The Future is Nao!

This is where I talk about my life as an exchange student i Japan and in general. ヨロシク！

[udonthreens]

goblin hour is every hour when your are. a goblin

[thefutureisnao]

New Blog

Hey! In case anyone is interested, I’ll be going to Japan (Tokyo this time) again in a few weeks, and during the year I’m there I’ll be keeping a blog: sofiaintokyo.blogspot.com . I won’t be using this tumblr, but feel free to check out the new blog!

[thefutureisnao]

The second day, me and Kanako went to Disney Land!! It rained all day, but even so we had a great time. The parade was amazing, and I was astonished by how much detail went in to everything in the park. Although, I sure hope the weather is better next time I go.

After dinner, I went to karaoke with my friend Shiho after her boyfriend went back to the States. I hadn't gotten to sing with her for what felt like forever, so getting to do that again was really fun!

My second karaoke night in two days done, it was time for me to get on the Shinkansen to Nagoya, the city I was an exchange student in and came to love. I didn't feel very loved back when I arrived though, because it was snowing of all things. And not a little, either... 

I got a bit lost on my way to the new hotel, and it was cold and the snow was melting through my coat, so I wasn't feeling very energic.

That's when a guy on a bicycle stops next to me at a crossing, looks at me, with my heavy bag, asks me if I'm okay, and gives me his own umbrella, saying he lives close by anyway. It made my evening about a thousant times better. Later on I asked for directions to my hotel in a convinience store, and the staff were super helpful, even pulling out huge catalouges with maps of the area to help me. 

People really are extremely helpful and concious of others in Japan, at least in my experience. 

[thefutureisnao]

My flight and the day I arrived in Tokyo were pretty much perfect. The seat next to me was empty, so I had lots of space, and the food was actually delicious- we even got ice cream for dessert! But best of all was that I got to see the northern lights from the plane, that was pretty amazing.

My friend Kanako picked me up at the airport, and after I'd left my bags at the hotel, we had a vegetable tempura set meal with soba and stuff, which was delicious and wonderful.

We went to Shibuya 109 for shopping, and I bought a beautiful pastel pink dress with pearls on it at discount, which I'll probably only wear like once but it doesn't matter because I like it lots. We also went for karaoke which I've really missed!

After that I was pretty beat (time difference and all) so I thought I'd go to bed, though I felt a bit ridiculous doing so at 7pm. 

HOWEVER! I checked facebook right before going to sleep, and I saw that one of my former dorm mates, and american named Joshua, was actually in Tokyo with his girlfriend, who also happens to be one of my best japanese friends! I contacted him, and apparently he was going home the next day. So I re-did my make up, got dressed, and went to see them. It was great and I'm really happy I was able to see them. 

Then, finally, I returned to the hotel (after getting lost on the was) and got to sleep. 

[thefutureisnao]

Going back to Japan!

I won plane tickets to Japan in a Japanese Speech contest, and so I'll be going back for two weeks to meet old friends, explore, and do some field work for my bachelor! 

I'll be taking lots of pictures, so you can expect this blog to become active again for a few weeks. ヾ(@°▽°@)ノ

[thefutureisnao]

We went on a day-trip to Shizuoka! The planning was a bit of a failure on the university's side, because we were two hours late to the last location of the bus tour. But thanks to that, we got to see a gorgeous sunset by the sea, so you won't hear me complaining about it!

[thefutureisnao]

Today must have been my lucky day! My Creative Writing class went to the local temple to write haikus today, and when we got there we quickly realised it wasn't like most days - it was market day! Apparently praying is supposed to be extra effective on the 13:th of every month, so it was packed with people and there were loads of stalls, selling everything from fish and veggies to incence to clothes. Especially the vegetables and fruits were a lot cheaper than at the super market, so I bought lots! There were even cheap tomatoes, so you can imagine my joy. And of course, ichigo daifuku, my favourite Japanese snack. <3

[thefutureisnao]

Sorry about not updating in a while! I've been really busy with mid-terms and some other stuff happening, but everything's calmed down a bit now. Temporarily, I'm sure.

Lots of stuff has happened since last, for example the university's annual festival, which was held for four (five?) days last week. I went the first day, and it was super fun. The best things were the food, haunted house, and watching my friend's dance performance. She was really really good, I was so impressed with the entire club!

