Yesterday I exited the dorm house at around 5.15 pm to go to a youtube jvlogger gathering (anyone could come, blogger or not). It was supposed to be a 20 minute walk from where I live, according to google maps. But ofcourse I got lost even though it had looked so easy on maps! In the end I asked a Japanese person for the way cause I realised I had started walking back the road I came from in my searching. The person actually followed me all the way to where I needed to go, themselves also asking other people along the way. People sure can be nice at times.
I had been very afraid of going to the meetup, because I am a socially awkward person to the bone. But in the end the thought of meeting some amazing vloggers concoured my fears. So I went, and I had the most awesome time!
There were so many jvloggers there that I knew, and I got a chance to atleast speak a few sentences with most of them. Very happy to have met them. I also met some people that weren't jvloggers, and that was just as fun. I met my senpai, a fellow Swede, who had gone to my school before. People actually told me I should contact her but I couldn't find her, so glad to have met her there.
Also met this guy from Chicago, US, a Brown student here on an exchange. He was really awesome, I felt we had so much in common and I'd love to hang out with him again if he'd wanna. But, he lives in Kobe which is atleast an hour away by train (I think). Might make meeting up a bit harder.
Sad thing though (not that it's a legit complain but still), he is so tall! I feel like a kid next to him. Probably the same length as my cousin. Why must everyone be so much taller than me? Lol. No, it's fine, just silly me.
Yea, you get the feels. It was great! I walked away from there with a smile on my face (though that dropped since I got lost again.. so annoying). A 20 min walk became 45 minutes both on the way there and back. Good thing I left fairly early so that I made it back before they close the dorm. o.o
If you ever have the chance to go to one of these meetups, you should do it! I got to meet Victor(gimmeabreakman), Tomoko, Regan, AbroadInJapan, BusanKevin, Unrested and so on! Also met a really nice guy that has been in a few other peoples videos. He works for google and actually has a Japanese Citizenship and (I guess that's why, because I heard you have to take a Japanese name if you get citizenship) a Japanese name.
But even if you don't really speak with your idols it's still great fun. You meet people. You can make friends you maybe wouldn't have found otherwise. =D Gotta sleep now, bye!
Jun 29, 2014
Jun 24, 2014
Test and Immigration Office
Today we had a test, all students at the school had to take it. It was nothing you had to practice for, it was just to check your level. It was a lot easier than I expected. But still, I made some stupid small mistakes just because I forgot some katakana. Bleh.
Overall, it went well though.
After the test, which ended 12, we didn't have any more school!
Which meant we had time to go to the immigration office.
So after the test I went with some people from my class to the immigration office to hand in our part time job applications. Turns out when you hand in the form you get a paper put in your passport and they tell you to return after one week, and not more than 3 weeks after.
Which means we are going to have to get permission from the school to go, or else we wont be able to get our permissions. Sucks. Now I just hope everything solves itself so that we can go when we are supposed to..
Sorry for boring post
Overall, it went well though.
After the test, which ended 12, we didn't have any more school!
Which meant we had time to go to the immigration office.
So after the test I went with some people from my class to the immigration office to hand in our part time job applications. Turns out when you hand in the form you get a paper put in your passport and they tell you to return after one week, and not more than 3 weeks after.
Which means we are going to have to get permission from the school to go, or else we wont be able to get our permissions. Sucks. Now I just hope everything solves itself so that we can go when we are supposed to..
Sorry for boring post
Jun 23, 2014
Japanese won't tell you if you are good?
Some days ago now a teacher told us in class that if a Japanese tell us that we have a good accent or that we speak good Japanese. It doesn't really mean that we are good.
They usually use the word "jouzu" when saying that someone is "good" or "skilled" at something.
I really feel like this is true, because I've been told my Japanese is good when I know myself that I could barely form a sentence. And today I just saw a video of a guy talking to a Japanese person for just a few seconds, in really crappy Japanese both grammatically and accent-ly (lol), and that person was still like "Oh, you're good at Japanese".
Thing is, I've always been good with the Japanese "accent", it comes easy to me. I feel that I make a lot of mistakes in other places, but atleast I got the accent down! That's why I felt really confused when the teachers told people in class who have a good accent but still frequently makes mistakes on that part, how good their accent were.
I was confused because no one ever told me my accent was good. So I began to question if my accent really was as good as I tought. Maybe I sucked and I didn't even know it?
