Ok recent happenings in short:

Monday 5th:

Tom Tatsu Ruben and I went shopping for more essentials, and as usual ended up in an Izakaya at the end of our trip. An Izakaya (居酒屋）is like japans version of a pub…but its nothing like a pub. Its much better. You get drinks brought to your table/ booth, really nice food, and a great atmosphere. This particular one we went to was all food for 270円…which is 2 pounds. Now, I know for a fact, if there was a place advertising that in England I wouldn’t dare go in and eat because I would probably die if i ate the stuff that is not even food. For two pounds, the food cant be any good, right?
WRONG.
In Japan you can get amazing food for 2 pounds!  like this..

and so many more dishes like it! I was loving it. It turned out aswell, that Tatsu’s Mum’s friend was there in a separate booth with all her friends drinking and eating. So tatsu dragged us all in to meet them. I was so suprised, as there were about 7 women in their 50s ABSOLUTEY WASTED. I’m not even joking. It was hilarious. So we were chatting to them all, and they bought us beer which was lovely of them (although I do wonder if they’d have done it if they weren’t horrendously plastered..) but it was a really good night even if one of the ladies was playing footsie with tom under the table :S..

Here are the ladies

Tuesday 6th:

We went to buy electrical appliances from a massive electrics store (like currys or comet lol). I had been in dire need of a hairdryer since I’d arrived since I couldn’t use mine from england because of the voltage difference here (yes, even with an adapter!) so i got one of those bad boys, and Tom, Ruben and I clubbed together to get a rice cooker so we could start making meals on the cheap! We then went to a big supermarket and bought things to cook with that evening to try out the rice cooker and Tom’s new cooking pot…
BUT. When we got home, we realised that we couldn’t read the instructions for the rice cooker at all. It was all in full-on Japanese (way above our level!) and the buttons were all japanese on the rice cooker too! Bugger! So we were attempting to wing it but getting nowhere and lost it with the bloody thing- resulting in us calling Tom’s girlfriend over Skype. She helped us and then after that we could actually make a really nice meal (which we ate off a table that we stole from downstairs)We had miso soup, gyoza (pork and ginger dumplings), and fried beef. lovely.

Wednesday 7th:

We had our placement test that sorts us into classes according to our Japanese ability of Wednesday. When walking to the conbini the night before, we thought ‘god, its well quiet round here tonight?’.
Yep! Its because everyone was studying for the next days placement test! We didn’t study at all, but actually it was fine. It was multiple choice, and basically it started off easy and got harder and harder as it went along. I have ended up in Intermediate Japanese which I am pretty pleased about! Its about where I should be so…yeh!

IN OTHER NEWS:

Tom bought a plant, and it died after 2 days. He was devastated, and heres the moment he found out:

Also there was a massive typhoon last night which resulted loads of peoples classes being cancelled and also my shoes being ruined. nice one. I have never seen such wind and rain in my life- and yet today was beautiful.

Tomorrow my lecturer from my home university is coming to my university in Japan to do a guest lecture, but we have also been invited to a very important Japanese professor’s office for a meeting with him which I am shitting it about because my spoken Japanese is crap!!! I will write up how it goes…

Until next time,

K x

.:DAY 1 :.
I arrived at about 8:45am on 30th of September, and met my lovely friend Tatsu at the airport. He picked us up in his mental car which is absolutely massive with reclining chairs and a 3D GPS system… it also has a camera on the back of it which enables you to see where you are reversing through the tv screen in the front of the car. Us English people need to catch up I swear. Anyway, so we drove to Fuchu (府中）our new home effectively, when we reached our halls. Having been daunted prior to arriving there, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the Uni and campus are. Yes, given, my halls of residence may look like the set of bad girls, but actually the rooms are really nice. I have a balcony, a fridge, a hob and a toilet all in my room which is much better than what I got at my halls in Manchester in first year! I am also on the 6th floor (top) so when I look out onto my balcony I can see the Tokyo skyline from my room! Its lovely, and I am very pleased. Incase you’re wondering, Tom and Ruben live on the 2nd floor right next door to each other which is convenient and all rooms are the same.  I was shown round by a nice lady that works here, and she also gave me a free toilet roll which was nice of her.

