About Christmas in Japan

Some of you might been wondering how I spent Christmas in Japan. So, let me enlighten you.
(Speaking of light, the illuminations were ... well, the ones in Omotesando are nice, but the rest of Tokyo feels like, "Christmas? What's Christmas?)

Since Japan is not a Christian country, they don't really celebrate Christmas the way Europeans or Americans do. Instead, they're having parties with their friends or, really popular, dates. So on December 25th, the streets and stores are brimming with couples.

Since I didn't have a date (did I hear pathetic?) and couldn't celebrate with my family either, I met up with a German friend who's in Keio at the moment (like 90% of my friends? ^^;) on the 24th (German Christmas day) and tried to find the most German-ish Christmas lunch in Shibuya. My normal 24th food is Potato soup with sausages, hers Potato salad with sausages. (Yes, Germans do like sausages. But we have to keep it simple on the 24th because the 25th usually involves eating a looooot with the whole family.) Of course, neither of them was anywhere to be found. So we ended up at a place called Shakey's that had an all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta buffet plus drink for only a bit more than 1.000 Yen per person. (*___*) We sat there and ate until we were really full, had a nice chat and then moved on to do Purikura. xD Afterwards, we ate a bit of Baumkuchen my parents had sent me and then parted. At home, I skyped my family, called my Grandma and all that kind of stuff.
Yesterday, I did karaoke with a friend from one of my classes here. We called it a "date with Arashi", because out of the 4 hours (!) we spent in the box, we sang 80% Arashi songs. XD (Gosh, my throat hurts. I'm really bad with songs by guys because my voice is not low enough.)
And today, I'm gonna meet another German friend who's over from Kyoto. So I'm not lonely at all. :)

I hope you all had a nice Christmas as well!

I got tickets for Garnet Crow!!!

First of all, Merry Christmas to you all! May yours be as happy as mine, although I miss my family.

I got tickets for the Garnet Crow 10th Anniversary Tour next year!!!
One for Nagoya and one for the final concert in Osaka!
As I'll be in Germany until March 21st, I'll probably make a journey through Japan after that and stop by in Nagoya and Osaka for the concerts until the 2nd semester starts.

I can't believe it!!! <3<3<3

俺、知らないわ！

Some of you might remember an old post of mine here where I talked about the difference between men's and women's words in Japanese. As I learned a lot of my Japanese from TV dramas, that sometimes use weird dialogues or mark characters as male/female by letting them use explicitly female language (as if the viewers were all blind ^^;), I kinda let some わ or のよ slip from time to time.
So when I was out drinking* with some Japanese people from the German language department (ever tried not to mix Japanese and German after the third drink? xD), I asked them about their opinion on the topic. They confirmed my recent observations: Phrases like わ have become something men use now, whereas women younger than, hm, 40, don't really use those anymore.
This would actually be an interesting topic for a term paper or something like that, wouldn't it?

*For all those who now frown upon me for drinking, let me tell you I drink very rarely, I never drink so much I lose my memory or can't get home anymore, and I used this gathering for research purposes!

Shopping again ^^;

Sorry for posting about shopping so much lately, but I haven't really had time to get out of Tokyo so far due to busy university schedules. (I would have had a long weekend because today is a national holiday, but we never get Mondays off. >___<)
I'll probably travel to Kyoto and Osaka in the Christmas holidays, so bear with me until then! m(_ _)m

Anyway, I went with a classmate (I really like my class now - you know, the one I got put into because the normal class for people from my programme was already full) and she showed me this store called Forever 21. For around 9.000 Yen, I bought a pullover, a knit jacket, a long-sleeved shirt, a T-shirt, a skirt, long pajama pants and a pair of tights. I love this store!
Now I still need a pair of boots to keep my feet from freezing off in the winter that is sure to come - it's already getting cold, and some areas fake a christmasy feeling (without much success, though. ^^;)

Beauty

Today, I went to a beauty salon and got my hair done.
Cut, treatment and perm - for about 70 Euros (9.000 Yen). Well, it only needs to be redone after half a year, so... It is a hell lot of money, but I worked in saved before I came here, and since I study really hard, I thought I should do myself something good.
Then I got a Shiseido eyeshadow for 1.500 Yen - I think that's quite okay for Shiseido.

And now I' beautiful! xD
Well, at least better than before.

早慶戦

Today I went to 早慶戦 - the baseball game between Waseda and Keio university.

As a Waseda student, I wanted to support my university's team, but I ended up going with my friend who's in Keio and who I don't see all that often, so I sat in a Keio seat and ... well, felt a bit awkward. But since I have NO clue about baseball anyway, I couldn't really cheer for a team. ("What's going on now? Is that good or bad?" ^^;)

I couldn't even see half of the game because some stupid cheerleader was blocking my sight. But no one really seemed to watch. Everyone was busy making hand movements or singing the Keio song. ^^;

Anyway, Waseda lost. ^^; 残念だわ。

flumpool!

