Germany

Well hello, and yes, I know I said I would be posting in a couple of days last time and yes, I know that was two months ago, but I'm here now, alright?!

I'm writing this blog post in my flat in Leipzig, which I'm sharing with Ash, looking out over Grünau, the suburb in which I live. It's fair to say that Grünau is the grimmest place I've ever lived. Just watch any episode of Shameless (which is nearly over for good now, wahh) and you'll get a good idea of my area. Just add East German communist buildings. I'll give a proper run down of my flat and area (with photos) in a later blog post, but I'll say now that although this isn't the nicest area, and although I have to get a tram for 25 minutes to get to university every day, the fact that this place only costs €160 (£135) per month, as well as there being some great people living in the same block, definitely makes up for it.

Today is the day that I receive the first part of my Erasmus grant. As with my flat, I'll do a proper blog post about this soon. As this blog was originally designed to be helpful for people wanting to study abroad, and the process is pretty complicated (too complicated actually...), I think Erasmus deserves its own post.

Moreover, soon I'll do a proper post about the university too. I like it now that I've settled in and everything has worked out fine, but believe me, there's plenty to moan about regarding the whole registration and orientation process. Trust me, this does need its own post.

I know these days I only ever seem to publish posts promising more posts, but I really am going to be doing one a day for the next few days. I've been meaning to get back into this blog for a while, and I've had a fair few people asking me to start again (I never realised you lot cared!), and due to the fact that I'll have plenty of time, with me only having one class tomorrow, and then Thursday and Friday off, I'm going to do one a day! Here's the list:

Wednesday 8th: My Flat & Grünau

Thursday 9th: Leipzig

Friday 10th: Erasmus

Saturday 11th: Universität Leipzig

I look forward! I've not really posted any decent posts since the Autumn of 2011, when I was settling into life in Tokyo (crikey that seems a long time ago now), but watch this space!!

James

Leeds Exam

Goodness, it's been a while since my last post...sorry! I've been really really busy recently, and to be honest will be busy until I leave Japan (which is in three and a half weeks...blimey!)

Something definitely of note to blog about is the Leeds exam, which I sat on Monday, 7th of May. It's the biggest assessment of our year abroad in Japan, and it was compulsory that we pass it if we were to go onto the third year at the University of Leeds.

For the exam, we had to learn hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kanji compounds (words made from various combinations of Chinese characters), as well as a fair bit of grammar. The exam itself was pretty hellish. For the first section we had to write the kanji for various readings, and then write the readings for different kanji compounds in the second section. Each of those was worth 20%. After that, we had to translate ten Japanese sentences into English; worth 30% overall. The final section, also worth 30%, was an essay which we had to write in Japanese (we could choose from three titles).

If I'm honest, I left the revision a little late, but after a few weeks of intensive cramming, I managed to scrape a pass. Most people seem to have passed, but a few didn't quite make it. They'll have to study pretty hard over the summer, and then they'll have one more opportunity to pass it in the resit in September. If they don't pass it then, they won't be able to progress to the third year, and will have to drop out. I was really worried about not passing, so it was such a relief to find out that I had made the grade. Even so, as I  didn't exactly do spectacularly well, I'm going to have to study a fair bit over summer anyway, just to make sure I stay on top of everything. But anyway, my resounding thought after the whole Leeds exam ordeal is just....phew!

In other news, this Sunday my friend Rachel, with whom I used to live during the first year of university, will be flying out to visit me in Tokyo! I'm almost wetting myself with excitement (this is hyperbole; my actual bladder control remains uncompromised). She'll be staying with me for nine days...and only leaving Japan a week and a half before I do...the end is very much in sight!

James

P.S. I'm aware that my comment on bladder control sounds extremely Alan Partridge-esque. I can only apologise.

5 Things I Miss, and 5 Things I Will Miss

It's dawned on me recently that I really don't have all that much time left in Japan. I don't have an exact date in mind yet, but I'll be returning home at the end of June or the beginning of July. That's only about three and a half months. I've been here six and a half months already, but it really doesn't feel like it's been that long. This got me thinking about the things I appreciate or even take for granted in Japan, which we don't have in the UK, and that I imagine I'll miss once I've left. Whilst considering these I started thinking about the things I miss back home, and because it's been a while since I last blogged, I thought I'd turn this into a post.

Things I Miss

1. People

I suppose this is an obvious one, but I really do miss lots of people back home; my parents, friends and relatives. I also miss my dogs a lot, too! I know that they'll all be there when I get back though, so I don't really get down about it. Thank goodness for Skype, though! And going back at Christmas to see everyone really did work a tonic.

