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!

Japanese Diary - Tokyo Disney Resort, Land and Sea!

Obviously bought a Minnie Mouse Headband

Tokyo DisneyLand and DisneySea! My excitement cannot be hidden!

Disney was always going to be one of my favourite parts of my stop in Tokyo, this was my third time to Tokyo Disneyland, but my first to DisneySea, and I was absolutely not disappointed. We went to DisneyLand on the first day, which was definitely the best decision (more on that when I get to the bit about Sea!), and it wasn't even too busy! We managed to do every major attraction we wanted, and loads of smaller ones too! The biggest disappointment for me though was that 'Star Tours' was closed for improvements! We still came back to check it hadn't reopened through the day though, and at one point there were a bunch of Stormtroopers hanging around. But I was too slow to get a photo with them, boo! As that was meant to be our first stop, we then proceeded to my favourite roller coaster, Space Mountain! To be honest I think Tomorrowland is my favourite area of DisneyLand (and that makes me super psyched that they've made a film about it!) and we ended up spending a pretty big chunk of our time there, between wandering back and forth the other areas and rides. So we covered all the major rides, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain (I got absolutely soaked by the way, and no one else was even that damp :/), It's a small World, Pirates of the Caribbean etc. etc. Though I want to add the animatronics on the rides that have them were absolutely amazing! Pirates of the Caribbean could easily have been real people and Jack Sparrow was spot on... We ate a ton of great, cute food too (of course) didn't get a chance to eat my favourite pizza but the food we did eat was amazing, just look at these waffles!

Disney themed strawberry custard waffles
- how could I not?

The Electric Parade was one of the most
beautiful things ever!

I think one of the highlights though was the parades! It was still the Easter festival, so in the day it was the Easter parade, so lively and exciting! Didn't get a video or anything thought as I was just too in awe, but go look up a video on you tube, the song was so catchy! In the evening though, it was something really special! The Tokyo electrical parade was probably one of the most beautiful things I've seen! Millions of tiny LED's lit up the floats, characters and costumes and it was so creative and I highly recommend staying to watch it if it's on, it's amazing! 
Thought unfortunately, as the parade was just ending it started to rain, so the fireworks were cancelled, which is a shame because last year when I went they were cancelled too because of strong winds, and I was really looking forward to them! So after the parade we left, exhausted, knowing we were going to be back in, I think it was less than about 10 hours!

The first thing to greet you as you enter
Disneysea!

So this was my first time to DisneySea, as I said, and I was REALLY excited. As I also said, we definitely chose the best day to go, as it was inconsistently raining all day, but not too much, and that meant the park was super empty! I don't think we had a queue longer than 35 minutes, we didn't even need to use our fast-passes and we went on most rides at least twice!
So DisneySea is 100% my favourite theme park I have ever been to, ever. Maybe I just don't remember Disney Florida well enough? But trust me, DS is amazing. From the huge Volcano in the centre of the park (that occasionally erupts, and is also a rollercoaster!) to the outline of Hotel Hightower in the distance (Tower of Terror!), there is tons to explore in between, and this Disney is definitely a different experience from any other Disney Park. 

Ariels Lagoon!