I just came back from Budokan where I listened to a flumpool concert! My tension is high!!!

For a band that only had their major debut last year, filling the whole concert venue two evenings in a row is really something! (90% of the guests were girls, it seemed. xD)
Of course, they still need to improve a lot, like Ryuta's microphone interaction, but wow!
I ended up buying the jacket and a T-shirt and a wrist band and their pamphlet. Now I'm broke for this month. ^^;
But wow, really! It's actually the first time I was able to see a band I really like live, as I mostly only listen to Japanese music and most of the artists I like don't come to Europe. Speaking of that, I must, must, must get tickets for the Garnet Crow tour! The one for next month is already sold out (anyone wants to offer me a ticket?), but they'll have another one in February! 10th Anniversary! I MUST go, no matter what it takes.

Anyway, flumpool are awesome! The members interacted really well, Ryuta was cute as ever <3 and their songs become better and better (frame <3). Plus, they announced an album that will be released exactly two months from today. (Christmas present, anyone?) I wonder if I should go to their next tour as well - there's even a date on my birthday. Who knows when I'll have the chance to see them again?!

So, everyone, check them out at youtube! Buy their new, first full album, "What's flumpool?", on December 23!
Good night!

また今度！

I think when Japanese people say "Mata kondo!", it actually means the same "I'll call you!" means in English (or German) - especially between girls and guys, maybe.

Mata kondo また今度 means "some other time" and is used as a phrase when you want to express you'll see someone again some other time or do something some other time.
My textbook (the infamous Minna no Nihongo - このスプーン、素敵ですね！) came with a video where a guy calls a woman and asks for a date, but she's "busy", so she politely declines and says: "Mata kondo onegai shimasu" (Please ask me again some other time.)

Well, I think you can see why I'm writing this. ^^;

Shopping!

Today I went to Shibuya to get new shoes, because of the two pairs I brought here (3 if I could the jogging shoes my parents sent me last week), one broke (my favourite shoes! NOOOOOOOO! ;___;) and one started to smell funny.
I ended up buying a pair of black pumps for 6.000 Yen something in Shibuya 109. It's an okay price, and they were one of the few pairs "Made in Japan" and not in Cambodia or some other country where they make poor kids produce luxury goods for rich foreigners. (I'm not rich, but by their standards...)
Here's a pic:
I especially like that they're not that high-heeled, as I am tiny for a German girl, but average for Japanese standards, so I don't want to stick out that much. (And not be bigger than the guys. XD)

Then I got a perfume from Kenzo, "Sapphire Candy", a Japan-exclusive version. I'm really not into brands, but I needed a new perfume and I liked the smell. It was around 5.000 Yen which I thought was okay.

Now I will eat my baguette which I bought on the way back home (there are two French bakeries near the train station, but no German one! Well, I can't afford to eat much of that bread anyway. ^^;)

Taifun!

A Taifun will come to Tokyo tomorrow. I find that interesting for some reason. ^^; And maybe we'll have no classes!
I need time to learn, I have 5 tests next week!!!!!!! >____<

The funny thing is, on Tuesday we "learned" (or in my case refreshed) the kanji for Taifuu (台風) xD

On the brighter site, I talked a bit to my new classmates (in English/Japanese) and everyone seems nice. :)

First month, start of university

Sorry for not updating in ages!
I have been really busy with getting to know the area, making Japanese friends and since last week with the start of classes!

Since my last post, I have visited Odawara, a place in Kanagawa prefecture with a really nice castle, and Odaiba, an artificial island in the Tokyo bay that has lots of shopping opportunities and is known as a dating spot (I went with a huge group of Waseda people, though, but I made a new friend during the time there.)

Last Monday, classes have started, and that's when chaos came upon me. What happened, you may ask? Well, of course, the start of a new semester is almost always hectic, especially at a new university, but I would say my case is especially bad.
According to the placement test they made us some time ago, I got placed into level 6 out of 8. For someone who has only been studying Japanese for 2 years, that's really high, right?
... Turns out it was way too high. ^^; At the first day of classes, I had really huge problems with the test that was supposed to check if we were right in the assigned level. Turns out I wasn't, after all. I expected that, but still it was quite cruel to realize that. Especially since everyone asked me for my level and I had to say 6, so now when they ask me how level 6 is, I have to admit I went down.
Which is what I did. Went down in the level, I mean. At first, I thought of going to level 5, but even there I came across a lot of grammar and kanji I haven't learned so far. And after a lot of consultations with the nice Sensei's, it turned out that level 4 was more or less preparing students for the Japanese Language Profiency Test Level 2, which is what I wanted to take next year anyway.
So now I changed my core class to level 4, as well as all of the electives like writing, reading or Kanji, and will take listening and speaking in level 5, as I tend to be better there.
The problem with my core class was that the one for Bekka students (Bekka = programme for foreign students who study only Japanese for a year, as opposed to e.g. SILS, which means you take Japanese classes and English lectures) was full already, so they put me into a normal undergraduate class which has the same schedule, but... I am the only non-Asian in the whole class. The coordinator was worried if he should put me in there because "everyone there is really young, around 20, whereas Bekka students tend to be older". As I am twenty as well, I don't mind their ages, but in the breaks, everyone speaks Chinese or Korean. >____< I still hope I can make some friends, and if not - well, I must remember to bring a good book. :)

