able to do it all what with the trip to Tokyo on friday with the business administration faculty, the 清陵祭 [YNU festival] and 開国祭 [Yokohama 150th anniversary] on the weekend, and angelique's 21st birthday dinner.. all this pressure under the influence of failing to catch up on a 4hr night.... [ben i'm looking at you...even though i appreciated the news updates ><] ..things were pretty bleh

and i'm slowly beginning to miss several things. badly. on the top of the list, probably home cooking.. cantonese dishes, soup my grandma makes, and funnily enough, rice noodles. and people's voices.. thank you for keeping in touch on facebook/vox etc and keeping me updated on your lives.. thank you for making me feel as if i'm still a part of it :) ..but seriously people.. get skype so i can HEAR you!! >.<

still, i do feel i've made the right choice with choosing to be here... i was so disillusioned with the mundanity of uni and work back home.. in fact i think i've been NEEDING this year of change. mmm "change".. "journeys"... [yr12 has scarred me for life]

i think i'm coping okay :)
[don't miss me too much ^.-]

that gunma trip with the WWWINGS society was a blast.. the wondrous sense of escapism from the daily grind; the bus trips filled with pointlessly random [and annoying] mind games so reminiscent of primary & high school excursions/camps; the refreshing company of the people; the breathtaking scenery.. [why isn't australia's nature as green as this?! stupid drought! >:(]

and to make it all the more special, it was the first of 花火/fireworks; of japanese drinking games [たけのこ、たけのこ、の-き-き!!]; of seeing drunk japanese guys making idiots of themselves; of 納豆/fermented soy beans with wasabi & mustard *gags*; of making udon from scratch; of 温泉/hot springs.. and outdoor ones at that!! :D

even the pitstops were fun.. free tea woohOO! and they sold 焼き鳥/chicken on a stick! and 焼たこ/octopus on a stick!!

especially loved the 民宿/'private home providing lodging' we stayed at.. so hospitable!! prepared our meals, set up the udon-making thing and taught us how to go about it all, let us trash the common room with our 飲み会/drinking which apparently went on till 3am or so [i was already gone by that stage so i can't be sure..] PLUS their kids were so irresistibly cute and friendly.. the toddler who'd say "いらっしゃい/welcome!" and "元気でね/take care!" on autorepeat, the boy taichi who became simpson's best friend [after simpson made him cry] and wouldn't leave him alone.. apparently the kids had origami lessons set up on the night for some of us too.. and prepared hand-made gifts for those people the next day; and the scene of the whole family seeing us off at the bus was just too heartwarming for words..
dammit why doesn't australia have any of this shit?!

went shopping at motomachi.. i eventually found myself wandering around and getting lost sightseeing the yamate area with my shopping bags.. and trekked the italian garden, yokohama foreign general cemetery, 港の見える丘公園/harbor view park; caught the あかいくつ/red shoes bus to 山下公園/yamashita park; realised i was within walking distance from chinatown and grabbed for dinner that chinese food i've been missing so sorely [DAMN i miss yumcha.. and pho.. someone post me some pho!!]

 

i can and can't believe i've been here for exactly one month already
there's a part of me thinking shit, time has flown; but there's also an awareness of how much i've accomplished to justify the passage of time

as of now, i feel very much at home..
i'm comfortable in my dorm room [still semi-furnished..], my neighbourhood, Yokohama, even bits of Tokyo..
i know where to get things i need, where i can kill time when pretty much all the stores are closed, which districts sell which types of apparel

but there's also the side that revels in the fact that i remain inherently a foreigner..
times when i get lazy with my japanese, i don't even try, but would just say "i'm a foreigner and i don't understand"; when i eat my breakfast on the way to uni (eating while walking is apparently taboo); when i take out my camera to capture images where only an outsider would find amusement

most things i've grown accustomed to, but there are some things that will never cease to amaze.. like the restaurants .. i've never been to a place with this many good restaurants.. the food is always good, the interiors are always impressive, the service is always friendly.. and the very best thing?? ..the fact that there are so many of them.. if one restaurant tells you to wait, you just move on to the next.. :D none of the "we should've booked" crap you get back in Sydney!