You have 7 'ports-of-call' to explore, Mediterranean Harbor, Mysterious Island, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery and American Waterfront, and there's seriously so many unique attractions at all of them I wish I could have gone back more days (Definitely planning to go again!). The ride I have to recommend the most though is Journey to the center of the Earth. We went on it twice, and despite the ride stopping for 10 minutes with us in a dark room on the first run, it was still absolutely incredible and I would happily go on it again and again! Not to spoil to much but if you love super fast paced rides then you will love this, and you will also probably not expect any of it. Another one of my favourites was Tower of Terror, of course! I have only been on the one in Florida for comparison, but I know for a fact this is a very different experience to that one. The concept is the same, it's still a terrifying drop ride, but this one has a unique story as it is not part of The Twilight Zone like all the others are. We only got to ride it once, but to be honest the story (and effects!) were freaky enough that once was enough.To be honest, the more I think about it, the more favourites I may have to add to this list, because we also rode the Indiana Jones ride twice, just as dramatic the second time (and I also had to comfort a terrified Japanese lady who didn't like roller coasters) and I want to special mention the Toy Story Shooting game, the 3D effects were incredible and it was so much fun! (Though my score was 59,000 I think, and high score of the day was over 2 Million!)
Though we didn't stay for the night parade, we did catch the end of the daytime one (after coming out of lunch, a beautiful Italian Restaurant in Mini Venice, part of Mediterranean harbour!) and it was fantastic! The center of Mediterranean harbour is, of course, a harbour, so the parade was on boats! It was really lively and colourful, with some really cute characters making a big appearance (Such as Marie the Aristocat and Stitch!) and then there were JETSKIS. I don't really know why I found this part so exciting but I did, haha.

The volcano in the centre was amazing!

The Volcano in Action!

It's completely possible that this blog may have gone on a bit longer than I intended it too, whoops! But it's super difficult to contain my enthusiasm about Disney, or theme parks, so this was inevitable really! If there's anything I didn't specifically cover here that you might be wondering about Tokyo Disney Resort, please leave me a comment and I'll get back to you!

So for now, またね〜 From Osaka, and I'm hoping to have the rest of my settling in blog by the end of this week and then a proper diary should be starting, about time! I've been here over a month already! Waaah Time really does fly~

Japanese diary - Arrival in Japan, Part One

こんにちは、みんなさん！
Hi everyone!
This is going to be the start of my hopefully weekly diary (that I will try and upload every Sunday,  apparently!) although this first entry will be a little longer as its been more than two weeks since I arrived here now and a lot has happened including a few busy days in Tokyo and settling in to my new 'home' here in Osaka.

First I think it best if I start from the beginning of my trip, which began by leaving from London Heathrow at 6am, on the 14th May, with my little sister Ellie. It was a long day of travel, and actually a lot of it seems like a hazy memory from long ago and it seems strange to think it was only a few weeks ago! From Heathrow we flew to Rome, to catch a connecting flight to Tokyo. We had quite a long transit in Rome, 5 hours, and also a stressful few minutes before we we're about to board when we thought we might be in the wrong terminal (we weren't!), but we managed to eat an authentic Italian pizza and charge our phones whilst we hung around. The flight wasn't too bad, the food was actually really good! And I managed to watch Lego Movie, Frozen and Big Hero 6, so I was pretty entertained.
Arriving in Tokyo, Ellie and I planned to stay for 5 days before I flew out to Osaka and she left for new Zealand!

I think we covered quite a lot in Tokyo, we visited all the main shopping districts except Akihabara, spent a day at Ueno zoo and managed to visit both Disney Parks (land and sea) in two consecutive days, though we we're completely exhausted by the end of it. I think I'd really love to give the Disney resorts their own post, so I'll save that till I have internet access on my laptop and can upload all my hundreds of Disney photos!

Ueno zoo I still have slightly mixed feelings about, although it was amazing to see some of the animals we did, some enclosures we're just not as spacious and looked after as I wanted them to be. And I now know this isn't just a cultural thing as I have since been to another zoo in Japan (Wakayama adventure world, it will get it's own post!) And I know the animals there were very very well cared for. Really, I think Ueno zoo could do with upping it's entrance fees, it was just so cheap to get in (I've actually forgotten how much but definitely less than ¥500) and if it was a little more they might be able to improve a few of the enclosures with that money. Though it was kind of a negative visit,  I still enjoyed the day and some parts weren't bad, there was a very impressive Vivarium and nocturnal house, and the petting zoo area was very cute!

