Japanese Diary - Japanese Lessons!

Since coming to Japan, I knew one of my main goals was to become better at Japanese, so of course the obvious thing I needed to do once I got here was join a language class. I was lucky enough to be introduced to some free, volunteer based Japanese lessons pretty quickly, and although I was originally prepared to pay for classes I'm so glad I have these now instead!

The format seems a little strange at first; the class is run by volunteers and is for learning both English and Japanese. So Japanese residents are there as well as foreigners, and mostly they are teamed up to talk to one another and learn from one another. Although, most of the volunteers do speak both languages, so in my case I was paired with a volunteer, Soma-Sensei, and she teaches me a little more formally (print outs from work books and kanji drills etc.). It's pretty good, especially since she used to be a teacher before. She also kind of chose me, as she loves England, which is cool. She lived there for a couple of years, in Reading too! So she was really excited when I said I lived near there (even her email address is her old Reading Postcode!). As well as that though, every other week there are slight changes to the format, where people are asked to form small groups and talk about a specific subject etc. which is great from a getting to know new people side, as well as being forced to communicate with people who may not share English as a language!

In all, I think these lessons are great for me! I'm already learning a lot, and the chance to talk to natives who are really interested in talking to me, as well as talking to other Japanese learners at a similar level to me is really helping me to cement concepts such as grammar patterns, which I struggle with! Now to just cram vocabulary in my own time and I'll be good... eventually. I really want to aim for N4 in December, maybe I can do it! (Or not...)

This is kind of a short one, but I thought it was an important thing to talk about, if you know where to look then finding quality language lessons is possible!

But for now, またね〜 From Osaka

Japanese Diary - Wakayama Adventure World

Adventure World, Zoo, Safari Park, Research Center and more...

As a treat, for my arrival in Japan, and as Maikens last weekend in Japan, my host family took us to Wakayama for a weekend to visit ADVENTURE WORLD! After my experience at Ueno Zoo, I wasn't too sure what to expect from this, but I did some research beforehand and it seemed overall positive. And it really was! WAW is a really weird mix of zoo/safari/theme park, and is most famous for it's excellent Panda breeding program, 7 have been born at the zoo to date, and it is the most successful Panda breeding centre outside of China. In fact, two adorable baby panda twins were born last December, so they are at a cute toddler stage at the moment, and when we visited.

Red Panda!

There really was so much to do at Adventure World, but first things first, we arrived two hours before it opened to get in first to run to the safari booth and book tickets on the car safari, because that's how the Japanese roll (Also it was already pretty busy when we arrived, and half an hour before it opened there were a few hundred people queued behind us!) The car Safari was such a great experience too! I'm so glad we got onto it, I got some great pictures too! But first of all, after we got a slot on the safari (for later in the day) we headed over to the Arctic zone to see the penguins and Polar Bears! It was almost polar bear feeding time, and although I love the penguins and appreciate their cuteness (I got tons of photos) I was really excited to see a polar bear in a better environment than in Ueno zoo. Although maybe the enclosures could have been a bit bigger, it was definitely a great improvement on the Ueno area, most importantly these bears were inside so they had a lovely temperature controlled cool place to rest (In Ueno the bears were locked outside until it was time to go in :( ). The bears were so beautiful and it was amazing to see them diving into the water to chase the food as it was thrown in, though one bear was quite grumpy and even stuck his tongue out, it was cute! After that, we wondered around at our own pace for a while till it was time for the safari. I was really excited to find a section called 'Wan Wan Garden', which was a huge area filled with dogs, you could just go and sit or play with! There was a ton of different breeds of dogs, from Labradors to Jack Russels to Corgis, and although most of them were sleeping were sleeping when we went in, the ones that were awake were so friendly! 

