Noh, Kyogen and Tea Ceremonies! My recent-ish experiences of Japanese culture.

A few weeks ago now, my friends and I managed to get free tickets to go and see a Noh and Kyogen performance (specially for gaijin) from our University. We were totally stoked about it. We went to a pretty little theatre in Kyoto, but unfortunately I don't have any photos, because we weren't allowed to take any.

Kyogen
The performance started off with Kyogen, which is a traditional Japanese comedy play. When we were seated, we were given English translations of the script, which was nice, so I read the play through once before it started in the hope of understanding what was going on. The play was about a man who was going to see his father-in-law, and convinced his dad to come with him, but they only brought one hakuma (smart, traditional Japanese clothing), with them, so only met with the father-in-law individually and kept swapping the hakuma between them, to make it look like they both had one to wear. In the end, the father-in-law demanded to see them both at once, and they ended up splitting the hakuma in half, and wearing it on the front side, but being very careful in order to not show their bums. In the end, they are found out, and they run off stage all embarrassed. It was quite amusing, and I could understand most of what was going on, probably thanks to the fact that I read the script through once, but it was also a pretty simple story and it wasn't too hard to catch what was going on. I really enjoyed Kyogen and would definitely recommend it, even if you have little or no knowledge of Japanese.

Noh
Next up was Noh. Noh is a lot slower, and is normally a tragic story. The way that the actors speak is slow and difficult to understand, and the story is not quite so easy to get from the way people move and act. The Noh play was about two or three (I can't remember) men who ended up outside for some reason or another, and ask a woman to take shelter in her house. The woman doesn't usually have guests, but lets the strangers in to stay. Later, she sets out to get firewood and tells the men not to look in a particular room. They agree, and the one in charge tells the others that they have given their word and under no circumstances must they look in the room, but one man's curiosity gets the best of him, and when the other men are sleeping, he looks in the room and finds bodies piled high. He warns his superiors, who look and decide they must leave, but the woman returns. She is actually some kind of demon and is really angry that they looked in the room, and fights the men, who manage to banish her with some prayer beads. This all happens incredibly slowly until the demon turns up, where it speeds up a bit. Of course, I've told what I remember of the story, so I'm sorry if it is not exactly correct! Because of Noh's slow speed, and my weak understanding of Japanese, let alone crazy old slow Japanese, I found myself almost falling asleep during Noh (I was also suffering from a lack of sleep, though). Even though Noh was interesting, I wouldn't really recommend it for anyone who wasn't seriously into Japanese traditional culture, or is feeling a little tired. I also wouldn't recommend it for anyone who doesn't have a good level of Japanese proficiency, unless their show also comes with an English script. I would say that a more efficient way to spend your time would be at one of the other shows.

Sado - Tea Ceremony
So the Tea Ceremony was part of a Japanese Culture class that I take at University, and as silly as it may sound to those who are desperate to experience Japanese culture, I didn't really want to go. It was compulsory, but hosted on a Saturday morning, having to meet at the Chikatetsu (subway/underground) at 9am (urgh). This aside, we were obviously also drinking green tea, which I don't like at all and eating the traditional Japanese Okashi (sweets), which I'm normally also not so keen on. I'm not a big fan of the matcha (green tea) flavour, which is a shame because in Kyoto, you can get nearly everything in matcha flavour - not just your tea, but also chocolate, ice cream, kit kats, shaved ice - you name it, they probably have a matcha version somewhere. I really wish I liked the taste, but I don't, which makes tea ceremonies a pain in the arse too, because it's typically expected that you drink all of the tea you are given when you attend a tea ceremony.

We went to the tea ceremony sensei's house, which was beautiful and traditional, full of tatami and shoji and everything you imagine a traditional Japanese house to look like. We all had to wear white socks. That's a thing in tea ceremonies, apparently, and I had to go and buy white socks especially, but I got a pair from the 100yen shop (which is about 60p), so that wasn't all too bad. We also didn't wear kimono or anything, which really disappointed me. I wish our university had organised for us to wear kimono. When we entered the room, the whole class of us was about 16 or 17 students, I think, and we were split in half when served tea. We all had to sit in the seiza position (kneeling, which is actually really uncomfortable for long periods of time), but luckily this was a very laid back tea ceremony, so we were allowed to rest our legs often. I was served tea and okashi in the second half. The okashi was actually quite tasty, as opposed to the strange, not so nice okashi I have eaten before. It was in the shape of a leaf, and was bright red, as we were in the midst of the momiji (red autumn leaves) season. I really liked how our tea ceremony was themed around momiji. As one of my teachers was helping with the tea ceremony, she kindly made my tea weaker than everybody else's, as she knew that I didn't like it so much. I still didn't like it, but I managed to finish all of it. There were a few different things we had to say in Japanese such as excusing ourselves to drink before the person next to us, who had yet to be served tea, and we had also had to bow at different points in the ceremony. Afterwards, we learnt that tea ceremonies used to be for men such as samurai to relax and forget about the outside world and the people that they had killed, and other such stressed. Watches aren't allowed in the room because you are supposed to forget about time. I probably should have written about this a lot sooner, as I've forgotten some of the finer details of what happened. In the end, I am happy to have experienced it, but I wish that I could have worn kimono!

So there's three recent cultural experiences of mine here in Japan. I would definitely recommend them to those interested in Japanese culture - especially Kyogen.

また今度; Japanese 'Politeness', and why it's the bane of my life.

I often describe things as the bane of my life, but only when they really annoy me. Things that have annoyed me to the point where I can call it the bane of my life include French, Stairs, and now Japanese social etiquette when it comes to invitations.

If you are Japanese and you have a lot of gaijin friends and you are reading this, take note, because nearly every gaijin friend I have has expressed their frustration with the way Japanese people reject social invitations.

Before coming to Japan, I had heard several rumours about how Japanese people made refusals. People said Japanese people never say 'No', they just say 'Yes', and then don't actually turn up. Whilst that is not actually true, the first part remains fast. In my experience, inviting people tends to follow a few trends.

The first one is simple; they accept, and everything is wonderful and you have a great time. This doesn't happen as often as one would like. But, the problem does not end here. At the end of your your day out, no matter how great, or how absolutely horrific it was, your Japanese friend will always put on a smile and tell you they had a wonderful time, and that you should hang out again soon. They will probably tell you this even if they discovered that they can't stand you. One of my friends told me that when they first arrived in Japan, they met up with somebody who had been to their university (or something like that), but since they had just arrived, they weren't that comfortable using Japanese, and barely said a word during the entire meal. He told me it was terrible, but even so, their Japanese friend sent them a LINE message afterwards telling them how much fun they had and that they should do it again, which my friend firmly insists is definitely a lie. I definitely have trust issues with Japanese people now, and I never know when they are being serious about whether they want to hang out again, or whether they had an awful time. One time, whilst relatively intoxicated, I had to reaffirm with my friend if he really wanted to hang out again, or if he was just doing the polite Japanese thing. He reaffirmed that, yes, he earnestly wanted to hang out again, but of course that hasn't really happened.

