Plugga i Japan? Study in Japan? 日本で勉強する？

Should I continue...

2010-04-28T06:07:00.000+09:00

... blogging? should I? Or should I just leave this blog for what it is? my travel diary for the years I spent in Japan.

Since I've been getting mail from allot of people during these 2 years asking me questions about studying in Japan, I'm thinking it would be best to just leave it as it is, incase someone stumbles in and needs some questions answered. On the other hand it feels like a waste not to continue blogging here since, well, I've put allot of effort in this blog and would be fun to keep it going. Even if it turns to be a blog about my boring life in Sweden.

So what do you all say? Maybe I should just start a new blog?... ah the choices!

So yeah...

2010-04-15T00:02:00.003+09:00

... I did leave Japanese soil! It could've gone really bad though, but I managed to avoid the problems with my attained super ninja skills! The first thing that could've gone horribly wrong was the ride to the Airport.
I accidentally noticed the shuttlebus infront if my house 30 minutes before the appointed time! I was on my way to buy me some breakfast when the guy just suddenly drove up infront of my house and tried to call me on my phone, since i did not longer have a working phone at that time it could have ended with either me missing my ride, or making the already stressed out driver wait for 30 minutes. So yeah, I had to skip breakfast and just throw myself, my bags and my suitcase straight to into the shuttlebus. Speaking of suitcases brings me to the next BIG problem I encountered, my suitcase just happened to be about 15 kilos overweight, and 15 kilos overweight is like nine billion trillion euro in overweight fee calculated by the clever people in the whole airport/airplane business. So at first we came up with the idea of sending it by boat thru the local post office at the airport, kinda troublesome having to sort thru my bag and packing it back in a box for shipping, but hey! It's allot better than paying the billions of trillions in overweight fee. When i got down to the post office it was of-course CLOSED... Not knowing what to do i went back to the check-in counter while counting my life savings... but lucky me we found this strange Chinese visa (since i was going via Beijing) I could get by just giving them my name and adress in Sweden, and what this visa did was to give me an extra 8 free of charge kilos to check in! So now i only had seven kilos to get rid of wich I did by rearranging stuff from the suitcase to my pockets and my carry on bags, ninja-style! So sweaty as a pig after all the hassle i finally got on the plane heading for beijing and then Thailand.

I had a great time in Thailand! felt really good being able see mim again without the middleman named Skype (no disrespect Skype, but sometimes... you know! We still love you!) We also had the honor of getting Yunjin, a Korean friend, over during the same time! Really nice seing her again too! We also met up with some of Thai friends during the trip. P'Jane, P'Por, and P'Pae! It was really great, thank you all!

So after 2 great weeks in Thailand I went back to Europe and sat my foot in Sweden for the first time in 2 years. The things I noticed first was this: It was cold, Arlanda has a ridiculously small International airport. There was warm water in the toilet, there were pretty tall people everywhere and they all spoke Swedish! I felt a bit disoriented. Right when i got back to my home I had a nice Easter dinner with my mom and siblings, it was a nice reunion dinner and it was really nice seing them all again! The day after I had a really nice "Welcome home" party with some friends, thank you Tommy and Karro for arranging it all!

And now here I am, still feeling like a lost foreigner even tough I've been back for almost 2 weeks now. I guess I'll just have to get used to thing all over again step by step! Now I'm waiting to a get a reply from the university I applied to just a couple of days ago, and if I'm lucky I'll get in, I can start studying again and even get my own place in just a few months. Until then I'll just have to stay here share a room with mom and look for some kind of work.

That'll do for now, see ya'll in a while!

Last week: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

2010-03-19T13:44:00.005+09:00

Hey there! Got a little busy over here so I had no time to sit down and blog!
Anyway, as I said in my previous post I was going to have a "bye bye" party on Wednesday, which I had. It wasn't as painful as last year but still, having to part ways with people you have been spending a great deal of your time here in Japan with is always sad. Even tho I still had (I still have... :( ) a cold, I managed to stay until around 4 in the morning before I went home and fell a sleep in an explosion of snot and rusty throat sounds.

The next day, yesterday, Thursday I met up with 2 japanese friends I kinda lost contact with 1 year or so ago, but we wanted to say our goodbyes before i left anyway, so it was a short but nice get together where we talked about some old memories and wished each other good luck for the future. After that I headed straight downtown to do some gift shopping with the little money I have left, got a few ideas of what to buy and to who, but I can tell you all right now... ALL of you won't be getting gifts as this is an impossibility, so sorry in advance. And for you who actually do get one, they'll probably not be that good so... sorry to guys too! Haha! So after doing some gift scouting i hooked up with Dan, Mai and Dan's friend Kristoffer who's here visiting, and had a tasty Okonomiyaki dinner before saying goodbye to Dan and his friend for now since they'll be going to Tokyo and won't be back until I've already left Japan. So thanks for these 2 years Dan! see you in Sweden!