2. Yorkshire Grub

Oh dear. Whilst Japan's culinary peculiarities are varied and delicious, there are times when I could positively murder some roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding. However, I think giving up the diet of northern stodge for that of the Japanese is a big reason for me having lost so much weight since coming here, so I'll have to be careful not to indulge too much when I'm back home!

3. Being Able to Understand Everyone

Don't get me wrong; my Japanese has definitely improved a lot since coming to Japan, and I'm perfectly capable of holding down a conversation, but it's just not the same as a mother tongue. I've had to make a fair few phone calls in Japan, for things such as post redelivery or sorting out my (sometimes astronomically high) mobile bills. The fast-paced, high-level honorific language used by the people on the other end of the line makes such calls virtually impossible for anyone who's not Japanese. These calls are naturally much easier in the UK, even if everyone I speak to seems to be from Belfast, Newcastle or Mumbai.

4. Cheap Drinks

£2 doubles, £1 bottles, £2.30 pints, £15 cases. Oh Japan, why is 500 yen a cheap pint?!

5. Not Being Racially Profiled by the Police

Just because I am riding a bike does not mean I stole it.

Things I Will Miss

1. Konbinis

Ah, anything you would ever need right outside your front door. They're sort of like Spar, One Stop, or the shops you get attached to petrol stations back home - only much better. In the UK I'm a fan of shopping locally at independent shops, but I certainly wouldn't mind the odd konbini knocking around for emergencies.

2. Trains That Run on Time

To the minute. Except when someone's decided to throw themselves in front of one of them.

3. People (again)

I've made many, many friends at ICU and in Tokyo generally, from all corners of the world, and I'm dealing with the fact that it's extremely likely that I won't see the vast majority of them ever again after this year's up. Come to the UK, yeah?

4. Clean Streets

I hadn't thought that the streets of the UK were particularly bad until I came back to Leeds over Christmas; all I could see were thousands of pieces of gum, fag ends and dropped litter...come on, England!! In Japan every street seems to be spotless, despite the fact that there are hardly any litter bins anywhere. Japanese people take pride in the appearance of their country and cities, something which we're sorely lacking in back home; it's quite depressing.

5. Just Living in Tokyo

I will miss being here full stop. Tokyo is the most amazing, interesting and unique city I have ever been to. I'll miss all the different places you can go to, the things you can see and the people you can meet. It has an amazing vibe which is totally different to anything I've experienced before, and I'll really miss it. I can't see myself living here in the future, but I look forward to coming back as often as I can afford.

James

Placement Test Result

I'm in level 3!  

That's a big relief, because Leeds uni expects us to be in that level at the start of the year, so that we progress enough to deal with Leeds' end of year exam here (yes, we still have to take the Leeds exam in Japan!), and then the workload next year back in the UK.  Because my Japanese has become a bit rusty over the summer, I was worried that I'd end up in level 2, and not be good enough next year!  But as it turns out, I need not worry any more!

The Japanese language course here consists of levels 1-6 and you can take one unit of standard Japanese per term, plus another module or two, or intensive Japanese, where you just take the Japanese course but have more contact hours.  For example, if you started the year with no knowledge of Japanese, you could do the intensive course and cover levels 1-2 in the autumn term, 3-4 in the spring term and then 5-6 in the summer term.  I plan to do level 3 this term, plus another module, level 4 next term with another module, and then take intensive Japanese levels 5 and 6 in the summer term.  

Now I just need to decide which other module to take!  I think I'll do one tought in English this term, then next term, when my Japanese is better, take one tought in Japanese.  

But yes, I'm relieved!  Tomorrow I officially register for my classes, and then they start on Thursday; excited!

James

Tomorrow I Leave For Japan

Yes, it's come.  It's been a few years in the making, but the time has finally come.  Early tomorrow morning, my parents and Ayu will take me to Manchester Airport to meet Ash, and then the two of us will fly on to Tokyo.

My bag is (nearly!) packed, the goodbyes have been said, I've been out for a last drink at The Junction with Mum, Dad and Ayu.  All that is left to do now is have The Last Supper.  I requested a full roast, with chicken, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, cabbage and gravy.  As usual, Mum has delivered and I can smell it now; it smells delicious.

It's been a strange day.  I've felt a mixture of excitement, nerves, and sadness.  Ayu came over at about 9 this morning, and we've been out to shop for some last bits and bobs, had my passport photos taken, as required by ICU, put some money in my account, had my hair cut, packed most of my bag, and printed off some photos of us to take.  

After dinner we'll hopefully have a relaxing evening after such a hectic day, as well as pack the last few things into my suitcase.  

This will be my last post in England, so the next time you hear from me on here will be from Tokyo!  I look forward to seeing some of you in Japan, but most of you next year...have a good one!  I'll be on Facebook (most of the time, as ever) so I look forward to being able to keep in touch with the people who are important to me!