Next up, they will step around your question with, 'maybe', or 'I'll try to come'. Don't be fooled. 9 times out of 10, they've already decided they aren't coming, they just don't want to say no. You'll hang around, asking every so often if they can, which they may or may not reply to you, and in the end, they might tell you that they can't before not turning up, or they may just not turn up.

Then, you get the closest thing to a 'No', that happens in Japan. They apologise, and say they really want to come, BUT they have exams/ have no money/are too busy/have (unspecified) plans. Then, they will say また今度 (mata kondo - next time!), and sometimes even ask you to invite them along next time. Now sometimes this does mean that the excuse you have given them is completely true, and that they really want to come. However, more often than it would be nice, it actually means that they either don't want to do the activity you've invited them to, or they don't want to hang out with you at all. For example, if you invite somebody to go to Karaoke, they tell you "Oh, I'm sorry - I have no money. Please invite me next time! Have fun!", when actually, they just don't like karaoke. No doubt, the next time you go, you invite them because you asked, and lo and behold there is another convenient reason that they can't come. It makes me want to shout 'BAG OF LIES LIES LIES' at everybody who tells me また今度.

 On one occasion, I've been told "maybe next time", and I've named the dates of the next two planned events, to which the reply came that even two months away they were too busy, and "maybe next year". The worst is when you've already found out that they aren't busy, or they go out with different people to do something else, and you wonder why they couldn't just be straight with you and say 'actually, I don't really fancy it today', or 'actually, I don't really like karaoke/going drinking/insert activity here'.

Of course, the reason behind this is that it's polite. Nobody wants to just say 'No', but to me it's really frustrating. I don't want to ask somebody time and time again (because they keep asking me to!), for the answer to be no. I've already given up on a few friends who I'm tired of asking. I've learnt to never trust what people say about wanting to hang out, or having had a good time, and it's quite tiresome and hard-going. Maybe one day I will get the hang of it, but for now I'll just carry on smiling, and pretending I don't want to punch everybody who tells me "また今度" in the face.

Food, Food, Food! 18 things I have been digesting since I arrived!

So I have been in Japan for nearly two months now, and during that time have sampled my fair share of weird and wonderful foods. Most of them have been amazing. Some of them haven't. I thought I'd give a bit of a foody update though, as since a young age, I haven't been keen on trying new foods, and before coming to Japan I had major food anxiety. I'll probably list these in the order I ate them, or approximately so.

1. Onigiri (Balls of rice, with nori seaweed around them, and usually some kind of flavour filling)

Onigiri are fabulous. They are tasty, they are handy, and they are everywhere. My favourite onigiri that I have tried so far is a tuna mayo one. On a school day, I will normally eat at least 2 onigiri. Sometimes I might eat four in one day. They sell them at all of the conbinis, so I will often pick one up from family mart, or the conbini on campus. I've tried making my own onigiri before. They don't turn out too bad, but they're not amazing either. I never tried looking up instructions to make them, though, so maybe I should try that!

2. Melon Pan (sweet bread, in the shape of a melon)

Melon pan, like most melon flavoured things in Japan, does not taste like melons. That being said, unlike the other melon flavoured things in Japan, I don't think Melon pan is supposed to taste like melons. I'm pretty sure it gets it's name from its shape, and there's often a criss-cross kind of pattern drawn onto it. I actually like plain melon pan the best, but I've also tried chocolate chip melon pan, and cookie cream melon pan (which is essentially oreo melon pan - which was interesting, but maybe a bit much). You can find melon pan in all the conbinis, as long as they haven't sold out, and it's a pretty popular snack in Japan.

3. Katsudon (Katsu Pork, on rice, with [probably] raw egg in there somewhere)

I'm not an egg fan, and the thought of raw egg especially makes me a bit scared, but when I ordered this dish, there was only the name of the product and not a description so I didn't really know exactly what it was I was ordering. It was really tasty, though, and I could handle the taste of the egg with the rice. However, when it came towards the end of the meal and there was a pretty high egg to rice ratio, and I'd already eaten more egg than I would have liked, it started to make me feel a bit queasy. It was totally tasty though, and if you like egg than I would recommend it, but I'm not sure if I will be ordering it again!

4. Cup Ramen

Cup Ramen is the Japanese equivalent of pot noodles, and a staple part of my diet here in Japan. Mostly because it's cheap, but also because sometimes I am lazy. Cup ramen usually comes in a little cup, but you can also buy it in little packets (a bit like super noodles). The flavours I usually go for are chicken, and miso. Miso is the cheapest, which is why I often buy it, and the chicken one is also cheap, but its also tasty! I tend to bulk buy the ramen in packets, rather than cups, and make it in a bowl because it is cheaper. You can also find really big bowls of cup ramen, which I haven't tried yet. The pictures on the front of the packets always show it being served with other stuff in the bowl, but I don't think many people take the time to cook and add things to their cup ramen. At least, me and Santana don't.

5. Furikake

Furikake is a crazy rice flavouring that you sprinkle on top of your rice to make it not so plain. Bear in mind that the rice that we eat in Japan is sticky rice, and is different to the rice you tend to get in Britain. I'm not sure if that makes much of a difference, but I can't really imagine sprinkling furikake onto standard long grain rice in Britain. When I first got here I bought a packet of pokémon furikake. It's no different - it just came with a pokemon sticker inside, and marketing things with pokémon on them really gets me. The flavours inside are something like salmon, egg, vegetable, and something else. It's blue. I can't remember what it is, it's probably some kind of fish. I just eat it anyway. It's all pretty good, and its a really cheap way to flavour rice. I think I paid a few hundred yen for the packet I'm still making my way through. When I first got here, before I bought a frying pan, I often just ate rice with furikake, because I had no idea what else to eat.

6. Karaage (chicken. Amazing chicken)

Karaage is some kind of amazing wizardry. It is chicken at its absolute finest. I'm not sure what makes it stand out from other kinds of chicken, but it is so tasty. The meat is normally browner than what I'm used to seeing inside fried chicken, and I'm not 100% sure how its prepared, but I have seen Karaage mix in the supermarket, so you probably fry the chicken after coating it in something. But I can't imagine it's that simple, because I feel like karaage meat is alot tastier than the result I get from frying chicken, for example when I made chicken katsu. If you like chicken, you really have to eat some good karaage at some point. It is wondrous. And that's all I have to say about karaage.

7. Sushi!

I'm not a sushi fan, (yes, I know, okay!). I don't like most seafood, because of its squishy texture, which makes me feel a bit ill. However, during my first week or so, a few of the 国際ハウス lot decided to go to get some sushi, and I wanted to join in, even though I don't like sushi. So we went to a sushi shop where each plate is 100yen. I only ended up taking 3 plates and a dessert, I think, because I didn't fancy spending much money on food that I didn't like. I had salmon sushi, a cooked beef sushi, and some fried sweetcorn (yes. Every kind of yes). Smoked salmon is one of the the kinds of raw fish I can eat in small amounts, because I quite like the flavour, even if the texture doesn't sit so well with me, and since there were only two pieces to a plate, it was pretty good. The beef sushi was great because it was just meat on rice, so that was pretty fab. The fried sweetcorn was amazing. I don't know why we don't have it in England. And if we do, I don't know why I've never had it. It was awesome. It was kind of like in a batter or something, which made all the little bits of sweetcorn stick together. It was amazing.