Thanks to the festival, we got Monday to Wednesday off, and on those days some of the Yamazato members (and Konjou, obviously, Even our landlord forgot she doesn't acually live here.<3 ) went on a trip. 

We stayed at a ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) in Kyoto with a bath and free green tea. We were seven girls and six guys, so the girls got one room, and the guys another. We spent the day going to see some gorgeous temples and eating at a tsukemono (pickles to go with rice) buffé. First night was so much fun! Us girls talked for hours, and some of the guys joined for a while. After the guys had gone back to their rooms, the night somehow ended in a pillow fight, probably the first one I've ever been in. It was a bunch of fun, even though we all were exhausted the next day.

Second day was spent at Universal Studios Japan in Ôsaka, and it was amazing. The lines for the rides were insane, but so worth it. Especially the Spider Man ride was super impressive. 3D glasses matched with a roller coaster and special effects made it seem like our cart was being thrown around New York, attacked by super villians, and of course, rescued by Spider Man. Well worth the waiting time!.

Last day we spent in Kyoto, we went to see a beautiful shrine (the Fushimi-Inari Jinja) and bought souvenirs. After that we went to a small shop where we got to paint our own fans, which will be delivered in a bit less than a month. The store also sold a lot of beautiful pottery and the likes. Before going home we had delicious matcha parfaits at a coffee shop at Kyoto station, along with some strawberry cream waffles. Mmmmm.

Although there were not-that-great moments as well (there not being ANY vegetarian food at USJ, one member of the group consistently being troublesome, not getting enough sleep), it was a really great trip. I had so much fun, saw so many wonderful places, and most importantly, I spend precious time with my precious friends. Huge thanks to Shiho and Yu, who planned the entire thing, and did their best to give us a great time. (´∀｀)♡

[thefutureisnao]

The day after we went to the bar, the Yamazato family and a couple of persons from NKK went to Nagoya Matsuri, Nagoya's number one Autumn festival. We went pretty early in the day, so there weren't a lot of people. I don't know if you've been to any Japanese festivals, but if you're ever going to one - try as much of the food and snacks as possivble! It's super delicious. Among other things I had tornado potato, candied grapes, and waffle on a stick. Especially the candied grapes were absolutely amazing. (●´∀｀●)

Our group definitely stood out - kimono's in general tend to stick out, and when there's a group of foreigners wearing them... Well, just let's say there were more than a few people who tried to discreetly take photos. That we stood out was a good thing though. Because of it, a lot of interesting people came up to talk to us. One of them was a man who had a kimono store, who complimented us on wearing kimono well. He was impressed with Yuu, who'd helped us all put them on - and for good reason! She really put a lot of work into that. 

Among others were a group of tourists, and a weird man who kept walking by, and then trying to discreetly take a photo. When he realised he wasn't as discreet as he thought though, he left in a hurry.

We also went to see the parade, of which I uploaded a photo earlier. It was really amazing, I was super impressed by the performers. We got to see battles, historical figures, and graceful dancers. It was a very long parade though, so we ended up skipping the end and went to eat donuts. ... Yeah, I may have overdone it with the sweets today. Ehe. Still worth it!

Finally, we took some purikura in our kimonos. I'm beginning to have quite a collection in my wallet by now. (❁´◡`❁)*

[thefutureisnao]

These last few days have been really interesting. 

Yesterday, I had planned to go to Torinosuke for an all-you-can-drink-and-eat evening, but due to unexpected homework me, Fen, and Konjou arrived when only 30 minutes remained. Somehow though, that led to us not having to pay for whatever we drank or ate during that time. Free drinks is great and all, but we still felt that half an hour isn't much of a night out, and so the three of us went on to The Flying Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman is a pretty small bar, sort of dark, and the main clientele seems to be tired salary men who sit and drink in silence. They have good drinks and nice staff though, so it's a pretty neat place. 

We're usually quite a bunch when we go out, so normally we have our own table. Today though, we where a smaller group and so got to sit at the bar. Somehow we got to talking to the bartender, a guy our age who turned out to be a student at Nanzan as well. He then went on to tell us that one of Nanzan's higher-ups was there as well, and pretty soon we were all talking. One of the regulars, a writer for an economics newspaper, entered the conversation as well, and all in all we had a lot of fun. 