For now, goodbye; speak to you from Tokyo!

James

Vacuum-Packing Socks & Ordering Yen

I vacuum-packed some socks today.  Well at least it counts as packing!!

That's almost all I've done, however.  You can see on that photo that I've also stuck some underpants in my suitcase, and started to fold other things up on the floor.  Instead of gradually filling my bag up as I go along, I'm going to sort everything out on the floor first, then put it all together like a jigsaw puzzle to fit in when I'm happy!

And yes, I really did vacuum-pack my socks into a Sainsbury's freezer bag.  You can't really see it from the picture, but it's really tightly packed, like when you buy some liver or fish from the supermarket in one of those heat-sealed vacuum packs,  the ones that always make it look like it's just a fillet of mackerel on a sheet of gold paper.  It's really flat, and now takes up a lot less space in my suitcase than if I'd just bunged all of my socks in.  I didn't use any fancy methods though, I just put the socks in a bag and then almost sealed it, just leaving a tiny gap, before kneeling on it to push all of the air out and then quickly sealing it tight!  It's tempting to do that for more items of clothing, but I fear that's a little too Alan Partridge.

In other news, I ordered some Japanese Yen today!  The exchange rate is currently ¥126 to the Pound, but that figure is fluctuating all the time.  It's depressing to think that two and a bit years ago, you could get literally twice as much for your money; the exchange rate was around ¥250 to the Pound.  I found the best rate was through Travelex; I got it at ¥121 to the Pound, much better than the ¥115 or ¥116 I've heard that other people have been getting through the likes of the Post Office recently.  So everyone reading this blog from Leeds Uni who haven't yet got their Yen yet, get it through Travelex!  You'd have thought they'd give me ¥122 after that endorsement, but it wasn't to be! 

So I ordered ¥121,000 (well done to anyone clever enough to realise that's £1000's worth) to take with me to last the first few expensive days in Japan.  I'll have to pay ¥77,700 when I check into my accommodation (first month's rent, first month's utilities, bedding rental and deposit), as well as the deposit and initial credit on my Suica Card (Tokyo's equivalent of the London Oyster Card), some books for the university, and a bicycle.  Yes I know it's a bit hopeful to want to get all those things with that amount of money, but we'll see!  I'm going to the Travelex counter at Leeds/Bradford Airport on Tuesday to pick the money up.

Once I'm in Japan I'm going to open a bank account, and then transfer the current balance from my British HSBC account, as well as my savings.  I just upgraded my HSBC account to a student account (a year late, I know), so now I can take advantage of my overdraft!  Although I'm really going to try not to go into it, hence why I didn't upgrade during the first year of university.  I might have to though, if I don't get the Takase scholarship.  Oh, and by the way, I've now discovered that we will find out who has been awarded the scholarship at the end of August.  There is a lot of the competition for the 20 people who are awarded it each year, as I mentioned in a previous post, so hopefully my entry essay was good enough!  I suppose I'll find out in a week or so...

There are now just over 5 days left until I set off for Japan!  Still so much to do!

James

My Last pre-Japan Trip into Leeds?

What a lovely day I've had!

Oh, before I start, I should talk about the 'business' side of this week's events!  I sent off my application form for the Takase Scholarship, fingers crossed now!  Like I said before, I really, really hope I get it!  I shall just have to wait and see!  If you can read Japanese, there's a list of the nationalities of those who've already been given the scholarship in previous years here.  It's only been given to 11 British people since 1995 - ahhh!

Okay, that's the business side of things sorted!  So today I went into Leeds with Ayu to buy some clothes and stuff before Japan!  We both got in at 9 o'clock, and shopping when it was really quiet in town was such a nicer experience than normal!  My best haul was in Pop Boutique; I got some really nice jeans and a blue check shirt; I love them!  I also got some stuff from Lush; a shampoo bar which is quite small but apparently lasts as long as 3 biggish bottles of shampoo - got to remember my 23kg baggage allowance!  Besides that I got this 'Dirty' scent and some shaving stuff.  

Whilst browsing through Poundworld (or Poundland, I can never differentiate, but then again I suppose the basic concept is the same) I stumbled upon something rather funny.  I did tweet about this earlier, but I can't help putting it on here as well.  Poundworld (/Poundland!) were marketing a cologne at a young, laddish, geezer-y sort of demographic by the looks of it, but they'd made such a glaring blooper in naming it!

Now I have nothing against 'nightclubs for men', but I'm guessing that a lot of the people they were targeting this product at probably do. 