8. Nikuman (Steamed meat buns)

Nikuman is a steamed bread-like bun with a meaty filling. The first time I ate nikuman was actually with my friend Larni when we were in London together, in Chinatown near the purikura machine there. I was a bit hesitant to try it, because it looked really weird, but it tasted good. Remembering that, since coming to Japan, I have bought nikuman from the Family Mart across the road more often than I would like to admit... and I have introduced my friends into doing the same (to the point where Santana had a bit of a drunken rant in the general direction of a Family Mart employee because the last remaining nikuman she had intended to buy had mysteriously disappeared from the shelf, despite the only other person in the shop being the Family Mart employee. I later saw him the next day at an event at my uni, where he asked me if I remembered him, and at my confused face, just said 'Nikuman', where I promptly sumimasenned profusely). There are other varieties of Nikuman, like Pizzaman and premium nikuman, which I have yet to try. I fear for my purse and for my waistline.

9. KFC

So the KFC chicken in Japan is completely different. I don't tend to like eating chicken off the bone very much, and if given a choice, will always pick boneless. KFC Japan's boneless chicken is very crispy. It's in a batter rather than coated like British KFC is. The only thing I could liken it to is Sweet and Sour chicken balls from the chinese, but without the sauce, and the batter is a lot crispier. It's good chicken, but I really miss the KFC from home. A couple of my friends have had the chicken on the bone, which looks a lot more like British KFC, but they've said it tasted different. I might try it next time I'm in KFC just to see what it tastes like. A fun fact for you: In Japan, it's traditional to eat KFC on Christmas Day. Christmas isn't really as big here as it is in England, I don't think, and is more aimed towards couples than families (which is greaaaat. I guess it doesn't matter because I have neither here in Japan!). Anyway, instead of your great big roast turkey, you eat a bucket of chicken at KFC. Odd.

10. Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a bit like a pancake, but it's got meat and vegetables and all sorts of crazy stuff in and on it. I don't really know how to describe it, and it's definitely got that 'Japanese food' taste to it -a savoury taste I can't really describe, but it often crops up in Japanese food. I'm not 100% sure if its a good thing or not, but I LOVE Okonomiyaki. when you go to an okonomiyaki restaurant, the food is cooked on a hot plate in front of you, then you kind of attack it with a spatula thingy and put it in your bowl, and eat it. It's fabulous. It was a really fun experience, and it's also really tasty. If you go to Japan, do not leave without having had okonomiyaki. It really is brill.

11. Spaghetti

This is not Japanese food, of course, but it's one of the things I make here pretty regularly, because pasta is actually kinda expensive, but the cheapest of the pasta seems to be spaghetti. I think that's because it's the most popular, because Japanese tend to like long, stringy, noodley type things. When I used to talk to my friend Yoshiki on Skype back when I lived in England, he said he didn't like pasta shapes and he only liked 'Real Pasta', by which he meant spaghetti. Everybody knows that real pasta is the little twizzley ones. Anyway. I make Spaghetti bolognese for me and Santana about once a week, because it's tasty, it's not too expensive, and it reminds me of home. So I thought it deserved a mention. I'm also pretty sure it was one of the first meals I actually cooked here.

12. Takoyaki

Takoyaki is a bit like Okonomiyaki - in the sense that it is made from a battery type thing that reminds me a bit like pancakes. We made Takoyaki here in kokusai house, on a little takoyaki machine thing. Essentially, you pour the batter, which I think we made from a premade powder, some water and eggs, into semi-spherical holes and then added little squid bits to each of the holes. We then added puffed rice, and maybe some other crazy colourful things, and waited for it to cook a little, before flipping them over, making the Takoyaki into cute little balls. We served them on a plate, coated with cheese, mayo and what was probably soy sauce. Despite having a little squiddy bit in each of the balls (which was a funny reddish-purpley colour and you could see the tentacles!!), Takoyaki was super tasty!

13. Ham and cheese donut.

Yes, this is exactly what this sounds like. One of the weirdest things about coming to Japan, is seeing all of the products that the Japanese have tried to import and then make their own. Most of the time this results in products that bewilder me. One of these products was a ham and cheese donut. I bought this from the conbini on campus, because I wanted something savoury, and saw something bread-looking with Ham and Cheese in it. I didn't go for normal sandwiches because they are normally filled with either the most random mix of jazz (such as fruit), or egg, which I'm not the biggest fan of. So, after Santana and I had made our purchase, we open our little plastic packages and say to each other 'this looks like a donut', which confused us, because nobody in their right mind would insert cheese and ham into a donut. Of course, Japan is full of fun, adventurous people who may or may not be in their right mind, because lo and behold, it looked and felt exactly like a donut. It had the texture of a donut, too. The only thing that was missing is that there wasn't any sugar in the donut, so technically it was still savoury. The ham was kind of wrapped around the cheese, in the middle of the donut (somehow, do not ask me how they made it because I haven't even begun to thing about working that out), and the cheese was a soft cheese, rather than anything else. It was very weird. Santana didn't finish hers. I'm still unsure as to how I felt about mine.

14. Obento

Since before coming to Japan, I always said I wanted to learn how to make bento boxes. Bento boxes are little boxes of cooked food that you take into work, or school, to eat for your lunch. You eat them cold. They are quite wonderful, and way better and less boring than sandwiches. The best part is (because this is Japan), most of the time they are made up to be very cute, pretty, or artistic. Most of the time cute. Some people are even skilled enough to make character themed bento (kyaraben) which is what I hope to move on to eventually, but it really isn't the easiest of things to do. In the last two weeks or so, I've been starting off simply, and gradually trying different things to put into my bento. Most of it is actually quite simple to do, because there are lots of molds and cutters available to help make your bento as cute as possible, which is why when I get good enough I'd like to make Kyaraben for a bit of a challenge. I actually feel quite proud of myself when I make a cute bento, and I don't often feel proud of myself here in Japan, whilst learning Japanese for elementary schoolers, and generally feeling like a bit of an idiot.

15. Udon Noodles

Udon noodles are a thick kind of noodles, that are kinda soft. I think they are really tasty, but Santana thinks they feel like worms. The first time I ate Udon Noodles was when I went camping for a night with OEC (essentially a club for Japanese and exchange students to interact). It was served with some kind of miso-ey water, which was pretty tasty, but I have since tried to recreate it and found that I can't. At all. It wasn't very tasty. I'm going to have to ask for some help, because cooking in Japan is actually really difficult.

16. Katsu Curry

Katsu curry is another food that I had eaten long before I ever stepped foot into Japan. Japanese curry is different to Indian curry in that it is normally a lot sweeter. I love it. And I made some myself, which makes me really happy. I even katsued the chicken. Crazy. I have no idea how to cook in England, so even though it's not exactly difficult to make the curry here, I'm still super proud of myself. Essentially, it's very easy because you can buy curry cubes, which are sort of just like stock cubes, in boxes from the supermarket, and once you have boiled your vegetables, you just throw a couple of cubes in, and you get a curry. Unless you forget to turn the heat down, like I did the third time I was making curry, and my potatoes just kind of disintegrated into the water. It still tasted ok. Just a bit of a culinary failure!