Only in Japan
This dog just wondered around the park, smiling at people <3

When we finally got to the safari, it was so worth it! I've never been on any sort of safari before, and although it wasn't truly in a huge open space (It was still within the zoo, as you could walk around the enclosures on the walking safari) It was still a pretty big series of areas (lions, tigers, bears and cheetahs were separated) and the animals really did come up SO CLOSE! At one point a Tiger almost escaped from its area into the cheetahs, it was exciting but they managed to scare it away with a siren and bribes of meat. It was also so interesting to see the kinds of animals that lived well together... there were some strange giant cow animals that happily loved alongside the cheetahs for no reason, but neither hurt the other, which is good I guess. One day I'd love to go on a real safari, but for now this was a really amazing experience!

No zoom, he was almost at the window of the car!

Next we went to see the star attractions; the baby pandas! It was kind of a long queue around the panda area, I think we waited for 30 minutes, but there were signs saying that the wait could be over an hour! But basically, in the panda room, its a continuous line of people walking past to see them, so even after ll that wait you only really get a minute or so to walk past, and take photos. I really didn't mind though, it was amazing to see the pandas so happy and playing together (it was the two babies and the mum, I believe) and I still got some really cute photos as I walked past!

 

One of the Panda twins~

We also saw two different shows through the day, the dolphin performance, which was beautifully choreographed and really interesting to watch, but my favourite was the second, Animal Magic. It was a really varied show consisting of loads and loads of different trained animals from dogs, to otters, to goats and horses, to seals, and it was really entertaining, in a whoah kind of way, and it was really funny too. All of the animals were trained so well, so really fun to watch, my favourite part though was when a few sealions came out to do tricks, followed by one fat seal and he was jiggling along and I loved him!

Of course, when we stopped for lunch, all of the food options were completely adorable. 99% of things were plastered in cute Panda decorations, but I went for this adorable Tiger Donburi (Rice bowl) and it was tastyyyyy! めっちゃ美味しい！ It was also a pretty hot day, so there was tons of ice cream and other cool treats to be had pretty much everywhere. Churros were also really popular, and I finally got to try castella pastries, in the form of cute little baby animals.

The food is adorable no matter where you are in Japan.

That about sums up my trip to Adventure world, well, at least all I can remember anyway! I left this post waaaay too long! If anyone wants to know anything more then please leave a comment and I'll get back to you!

So for now, またね〜 From Osaka

Japanese Diary -Arriving in Japan, Part 2

So, where were we when I left off at part one? Arriving in Osaka I guess! It was the first time I had ever flown domestically so to be honest, I was not expecting the simplicity. I mean, it sounds stupid but I wasn't expecting it to be so quick! I flew between Haneda Airport and Itami, and it was a really pleasant short flight, actually! Just over an hour, but there was so much complimentary food and they brought drinks round every 5 minutes!

 

Osaka!!

 Upon arriving at Itami I got a taxi to my new home for a year-ish. The airport is actually in the middle of the city so it's kind of cool to see it from a distance, looks like the planes are landing right between the buildings! So the taxi pulls up outside where I am staying, the security guard comes out to help me with my bags and open the huge entrance gates for me, pretty much from that point on it became a surreal dream. One thing I was really lucky about was to have the previous au pair girl still there for two weeks. The very sweet Maiken from Norway, if it wasn't for her I would have been so much more lost and panicky. She gave me so much advice and instruction both before and after my arrival. She had also told me that the house was really big but I still underestimated it and didn't really believe it till I arrived. 

Scale model of the house...

The house is kind of a mix between some huge English mansion, with marble floors and statues, and huge crystal chandeliers, and a traditional Japanese house, with tatami flooring, a tea house, even an onsen style outdoor bath. As I said, it feels totally surreal to be here and I'm still not sure if I really am! So, obviously I am here to work, as an au pair to the couple that live here, and lets not forget the best bit; they don't have children, I am au pairing for their two poodle puppies. Yeah, dream job. Their names are Shiro and Kuro, translating to white and black, from Japanese. Incase you were wondering, Shiro is the white poodle, Kuro is the black one :)

 