We dumped all our stuff at the halls, and then went to meet Ruben’s Tutor, Maya, who showed us round the campus and helped me buy essentials (shampoo/handwash/toothpaste etc) at the ‘conbini’ (Japanese convenience store) which also sells loads of lovely snacks and drinks and hot food! There are about 4 within a 3-10 minute walk of our halls and they are open 24 hours which is great if you get hungry/thirsty during the night! Ruben and I then went for diner at Tatsu’s house. It was bloody lovely. His Mum cooked us Tenpura (Prawn/pepper/pumpkin/potato/daikon) and this amazing Potato salad. We all ate dinner on the floor (True Japanese style!) with his Mum and Grandmother (Who is 94 and amazing for her age!). Having been up for over 30 hours though,I started to slowly die, and embarrassed myself by falling alseep and smacking my head on the wall.  I was then given a blanket and slept for about 30 mins in a recliner chair in Tatsu’s home. We went back to the halls after, and then got some sleep. I didn’t bring a duvet or pillow with me, and am still yet to buy one. Actually though, its ok because its bloody hot here so a sheet is more than enough!

.:DAY 2:.

So we (this time with Tom)  got up and met Ruben’s Tutor again, along with my tutor, Natsuki. Both really lovely girls. We went to officially register as foreigners in the Town Hall which would enable us to get bank accounts, mobile phone contracts and all that jazz. I couldn’t go without having made some sort of mistake of course (i realised later when trying to buy a phone), and got my address wrong which Ill have to change later this week. But otherwise it was a success- at least they know I’m here and I’m not an illegal immigrant. Thennn we went to Akihabara (秋葉原）the area of tokyo that is full of electrical stores, anime and geeks/ otaku (オタク). We met a friend, Koichi whom i had first encountered 1 and a half years previously on the exchange programme at Manchester. He took us to a ‘Maid Cafe’ which was possibly one of the most bizarre and peculiar places I have ever been in my life. Its basically a cafe where all of the girls are maids who are in he unbearable cute character all of the time that they work. The wallpaper is pink and yellow with hearts, there are stuffed animals all over the place and the place is filled with the sound of cutsie j-pop/anime theme songs and their screeches. The worst thing about it is the clientelle- I’m talking the regulars. Men come in on their own and send loads of money on drinks, food, and photographs with the maids. They all look so desperate and lonley it was actually really uncomfortable to watch them indulge in the maid’s silly clapping games and chants. I felt sorry for them, knowing I’d come there for a laugh but they’d come for genuine attention. However, it seems to be a normal thing around Akihabara..I suppose its just what some men choose to do with their lives.  We left the Maid cafe promptly after being pleaded with to pay to play a game of Jenga with our Maid. I can bloody play Jenga at home if I want thank you very much. Then, Ruben and I went o buy our Mobile phones which are amazing. I think I’ll write a separate blog entry about mine with pictures and stuff…so I’ll leave the details for now.  I bought a camera too, so I can post pictures up  from now on!  After Tom nearly fainted from hunger we had sushi and then went back to the halls.

.:DAY 3:.
We met Maya again, and went to open an acount at the Bank. I loved it there because i had my first proper random chat with an old lady. I understood her, and she understood me, and we chatted for about half an hour whilst we waited in the queue. It made me feel reassured that even though i know my Japanese could be lot better, it hasn’t completely diminished.  That evening we met some more friends that we had also met on the exchange program in Manchester. We at traditional Japanese food in a restraunt where you have to take your shoes off! They do love taking their shoes off over here. We all ate in Shibuya. Thats the place that everyone associates with Japan and crowdedness. Its the place with the zebra  crossings that can fit like a million people in even with umbrellas. I experienced it full-on as it was pissing it down and everyones umbrellas kept clashing. Nice one. But still, I was happy to be there.

I have to say, so far, I love Japan. So thats a good start to my year abroad, cause it would have been rubbish if I’d have hated it. Although I miss my family and friends, I am having a great time going to new places, exploring and meeting old friends. This will probably all change when I start class next week, but right now it feels like a holiday so I bloody love it.

K x

I’ll depart from London Heathrow on the 29th of September, but as I work my socks off in 2 jobs over the summer, the fact that I’ll be leaving home for a year to live and study in a foreign country seems to be drawing closer , much much quicker than I had thought it would. Its actually quite frightening. But until then I’ll post random updates on how my preparations are going before takeoff. I hope you enjoy reading my ramblings, whether they entertain you, put your mind at rest, or inspire you to come to japan and visit! I don’t know how, but they might.

じゃね。

K x