17. Shirako

Last week, Saara, Santana and I were sat in the kitchen. I had just prepared myself katsu curry for the first time and was feeling very proud of myself, and was starting to eat it, when we were approached by one of the Chinese girls that lives here. She held out some of the most appalling dosushi from a pre-bought carton of sushi to us, and said "どうぞ", which is essentially "Please take some". We didn't want to be rude, despite the sushi looking something akin to a brain. Bearing in mind that Santana and I do not like sushi in the first place, we agreed to just eat it all at once to that it would be over quickly. All three of us put a piece of sushi in our mouth, as the girl left to cook or something on the other side of the kitchen. It was absolutely dreadful. I'm not a fan of things with a squishy texture, and this was squishy in the most horrific sense of the word. The taste was also not something I would ever go for again. Even Saara, who likes sushi, did not like this sushi. We had no idea what we had just eaten, but when Saara had asked the girl what it was, she replied with the word 白子 (Shirako). Saara promptly did a search on shirako, and proceeded to essentially piss herself laughing. Santana and I had guessed at something gross, like fish brain, but it was so much worse than that.  What we had consumed was, in fact, fish sperm. The culinary term for it in English is 'Milt' or "Soft Roe", which Wikipedia describes as "The male genitalia of fish when they contain sperm used as food". It was one of the most horrifying experiences I have had with food, but I could probably add that it could have been partly due to not expecting somebody I did not even know to offer me such an outlandish kind of sushi. And of course there are some people who do actually like to eat shirako. Whilst talking to some of my Japanese friends here, the general consensus was that they hadn't tried, or didn't like Shirako (especially Shota, who emphasised just how much he "大嫌い"s it), however Ryu told me on facebook that he likes it. He is the only person I have met so far who has admitted that, though.

18. Tempura Ice 天ぷらアイス

This weekend was our University's festival - in Japan, schools and universities often hold an annual cultural festival, where there are lots of food stalls, and many of the clubs and societies put on events and things like that. Although I tried a lot of food at the event (such as melon candyfloss), the one that I really want to talk about is Tempura Ice. The OEC's food stall was selling Tempura Ice, and because they had already done this at the Seta campus' festival a week beforehand, I had been thinking about buying some. I didn't really understand what exactly 天ぷらアイス was, because although I could understand that people were saying Tempura Ice, I was still very confused about it. Tempura is essentially a way of frying things, and it is most popularly associated with shrimps. Pairing this with the fact that Japanese English is not always what it seems, the use of the word アイス(Pronounced Aisu- literally Ice), made me a little dubious. However, upon arriving at the festival, and heading for OEC's stand I found out that Tempura ice is, in fact, fried Ice Cream. What? Yes. It is amazing, and it is possible, and I have eaten it, and it is wondrous. It is as magical as you would expect fried ice cream to be.

Ugly Love Speech

So last night I had to write a speech for my class today, on something that I like, and I decided to write it on my favourite band. After having posted a picture of a draft on facebook, Tom and Sammy asked me to record the speech so that they could watch it. So I did.

It's kind of embarrassing, and my Japanese is absolutely terrible. I forget things, and pause for long periods of time, and I was super nervous. Ha. I've never recorded myself speaking Japanese before and I feel even worse about my level when I'm watching myself! I like to feel like I'm better than this, and this is just my Japanese under pressure, but I don't know how true this is.

昨夜、私はスピーチを書きました。トムさんは私に「ろくおんしてください」を聞きました。ちょっと恥ずかしくて、日本語もとても下手けど、それは私の最初の日本語でビデオです。

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大阪！My trip to Osaka - Pokémon Center, Cat Café, Gigs and going it alone!

So this Saturday I took my first (real) trip to Osaka, I have already been to Osaka once as that is where USJ is located (Which I have yet to finish my vlog on, sorry guys!), but it's not really Osaka as we know it. So I thought I'd say a little about my first contact with the city and some of the experiences I had.

Going to Osaka

Working out the Japanese trains is not easy for those that can't read Kanji. You might find that in some stations the Kanji has furigana above, or sometimes even romaji (the names in English). But this isn't always the case, and it can be quite tricky to work out the way if you don't know the kanji for your destination or any changes you need to make in the middle. Once you've taken the train a few times, though, you should get the jist of which trains will take you where, what the different lines mean, and so on. Another annoying thing I've found is that the trains don't necessarily list all the places they stop on any announcement boards, it just says what kind of train it is (Express, Limited Express, Local, etc.) and you have to have a look and see which stations that kind of train stops on. However, it's mostly the inability to read signs and Kanji that has me stumped for a little while before working it out. It doesn't help that every time I've been somewhere before now, I've had someone who knows where they are going, or I've made the journey several times before and now it's easy (ie to Kyoto Eki). In the morning, me and my friends, including Mayo and Taihei, two Japanese friends of mine who know how everything works, set off to Kyoto. First, we took the Keihan local (I think) train, and then changed to the express to get to Osaka Station. It was easy for us because we could just follow the lead of our Japanese friends, but I forgot to take note for later when I would be returning on my own, because I was too busy having fun.

Some of the group :3

Pokémon Center

Upon arriving at Osaka Station, we set off to the Pokémon centre, which is so close it's practically the same building as the station. On the way, I learnt two new Japanese words from Taihei. かざぐみ(kazagumi) which means windmill (at least the little paper windmills you get), as they were all outside the station, and かんらんしゃ(kanransha) which means ferris wheel (or at least the giant red ferris wheel in Osaka). Upon arriving at the Pokémon center, I proceeded to fangirl over all of the cute pokémon things, and spend around 5,500¥. I bought an おみやげ (souvenir) pen for my little sister, and then spent money on a cute pikachu tin of biscuits, a pikachu cake mold (because I wanted to buy a silicon cake mold for our crazy microwave/oven thing to see if I could make a cake anyway, so it may aswell be pikachu shaped), a cute phone charm - meowth holding some dango, and an Eevee mini towel, which would essentially be a flannel in England but in Japan they're typically used for wiping the sweat from your face because it's so humid (as gross as that sounds). I also bought a pokémon ball with a little stamp inside it because it's relatively hard to get decent pokéball props in England, and it will make a really good one. I wanted a pokéball, okay?

Pokémon Center Selfie

After the pokémon center, we climbed to the top of the station/shopping building thing to get a good view of Osaka. Whilst Taihei ran up the stairs like a big show-off, me and Abi semi-struggled to the top (大丈夫。本当に). Osaka really is totally different to Kyoto. It's such a big city, with tonnes of little alleyways crammed with shops, as well as lots of main streets of course. It's kind of crazy. I like it for what it is, but I'm glad I'm living in calm Kyoto, but can visit Osaka relatively easily.