Unfortunately, due to this organisational problem, I missed many of the first classes, like for reading level 4. I have until next week to change my electives, but I am a bit worried I won't get the mandatory sign of the teacher because I didn't attend the first class (which I couldn't, as I sat in level 6.)

So, future Waseda exchange students: If you happen to be unsure about your level, try to go to the office as soon as possible, and ask them for the check test for the level.
If, like me, the only Japanese you have learned before coming here (apart from obscure drama vocabulary) is Minna no Nihongo volume 1 & 2, you might also be most comfortable with level 4.

And now excuse me, I need to unpack the stuff I bought at the 100 Yen shop and do some more homework. ^^;

Cell phones

Yesterday, I went out to get a cell phone, and after I talked about one hour to the sales guy, I was this close to buying one, but then couldn't because I don't have a credit card or a Japanese bank account. So I'm going to open one tomorrow, if I can. Actually, I was surprised how well I managed the whole cell phone thing, because, as opposed to Softbank, au doesn't have any English speaking sales person. But it still worked somehow, and I'll even get the very phone I wanted, namely this one:
http://www.au.kddi.com/english/product/lineup/k001/index.html
(I know it says it's for kids, but the good thing is, I can let them lock the internet so that I don't press any Japanese button I can't read by accident and pay like a zillion yen for internet. I can still send mails, though. <3)

You might ask yourself why I got to the trouble of an au phone when Softbank is so much easier?
Well... I must confess, I'm a total fan of Arashi, and they're in the au commercial. No, really, I just wanted to test my Japanese abilities. ... Okay, I confess, it's for Arashi, and for the cute phone. ^^;
And you know what? One of the two sales guys I had totally looked like Nino from Arashi!!! (Too bad not like MatsuJun. xD)
For those of you who don't know them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVadJs80lpU
(Nino is the "big" guy in the end.)

So, enough for today, I need to be fit tomorrow! Good night!

First impressions

I have finally gotten a fitting plug for my laptop, so here are you updates! (By the way, the shop assistant at the eletronics store was super helpful and went out of his way to make sure the plug would be okay. That's much more service than I am used to from Germany.)

Okay, first things first:
I got picked up at the airport with some other people who arrived at the same time, and we took the bus together to Shinjuku. There were more people waiting, and each of us new students was brought to our respective dorms by three (!) Japanese students. "Mine" were two really cute and nice girls and a guy who even carried my suitcase. (Why don't German guys don't do that???)

The first thing I saw when I got out of the bus was... a vending machine. I suspect there are more vending machines in Japan than people - but they're sooo handy! There's one right next to my dorm's entrance, and another few a bit farther away. I like the one that sells Dr. Pepper Cola. xD

My dorm is quite okay. The room I got is probably one of the biggest I could have gotten, and the only two toilets and showers per floor were totally okay until now. But not everyone has arrived yet, so maybe that might become a problem later. Especially since everyone's classes start at the same time. ^^;

My fellow exchange students are mostly nice, as far as I talked to them. I still try not to do that much with them, as I want t0 improve my Japanese and not my English! (Although most of them are not native English speakers either, so my English might even get worse. ^^;) Some of them can't even speak Japanese because they're here for some other programs. I like them, so I might do something with them once in a while, but it should not become a habit, I guess.
In my dorm, there are two really nice Korean girls with who I went to a nearby shrine festival last night. (Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs. >___<) One speaks English fluently, and the other one is not bad either, but when it's the three of us, we usually speak Japanese, so that's much better.

Oh, I've had some cockroaches already! One is probably the same that keeps coming out at the lobby of building three (I'm in building 5), and we called it Gocchan (from gokiburi = cockroach xD) The other one fell out of my laundry after I took it out of the washing machine, so either it had been in there or in my laundry (ew!), but it probably didn't survive the washing (or my stepping onto it by accident ^^;)

Today, I have been to Shinjuku main statio and the shopping area around it again (I've been there on Friday for a while to get my alien card) and bought a nice shirt and the Best album of Kuraki Mai. (I was not sure whether to buy it because best albums are a bit... pointless in my eyes, but they had a huge poster of her at Tower Records and a stand where you could get stuff for free if you bought the CD, so I bought it and got stickers and a clearfile. <3 I can put my tons of material in there, but I guess it's too much. There's LOADS of information they want us to know, and still a lot more to come up.)