One of the other customers, a woman who had had wayyy too much to drink, wasn't very pleasant though. She never spoke to us directly, but she talked very loudly about how much Chinese people suck, which was really rude and annoying. When we didn't respond though, she started yelling at her boyfriend instead. Except for that minor disturbance though, it was a great night!

When we left, the bartender walked us out, and waved until we were well out of sight; such a sweet person! 

Oh, and another thing - the bill was for 5500yen, but when Fen handed them 6000, they gave back 5500 instead of 500 - so we ended up paying no more than 500yen for six drinks!

A great night out, for less than 200yen each - does it get much better? Probably not. ＼（＠￣∇￣＠）／

(this post is getting really long so I'm gonna split it in two parts.)

[thefutureisnao]

At first I thought the only ones who were deluded enough to think of this heat as autumn weather was the Japanese people, but apparently Japanese nature is of the same opinion, because recently the trees have began to change colour. Hopefully the weather will catch up, I'm still not really used to these temperatures.

Speaking of which, today I wore my newly bought kimono to Tea Ceremony class. Luckily there's air conditioner in the otherwise very traditional tatami room; I would have given up on the kimono thing if not. The kimono really did help with TC class though, it felt nice to be able to do stuff correctly instead of feeling awkward in western clothes. The top left photo is of my teacher is TC fixing my kimono. 

One thing that winter won't make easier is the daily climb up the extremely steep hill on the way to university every morning. As you can see in the bottom picture, sometimes people just give up on getting up on their own. Thanks Josh!  d=(´▽｀)

If you ever go to Nagoya, make sure to eat at Mountain! It's the weird restaurant with fruity verisions of pasta and matcha spaghetti, but they also have normal and really delicious food. I overate on their basil spaghetti two times this week...

Top right photo is the result of last weeks class in flower arrangement. It's a lot more interesting than I thought, just as with all the other culture classes. When I get back to Sweden, I'm definately going to see if there are any classes like them somewhere. （＠￣∇￣＠）

[thefutureisnao]

Due to the drink-all-you-want at Torinosuke yesterday, it  was a very sleepy (read: hungover) Saturday for a lot of the Yamazato residents. Fortunately, I wasn't one of them, and so me and some other lucky survivors went to Oosu for some shopping. As soon as we got there, girls and guys split up - probably for the greater good. Us five girls had a blast, eating delicious taiyaki, checking out the flea market, and buyng ridiculously cheap but surprisingly good stuff. For example, I bought a cute shirt for 300yen. Tell me that isn't ridiculous. We stopped by a game center as well, where we took some purikura and I finally was able to beat one of the crane games. HAH. 

After returning to Yamazato, I cleaned my room and took a looong shower, which felt great. Since the majority of my dorm mates still are really tired, tonight will be spent in for me, watching dramas, reading, and writing letters. Saving the homework for tomorrow...

So, the drink-all-you-want. It was actually really fun, even though the seating at Torinosuke is a bit cramped. At the end of the night, the Japanese university students at the table next to us got drunk enough (?) to dare to talk to the weird exchange students, so I hung out with them until it was time to go home. It was really nice, they were friendly and not at all as rowdy as Swedes get when drunk. I got their Line, so we'll probably all go out again some time. Which would be nice! At first I thought I didn't need any friends outside of Yamazato, but I sort of realised that it wouldn't be good to be 100% dependent on my dorm for a social life. 

Although, nothing beats Yamazato. <3

[thefutureisnao]

I've almost been here a month now, wich feels ridiculously surreal. Time is flying, with surprising speed. We've been taking a lot of evening walks lately, feels good to get some excercise - it feel like all I've been doing is eating and studying! Dorm life seems to really suit me, I feel at ease and content when I'm home in the dorm, and I still really like everyone that lives here. 

In October NKK and Yamazato (the two dorms closest to school) are hosting a halloween party, where I'll be working in the guard, preventing people from entering the private rooms in the dorm (if that happens. most likely I'll just sit around and chat with my friends). I already ordered circle lenses for my costume~!

Also, I may or may not be addicted to yakisoba pan. It's. So. Tasty!

[thefutureisnao]

Tomorrow is the last day of the drop-add period of classes. I can't say I won't be relieved to know for sure that I'm in the 500 class! 