another thing: rampant commercialism.  the japanese have a gift for capitalising on every. single. opportunity. i thought HK was bad.. i thought wrong. in many instances i've been likening japan to HK when shopping.. in terms of displays, promotions, the whole environment.. omotesando to me was the equivalent of the TST strip of nathan rd. i can only conclude that HK has been scabbing a LOT off japan.. because it's got everything HK does and MORE..
case in point: there are museums/exhibition/promotion spaces for companies such as sony, kddi, softbank.. that fulfill the sole purpose of building brand affiliation?! i've only been to the kddi 'museum'.. i left with promotional facial blotting paper?! ..and of course those promotional facial tissues the japanese are so fond of.
oh and noise pollution.. there are promotional buses blaring music from newly released jpop albums/singles; there are speakers mounted on street lights in shibuya incessantly blaring jpop a la v for vendetta
and let's not even go into the amount of outdoor advertisements you'd pass in a day. i haven't even been bombarded with tv commercials yet and i'm feeling the commercialism overwhelming!!
it's like a cult. brainwashing; materialism worship

the other thing really getting to me is the lack of bins here. they have an insane number of convenience stores and vending machines, but you can be walking for hours and not come across a proper bin. they have bins for plastic bottles, for cans, for plastic containers, for paper.. but no bins for normal refuse ..i've ended up having to carry my trash home many times..

i've been clubbing at shibuya and at shinkiba. the former, a clubbing district which offers a huge variety of music genres.. rock, hiphop, trance etc. it's also an impressive consumutopia that offers everything you could possibly need for clubbing and otherwise, and get yourself lost (choice-wise and physically) in the process. i went with the YNU people for a rock thing.. never danced to rock played by a DJ before (rock should be LIVE hello?!).. but japanese people on a high is seriously the funniest thing. the vibe was so infectious i'd jump along even though i'd never heard the songs..
shinkiba is an industrial district save for ageHa/studio coast.. THE club of japan - largest capacity, with 2 bars, an arena, 2 rooms, a tent, a pool, a food area, and A ROOFTOP DANCE SPACE OVERLOOKING THE WATER. at first glance the place looked a lot like home @ cockle bay wharf.. but when we discovered the rooftop at DAWN.. seriously O.M.G.♥!! the 3500yen cover charge is a bitch though.

also been to 飲み放題; all you can drink.. and discovered exactly how dangerous those things are. time limit + unlimited drinks = intoxication muchly. in my case, this consisted of throwing up in the restaurant toilet, getting dragged out because i was holding up the queue, throwing up in the taxi, getting piggybacked to crash at the tokyo dorms, throwing up again in the morning. i was aware of kodak moments of the scenario when i was too weak to resist >.<

uni life is.. pretty hectic. the speed at which they expect you to learn new japanese vocabulary is crazy - there are weekly quizzes for each of the 4 classes, and on top of that they expect you to both revise the lesson and prep the next lesson. plus those culture classes plus the UTS component..
..plus i don't have enough clothes here and i need to go shopping!! >.<

i'm slowly getting to know the people at the international student centre, thanks to those welcome parties (and afterparties). there's americans, swedes, french, koreans, indonesians, vietnamese, indians.. much like a mini version of UTS..

i've semi-joined the aikido club at uni, i.e. been to watch them practice several times, i get the chance to practice several times, and from there i can choose whether i want to keep at it. i was very close to falling asleep during warm-up today, and the thud from throws makes me wince every time.. so at this stage i can't say for sure..

[my university timetable] this semester.. is the shittiest to date
mon: 0850-1750
tues: 0850-0920
wedns: 0850-1200
yes, that's 0850 starts 3x a week [takes me 45mins to get to uni]; yes, i'm at uni for a total of 9hrs on mondays; yes, i'm only in for 1 period on tuesdays..
all classes have a duration of 90min; there is a 10min break between each period; there is a set 'lunch break' between 1200 and 1300
on monday, my 4th period class looked like this:

[that was the japanese film & literature class.. we were watching わが青春に悔なし]
wish me luck guys.. my life depends on it..

[the emergency alarm] at the residence woke me up yesterday morning.. 10mins after the time i was 'meant' to wake up..
crazily(?) enough, i was too tired to give a damn.. and just went about my morning routine and wished for it to shut up.. i simply wasn't ready to evacuate?! didn't even want to be up in the first place.. let alone put on my glasses, grab my jacket and make sure i take my vital belongings..
very screwed if something really did/were to happen.. *touch wood*

[at the university cafeteria today] i met up with Kazuki .. he was with his friend Oswald.. (same major)
i had not met Oswald before.. first thing he said to me was: "hey! you're Jennifer, right? you're Denise's friend!"
.
.
say WTF.. i'm on the other hemisphere and i'm still getting those everybody-knows-everybody/worlds-colliding moments???
HOLY FUCK THIS SHIT CREEPS ME OUT..

to explain:
Kazuki is a friend i met back in Sydney through Michelle [who met him through another friend] - he was taking a gap year studying english at a language school;
Oswald is doing the same program as Denise, a high school friend who is in Japan for university study because she was granted a scholarship..
they're two TOTALLY DIFFERENT CONNECTIONS

...has been confusing to say the least

the system here allows 2 weeks leeway before you register into your classes properly and settle in.. so basically you try as many classes as you are interested in, and select from those.
which i guess makes things easier.. as in.. it's a-ok to screw up your timetable in these first couple of weeks..
but sorting out the classes i need to take is another story..

the Junior Year Overseas at Yokohama National University (JOY) requires that we do 12 credit points a semester..