So eventually, after a long time of waiting and confusion, I asked a Japanese friend how my accent was. Thankfully they said I was really good, like a Japanese person. Then mentioned some people that can speak very well but whose accents aren't as good.
Big weight off of my shoulders there.
BUT, Japanese people (and people in general) don't really like to tell you if you are bad at something so you can never be 100% sure. Let's just hope noone has said anything about my accent because it's good, and not because it's crap.
.... Soo, what DO Japanese say if you speak REALLY good Japanese. No accent, no grammar mistakes, I asked in class.
The teachers answer was: They don't say anything. They just stare at you (like you're a unicorn (no that last part wasn't said)).
They usually use the word "jouzu" when saying that someone is "good" or "skilled" at something.
I really feel like this is true, because I've been told my Japanese is good when I know myself that I could barely form a sentence. And today I just saw a video of a guy talking to a Japanese person for just a few seconds, in really crappy Japanese both grammatically and accent-ly (lol), and that person was still like "Oh, you're good at Japanese".
Thing is, I've always been good with the Japanese "accent", it comes easy to me. I feel that I make a lot of mistakes in other places, but atleast I got the accent down! That's why I felt really confused when the teachers told people in class who have a good accent but still frequently makes mistakes on that part, how good their accent were.
I was confused because no one ever told me my accent was good. So I began to question if my accent really was as good as I tought. Maybe I sucked and I didn't even know it?
So eventually, after a long time of waiting and confusion, I asked a Japanese friend how my accent was. Thankfully they said I was really good, like a Japanese person. Then mentioned some people that can speak very well but whose accents aren't as good.
Big weight off of my shoulders there.
BUT, Japanese people (and people in general) don't really like to tell you if you are bad at something so you can never be 100% sure. Let's just hope noone has said anything about my accent because it's good, and not because it's crap.
.... Soo, what DO Japanese say if you speak REALLY good Japanese. No accent, no grammar mistakes, I asked in class.
The teachers answer was: They don't say anything. They just stare at you (like you're a unicorn (no that last part wasn't said)).
Jun 20, 2014
Happy midsummer!
This has nothing to do with Japan, but still.
Today this year is a holiday called "Midsommar" in Sweden (where I'm from) and on this day you take your kids and dance around a big pole clad in flowers and leaves. You sit in the grass eating some cookies, drinking some coffee while listening to some music played by a local band.
Later, you take your kids out to pick 7 different kinds of flowers, because if you do that on this day and then put the flowers under your pillow, you will dream about your fated significant other.
Thing is, it never works..
Then after your kids are asleep, with flowers under their pillows, all the parents gather to get really drunk and eat some disgusting fish.
=)
This day is celebrated because it's the day in Sweden when the sun is up the longest. Supposedly you could say it's the "brightest" day of the year, but almost every year it's raining on this day.
Today this year is a holiday called "Midsommar" in Sweden (where I'm from) and on this day you take your kids and dance around a big pole clad in flowers and leaves. You sit in the grass eating some cookies, drinking some coffee while listening to some music played by a local band.
Later, you take your kids out to pick 7 different kinds of flowers, because if you do that on this day and then put the flowers under your pillow, you will dream about your fated significant other.
Thing is, it never works..
Then after your kids are asleep, with flowers under their pillows, all the parents gather to get really drunk and eat some disgusting fish.
=)
This day is celebrated because it's the day in Sweden when the sun is up the longest. Supposedly you could say it's the "brightest" day of the year, but almost every year it's raining on this day.
Jun 19, 2014
In Japan you have to pay if you kill yourself by jumping in front of a train
Just heard about this in a video. Apparently if you kill yourself by jumping infront of a train here in Japan your family will be charged for the money loss caused by the train having to have to stop.
Lol.
Supposedly this is some sort of threat to those planning to kill themselves by jumping in front of a train. If they don't want their family to suffer even more from their death, do find another way to take your life..
Heard about it in this video:
Lol.
Supposedly this is some sort of threat to those planning to kill themselves by jumping in front of a train. If they don't want their family to suffer even more from their death, do find another way to take your life..
Heard about it in this video:
Jun 18, 2014
Got my part time job permission!
Turns out you are not really allowed to do a part time job here in Japan if you are here on a MEXT scholarship. There are exceptions though. If you have a really good reason, you can get allowance to apply for "permission to engage in activity other than that permitted under the status of residence previously granted".
So, what we scholarship students have to do (atleast at this school) except for handing in the normal application paper to our homeroom teacher and then to another higher standing teacher, it to write a "sakubun".