Today, Friday, I've been cleaning and trying to pack my bags, not going that well... I suck at packing. Later on I'm gonna have yet another goodbye dinner with Taku, a Japanese friend, Elie, Kalle, Mai and hopefully Luca too. If i can get a hold of the little bastard.

Tomorrow... the last day. I guess I'll just run around like crazy doing all the things i've forgotten up until tomorrow. Probably die from a panic attack and never even leave Japanese soil. Wish me luck.

Last week: Tuesday.

2010-03-16T22:55:00.002+09:00

So today has been the second day of my final week and It's been lovely weather outside all day, so of course I've gotten a soar throat, headache and a running nose and thus spent this day to by being in my room sleeping and playing video-games! This week is starting out reeeal good!

Anywho! Tomorrow there's gonna be a big "bye bye party" downtown and I hope I will be feeling better by then! Wouldn't wanna say goodbye to friends AND being sick...

See ya tomorrow for my third daily update!

Last week: Monday.

2010-03-15T22:34:00.003+09:00

Yup! Down to the last week. Hard to believe huh?
Today, monday, it's been raining all day, so I've been spending the whole day packing and playing "Heavy Rain" a game I got for my birthday by the kind Frenchman. A nice way to spend a day I guess!
I've also been trying to figure out what i need to buy and bring with me! I wish I could buy all my friends and family some cool souvenirs, but to be honest I'm getting low on both space in my bags and money! So if you want anything specific please tell me. If not, I'll do my best!

Over and out for today, see ya'll in tomorrow's blog post!

Pics from Tokyo!

2010-03-13T23:40:00.002+09:00

Visited the Frenchman's friend's bar before we got on the bus to Tokyo. The bus was horrible.
Maybe i've been in Japan for too long, but Tokyo wasn't "all that" just felt like a normal Japanese town to me! Oh well I had fun!

Tokyo!

2010-03-11T08:58:00.001+09:00

So I'm at a starbucks here in Ginza right now with the frenchman, waiting for everyone and everything to wake up and open! The bus was horrible! But cheap ;)

Last week of school

2010-03-07T12:17:00.005+09:00

Monday: We came to class as usual except a bit more excited than usual since it was our freaking last monday ever. No more Sunday depression! (at least for a while!) We started of by talking about our graduation trip on which we would go on the next day. The rest of the day we did nothing in particular, just kept talking about everything and nothing.

Tuesday: Met up at school at 7:45 and got on the bus which would take us to Takayama 4 hours up north, were we would do some sightseeing and later on continue to the destination of our trip, a onsen hotel up in the mountains.
When we arrived at the hotel we all went to our rooms and got about 2 hours of free time until we were all supposed to get together for dinner. Being an onsen hotel I immediately took of for some bathing. After the dinner I relaxed with some drinks and playstation 3 with my room-buddies for a while until i bathed some more and then later on went to bed after some more drinking and talking to friends.

Wednesday: Woke up at 6 in the morning to take yet another bath before I went to the breakfast buffet and stuffed my self in preparations for the long way back to Kyoto. On the way back we also stopped and did some sightseeing, a really beautiful village lying in a mountain valley. Apparently it's even a world heritage site because of the unique architecture of the village houses. We got back home around 19:00, said our thanks and parted for the day.

Thursday: Yet another day in in the classroom on which we killed time with listening to music and watching a movie.
I have no recollection of what I did the rest of the day...

Friday: We started the day of with taking big pieces of paper and wrote "good-bye messages" to each other kindergarten-style! but nonetheless very emotional. After that we took a hiking trip up the Daimonji mountain, it was a bit muddy but a very nice trip! First time i was up there so glad to have checked of my list before i go home!

After school I finally managed to send my boxes of books and stuff back to Sweden, heavy and expensive. Later on I had some Sukiyaki and watched a movie with Dan and Mai.