So not only are the couple really sweet, the dogs are great (though really really naughty at times) although they take very little looking after, so most of my work is cleaning and tidying the house and gardens, which as you can imagine is a lot of work. It can be quite varied though, as there are so many things to do. It can range from scrubbing the floor, to sweeping leaves, to making rice, so far my favourite tasks are grocery shopping and taking the dogs out, though I do dislike going outside for any other reason. Somehow, I am a magnet for bugs, especially ones that bite, so it doesn't matter how much mosquito repellent I wear, I will always come inside covered in marks. I now sleep with a pesticide near my head as they bite my face in the night, isn't that sad? The main problem though is just how many bugs Japan has. The answer is too many, and they are all so damn big, I mean giant versions of normal bugs, and it's terrifying. I could actually go on for ages about the bugs, but maybe I should leave that for another blog. Or maybe I should just leave it altogether... 

Aaaaaaaaanyway. 

So I've been here a month now, I feel like I should quickly summarise a few of the things that have happened, and some of them will be getting their own posts too! So, I was shown all the best shopping spots in Osaka by Maiken, including my new favourite clothes shop called Secret Honey, and most importantly, the Pokemon Center. I have frequented the Pokemon Center many times, and there are many more times to come.

We went to Wakayama Adventure World! This is an amazing Safari Park/Zoo/Research Center and we  had a great time there!

Maiken left Japan two weeks after I arrived, and then I had to continue on my own from there... It hasn't been too bad though, I think I have mastered the trains and busses now, and getting around is just so easy!

I started my Japanese Lessons! Its a free volunteer-based thing, but I feel like it's really good for me, and I'll write more about this one at some point.

FOOD. I have eaten so much good food in Japan. I've tried Osaka's speciality, Okonomiyaki, and I've eaten so much cake! I've also learnt how to cook a few dishes myself. I think food deserves it's own blog post at some point.

I've also joined a boardgames group/club? I've only been once so far (next meet is next month) but it was tons of fun and I think it was a super great way to make friends.

Ah, to be honest this last month has passed by so fast, I'm probably missing quite a few things that I can't even remember any more! I hope I can do more frequent (but maybe shorter) posts and try and record all the cool things that happen here on a daily basis, thats a much better plan.

So for now, またね〜 From Osaka, I really hope I don't slip up on updating this thing, but I forgot how hard blogging was!

My Time in Japan, Part 1!

So, is everyone ready to hear about my amazing adventure in Japan? For those unaware already, this past summer I travelled to Yokohama in Japan to study at Yokohama Design College, where I attended Japanese language and culture lessons for one month! I had the most amazing time of my life, despite the humidity, typhoons and bugs! I met some amazing friends, ate some amazing food, had some amazing experiences and brought back a load of amazing souvenirs!

Day 0 in Japan: So long, England! See you in a month! #travelling #japan #adventure

A photo posted by Jazz Thornton (@roverandomness) on Jul 7, 2014 at 4:15am PDT

The flight was an insane 12 hours... I was pretty lucky to get a direct flight though! I think I watched the lego movie twice, and slept some, also made friends with the guy sat next to me which definitely made it more bearable! Funny story, in the lobby before boarding we were both taking selfies with the plane and laughing at each other, and it just so happened that on a plane of 500 people we ended up being sat next to one another!

Day 1 in Japan: Well, I made it! #japan #travelling #adventure

A photo posted by Jazz Thornton (@roverandomness) on Jul 7, 2014 at 7:21pm PDT

The only other event of the flight though, a much less enjoyable sudden ear pain that I had gotten... I had been suffering with an ear infection prior to flying out that I thought I had gotten over, apparently I hadn't and it turns out that the next week of my life, no matter how amazing in Japan, was going to be incredibly painful. I'm still mega grateful to Robbie though (The guy I was sat next to!) as he managed to get me some painkillers and checked I was alright throughout the flight! Once we landed, I had a few hours to wait for my lift from the airport, and Robbie had a couple of hours till his conecting flight to Okinawa, so we had a nice breakfast (dinner? Lunch? Time zone confusion) together, I went to 'bagel and bagel'! It was sad when we had to part, and I still regret not getting some contact details to keep in touch since :(