Osaka. O.O

After this, we were pretty hungry, and it was pushing lunchtime, so we went into a cafe nearby and munched on various, slightly overpriced things and had a drink. Some people had pasta, but as that was pushing 1,000¥, I had a crazy pastry with ham and cheese in it. I say it was crazy, but it wasn't as crazy as the ham and cheese donut I bought at the conbini on campus. Moving on. After eating (kind of), we headed off to Ragdoll Cat Café. A cat café is a place where you can go and sit with cats for an hour or so. Although a strange concept to some, cat cafés can be quite popular in Japan, where many residences are blocks of flats and/or won't allow you to keep cats. Cats are lovely and relaxing to be around, and I wish there was a Cat Café in Norwich where I could go during my term time at UEA to be with cats. However, the first English Cat Café has opened in London, which you can see information on here. 1 Hour in the cat café cost us 1000¥ each, but included a drink and some food for the cats. The food had to be used within a set time span, I think it was half an hour, and I think that was in order to ensure it was fresh and okay for the cats to eat, but you could purchase additional food, which cost around 100-200¥, I think. It was definitely worth it, and I can't wait to go back to a cat café :3

So many Kitties!

Taihei getting beaten up by a cat. KITTY PUNCH! 

The Girugamesh gig

By the time we had finished in the cat cafe, it was about 3:15, and I wanted to head to the Girugamesh gig to queue (silly me, more on that later). So we walked back to the station, where Taihei kindly ran through which train would take me to Umeda, the closest to the gig, and then how to get home after the gig. Taihei is a massive babe, and I would have been so scared going home without his guidance, so a big thank you to Taihei <3. After going through the gate, I really needed the loo, and to my horror, I came face to face with the realisation that there were only the Japanese-style toilets in the station, and I had my first using-a-crazy-Japanese-toilet experience. It was a bit scary, but in the end, it wasn't all that bad. I'd definitely, definitely still rather use a western toilet any day, though.

Upon arriving at Umeda, I headed straight for the gig. Once I had got there, it was about 4:20 (doors were at 5), and I was expecting a queue. To my horror, there wasn't one, despite seeing tonnes of girugamesh-shirted fans wondering around the area and I thought 'What's up with that?!', so I went to one of the guys hanging around in a Girugamesh shirt, who seemed to work at the venue, and asked him, in my broken Japanese, where I should go. He told me that I still had time, so I should look around the area, and that there was a main road with a few shops on nearby. I was really confused. Did Japanese people not queue? Had I misunderstood what the man had told me somehow? I went up the road and loitered, checking my facebook and twitter, and generally procrastinating, until I saw two girls walk past in Girugamesh shirts. I approached them, and they looked slightly startled. After all, I am a crazy blue-haired gaijin, and the area didn't look like the most reputable. There were lots of 'all girl servers' establishments and other seemingly slightly pervy places around, but I couldn't say exactly what they were. I told them I was a bit confused by the lack of queue, and they said that it was still a little early for that, which confused me as it was only half an hour until doors should open at this point. This is when I decided that I would google 'Do Japanese people queue for gigs?'. I found my answer there. Whenever you buy a Japanese gig ticket (which you normally have to do at a local conbini), it is printed and on the ticket you are given the number ticket you have bought. There were A tickets and B tickets. Essentially, the first ticket sold will have been from ticket set A, number 1. Once it gets to (around) 200, the B tickets started. I had no idea about this. I checked my number, and it was 154. I didn't know about the A and B at this point, but realised I could be 154th through the door, and felt a bit gutted. I guess this way is fair, because at least then those that bought their tickets early like true fans would not be disadvantaged by the fact that they might not be able to queue all day, but for me who didn't know, I felt like this could turn out to be detrimental.

My tickets.

I wandered around the surrounding area for the next 20 minutes or so, and came back to the venue at about 4:50, by which time a small crowd had formed. A person stood at the door and started calling numbers to go in. Once he reached my number, I asked him about my ticket, but he pointed out that it was a B ticket, and told me to wait a little longer. I suddenly realised what they had been saying about As and Bs and felt really stupid. Obviously, I was the gaijin who was in out of her depth. I was feeling really intimidated and useless, this was completely different from what I'd imagined it would be. I thought I would get to the gig and sit and queue with Japanese Girugamesh fans, who I could try and make friends with through my poor Japanese, but instead I hadn't talked to anyone, and had only highlighted the fact that my Japanese was rubbish in front of the remaining people who had yet to be called to go in. I was really regretting going on my own, and wishing I could have convinced someone, preferably Japanese, to go with me. I had no idea what was going on, and it was obvious that I didn't.

Once my ticket number was actually called, I headed inside and the stub was taken from my ticket. I also had to pay 500¥, which I wasn't sure which was for until they handed me a drink token. I'm not sure if it was necessary to pay that extra 500¥ or not, but it seemed like it was at the time, so I was kind of confused given I had already handed over just over 3500¥ for the ticket, but I was relatively pleased to get a drink out of it. Once I got inside the venue, I was surprised to see several people milling around behind a crowd gathered relatively sparsely at the front, and people queuing for merch. The venue was pretty small, considering we are in Girugamesh's home country, and it was smaller than the O2 Islington, the venue in London that they played in June. Since I wasn't going to get a place at the front, I decided to queue for some merch, just in case it turned out I couldn't get any later. Whilst in the queue, I heard a girl talking English behind me, and chatted with her for a bit. She was there with two or three other people who were teaching English in Japan. I bought a wristband and the white Gravitation t-shirt, and made my way back to the crowd.

I managed to stand about 5 rows from the front easily, even though there were around 300 people that should have got in before me. Here, I tentatively talked to a woman called Ie, who it turns out is also going to the Kyoto gig in November. I felt pleased that I was able to make a friend in Japanese. She told me that she used to study English and a little bit of French, and thought that the languages were really cool, but since she hadn't studied in so long, she had forgotten a little bit and was a bit rusty. She told me it was her second time seeing Girugamesh, and I said it was mine too, and I showed her photos, which she was really surprised at. She said that at Japanese gigs, people weren't really allowed to take photos (or if they were, it was pretty unheard of). I also told her that I'd had a VIP ticket in England and met Girugamesh and showed her the photo, which she was really jealous of. I showed her the drumstick I caught from Ryo, too, and I felt really truly lucky to have an experience that so many other people could only dream of.

We had loads of fun with the two opening bands, ALL OFF, who sung in English, and ヒステリックパニック(Hysteric Panic), who sung in Japanese. Both bands were relatively heavy, with ヒステリックパニック being the heavier of the two. The guitarist in ALL OFF was super cute. Both bands played a set that lasted around half an hour, and I bought one of ALL OFF's albums after the show. During the last song of the second support's set, they created a path through the crowd, which gave me the chance to get closer to the stage once people rushed to close it. I ended up in the third row back, and right in the middle for Girugamesh's set, which I feel is pretty sufficient. I was close enough to help hold Satoshi up when he came close and held a fan's hand at the barrier for a while during one of the songs. When Girugamesh came on, all of the fans pushed close together, so that I really wasn't far from the band at all. I can't remember the whole setlist, or the order that the songs were in, but songs included the Gravitation EP, Driving Time, Evolution, Crazy-Flag and Dirty Story. It was beautiful. Everyone was mushed up against each other, headbanging, moshing and generally having a great time. It was amazing.