Saturday: The day we have all been waiting for was finally here, graduation day! We met up in the classroom, took some pictures, talked and goofed around before heading over for the graduation ceremony. The ceremony consists of "thank you speeches" the high up management of the University and school, followed by handing out the graduation certificates to the graduating students and also some special prizes for no tardiness, good grades etc. followed by some more speeches, they do love their speeches the Japanese.
After the ceremony we headed over to the dining hall where I held a small toast (as requested by the teachers) before we dug in to the already prepared food and drinks. There was a lot of talking, crying and photo taking, as expected on a graduation day. I then headed home to sleep and digest my food before later heading out for my class-party. We started of with dinner at a Yakiniku restaurant followed by a pub and many beers. In the end it was just me and one of my teachers left, we sat and talked for an hour or two before we got on the last train home and parted ways.

Sunday: Woke up at 13:00 realizing I have no more school, felt a bit depressed and happy at the same time, weird feelings. Been wanting to go home for a long time now, and when It's finally over I kinda want to stay...
Started cleaning out my room so that I'll have as much as possible prepared for the trip home, the least I want is panic the last days here. Now I'm sitting here by my laptop, looking out on my almost empty room and thinking about these last 2 years and what a great experience it has been and in what direction will my life take from now on?

Over and out.

Cookies!

2010-02-17T18:24:00.001+09:00

Me and Dan got some tasty cookies today from a nice lady whom we helped after she had fallen and hurt herself on the street yesterday. So all of you out there be nice to people and take care! Over and out.

I've been a bad boy!

2010-02-16T21:12:00.004+09:00

Not writing anything here for over a month! (ok it's happened before but...yeah you know)
just as usual i haven't been in the mood for writing anything, but now I thought I ought to let you all now I'm actually down to the 2 last weeks of school! Exiting! but at the same time kind of awkward actually... Has it already been 2 years? Wow.

So right now I'm just trying to prepare whatever I can for the final exams starting next week and pray to the gods of Japanese that I'll pass, wouldn't wanna fail the last exams and not get the fancy diploma! That would suck, really.

So after I've PASSED the test I'll head out to see some more of Japan, like TOKYO, yeah, still haven't been to Tokyo!... can't believe it myself, and If I can afford it some other places as well.

And then on the 21st of March I'll head on over to Thailand where I will stay for about 12 days before making the final trip back home to Sweden.

so if you have any requests or wishes of me doing anything before I go home, or if you want me to bring you anything from Japan or Thailand, you'd better start thinking and let me know now.

Until next time! Wish me luck and money for travel! Thank you :)

Pictures from Thailand!

2010-01-04T23:32:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T22:31:00.002+09:00

Had a nice dinner-party with some friends yesterday, I made meatballs and potatoes for the occasion and my friends had made porridge, brought Swedish chocolate and Glögg!. We also had some Thai-style curry, not really that Christmasy but hey! We played some games and even exchanged presents, can't compare to Christmas back in Sweden with the family off-course, but it was a nice dinner-party nonetheless.

So today it's actually Christmas, my second Christmas here in Japan. I've just finished my packing and preparing for my trip to Thailand tomorrow, and now now here I am alone in my room with apple cookies and milk waiting for my mom to come online on Skype. Not exactly the best Christmas I've had. Feels good knowing I'll spend the next one back in Sweden with my family.

Merry Christmas to you all! Next time I'll be writing from Thailand, stay tuned.

1st of December!

2009-12-01T23:07:00.004+09:00

Almost forgot I'd got a chocolate-calendar from my mom a few weeks ago!
It's all mangled up from the trip over here so i got lucky and got 3 chocolates from just 1... hatch? what the hell do you call the "lucka" on a chocolate calendar?

Autumn Leafs

2009-11-30T22:57:00.002+09:00

Some pictures I took of Autumn leafs a couple of weeks ago.

4 minutes until bedtime and I decide to write on my blog...

2009-11-25T22:55:00.004+09:00

I always decide to write here in the most inconvenient times, oh well.
So what do I want to write about then? I have no idea! I just saw my last post and it felt kinda depressing! So I thought I'd show you all that I'm not as depressed as looks like. So, yeah...

I've been trying a little bit harder doing my homework and assignments more often and so far I've been managing to do It quite well I might say! Although some of it feels like a complete waste of time... oh, no! Don't go back to that depressing talk again! Damn it! Focus!... So I'll be going to THAI in exactly 1 month! Yeah! I'm looking forward to that! Drinking MANGO JUICE, riding TUK-TUK! eating PAD-THAI and all that other great food! And of-course see my beloved friends!

And oh, I also made a BIG POT of my mom's soup yesterday, witch I think will cover the whole week! Man, this soup is good. Can't thank you enough for the recipe, mom! And It's cheap too! Perfect for poor little me.