Day 2 in Japan: Today I went exploring Yokohama, my accommodation is right next to a 24 hour mcdonalds... Also went to the Pokemon centre and got a new phone case! #japan #travelling #adventure

A photo posted by Jazz Thornton (@roverandomness) on Jul 7, 2014 at 3:50am PDT

After settling into my fairly quaint student accommodation all by myself, I decided to start exploring Japan immediately! I was super lucky, actually, that through this very blog I managed to meet a fellow Brit (Infact, the only other English person on the same course) before we both left for Japan! I met with Nikki for the very first time this day in Japan, as well as Svilen from Bulgaria. And these were just the first of some amazing international friends I found. Together, we explored the main centre of Yokohama, including the pokemon center! This was my first of many trips to this and other pokemon centers whilst I was in Japan, but this was the time that I got my AMAZING phone case! I also found that my accommodation was near a 2 hour McDonalds, which I ended up frequenting...

Day 3 in Japan: Today was the first day of school! We had a placement rest which was difficult and then orientation but that was it for today. After a few of us went to look around some shops and on my way home I may have stopped at mcdonalds... I have a new respect for foreign students, ordering mcdonalds in another language is hard! #japan #travelling #adventure #mcdonalds

A photo posted by Jazz Thornton (@roverandomness) on Jul 7, 2014 at 10:35am PDT

I think the caption for this day pretty much sums it up, the placement test was extremely long though, and some bits were so simple whilst others were complex, there wasn't much of a middle ground.

Days 4 and 5 in Japan: oops I forgot to photo yesterday, sorry! Yesterday was the first Japanese lesson, I think it was too easy for me though! I also had to go doctors yesterday boo! Today however was Mount Fuji, and Fuji-Q highland Theme Park! That roller coaster was crazy! We went on it first :p #japan #travelling #adventure #fujisan

A photo posted by Jazz Thornton (@roverandomness) on Jul 7, 2014 at 7:19am PDT

Day 4, my first Japanese lesson, which I was late too, as I had to go to the doctors first thing that morning. I think I should make my experience of being ill in Japan into its own post as there was a lot going on around it. It was exciting to start my first lessons though although the class was much too easy (though that was improved on in later lessons). Mount Fuji day and Fuji-Q Highland were something else though. I had already been to Mount Fuji before, the first time I'd been to Japan, but that was almost 6 years ago now! This time was just as busy with tourists, school coaches and day trips as I remembered though! It was a shame that it was such a cloudy day, when we arrived at the rest stop we couldn't see any of the peak at all, but there are so many shops and shrines up there that we still had plenty to do, I started off my collection of kit kats that day, with mount Fuji strawberry Cheesecake flavour. There are none left now. Fuji Q was pretty intense, our tickets included 4 free rides on whatever we wanted, I actually only ended up using 3 I think, as my ear infection was so painful I couldn't go on more rollercoasters, but I did make my first stop the "FUJIYAMA, the "KING OF COASTERS," which boasts world-class specs, including a maximum speed of 130 km/h (81 mph), a maximum drop of 70 m (230 ft.), and a maximum height of 79 m (259 ft.)" which was so incredible I could have done it 15 times in a row... There was also EVANGELION WORLD, which I was so excited about! Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of my favourite animes of all time, though I did get majorly freaked out by the giant life-size Unit 01 head going berserk, the gift shop for that was also a thing of beauty!


Theres more to come on my adventures in Japan, I thought separating it out would help with the sheer amount, but the more I think about tit the more I want to share and talk about! It's also maing me incredibly nostalgic, and now all I know is I have to make it back to Japan sometime! 'Til next time~ またね〜

Yokohama, and Yokohama Design College

こんばんは、みんな！

I wanted to talk a little about where I am planning on staying and studying when I visit Japan this summer! I've talked a little about Yokohama city before, but not in great detail, and I think I've only briefly mentioned the school I will be studying at, Yokohama Design College! 

