7th April 2010

Monday was not particularly cold, and during the afternoon's it got a bit warm. So yesterday i decided not to wear my jacket and just go out in a polo shirt (short sleeve). It was a bit chilly but i thought i better be a bit cold than a bit warm and sweat. Anyway, as i walked towards the school, something dawned on me, NONE of the people i passed by or saw on the street was out without a jacket or coat. I was the only idiot in summer clothes.

Yesterday average temp was 15C. Today's 12C.

So... i went to class today. It was ok, and actually i was a bit easy. i think 70% of the class i have already taken in Kuwait. I think the Grammar that they will teach us, i have taken 95-100% in Kuwait. What i'm missing is the Kanji's and some vocabulary.

The good thing is that i dont have to worry about not understanding the classes.

A girl in class after the first break spoke to the teacher, i believe she was telling the teacher that this was too easy for her and she was transferred to a higher class.

I do not know if i should do the same.

1. i do not want to spend 3 months and invest my time and money to learn just a little more than i already know, or repeat the course i took in Kuwait.

2. At the same time, i dont know if the next level above would be too difficult for me or understandable.

The class consists of 1 Hong kong-onese, 1 Taiwanese, and a few Koreans and a few Chinese. Most of them speak a little Japanese. So i dont know if they are in the same case i am in. Of course, definitely this class would be VERY hard if i had ZERO Japanese understanding.

I think i will do the following, i'll do today's homework and then do the next 2 chapter's homework as well. If i find them easy, i'll skip to the last chapter and see if i can do it. If i do, then i'll approach the teacher tomorrow and tell her my problem (that would be difficult to communicate though).

We'll see.

you're welcome

PS. i dont know how i uploaded this picture, but i cannot upload the others, i'll try tomorrow

6th of April 2010

I decided not to listen to my ipod touch while walking, i need to hear as much Japanese conversations as possible, even if it means eavesdropping on passers by.

So, i went to the Opening Ceremony at 10 am. There was a list of students and their classes, and so many noisy Chinese students.

Anyway, the whole orientation was in Japanese, and it was a waste of time, i really didn't understand anything. For an academy that teaches Japanese to FOREIGN students, they need to be a bit more understanding! Anyway, i went back to administration and the lady there said "oh, you have to come at 1:30" i didn't understand what she said but i think she said there is another orientation for new students at 1:30. I felt relieved, i guess the morning session was for advanced students. I made sure that she meant today. I said "Kyou wa?" and she confirmed.

So i came back home then went back to school. It turns out that there was nothing today, my class starts tomorrow at 1:30. I don't know if i understood her wrongly or she's just stupid. I think its the latter, i'm pretty sure.

Since the morning session, i felt really really bad, i felt lost.

But, i came back to my senses, i downloaded a Japanese Dictionary from itunes and i'm learning a minimum of 20 Kanji's a day. I figure, i need to study very hard and i think i can do it. They say that a child's brain learns faster than adults... so i guess if i act like a child in Kuwait almost 24/7 so hopefully i can benefit from my childish brain.

the hours of class are not good, 1:30-5:40 pm, i preferred the morning session to give me time in the afternoons, but now at least i can sleep late or jog or study in the morning.

I'll push buying a phone till next week. Now whats most important is for me to learn and change my mental attitude to learning 110%.

I believe in my Basic Level, i'll learn 500 Kanji's. So far i already know 55. If i also practice at home, (in a month's time i'll learn 500 Kanjis) and maybe i'll get more out of the classes then.

I do see a lot more foreigners than before.

Ok... back to studying...

PS. i bought the SD Card converter but i'm having a hard time uploading on blogger... stupid website.

April 5th 2010

Woke up late for breakfast and missed it.

I turned on my NIKE+ on my ipod touch and wore my Nike shoes and went to my school Human Academy.

It took exactly 24 minutes (including stops at traffic lights), 2 kilometers, and 125 calories burned.

i took the test. Out of 250 questions i could only answer 95 because 96 onwards there were many Kanji's that i didn't know. I'm not too beaten up by this, i think i did well. The 95 questions i might have answered 80 correct and maybe i missed the rest. But i understood all the questions and their grammar.

The thing is, i felt good about the test, but then i felt bad when the people in administration were talking to me in Japanese, i can only understand a little.

Anyway, i came back home to study a bit.

I need to buy a Japanese phone and line but i think it might be a bit difficult... and also i dont know which phone to buy, most likely I'll get an iphone so i can use it Kuwait.

I keep passing by Adidas shop, the new Japanese Football team uniform is AMAZING, i want to buy it but I'm waiting first to settle in the school and find where i can play.


PS. i just realized i forgot the connection to load the SD card on my laptop. Tomorrow I'll go to Yamada Denki and buy me an adapter.