So... yeah.. eum... come on, more good things! Eum.. yeah! I've been starting on the Audiobook of the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy (Yes, audiobook! whenever i actually read a real book a just keep falling asleep and it takes me, no kidding you, years for me to finish a book) And so far it's been really enjoyable, the hobbits are just about to enter the house of Tom Bombadil! Looking forward to a nice "session" tonight, which i've been having all nights recently before i doze of to sleep.

Man, now I just want to go to bed and continuing listening! I'll end this one short, sorry!
Please leave a comment and let me know you are still alive back there in Sweden!

This is the Captain, signing out. Engage.

Life

2009-11-14T20:58:00.003+09:00

Spending most of my days in Kyoto now by doing practically... nothing really. Quite sick and tired of the home-work and the assignments at school, well... quite fed up with most of the things that has to do with the school actually.
I keep trying to convince myself that I should not be having these kind of feelings, but instead just endure and keep doing my best these remaining 5 or so months. Which makes me end up in some kind of standstill in the middle of these mixed and confused feelings. And by this preventing myself from doing anything constructive, like take part in activities, study, or just spend time with friends.

Speaking of friends, I've also been feeling really lonely recently. Missing all my dear friends that has already finished their studies here in Japan and returned back to their homes ahead of me, especially my dear "Ai uan" who'm I'm missing more and more for each passing day. I wish I could've had the pleasure to have you all here during the whole of my stay. It sure would have made things easier.

Of-course, I also miss all my friends and family back in Sweden, but at the same time I'm having this unpleasant feeling that by being separated for such a long time, we might have come to grow apart from each other one way or another, and that when I finally get back, things will never go back to how It used to be.

I've also been thinking what the hell I should do when i get back. I still don't really know what I want to do with my life... Right now I just want to get back to Sweden. But I'm afraid that during my period here, and by me gradually missing home more and more, I've built up this completely false and romantic view of Sweden and how things will be turn out when i get back.

Wow, I just keep feeling worse and worse the more I type... I guess there's really no point in thinking or fantasizing about how life will turn out since we can't possibly know. We might in fact, by just trying to do so unconsciously mess up things for myself.

We should all just try to live in the presence, focus and give 100% of our-selfs in the situation we are currently in, whatever the task may be or whoever will be there with you. But knowing what you should do, and to actually do it, are two completely different things.

Sun Nov 1 01:39

2009-11-01T01:39:00.003+09:00

Is that really the time my computer is showing? Wow.. already November huh?
Haven't really been studying that much this past week since It's been Mim's last one here in Japan and I wanted to spend it with her. Now she's back home in Thailand, went home this friday afternoon. It's been quite quiet and lonely since then actually, but I'll manage! I have my ticket to Thailand over Christmas waiting on my desk right here. So I'll see you soon again over there, ไอ้อ้วน!

I'll report some more about school and my new class during next week, so until then! Live long and prosper!

PS. Mom, I bought my Christmas gift in advance... thanks! Haha. Talk to you later!
(man, i really do take my time writing these entries, Sun Nov 1 01:59, over and out)

New iPod!

2009-10-18T18:02:00.001+09:00

Poor but happy!

Lake Biwa

2009-10-10T17:04:00.002+09:00

Reached the top of Mount Hiei! View out over lake Biwa in the neighboring prefecture Shiga.

Typhoon's over, school's starting!

2009-10-10T10:59:00.003+09:00

So the Typhoon was over for us in Kyoto after just a couple of hours during the night, nothing big occurred and the next day just proceeded as if nothing happened. Unfortunately I can't say the same of the southern bay areas, they were hit quite hard apparently!

And speaking about "quite hard", we had the orientation for the new semester yesterday, and I've now, like i've said before, proceeded on to the "Advanced" level. A whole lot of new kanji, more difficult grammar and assignments and more complex studying allover, which will be quite hard I guess. But I'll just do my best and I'll hopefully get my fancy diploma before i go home in April next year. Now i'm going to eat some breakfast/Lunch and head over and get to the top Mount Hiei. Over and out.

Fushimiinari

2009-10-08T16:46:00.001+09:00

Small trip out to Fushimiinari with Mim.

Hello Melor!

2009-10-07T23:13:00.003+09:00

I'm soon gonna get hit by the "Super typhoon" Melor
Wish me luck and goodnight!

Pictures from the "Ninja" trip, Ueno Iga.

2009-10-07T23:08:00.003+09:00

A bit late but enjoy!

Dinner.

2009-10-01T00:31:00.004+09:00

Shabushabu/Nabe, who can tell the difference anyway! I'm so full...!
Need to go to sleep now, going to see some old Ninja village tomorrow! Yeah!

Pictures from the trip, enjoy!

2009-09-26T19:50:00.007+09:00