New Job!

So a couple of weeks ago I finally got a job, now I can start saving for real for Japan! This is so exciting, although the job is surprisingly hard, and after every shift I'm so tired!
I've only really worked a few training shifts so far so I haven't earned a whole lot yet, but I will be working pretty much full time over the summer so this should help such a huge chunk of what I need to save by this time next year. I know it will get a lot harder in September when I start the final year of my degree and my dissertation, but I am going to work super hard over the summer to make sure I don't fail that, too!

Just a small update on my life, really. Posts may be even more far between now, I need to make up some kind of schedule I guess, and find time to write posts whenever I can.

Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu!

So yesterday I had my first session of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, or Ninjutsu! I have really wanted to get into some kind of martial arts for a while now, and this one seemed like such an interesting one to practice! I've never really been interested in karate or those kind of common martial arts that I know a lot of people do, not because I'm awkward or anything, but I know a few people who do them and I never wanted to be the one who was less good at it because I started late! 

What is Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu?

The Bujinkan, or "Divine Warrior House" is the Martial Art system bought to life by Dr Masaaki Hatsumi the current soke of 9 authentic Japanese Ryu. "Martial School". Within these schools, we get a complete self protection system, that is as effective now, as it was all those years ago on the battlefields of Japan.

Soke Hatsumi has spent his life both studying and teaching the arts passed down to him from his teacher, Toshitsugu Takamatsu. Hatsumi has travelled the world to pass on his knowledge so that we all can get to no the true art, and the very essence of Ninjutsu.

My first session was really great, I had so much fun and I am looking forward to going back next week! I'm going to buy my gi next week and hopefully some tabi soon. My arms are so sore though, I guess I'm going to be covered in bruises for the next few months at least...

I need to try and get my head around all the terms too!

At the end of the lesson, everyone kneels, bows and claps and recites this with sensei:

[ 四拳 波羅蜜 大光明 ] しけんはらみつだいこうみょう

 Followed by どもありがとうご ます.

The Things I want to do...

It's always important in your life, to have a plan for the future. Until a few weeks ago, I had no plan, no idea what I wanted to do, and I feel like I wasted so much time trying to pretend I did. I'm not saying it's bad if you don't know what you want to do yet, but everyone always wants you to know, and I think I kind of panicked and went to University because I thought it was the right thing to do. I was kind of interested in Photography when I started, and I am grateful for all of the experience I actually have gained in the field (I think I can take a pretty picture now!) but all the course really taught me was that I don't want to be a photographer. I found the stuff I was good at and the stuff I was bad at and the stuff I liked and the stuff I didn't, but I only really got interested in photography in the year before I started my course. There are loads of thing that are just passing interests. Maybe I would have continued photography as a hobby anyway, who knows? All I know now is I don't want to be a photographer and I don't want a career in photography. I like editing, but that's different and I am probably better off doing it on my own anyway, my degree doesn't even really teach it!

I have one year left, the final dissertation year, so there's no point in me quitting now. I'm probably going to pass the year, I know what to do I just don't enjoy it any more, but at least I'll have a degree. But anyway, the point of this is I know what I want to do with my life now.

I was inspired when I found this website, gogonihon.com. I have always wanted to live in Japan. There have been fluctuations of what to do and why but the one constant has always been to go. It started with me considering JET, that was what I planned to do for quite a few years. Then I just went through different phases of why I wanted to go, and then I kind of gave up hope. I thought there would be no way I'd be able to do it. But one thing I never considered was to study! Somehow! After discovering the Go Go Nihon site, I realised as long as I could get the money together, it is completely possible that I would be able to go for a year!

I have a friend, Emily, (She can be found here!) and she is going to University to study Asia Pacific Studies. Her third year is a placement in Japan, and I am so jealous, it's all I've ever wanted, and I wish I had discovered this before I started mine (but I also had a thing about not wanting to move immediately to the other side of the country). She has really inspired me too, being able to talk to someone, physically talk to them when they want similar things to you can get you so motivated! It was also inspiration from her to start this blog! Reading hers just made me want to write, even though I don't think I'm very good, except at rambling!

The school I have fallen in love with in Japan is Yokohama Design College. At the moment, I am saving up to go to their summer school next summer 2014, then in a few years when I have more money I will be applying for a 1-year long Japanese course at the same place. This is actually my dream, and it looks like it's finally coming true!

So this is really the long back-story behind my blog, if you read it all, thank you so much and I hope I didn't bore you too much! There are going to be a variety of different styles of posts on this blog as I have said before, it's a really personal thing for me but telling people about it makes me happy, so thank you, reader, for being involved!

'Til next time~ またね〜

My Favourite Apps!

For lots of people (myself included!) it's tough to find time to practice languages sometimes, so if you have an iPhone, a handy little app to keep up revision when you have a spare moment can be perfect! So I thought I would share a small insight into the apps I personally use from time to time!

So as you can see, I have a small collection of language apps! I'll be honest, some of them I don't really use, but I like to keep them just incase, sometimes I like to revisit them! I do have a few favourites though that I use often, so here we are:

Kanji Sticky Study is a really straightforward app to use, it has a huuuge range of vocabulary, even in this free version, and everything is organised by JLPT level which is always useful!

 

JLPT Study is probably my most used app, again I only have the free version which only covers JLPT Level 5 but I am definetly going to be upgrading to the full version soon! This app has loads in it, everything is separated by JLPT level and also kanji and vocabulary are separated which means you can practice exactly what you want!

JP Card is purely for recognising kanji and vocabulary, which is great because there is so much! You can either use it to test yourself, or turn on browse mode to just read through and memorise.

imiwa? is truly a beautiful app. It's a Japanese dictionary, Kanji dictionary and vocabulary teacher all in one. You can look up any Japanese word and get examples of how it can be used in sentences, you can revise Kanji, you can look up kanji by JLPT level, School grade levels and even search it by radical if you know how to write it! This is such a useful app and its completely FREE! It can also translate into other languages except English at the same time, so it's pretty much useful for anyone learning Japanese! (also, some of the example sentences are completely bizarre and adorable, so it's great to keep you entertained whilst learning!)

So, not learning apps, but LINE is a super popular communication app in Japan, similar to iMessage on iPhones and completely free over an Internet connection, which also means its international, no restrictions like with texting! Perfect for keeping up with Japanese Penpals or other friends! Plus it has a lot of really cute stickers and emoji to keep your messages cute~
LINE play is a cute game for users of LINE, you create an avatar character that you can then dress up and decorate their room whilst visiting other friends houses and giving them hearts! It's a really cute and addictive game, you will want to keep collecting coins to make your room look amazing!

And, being a photographer, I couldn't resist including my favourite かわいい photo apps, so here they are!

First, there is LINE camera! Just like LINE and LINE play, it's part of the same collection, and has a huge amount of stickers and frames you can use on your photos, just like a real purikura! In fact, my other two photo apps are also very purikura-like, Kids Alpacasso has a lot of decorations themed around alpacas, of course (and I adore alacas so finding this was a wonderful thing!) and Rakuga Cute has tons of stickers, frames and pens to draw your own decorations!

 

Here's me, all cuted up!

I know that really, this wasn't all that informative of a post but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless! If you have any questions please feel free to contact me, so until next time~ またね！