So apart from the zoo and Disney, I mentioned already that we went to all the major shopping districts (except akiba) despite the fact neither of us had a single inch of space in our luggage! We spent a lot of time in Shibuya mostly, going for the Hachiko statue and staying for shibuya109. If anyone reading this doesn't know the story of Hachi, please go look it up immediately, especially if you love dogs or animals at all. Its one of my favourite true stories of all time, and will make you cry. Shibuya109 is the iconic shop on the other side the scramble crossing from the Hachiko exit of the train station. A huge 10 story fashion store filled with tons of small boutiques and shops, covering all the different styles from Gothic to high street fashion to super cute, with even a few sports fashion stores thrown in. Yeah that's a thing.
As well as Shibuya, we spent almost a whole day in Harajuku, Takeshita dori will always be one of my favourites even though it's so difficult to navigate!

To be honest,  I probably left this entry a little late to write, as I realise now I'm already a bit foggy on a lot of the details. I think for now, I'm going to make this a part one, part two will cover my initial few weeks in Osaka (I know you're all dead excited!) And I also have a ton to write about Disney and Wakayama and everything, but luckily I'm finally getting internet on my laptop on Thursday so that should make it a lot easier to write up these entries!

So for now, またね~ from Osaka and keep tuned for more of my exciting adventures!

New start!

So, it's completely possible that in am really bad at blogging. I've started and stopped this so many times the place is a bit of a mess really,  but at the moment I am currently residing in Osaka, Japan, and working as kind of an aupair, and I want to talk about it properly. I'm going to to try and kick start this blog as a sort of diary of living in Japan, and I hope it won't be too boring. I'll try and sort out some sort of schedule too, I want to do this properly! I've only been here one week so far and I don't have internet on my laptop yet, but soon that should all be sorted :)

So for now, またね~ from Osaka!

I did it again

Sorry guys! I seem to have done it again, I got so caught up with work and life I started to neglect this blog and my Japanese studies.

Never fear though, I have much more exciting news that will hopefully bring this blog back to life!

I'm in London at the moment, I've just been to the embassy of Japan to hand in an application for a Working Holiday Visa!!! I do intend to write up my account of applying, if anyone is interested in all that, and if I'm accepted (I have to come back next Friday to collect!) then I will be leaving mid May! This is a super exciting and impulsive time, I can't wait to talk about it all on here, but hopefully you'll hear from me again soon!

またね！

Being Sick in Japan

So, something I was definitely not counting on whilst in Japan was an urgent need to go to the doctors!

After being in excruciating pain for 4 days, literally since I was on the plane, I was sobbing over the phone to my mum (because I was completely terrified and it hurt so much!) and she gave me the ultimatum to ask my teacher to take me to the doctors in the morning or she would call my school and tell them to send me an ambulance... haha...

It can be incredibly frightening to be so sick that you need to go to the doctors in a foreign country where you barely speak the language, and certainly don't know any medical terms beyond "I have a headache", "I have an earache" and "I feel sick". In Japan, it is much more common to go to the doctors for mostly anything, as opposed to here in the UK where I feel we do try to avoid it. I also know that in Japan, anything the doctor says is taken as fact, antibiotics are prescribed for most things, and in fact the whole process is completely different to booking a doctors appointment in England. 

Firstly, I asked my English-speaking teacher if she could take me to the doctors. Expecting to have to make an appointment, I was completely unprepared when she immediately grabbed her coat and lead me outdoors. The doctors surgery was only a few minutes walk from the school, and on the way there she asked me of all my symptoms.

Upon arriving at the doctors, we went into a small waiting room, I filled out some forms to say I was a foreigner I guess, and some of my symptoms, the receptionists puzzled over how to pronounce my name, then I sat and waiting awkwardly for ten or so minutes whilst my teacher checked over what was wrong.

After what felt like the most dramatic wait ever, my name was called and we were led to a second waiting room, where I had to put my bag and coat in a special box whilst I waited, I still don't understand why! After a few more minutes I was called into a doctors room like I had never seen before! Four doctors were lined up, with chairs in front of them, all with a patient bar one (my doctor!) and so many tools and things hanging from above and on moveable arms, I could seriously liken it to some mad scientists human experimentation room!