A sakubun is like an essay. A paper explaning why you want a part time job, basically why you NEED to have a part time job in order to "survive".
You write your reasons, and then a summary of how much you make per month and how much you spend. Also when you plan on doing part time work, and how much.
Lastly how much you think your expenses will be for next year (when moving and entering a new school) and how much you think you need to work to cover these expenses. I wrote that I only want to work during holidays so I didn't have to that, though.
Oh, on the first paper I talked about you have to write what kind of job you think you'll be engaging in when you start a part time job. Example: Working at a restaurant, store etc.
When you hand in these two papers the high standing teacher will decide if your reason is good enough. And if it is, give you permission.
If that happens, the teacher will tell you about what jobs you can and cannot do (no nightjobs, no working at Pachinko etc.) and then you have to sign a paper saying that you will not let your working affect your school life.
And you're done! Well, not really. But this is the last stage (if I'm correct) where you actually get the real application paper and take it with you to "Nyuukokukourikyoku" and get your permission. After that, you can get a part time job without it being illegal!
Isn't that nice? ^-^
So, what we scholarship students have to do (atleast at this school) except for handing in the normal application paper to our homeroom teacher and then to another higher standing teacher, it to write a "sakubun".
A sakubun is like an essay. A paper explaning why you want a part time job, basically why you NEED to have a part time job in order to "survive".
You write your reasons, and then a summary of how much you make per month and how much you spend. Also when you plan on doing part time work, and how much.
Lastly how much you think your expenses will be for next year (when moving and entering a new school) and how much you think you need to work to cover these expenses. I wrote that I only want to work during holidays so I didn't have to that, though.
Oh, on the first paper I talked about you have to write what kind of job you think you'll be engaging in when you start a part time job. Example: Working at a restaurant, store etc.
When you hand in these two papers the high standing teacher will decide if your reason is good enough. And if it is, give you permission.
If that happens, the teacher will tell you about what jobs you can and cannot do (no nightjobs, no working at Pachinko etc.) and then you have to sign a paper saying that you will not let your working affect your school life.
And you're done! Well, not really. But this is the last stage (if I'm correct) where you actually get the real application paper and take it with you to "Nyuukokukourikyoku" and get your permission. After that, you can get a part time job without it being illegal!
Isn't that nice? ^-^
Jun 16, 2014
Going shopping in Japan
The one thing I found really entertaining about going shopping in Japan are the weird things you find. They are not at all uncommon, especially when it comes to the English on shirts.
Feast your eyes:
Hmm ... I don't even know what these things are. But they want to strangle you.
The "famous" mouth thing! You can watch videos about it one youtube. Because I don't remember what it's supposedly good for..
Here we have a close up of how to use it!
Now, let's continue on with some pictures of shirts! I kind of have it as a hobby to keep a look out for funny looking shirts.
Imma make you up, man! Imma make you up so hard!
"Somebody wants to buy your apartment building" Yes, this is a legit shirt, in a legit store...
"Clothes with the perfume of the absent lie in random" .... Whut?!
This shirt says it all, eh? "When in doubt, throw it out!" Heck yea.
"Think other" Yea, I always do that.
"Freedom without love"
"MOVE Find Yourself"
"On mondays we wear black" .. So I guess you cannot take that bag with you on a Monday..
Found these at an online shopping site: "COMME des FUCKDOWN"
So what can we learn from all of this? Well: Don't buy things that say stuff you don't fully understand. And don't just make things that say things you, and others, don't fully understand. =)
(Thanks for 700+ views btw!) Cya!
Feast your eyes:
Hmm ... I don't even know what these things are. But they want to strangle you.
The "famous" mouth thing! You can watch videos about it one youtube. Because I don't remember what it's supposedly good for..
Here we have a close up of how to use it!
Now, let's continue on with some pictures of shirts! I kind of have it as a hobby to keep a look out for funny looking shirts.
Imma make you up, man! Imma make you up so hard!
"Somebody wants to buy your apartment building" Yes, this is a legit shirt, in a legit store...
"Clothes with the perfume of the absent lie in random" .... Whut?!
This shirt says it all, eh? "When in doubt, throw it out!" Heck yea.
"Think other" Yea, I always do that.
"Freedom without love"
"MOVE Find Yourself"
"On mondays we wear black" .. So I guess you cannot take that bag with you on a Monday..