Once the show had finished, I went to the Tower Records stall and bought Gravitation (as I only had it on iTunes prior to that) and got a free poster, which I haven't opened yet because I think I want to attempt to take it home (somehow). I then re-joined the queue for the Girugamesh merch queue and bought the Green Day style Girugamesh tee, Core Best - the tour exclusive CD - and a long towel, which people wear as a kind of scarf at gigs in order to wipe the sweat from themselves. Because gigs are hot anyway, but in Japan you get even more super sweaty. I then went to ALL OFF's merch stand and bought the 'Follow your Heart' album, as the guy on the stand said that the music played that gig was mostly from that album and one other. Each CD cost 2000¥, give or take a few yen, which is around £12 in real money. Then I went and spent my drink token, and talked to the guitarist of Hysteric Panic, who was very lovely and patient with my pants Japanese, and even quite impressed by it which was lovely. I then talked to the super-cute guitarist of ALL OFF, who was also super lovely! Even though my Japanese was terrible, I'm really proud that I could interact with people at the gig, instead of being totally and utterly useless.

The only thing I could have wished for more is a longer setlist - without support bands in England, their set was much longer, and I felt like I wanted more at the end. They also did not do an encore. I'm not sure if encores aren't a thing in Japan, but everybody dispersed pretty quickly after the gig, and I didn't see very many, if any, people waiting for Girugamesh to come out, and as I was pretty eager to get the train back, as I didn't really know what I was doing and knew it would take longer, I left too. After the show, I went home, and struggled my way through the train system, stupidly taking a Limited Express home, which took way longer than if I had taken the express and then changed to a different train down the line.

All in all, I had an amazing day.

龍谷大学 - Ryukoku University - The University of the Valley of Dragons. Badass.

So on Friday I had one of the most fun lessons I've had since I started my time here at Ryukoku. I haven't posted much about lessons yet, but we start everyday at 9am, and normally have two or three core lessons, followed by chosen modules, of which I am currently taking 3. You need 16 credits total, with core lessons totaling 12, meaning you have to take at least two extra modules, as they are two credits each. Everything is taught in Japanese, which is amazing for our Japanese, but sometimes it's really, really confusing!

Anyway, on with what I was saying... my lessons have started out at a pretty basic level, which is a bit disheartening, but part of me is glad because I'm not overloaded with difficult work from the get-go, and also because the course at UEA went so quickly, I feel like I don't actually KNOW most of it, and my base language should become a lot stronger this way. I don't know. I can only hope ^.^

So in this lesson, we were doing describing things, and the worksheet was on describing imaginary creatures, and then each of us took turns to describe fictional beasts/characters from our own cultures.

However, this is not the coolest bit. The coolest bit is, because I'm not really all that observant, or all that good at Japanese, I never really looked into the name of my university. It's Ryukoku University. Very Japanese sounding, I still have no idea why it's called that, but I do know what it means.

This was one of the pictures from our sheet

Because I'm not all that observant, it took me a while to click, but I was all like 'Hold on - that's the Ryu from Ryukoku!' and so yeah it turns out the first kanji in our University's name - 龍 - means dragon. Now the whole dragon mascots (which I am in love with) seem to make a little more sense. I don't know how slow I was on the uptake compared to the other foreign students, but I don't care, I think this is amazing!

The teacher then went on to tell us that 谷 (the -koku of Ryukoku) is the kanji for Valley. So if we want to be literal, 龍谷大学 means 'Dragon Valley University' in Japanese. And that is the most amazing name for a university ever. It's made me even happier that I am here!

These are the University's mascots. They are so cute that the first time I came face to face with ロンちゃん (Ron-chan, the pink one) I kind of giggled to the point of near hysteria. She was so cute. I want one. I wanted to hug her, but then I remembered that there's someone inside that suit, and I could easily make the biggest idiot of myself to a totally unknown person, and what's worse, is that they could be really cute. So I didn't. But seriously these mascots are so cute. I saw somebody carrying around a ロンくん (Ron-kun, the Green one) plush toy the other day and I seriously want to know where I can get one because I'm so in love with our mascots.

(The above just says 'Boy character Ron-kun, Girl character Ron-chan'. I thought it was a bit strange at first how they had the same name, but with a different honorific, but that would be normal if they are siblings since in Japan you often call somebody by their last name).

So yeah that's just another reason why my University is so much more fabulous than yours! ;)

Just in case you were interested, I couldn't think of any particularly 'English' creatures, so I chose the loch ness monster. Good thing Scotland are still part of the UK, right? After we wrote our descriptions, we were told to draw it quickly on the back of our paper, which I thought was cute. Whilst we were reading our descriptions, Kan sensei tried to draw our creature on the board. 

I was too busy talking about Loch Ness monsters to get a picture of Kan-sensei's drawing, but this is the vampire drawing she done of Santana's description.

And of Mi's

龍谷大学が大好き!!

Class placement tests! Kill me now.

Today I survived the class placement tests for Ryukoku University 2014. I should at least get a t-shirt. Or a medal. Or some kind of honorific title. A knighthood? Something like that...

Just so you know what hellish endeavors I encountered, and so that next years students have a feint idea as to what's going on - I'll do a quick, rough write up about what came up. I've probably pushed most of it to the back of my memory, where it will never resurface again, though.

So to start, we had a listening exam - we were handed a double sided sheet of paper with questions on which we had to fill out as the tape was played for us. The first one was about a phone number, so that was quite easy. I kind of only half-heard one of the digits though, so I may have got one of them wrong! They only play each track once - so if you miss it, you miss it. Next was just a sentence somebody said that you HAD to write in Hiragana. It was something about an oneechan. It ended shimashita. But I didn't catch the middle part because I was too busy writing the first part. :(

After that there were some conversations between people, and then a list of phrases under the question, and you had to choose which of the phrases was correct for what the people said. I think that was about it for the listening, I probably missed something, but I don't know.

The listening was only one side of the sheet. On the other side, there was a sort of kanji type exercise test, if I remember correctly. It was mostly just writing out the kanji for provided hiragana, and hiragana for provided kanji. I'm sure there were other types of question but it was all kanji knowledge. I knew a fair amount of the kanji, but I also didn't know a fair amount of the kanji :(

Next up came the essay question! That was horrible. We got provided with the topic "日本語と私" (Japanese and I), and had to write a long piece on it. My piece wasn't very long, and didn't really use any exciting grammar points or crazy vocab. It was all pretty basic. I didn't feel very prepared for it, even though it's a pretty simple question, and I came out feeling like I could probably have done better. Maybe. Japanese is difficult,

We then had a break for lunch in the crazy Japanese canteen, which was fun/scary/interesting, and then we had a library tour, which made me realise I will probably never use the library because my Japanese isn't good enough.

Then we were shepherded back for our Interviews, which were essentially oral exams. Different teachers took different interviews, and I have a feeling that they did this based on your marks last year (since they have that information) and how well they think your ability is, though I don't know if this is true, or just a thought I had. In my interview there were three of us, but I have friends who were just in couples and some people did them on their own. Different people were asked different things, but mostly around the same sort of subject. We were asked questions like when did you arrive in Japan? What was the weather like in your home country? What would you like to do whilst you're in Japan? What sort of things do you want to study on the JCLP program? In terms of Japan, what interests you? What are your hobbies? Etc. We were also asked relevant follow up questions - ie I said that I liked to cosplay and I was asked what I cosplayed and if I make the cosplays myself. Other people said they liked food and they were asked what their favourite food is. So if you don't think you can expand on an answer you want to give, it's probably better to give a different answer.