• 4cp General Japanese
• 1cp Japanese Skill-based Subjects x2
• 2cp Japanese Culture/Contemporary Society Subjects x2
• 2cp Independent Research Project
  

choosing the subjects i want to do + sorting out a good timetable = blahh
enrolment was never fun to begin with.. enrolment under a whole new system??
yeh well.. enrolment sucks fullstop..

Monday i managed to miss 4 of my classes, Friday i was too tired to bother with a 1pm start..
i'm finding it difficult to adjust back into uni life after that crazy 4.5month break... suddenly there's readings to do, proposals to write, and still more administrative tasks with the ward office and my mobile phone apparently? i don't even know..

while i feel as if i need to be back at uni again and actually do something constructive, i'm still semi-stuck in holiday mode. so many things to see, to do, people to meet up with..

in other news, i'm feeling less like a tourist; more like a local.. i know my way around, how to get to Tokyo, we now have a proper 'meeting place' at Yokohama station [in front of a store that sells strawberry & cream sandwiches].. and on top of that, i've figured how to use GPS navigation and the Japanese equivalent of trip planner.. [thanks to 和貴] on my phone :D
[i've also discovered vox, facebook, mixi, gmail on my phone.. thanks to 啓介.. good or bad thing i'm not sure :p]
yaYY for making japanese friends back in Sydney.. :D

• OMG COOL!! what's this?
  
• wow that's really cheap!!
• shit that's expensive...
• why don't we have this in Sydney dammit??
• *point* look at that!! omg photo photo!!
• omg what the HELL?!
  
• awww that looks soooo good [referring to food]
• omg YUMMMMMMMMM [referring to food]
  
• what time is it?? ..omg shit we still need to do this this this this this.....
  

...we've been uttering these incessantly over the past few days
so much so, we sound like broken records
so many things to do, so little time to do it all in..
need to buy household goods, electrical appliances & clothes, clean/sort out/decorate our dorm rooms, sort out all our administrative tasks.. with the local government, UTS and with YNU
we'd wake up in the morning, have breakfast together, plan our day, shop.. and suddenly the next thing you realise it's 11pm and we'd only accomplished half of what we'd set out to do.. the time just flies and i'm getting my dates and days confused..
there's always a to-do list which just keeps expanding..??

we had our orientation ceremony this morning and i was just sitting through it thinking shit i need to get myself organised immediately

i'm so glad that there's 4 of us because there's always someone who'll remember deadlines, things we need to sort out, things we need to buy etc etc..

i feel like i'm constantly sleep-deprived.. the only thing that's keeping me awake is.. this, on top of copious amounts of canned coffee..

i can't even sort out how to work my phone because i don't have time to read the instruction manual...
those who've commented/sent me emails/added me on facebook/wrote on my wall on facebook.. thank you so much ^^ [i will try my best to get back to you but at the moment it's just too hectic.. {and facebook is dangerous...}]
i'm missing you guys and wish you were all here [though maybe give me time to sort things out first arghhh *stress stress stress*]

朝から夜までバイトなんだ。
けど..　楽しかったの日☆

朝に、友達からメールくれた..Martin PlaceにTOKYO FIESTAあってて..　
休憩のときに見に行った♪
あんまりたくさん展覧なかったけど..　楽しかったわ～！少しだけ、東京と日本文化を見られると、もっと日本に行くのを待ち設ける☆

そして...

YNU Co-op から郵便小包くれた☆
「大学の学び」と「一人暮らし」のパンフレットは入ったんだ..　なんか..アパート探すとか、部屋作りカタログとか、運転免許とかの情報なんだ..
私、関係ないだろう？！

けど..　「保護者ハンドブック」のなかで..すごい面白い広告があった！！
YNUはね..　自分のビールがあるみたい～！！笑

the night before the night before last, i dreamt i'd just arrived in Japan.. settled into my dorm, dropped everything and went to bed. next morning the first thing i did was scour the immediate area for a place that sold international calling cards. i was in panic mode because i'd left it a day late and was worried that my family were concerned about me. in the end i got my calling card from a vending machine.. but when i started dialing i was thinking about the time difference and thinking i didn't want to wake my family up..

the night before last, i dreamt i'd just arrived in Japan.. and was in the shops looking for a camera. i was taking test shots at the store before i decided on my purchase.. and i was thinking.. damn i'd just wasted the precious first shot of my new camera on an utterly random and insignificant subject..

last night, i dreamt i'd just arrived in Japan.. for some reason my aunt and grandma were both there with me. i had to go to the university for something admin-related.. and at the crossing i bumped into Kosuke.. with even shorter hair.. and we exchanged a brief greeting as we both crossed the road in opposite directions..