Found these at an online shopping site: "COMME des FUCKDOWN"
So what can we learn from all of this? Well: Don't buy things that say stuff you don't fully understand. And don't just make things that say things you, and others, don't fully understand. =)
(Thanks for 700+ views btw!) Cya!
Jun 10, 2014
Please, teacher, tell us if we suck!
Another short post :)
There are a lot of people in my class that speak good Japanese but their accent really sucks.
And the teacher doesn't say anything about this! Why, teacher?! Why?
If you don't tell us when our accents sucks, how are we going to improve it?
It's not just one teacher, but all of them. They never tell you anything about your accent.
It happened once, but then the person forgot the instructions and went back to how they used to speak, and the teacher hasn't mentioned it again.
Why don't they keep pushing us to get a better accent? If they correct us everytime we pronounce something incorrectly then it will eventually get stuck in our brains and we'll be able to change it.
Now, when you don't say anything, were just going to be stuck in the same level forever. Maybe in the future we'll speak flawless Japanese, but no one will know, because our accent sucks..
(Sorry for the rant. I like all our teachers, the school and everything else. Just not this fact.)
There are a lot of people in my class that speak good Japanese but their accent really sucks.
And the teacher doesn't say anything about this! Why, teacher?! Why?
If you don't tell us when our accents sucks, how are we going to improve it?
It's not just one teacher, but all of them. They never tell you anything about your accent.
It happened once, but then the person forgot the instructions and went back to how they used to speak, and the teacher hasn't mentioned it again.
Why don't they keep pushing us to get a better accent? If they correct us everytime we pronounce something incorrectly then it will eventually get stuck in our brains and we'll be able to change it.
Now, when you don't say anything, were just going to be stuck in the same level forever. Maybe in the future we'll speak flawless Japanese, but no one will know, because our accent sucks..
(Sorry for the rant. I like all our teachers, the school and everything else. Just not this fact.)
Kanadajin3 - jvlogger disasters
OBS: If you are not a person "involved in the jvlogging community" (meaning in my opinion that you don't watch channels like Ciaela, Kanadajin3, Sharla in Japan, Gimmeabreakman etc, then you can go ahead and skip this post). =)
If you are subscribed to the people above, though, or know them somehow then you might want to read.
Seems like a strange thing happened on youtube - a famous jvlogger (kanadajin3) seems to have been creating several fake accounts to bash other Jvloggers who thought she was their friend.
Please watch the videos below if you haven't already.
I used to be subscribed to Kanadajin3 and I think she has a lot of helpful videos, but when I heard about this I had to unsubscribe. Still waiting around to see if she comes with a response video explaining her behavior or coming with some evidence that she infact didn't do anything at all.
I just wanted to point out that this thing happened so that people that might not know yet get to know it now. Cya!
If you are subscribed to the people above, though, or know them somehow then you might want to read.
Seems like a strange thing happened on youtube - a famous jvlogger (kanadajin3) seems to have been creating several fake accounts to bash other Jvloggers who thought she was their friend.
Please watch the videos below if you haven't already.
I used to be subscribed to Kanadajin3 and I think she has a lot of helpful videos, but when I heard about this I had to unsubscribe. Still waiting around to see if she comes with a response video explaining her behavior or coming with some evidence that she infact didn't do anything at all.
I just wanted to point out that this thing happened so that people that might not know yet get to know it now. Cya!
Jun 9, 2014
First culture shock! (Not a Japanese one)
Yo! Talked to a good friend in the dorm yesterday about how they celebrate christmas in their country. The answer I got was very surprising, to say the least.
They started off with the very common: "Well, we all get together with all our relatives and have a party ..."
BUT THEN: "... and then we kill some pigs with machete's, cut out their heart's, put them on a stick, and grill them over a fire."
....
Come again?!
The only thing I could do was laugh! I've never heard of anything like this, and if someone said that they do this for christmas in Sweden they wouldn't be believed.
Haha. And here people complain about Swedens strange christmas tradition: Stop everything you are doing at 3 o' clock to watch one hour of old boring Disney clips (same clips every year).
I don't feel so bad about that tradition now that I've heard about this one!
My friend, don't let me come do your country at christmas.. =)
They started off with the very common: "Well, we all get together with all our relatives and have a party ..."
BUT THEN: "... and then we kill some pigs with machete's, cut out their heart's, put them on a stick, and grill them over a fire."
....
Come again?!
The only thing I could do was laugh! I've never heard of anything like this, and if someone said that they do this for christmas in Sweden they wouldn't be believed.