April 4th 2010

i slept till 3 pm (i guess that's around 16 hours total)

anyway, i walked around, and i'm very lucky, I'm very luck because my dorm is only 10-15 minutes walk to the area that i know well. Shinsaibashi and Namba. Because i stay in this place every time i come to Osaka, i know this place like the back of my hand. (I saw some Sakura trees on the way)

Went to Tokyu Hands, got me some of the supplies i needed, then to a small mart to get some more stuff.

I decided to go find my school after this, i got a bit lost and went 15 minutes past my school... when i came back and found it, it turned out that its literally 100 meters away from Tokyu Hands (around 25-25 minutes from my dorm)

I went to a Citibank and withdrew money after that.

I knew there was a cinema 5 minutes away, so i thought let me go see what's playing... Again, i got really lucky, 8:33 PM i reached the cinema, 8:40 AVATAR was playing in ENGLISH and 3D. What coincidence!

When the movie ended, for me to reach the corridor from my seat i had to pass 4 people. The movie ended and they still sat to watch the screen fade. The credits came, and they still sat... i was polite so i waited like 3 minutes but they were still sitting... i don't know what was going through their minds! The movie ended people! its not like theater where the actors will come out and take a bow! Move... Move... Move... they didn't so i had to cross them and make it a point to step on a few feet by mistake (kidding, i didn't step on anyway, but i wish i did)

After the movie, i had my favorite drink, Matcha Latte from Starbucks... aaaaahhh.. Ali-h, if you're reading this, i know you love that drink as well.

I went to a super market that isn't too far, maybe 20-30 minutes away, bought some more stuff, apples most importantly.

One hour later I'm back home... very good day all in all.

The only problem was that i bought a conditioner not shampoo by mistake. (at least its hair strengthener shampoo, so i wont come back to Kuwait bold)

tomorrow i have to go to the school in the morning and take my entry exam, based on the results I'll know which level they'll put me in. wish me luck!

Goodnight

Japan Trip

okay... i thought it might be a good idea to keep a journal/blog for the entire 3 months trip.
90 days, 90 posts.

To make this a bit educational, whenever you see an English word followed by (a Japanese word in RED) its the meaning of that word.

so... here goes

April 2nd of 2010

left Kuwait and all is well.

On the plane, i was surprised that they had AVATAR, i watched half of it and was too much tired that i had to sleep, that's okay, I'll watch it in Japan, I'll try to find a 3D showing.


April 3rd (first day in Japan)

All went well and smooth in the airport, usually when i leave baggage claim, an undercover cop stops foreigners and asks them questions, harmless but takes a bit of time. This time, that didn't happen, i think its because i had my bags on the trolley and was walking very very fast, and i had that "MOVE I'M IN A HURRY" and "i also smell someone's fart" look on my face. (in other words, the typical BRITISH face/look)

Reached the train station and met Mr. Wanami from the dorm and it was a combination of walking and riding trains for 30 minutes with my bags. All was okay (Daijobu).

I entered the dorm, and with the help of another student from Taiwan they explained the routine here, washers/driers room, garbage disposal procedure, breakfast and dinner procedure, oh and the man in charge made it clear "no women allowed" and immediately i thought "how will i get a maid to clean my room then?!"

the immediate problem i faced once i settled in the room is that there is NOTHING there, ok there's a TV i rented and they did leave ONE UNOPENED NEW toilet roll paper (thank God for that!)

so now, i needed to shower, but without a towel, i managed to use some of the toilet paper and a sweater jacket to dry myself off. (i had to do this so i don't postpone my prayers till tomorrow)

Tomorrow i need to go find a supermarket or convenient store to buy the following,

- Towels
- Soap
- Tissue
- Water
- Toothpaste
- Drinks
- Apples
- Shampoo
- Snacks for the fridge
- Noodles (i have to make sure there is no pork mixed in, difficult task for the moment)

Every Sunday they don't offer meals, so tomorrow I'm on my own, that's fine, I'll manage.

The weather is beautiful, not too cold.

Alright, I'll go read my Haruki Murakami book now.

Goodnight,

PS. i think I'm starting to pick up Kanji letters faster now. I hope this turns out to be similar to the time i took a class to learn HTML, i only needed two classes to learn the basics and then took off learning on my own and was ahead of the class throughout the course.

I, on the other hand, do NOT want it to be like the time i took Calculus B and the professor was such a nut-house that he made me lose TOTAL comprehension of anything with numbers, Calculus, Physics etc.

say cheese!

what...? no smiles? lol

i just love the faces they show on CNN or BBC looooooooool

not only do they look serious... they look dumb also...

there must be better pictures for them no? lol if i was one of them i'd be offended... i'd say wait wait wait... here take this photo from Photokina lol it looks better :P

Extraordinary Pantene Commercial

Its brilliant!



enjoy