I think the oral test/interview went better than the written exam. I'm not so worried about it as they don't have any bearings on marks, but only decide which class you will be placed in for the first semester. At the beginning of the next semester, I will undergo the same hell to decide which class I will be in again, I think. Though I did read something about generally if you pass the exams at the end of the semester, you will move up a level the following semester. I really want to study hard and advance my Japanese as much as possible whilst I am here! I also found out that you need 60% to pass here - which is scary because you only need 40% at UEA, and sometimes I barely achieve that!

Also, a lot of my friends found out that they were getting the JASSO scholarship, which I am not getting. That kinda sucks as you get a good 80,000 yen a month, or something, which would be really nice for me, but no. I'm going to have to try and find a part time job or something, I'm sure.

This was our first day going onto the University Campus, and we were given loads of information and little books, and our campus card, which I love! The campus looks fab, and new and wonderful. I really like it so far, but we will see what the course is like, before I pass judgement :)

Tomorrow is more induction type stuff, so if anything important arises, I will update you all! I hope you found this helpful! If you have any questions about my first day on campus, or the class placement tests, post a little comment below and ask me! If you are interested in coming to Ryukoku, or studying abroad in Kyoto or anywhere in Japan, you should give my blog a little follow, because it's nice to know what you are and aren't interested in!

Watch this space for more crazy adventures!

Gaijin Guide to the Fushimi Inari Shrine!

So I climbed (read crawled) to the top of the Inari shrine last week, at about 3 in the afternoon, in the humid Japanese heat, but there are few things I sort of wish I knew before I set out to climb the monster that is the Inari mountain, so I thought I'd write a bit of a 'guide' to the shrine, for those who are completely unaware.

Bring a drink with you
So it sounds silly, but when I left for the Fushimi Inari shrine, I didn't really do my research on it. All I knew about it, was that there were lots of Inari shrines, all in a row, or in a circuit, at least. What I didn't know was that the circuit was 2km long, and up a 233m high mountain. I didn't know this until I got there. Me and my friends didn't really gauge how long it would take us until we had already walked for an hour and had barely started, according to the 'you are here' map. I bought myself a can of melon soda for 150yen at a vending machine, and after that had gone, and we realised we had much further to go, I wish I had bought my own drink with me. The drinks got slightly more expensive as you climbed up the shrine, and at the crossroads I bought a bottle of water for 200yen, which managed to last me until we were finished. But yeah, bringing a drink with you is a good plan.

Bug Spray!
Get some bug repellent! If you're lucky, like most of my group, you will come away with one or two bites. If you are unlucky, like me, you will come away with (as far as I've counted) thirty. So get some bug repellent to try and stop this from being a thing. Because it was a thing, it is a thing, and it is not a very pleasant thing.

Set aside a lot of time to do it
Don't assume it won't take you long, because it will, especially if you want to see as much as possible. Don't be scared to stray from the path or take a closer look at the shrines. At the beginning, we didn't get too close because we weren't sure if we should, but after seeing Japanese people get closer to some of the shrines, we decided it was ok. However, after a certain point, we stopped going to have a close look, because we were exhausted. Climbing steps up a mountain takes it's toll! But we did have a good look at the Zodiac shrine near the bottom on the way down, that one was brilliant, so I recommend giving that a look, too.

So those are the basic warnings. If you have any other questions about the Inari shrine, or Japan in general, just let me know. You can find more photos either on my facebook, or there will be a link to my pictures on the right hand side of my blog!

Sim cards, mobile phones, and other important Japanese gadgets.

One frequently asked question that always seemed to pop up back in England was about Japanese phones and sim cards, and we could never find any solid information about them online. This question remained unanswered, and all of the other students I met at Ryukoku had no idea either, so I thought I'd write about how we acquired sim cards/mobile phones in Japan!

One of the best things about being in Ryukoku accommodation is the tutors. They're here to help us and be generally lovely, and they were really helpful in finding sim cards. Essentially, they took us into kyoto, listened to all of the Japanese that was being said very quickly at us about phones and sim cards, and put it into slower, simpler Japanese. Because unfortunately (sometimes), English isn't a thing. After walking to Inari train station and catching the train to Kyoto (yes, I know I'm in Kyoto, but I mean Kyoto Kyoto. The middle of Kyoto. Y'know), we left the station and went to the Yodobashi Camera, which was like a massive department store! When we got there, we went to the back of the shop (on the same floor we came in - there were several) where there seemed to be different mobile networks represented. We were helped by a handsome Japanese man, and separated into two groups - those that wanted a new mobile phone for in Japan, which could be taken back to our home countries and used, and those who just wanted a Japanese sim card. Since I only recently spent a fair amount of money on a new Nexus 5, I knew I just wanted a new sim card for it, rather than a new phone. Out of the people who chose to sort their sim stuff that day, four people chose to get a new sim card, and five chose to get a new phone.

The four that chose getting a new sim card were given a few options - but realistically, only two:

1. For those without credit cards, you could pay 3580 yen per month (around £21) and receive 1GB of data. No calls, nor texts.

2. For those with credit cards, you could pay 2480 yen per month (around £15) and recieve 5GB of data, and SMS (though we still dont know how many SMSes we get, but everyone uses LINE - which is a bit like whatsapp - anyway so that doesn't matter)

It is obvious which one was the better deal, and nobody really wanted to settle for a higher price with much, MUCH less, however, two of us didn't have credit cards, so in the end we had to pair up, and arrange to pay those with credit cards for our contracts, which will last for just the year, which is perfect. It is a Docomo sim. When we went to pay for the sim we had to pay 3640 yen, so everyone has assumed that that is for the first month of the contract, and an additional cost for the actual sim.

Those who wanted phones were given a Huawei, and pay just over what we do, but I am unsure of the exact tariff. They only get 1GB of data, though, but they get SMS just like us. But like I said, everyone uses LINE anyway. Also, it's all LTE, 4G internet, which is fab because I have never had 4G before because I'm on Vodafone at home and vodafone are pants.

(Once we got home, we had to register our sim cards on the website, and put in APN details into our phone, and enter credit card details online,

After sorting the sim cards out, we went to find ethernet cables in order to be able to get internet access in our rooms. I chose the turquoise one because I love turquoise :). There were a few different colours, lengths and sizes. I got a thin, turquoise 5m long cable (so that it could definitely stretch to my bed). I love it, but I will leave it behind for next year's UEA student so they don't have to worry about buying one :) You're welcome!
After that, we were given some free time to look around the store (I have since gone back and realised we barely covered any, and that I missed the best sections - Games, and anime figures/collectibles etc.). and we bought a kettle (for pot ramen!! - and tea, but I dont drink tea) and a rice cooker! My first rice cooker! Me, Jiji and Saara (a girl from Finland) are sharing the kettle and rice cooker because it is cheaper that way and we all live on the third floor. I'm pretty sure we will be passing both of these down to next years UEA students too. Lucky you! So now I know how to make the rice cooker function. It's pretty good. It's so much easier than standing around a pan. I think I want one in England. Haha!