I still have to do some organizational stuff at university, like my Japanese placement test tomorrow, registration for classes and what not, and other stuff like opening a bank account and, most importantly, getting a cell phone. It's tough without a cell phone!!! I want to contact people, but I can't.

Well, I don't know what to write anymore, and I don't have many pics to upload yet, so I'll update again later. :)

In Japan!!!

I have arrived safely in Japan on Tuesday, just as planned. I know you are probably burning for more information, but I cannot connect my laptop to the electricity here (although I bought an adapter -___-), so I am at my dorm's only computer at the moment. Please bear with me as I am trying to fix the problem. I will update as soon as I can, I promise!

Dorm!

I got my dorm, finally! (More than a week after Jess, whose blog you find as a link in the sidebar)
And Waseda will pay me 80.000 Yen a month! That covers the whole dorm fee (70.000 Yen) and leaves me 10.000 Yen for food, plus I get a little allowance from my parents! Yahoooo!!!!!!!!

I might still work one or two nights a week (a Senpai said he could find me something) to pay for concerts and short trips etc. I have a lot saved because I thought I would need it, but now I guess I keep it on my bank account if I decide to go on to postgraduate studies after all. Can't be bad. :)


http://www.nasic-waseda.net/dormitory_houshien.html

My dorm will be Houshien (not so good because they're strict, but at least the building is new), and I will get a single as I required. I couldn't figure out whether it will have a bathroom, though. The info paper says "bed, bedding, desk, chair, bookshelf, lamp stand (light bulb included), refrigerator, curtains, window screen, hangers".

So, where do I put my clothes? In the bookshelf? ^^; I mean, only hangers??? Where do I hang them? And how many are there?

Plus, it seems like my dorm closes its doors at 9.30 pm. I can only hope that my Senpai was right and the night entrance is always open, because HELLO?! NINE THIRTY?!?!?!
And of course, no visitors, no visit to other inhabitants after 11 pm and no chatting in the kitchen etc. after 1 am.

So much for onnakotoba ^^;

In my previous post, I have stated that I like the feminine way of speaking a lot more than the masculine or "neutral" one. (Neutral in a sense that many young girls nowadays speak more and more "masculine" or at least avoid typically femine expressions.)
Well, as I have been spending more and more time with Japanese people and thus spoke a lot of Japanese, I, too, have adopted that way of speech. It's easier, and I didn't want to be regarded as weird.
So far for that. ^^;

Partying with Japanese students and exchange students from Japan is fun. :) But I'm lacking sleep lately.

My first task for Japan!

I don't know how many of you know about the differences between Japanese spoken by males and by females.
Please see this article for further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onna_kotoba

While watching japanese TV a lot, I have picked up a rather feminine way of speaking which, according to some people, is kind of outdated. Not to say, only few female Japanese of my age speak like that. (So do I sound like a woman in her thirties/fourties? *shudders*)

So my task from a friend who often muses my use of わ (feminine marker) is to find out how awkward people will think my way of speaking is and if it will change if, say, I find a japanese boyfriend who will of course speak male language and might influence me. Apparently, it is common nowadays that girls speak more and more like boys.
But I like my feminine way of speaking. (>__<) It sounds much softer.

Well, we'll see! I'll keep you updated for sure.

1st post: Preparations and tasks

There's still a lot of time until I'll finally be in Japan, but I thought I'd post some things I have to do before.

First of all, I want to apologize to my German (and other?) readers that they have to work their way through this in English. But as I have friends and relatives who cannot speak German but said they want to follow my journey as well, I decided to write my blog in English.
I'd also like to apologize to my English readers for mistakes I make.

So let's get started!

Last week my final approval for Waseda finally arived, so I booked my flight for the date they said activities would start in Tokyo. I'll leave here on September 7th, fly via Vienna and arrive in Tokyo, Narita on September 8th shortly after 8 a.m.
Some nice volunteer person will pick me up and lead me to my dorm so that I can check in.
(A list of the dorms for international students is here, btw: http://nasic-waseda.net/ Take a look at the pictures and try not to get a heart attack from the prizes! I hope I can get at least some financial aid via a scholarship...)

From September 9th onwards, there will be several meetings with the other international students, and we will get information on living in Tokyo, the dorm, registrating our "alien cards" etc. etc.
Then I will take a placement test for the Japanese lessons that will start on September 28th. I guess I'll post the exact schedule some other time.

Now I have started this blog although it's still some months until I can see Tokyo with my own eyes. ^^; But I guess I can post a list of things I want to do there soon and you can comment and recommend some activities or places to me, okay? (^.^)

Before I forget it: Since I have gotten a small digital camera lately, I will also post pictures of places I will visit.