I found out about this college through gogonihon.com, a site I was originally looking at to do their own summer course, and potential year-long Japanese course at one of the many schools they are linked with, and when looking through all the potential language schools I could go to, Yokohama Design College really caught my eye.

I didn't actually use Go Go Nihon to book my place on the summer course though, I actually got into contact with their international correspondent to ask a few questions about the course, and when I was finally ready (after she answered all my questions) she booked my place on the course, and sorted out my accommodation for me! Now, although I haven't seen the accommodation, it is a single flat in student accommodation, so I won't have to share a room with someone I don't know (and potentially don't share a language with) but I should still be around some of the other summer students should I make friends! I have been told the flat is 5 stops/20 minutes away from the college, I don't have the address yet though and I'm actually uncertain whether that is by train or bus, haha!

As you may be able to tell from the name, Yokohama Design College is not just a language school, but also an art college. Attending an art college now, and being as interested in illustration and other artistic subjects as I am, this was a big factor into my division to study at this college. As part of the summer course, language students get the chance to join in with some of the design lessons going on in the rest of the college. This includes subjects like badge making, illustration, manga techniques and translation, and I'm actually really looking forward to trying some arty stuff out. There are also Japanese culture lessons scattered in through the language lessons, and they include things like shodo (Japanese calligraphy), a tea ceremony and trips to Japanese temples and shrines, as well as a trip to disneyland and the sky tree that are listed on the itinerary! I don't know if I'm actually mostly excited for Disneyland now!

I will be in Japan for a little over a month, I intend to leave England on the 19th of July, and Leave Japan on the 23rd of August, even though the simmer course runs from the 22nd or July till the 15th August. I wanted to give myself a day or so to adjust when I arrived, and possibly find out how to reach the college, and I thought an extra week after I've finished to do some touristy things would be a perfect idea!

I'm really excited and terrified actually, and some of the things I am worried about are completely stupid (like, what do I do about cutlery and plates when I get there?!). This will not only be my first time living alone, but also my first time travelling abroad alone and I'm not going to know anybody at all.

I am glad I chose to stay in Yokohama for this trip. The more I research the area and watch videos etc. the more I think it was the perfect choice for me. Although at some point I would like to go and stay around the Chūgoku/Hiroshima area, I think around the Kanto region is the kind of area I would be most comfortable in. I have always grown up near the sea for one, and Yokohama really reminds me of Plymouth, in South West England where I currently go to University.

Yokohama is a beautiful seaside port town, the first port and harbour built in Japan to accommodate foreigners bringing in trade from across the sea in the 1800's. Since then, the city has grown dramatically, and now is great tourist attraction for both foreigners and the Japanese. There are hundreds of shops and restaurants along the waterfront, and possibly my favourite bit, Cosmo World, a theme park on the waters edge that boasts the worlds second largest ferris wheel (which is also the worlds largest clock!). I don't know if I will be too afraid to go on the wheel (certainly I will be by myself) but theres also a roller coaster and various other attractions that I am sure I will be visiting. The other great thing about Yokohama is the proximity to Tokyo! An hour on the train and you can be in central Tokyo, and exploring Tokyo is definitely something I am looking forward to a lot.

I hope my strange ramblings have made Yokohama and the design college sound like idea places to visit and study; I am certainly looking forward to going and I just wanted to share my excitement with you all!

Enjoy this cute tourism video I found of Yokohama! Till next time, またね〜

Kinda irresponsible of me...

I appear to have taken a very long and very unexpected hiatus, and for any readers who actually read, for that I am very very sorry!

A lot has happened in the last few months, hopefully over the next few days/weeks I will write up a whole load of posts to document everything evenly.

Probably the most important thing being however, I have been accepted into the summer school at Yokohama design college! All fees are paid and ready to go! I will make a much more detailed post about this at some point, but I just thought I should start now trying to get back into blogging! I have a whole load of things I want to talk about so hopefully I can make it pretty regular again!

'Til next time~ またね〜

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〜