So that was my first trip to Kyoto and to Yodobashi Camera!

Ryukoku University International House Halls of Residence.

I thought I'd show you guys around my room. I videoed this the day after I got here, so I'm sorry it's taken so long to edit it and put it up, but I'm a busy person - being sociable and doing stuff and existing in Japan and all that. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy.

If you have any questions about the halls, leave a comment below. Don't forget to follow my blog because I'm awesome, subscribe to my YouTube too! Because even if I'm not all that interesting, Japan is!

Arriving in Japan!

I did a vlog! It's about getting to Japan. I have another one to follow, too.

If you have any questions, fire away in the comments below!

Thanks for watching!

9 Worries about Japan

Japan is just 4 sleeps away, and just like any young student about to travel halfway across the world to a different language/culture sphere on her own, I have a few worries. I thought I'd post them here, and then do an update at the end of my year to see which of them were actually worth worrying about! These are going to appear in no particular order.

1. Being the clumsy, ugly gaijin.

You don't have to be an expert on Japan to know that the country is full of beautiful, petit little women (and men). This is of course a stereotype, and you do get the exceptions to the rule, but for now I can assume that I am going to be stared at a lot (according to stories). I'm going to be the tall, fat, clumsy white gaijin (foreigner) with bright coloured hair (ok, that one is my fault :P). I don't like to be the same as everyone else - normal is boring, hence my bright coloured hair. I don't mind facing some prejudiced occasionally because of it, because it really does make me happy. However, I am worried about the reception that the colour of my skin, height and body size could give me. Luckily, I'm not very tall. It'd be interesting to see what reaction my tall little sister gets when she visits, too.

2. Ermm... What does that say?

Yes, I have been studying Japanese for two years now. However, my Japanese is still very basic, and my experience of speaking with native Japanese people, in Japanese, is very little. After having been to France, having studied French for 9 years, and having language troubles, Japan is even scarier. However, the biggest thing I'm still worried about is Kanji. The inability to even pronounce the word you are reading, let alone comprehend it, is pretty embarrassing. One of my biggest fears is to be in a group of Japanese people, hanging out and doing something and then being unable to read some kanji. The most likely circumstance I can think of is travelling to another town or city. 'Then we can take the bus to... erm... what does that say?' because I have no idea how to pronounce the place's name based on the Kanji.

3. Chikan

As a 20 year old female, Chikan are something I am greatly worried about. Luckily for me, Kyoto does not have a subway network, and so the risk of being encountering that horror reduces itself from the chance I'd have if I were taking an underground every day, or every week. Chikan is the Japanese word for pervert, really. I'm not the best person to explain about Chikans, but since I've read a lot about them, I thought I'd post some of the best things I've read or seen to help explain why I'm so worried about this.

Here - is a blog post by Grace Minata, a texan who has married a Japanese man and one of my new favourite bloggers. including what to do if you are targeted by a chikan. This was a really helpful read.

Vlogger Mira telling of her first Chikan experience. I thought this video was really insightful.

4. Money

I'm a student, so worrying about money is a normal thing for me, but Japan is the first time that it's quite likely that I will be relying on only the money given to me by student finance and the government here in England. I've been working in part time retail jobs since I was 16, but the likelihood of me being lucky enough to find one of those in Japan, let alone the likelihood that I will have proficient enough Japanese to do something like that is really quite low. I'm not really sure how big the part of me that wants to find a part time job is, since working has always given me very little of my own free time, and I don't really fancy spending the entirety of my time in Japan working/studying and not exploring, meeting people, and diving headfirst into the culture.

5. Making loads of friends! None of which are Japanese.

As an international student at Ryukoku University, I've already been assigned my room W3103 in Ryukoku's appropriately named 'International House'. We don't get a say in the kind of accommodation that we live in, but unfortunately, if you are a foreigner, it is likely that you will be lumped into an accommodation block filled with other foreigners. I'm a bit worried that in accommodation full of foreigners, and classes full of foreigners, I will end up making friends that are all foreigners, and not Japanese. Its not that I don't want to associate with other foreigners or anything like that, but I'm going to Japan to speak Japanese and get involved with the Japanese culture, so I'm a little worried about being put into the 'gaijin' group and being unable to leave and make Japanese friends.

6. High Latency

This is where my real nerdy streak shows. I'm worried about having high latency on online games, such as the MMO I've recently returned to (I know, I know), World of Warcraft. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm panicking over the fact that my fps could be so unbearable that I can't play WoW, it's just that I have a few people I can only really spend time with on wow, including Lee, who has been desperate for me to mention him since he found out that I had a blog (Hi, Lee!), my mother and one of my sisters and I don't fancy giving that quality time a break for the next year. A lot of my guildmates have warned me that trying to access the European servers from Japan will probably make the game lag a lot - maybe to the point where I can't actually play it. I like games - and I have to leave all my consoles, except my 3DS, at home, which just leaves my PC - My MMOs and my lovely collection of Steam games. I don't want to spend too much time online, because I'll be in JAPAN! But I'm still not planning on kicking the habit completely. Lee might cry.

7. Mobile Phones and Internet access

Continuing on the whole staying connected front, I'm a little worried about mobile phones and internet out in Japan. Mobile phones have been a pretty constant source of confusion and discussion among me and my classmates for the past year or so, as we worry about how easy it is to use our own phones in the country, and whether we might have to buy our own phones in Japan. The information on it online helps a little, but it is still rather confusing, and it's difficult to find information online about the different offers and how much you're looking to pay, for things like sim cards and plans. With internet access, I'm also pretty sure that in my accommodation, the internet is wired rather than wireless (just like UEA's halls), which is better than nothing, but means that I can only really get internet on my laptop, and my tablet, mobile phone, 3DS and anything else I may have are left to suffer in silence.

8. Food

I love food. Well, I love the food that I love, but I'm actually quite a fussy eater, and sometimes reluctant to try new things. Textures are a big thing for me, and because of this I don't like seafood. That's right. I'm going to live in Japan for a year and no, I don't like sushi, most fish, and pretty much anything that has come from the water. I've tried very hard to like sushi, but I just don't. I know that there are plenty of other things to eat in Japan, but the completely different foods in Japan are making me a little nervous. I want to try it all, of course, but I'm a little worried about how much food I will enjoy eating. A silly worry, really, especially since I'd quite like to lose weight. This will have an interesting update come the end of my year away, I feel.

9. Dental or health problems

In Japan, you have to pay a compulsory health insurance, and then there are also private ones you can go for. I don't really have any idea about this, but since the recent stuff that has gone on in France with my teeth, (you can read about it here) I'm a bit worried about something like this coming up in Japan, especially with the even bigger language barrier!

There are some other little worries, but these are the biggest ones I can think of really. I'm hoping these are all going to be silly, baseless, and nothing will come of them, but I will update at the end of my trip to Japan to let you all know!