I sat awkwardly and terrifiedly down, whilst Watanabe-sensei explained what was wrong. She talked for a very long time, I had no idea what she was saying. The doctor talked back, also for a very long time. Watanabe-sensei explained that he needed to look in my ears and my throat, which I expected, but also up my nose and in my eyes, which was kinda weird. So he did, he then talked for a very very very long time, at least it felt like it. Finally Watanabe-sensei turned to me and said that I have two very bad ear infections, then she had to look up the word for 'sinus' because I also had a sinus infection and a mild throat infection, probably caused from a pocket of air swelling from the air pressure on the plane. Yes, I am super unlucky. I then got given two options. Medicine, or warm water squirted at high pressure up my nose to wash the infection out? Uhm, I think it was a no-brainer. I then got awkward and asked if they had any liquid medicine, because I don't think I could cope taking 3 capsules a day for a week the size of my little finger. He said yes, but it's kind of expensive, but at this point I wasn't fussed as long as the pain went!

I settled with this, and so left the surgery. I was so worried it would be expensive, as I had insurance but I knew I'd have to pay upfront then claim it back later, but it was only about ¥3000 (£17) for the appointment, then we had to go to the pharmacy and pay for the medicine... The 'liquid' medicine I got was actually a weird powder that I had to mix with water and down in one. Not fun. But I was surprised that this 'expensive' medicine was actually only another ¥3000, I was genuinely thinking £50+

FYI, that night I took the medicine, it was completely disgusting, I didn't quite make it in one go and I almost threw it up instantly, but amazingly it worked! Basically by the next day, all the pain had gone, and the only things left were an annoying cough, which I could cope with, and unequalized ears, so pretty much everything sounds very underwater. Actually, I still have problems with my ears now, I don't think it will ever go away at this point! 

But that pretty much sums up my experience with Japanese doctors. It was a weird one, a unique one, and a very unexpected one, but I'm glad I got to experience something like that, just in case it ever happens again!

'Til next time~ またね〜

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〜

久しぶり！(Long time no see!)

Well hello everyone! It has been a long time, hasn't it?

Seems I got so caught up in things I rather started to neglect this blog again... I even have so many unpublished drafts that a lot of them are a little outdated now which is a shame!

A lot has happened in these few months though, most notably, my month in Japan (Which, as expected, completely flew by!) so really I have an awful lot to talk about on here, and hopefully I can get back into the habit of blogging again, though I now have a completely full time job! I have decided to aim for fortnightly blog posts, which I hope will be achievable, though I haven't set a day just yet as my days off are actually quite sporadic, though I'm anticipating that it will be Fridays.

So, maybe you are wondering what I got up to in Japan? I actually kept a daily instagram whilst I was there, with little stories of what I got up to, so hopefully my next few blogs will be talking a bit about that and the sort of things I got upto in Yokohama. I'm also going to work on a few drafts that aren't outdated to mix things up a bit, hopefully I can keep motivated this time, so keep an eye out for me!

'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〜

Yokohama City

Aaah! I don't believe it's been two months since my last post! I wasn't supposed to take a break! I actually have a whole bunch of half written draft posts, but todays topic is something I have really wanted to post about for a while anyway, so I thought I might as well.

As I have mentioned before, I plan to go to Japan next summer for a month long summer school, so that I can be certain that I can cope by myself in Japan before I go there for an entire year!

Well, I've known for a while where I shall hopefully be going, and that is Yokohama Design School, as they are also a language school! And so in anticipation (which is funny really as I haven't even got a place yet or anything) I have been conducting research about Yokohama and the surrounding areas. The city itself lies on Tokyo Bay, almost directly south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu. It was Japan's original international port and I think it is the perfect place for me as I have always grow up and lived by the sea. It is an hour and 20 minutes away from the centre of Tokyo, and has a beautiful big wheel and lighthouse, I kind of want to compare it to Plymouth but I know it is much bigger!

I want to make a much more informative post on Yokohama and the design school at some point, but for now this is it!

Til next time! (Which hopefully won't be so long this time!)

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！