Haha. And here people complain about Swedens strange christmas tradition: Stop everything you are doing at 3 o' clock to watch one hour of old boring Disney clips (same clips every year).
I don't feel so bad about that tradition now that I've heard about this one!
My friend, don't let me come do your country at christmas.. =)
Dirty, dirty scholarship students..
The MEXT scholarship which got me to Japan requires you to live in the dorm of the language school you attend the first year. Meaning almost everyone in the dorm are scholarship students. Which, in a way, makes what I write about in this post, even worse.
Now, at my school the dorm has 3 floors and on the floor I live people most often leave their dirty dishes and pans (and food) in the very small kitchen, in everyones way, until they need to use it again. The floors are full of pieces of vegetables and you do not want to walk in there without slippers.
I am not one of the people that cause this mess, luckily. I always clean my pans directly after use and my dirty dishes I pile up in my room o.o ... atleast no one else has to see them..
Anyway, a few days ago there was a new note in the kitchen telling us how disgusting it was, how the other floors kept their kitchens a lot cleaner (click on the pic to make it bigger):
This is what the kitchen might look like on a normal day (though usually there's even more shit there, leaving no space to cut vegetables etc):
Even after the note there are still people leaving their stuff in the kitchen. But hopefully it gets better.
But it doesn't end there, because today everyone living on my floor were called to the "office" and we were told something quite bad. As they told us; someone has used the shower room as a toilet.
Hmm, what does that make you think of? Personally I'm thinking that someone went nr 2 in the showers. But since I don't know the details I cannot be sure.
The people cleaning the place had complained about an awful smell, apparently. And now I don't want to shower anymore..
I like dorm life, there's always lot's of friends around. But why did I end up on the same floor as all the dirty people!
Now, at my school the dorm has 3 floors and on the floor I live people most often leave their dirty dishes and pans (and food) in the very small kitchen, in everyones way, until they need to use it again. The floors are full of pieces of vegetables and you do not want to walk in there without slippers.
I am not one of the people that cause this mess, luckily. I always clean my pans directly after use and my dirty dishes I pile up in my room o.o ... atleast no one else has to see them..
Anyway, a few days ago there was a new note in the kitchen telling us how disgusting it was, how the other floors kept their kitchens a lot cleaner (click on the pic to make it bigger):
This is what the kitchen might look like on a normal day (though usually there's even more shit there, leaving no space to cut vegetables etc):
Even after the note there are still people leaving their stuff in the kitchen. But hopefully it gets better.
But it doesn't end there, because today everyone living on my floor were called to the "office" and we were told something quite bad. As they told us; someone has used the shower room as a toilet.
Hmm, what does that make you think of? Personally I'm thinking that someone went nr 2 in the showers. But since I don't know the details I cannot be sure.
The people cleaning the place had complained about an awful smell, apparently. And now I don't want to shower anymore..
I like dorm life, there's always lot's of friends around. But why did I end up on the same floor as all the dirty people!
Jun 7, 2014
Sakura flavoured ice cream
Ice cream! Right now a lot of stores in Japan have 20-50% off on ice cream (which is awesome), but sadly I bought the ice cream I going to write about before that..
When I saw the Sakura icecream I was like "Yes! Finally I can try something with Sakura! Sure, it's kinda expensive, but I'll only do it once, so it's ok!" ... Well....
Turns out this ice cream is super duper tasty and even though I haven't bought it again my mouth waters whenever I think about it.
On the top it has an icy layer and below is vanilla icecream with stripes of Sakura in it.
When I saw the Sakura icecream I was like "Yes! Finally I can try something with Sakura! Sure, it's kinda expensive, but I'll only do it once, so it's ok!" ... Well....
Turns out this ice cream is super duper tasty and even though I haven't bought it again my mouth waters whenever I think about it.
Yodobashi camera, Japanese Kids stores and Moomin
A while a go I went with a friend to Yodobashi Camera in Umeda. It's a big department store with anything you could possibly want. Even after returning to floors we had already been on we discovered new things. What I found really interesting was the kids store they had in there (pics below). It had a lot of interesting toys that you would never be able to find in Sweden (or atleast you couldn't when I was a kid).
First, here are two statues they had in the game section:
Very nice statue, not sure from which game tho.
Yay, Mario!
Here are some pics of the kids section:
Ah, well. Following here are just some pics of iPhone cases with Moomin on them. Never thought I'd see that either but what do you know. Japan never seizes to surprise you. Then again, I've only been here for 2 months. =)
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