Since school was cancelled monday due to the typhoon, we went to a really beautiful temple near the dorm. It was a lot bigger than I thought, with a vast graveyard, several smaller temples, and a lovely fountain. I live in an area with a lot of hills, so the temple grounds were very much up and down as well. At one point, we were standing on the top of a hill surrounded by huge trees and small temples, almost noone else around, and a really strong wind blew around us. It was such a exhilirating moment, somehow. 

The day after, it was time for a curry party! I was in charge of the vegetarian curry (made from scratch!), and it was a lot of fun. Everyone wanted to help making the food, so the kirchen was really crowded. I've only been here two and a half weeks, but it really does feel like everyone at Yamazato is a big family. 

Yesterday we were at at huge sushi restaurant called Sushiro, where I for the first time thought that sushi really is delicious! There were (for once) a lot of vegetarian options, so I went home very (VERY) full. Five of us walked home from the restaurant - 7km - which was really nice, and I got to talk to Shiho a lot. 

[thefutureisnao]

School ended up being cancelled due to the typhoon, so today is being spent playing Super Smash Bros, reading (The Weel of Time <3 <3 <3) and for a few impressive persons, studying! I know this is going to be hard to believe, but thanks to the constant playing of SSB here, I don't actually suck that much anymore!! I'm still really bad at it, but at least I don't always die first anymore??

By the way, purikura is hilarious. I look like a mix between an anime character and something out of a horror movie, my eyes become huuuuuge. When we went to the game center a few days ago, some of the guys decided to try it too, and that's how the lovely piece in the top right photo was created. Someone (David??) said it looked a bit like One Direction, and well... Yamazato Direction?

Well, time for me to go join the others in lazing around!

[thefutureisnao]

Guess who's finally gotten around to getting a converter! So from now on I'll do my best to keep the updates frequent and regular. 

I was sorted in to the 500 group, which means I'm now studying intermediate Japanese. We haven't really had any real classes yet, since there's still a lot of placement tests going on, but the teachers all seem really nice, and more importantly, competent. The top photo is the building for international studies in the afternoon sun. The only classes that have really started are the culture classes, like Ikebana (flower arrangement) and sumie (Chinese ink painting), which are really fun!

This thursday everyone in the dorm went to karaoke together, it was so so much fun! I'm looking forward to going again! We've also gone shopping in Sakae and visited Shiho at her part time job at the department store at Nagoya Station, it was really fun and she seemed really happy and embarassed to see us there. Her collegues seemed pretty amused, which wasn't weird considering a bunch of loud foreigners of different origin came to embarrass their collegue. 

That was by the way the same day I found the brilliant shirt in the bottom right picture: "DO NOT LET SOMEONE GENTLY DEPRIVE OF BELIET". First class Engrish right there. 

Yesterday we went to a game center, which fortunately was yankee-free today. Apparently they like to gather around game centers? I didn't win anything (not for lack of trying...) but the others won ridiculous amounts, and gave me some of their spoils. <3 I got a Natsume Yuujinchou cup, a Shingeki No Kyojin card case, and a cell phone strap.(●´∀｀●) You can see all the stuff they won in the bottom left photo!

Oh, and I'm about to experience my first typhoon! It's going to arrive tomorrow (monday) morning around 4am, which means that if it's bad enough classes are going to be cancelled for the day. 

[thefutureisnao]

Hey! Really sorry about not uploading anything for over a week, but I'm having trouble finding a converter, so I have to use the computer battery veeery sparsely... I'll try to find one this week!

Anyway, I'm having a really really great time here! I absolutely love my dorm and everyone in it, We're having so much fun together, and it's easy to relax here. We do a lot of fun stuff, like fireworks, going to temple markets, playing games, and going out to eat. We went to this one place called Mountain, where they have normal food - and specialties they're famous for, sweet pasta dishes! I tried the banana pasta - it was surprisingly not bad. I guess pasta doesn't have much taste of it's own, so it didn't clash with the sweet stuff. Wouldn't call it delicious though. =w=;

I love love love the food here. You can buy two litres of green tea for 130yen, which is about 10kr right now. Potato croquetts cost 18yen/st. And the fancy dessert in the bottom left picture? 148yen at the super market. 

Bottom right photo is me and my dorm mate Hye Bin, we went shopping at Osu together! ＼（＾  v  ＾）／