Besides the clothes and Lush stuff I bought today, I also bought some Adidas Samba Supers online last night; hopefully I can get back into playing football in Japan!  I've neglected it a bit whilst at university.  Besides, they don't look too shabby when worn off the pitch, either ;)  I got an ethernet cable too, as Big Rose 21 (the guest house I'm living in, in case I hadn't mentioned that already) provides ethernet ports in every room for free internet, but you have to bring your own cable.  I got a 5 metre one so I don't have to sit at my desk every time I use the computer!  Sorry if you went on that guest house link and had a seizure by the way, some of the website's pretty mad!  I also got my phone unlocked, so that I can hopefully use a Japanese SIM card in it instead of having to buy a new phone when I get to Japan (I've heard stuff about UK/European phones not working in Japan because of their whole setup, but I checked for the HTC HD2 and apparently they do work).  Unfortunately however, when my phone got unlocked, it was also factory reset at the same time, so I've lost all my apps, contacts, texts, settings, etc.  Ho hum.

When we were on the bus back to Otley after shopping, we were passed in the opposite direction by about 10 or so riot vans heading into Leeds with the blues and twos going.  I hope all this ridiculous riot rubbish (wow, unintentional alliteration) isn't spreading up here.  I had a look at the news, but nothing too serious seems to have gone on in Leeds.

Then this evening Ayu and I had a lovely meal at Pizza Express in Ilkley.  I got a voucher online (get it here, very good value!), where you buy a main course, and get another one for just 40p!  It's only on until the end of this week though, so be quick!  We shared a couple of pizzas for our main, and then shared a pudding of pistachio and strawberry ice cream, and sweet doughballs with warm Nutella. Mmmmmm.

A lovely day, all in all!  Tomorrow I'm going to visit my cousins near York, for an 11th birthday party barbecue!  It'll be the last time I see them until after Japan, apart from a couple of them who are coming over for my leaving party next weekend.  It's making Japan feel sooner too, how I'm starting to say good bye to family for over a year!  Talking of which, I go two weeks today.  Eeks.

James

Japanese Student Visa Application

I have applied for my Japanese visa!  It’s scary how I can tick off all these little things on my mental checklist before Japan, and each one brings me a bit closer to going.  Leave my job. Check. Apply for visa. Check.  Next on the list is to apply for my Takase Scholarship!  But anyway, I’m just a few lines in and already digressing, so let’s get back on topic; my visa application!

So to apply for a Japanese Student Visa, you will need the following;

·      A Visa Application Form (available online or at the embassy)

·      Certificate of Eligibility (authorised after passing the required modules at your home university, then issued directly by the Japanese government)

·      Letter of Acceptance from the Japanese university to which you applied

·      Photocopies of the Certificate of Eligibility and Letter of Acceptance

·      Passport

·      One Passport Photo

·      £43 (cash only)

Besides those I also took a pre-paid, self-addressed special delivery envelope so that they could post it back to me.  You can either go back to the embassy in person to pick it up, or do what I did if you live too far away from London to do that.  You get to the embassy, and after an airport-style security check (including showing them your passport) at the front door, you go through into a waiting area, and take a ticket with a number on it.  You wait for your number to come up on the screen, and then go to the specified counter where someone checks that everything’s in order and takes payment.  Very easy!  I applied on Tuesday, and it should all be processed by Friday, and sent out the same day, so I should receive it on Saturday morning! 

So I took the 9:45 train from Leeds to London Kings Cross, which arrived just before 12 o’clock.  In the station I then bought a day ticket for the zones 1 & 2 of the underground, before going a few stops on the Piccadilly line to Green Park.  From Green Park station it’s just a two-minute walk down to the Japanese Embassy.  From the front of the building hangs a big Japanese flag, which was quite useful considering I don’t know my way around London!  I could see the flag from the station!  I forgot to take a photo outside the embassy, so here’s one of Natasha Clancey there a few days ago ;) Oh, and yes, she really did wear a Hooters top to a serious government institution.

I happened to bump into Leeds students Amanda Brown and Paul Farquharson whilst I was in the embassy; I was wondering whether anyone I knew would happen to be there at the same time as me!

After all that I met up with Joe Holloway, who I’ve only seen a couple of times since we both left school (we both went to Bradford Grammar).  Despite some confusion as to which station we were meeting in, we eventually met up outside Charing Cross, near Trafalgar Square.  We walked up to Covent Garden for a spot of lunch, as Joe knew of a chain of restaurants called Fire & Stone.  Apparently it’s a southern chain, which specialises in pizzas with unusual toppings from around the world.  Have a look at the menu on their website here.  I had the ‘Lombok’ – seriously tasty!  And only £4.95 at lunchtime!  I'd never have thought hoi sin sauce would go with a pizza- but it did!  I guess it’s because there was no tomato sauce on the pizza base or something.  Joe had the ‘Marrakech’, which he clearly enjoyed;

After lunch we got the tube up to Camden.  The canal was, um, green.

Camden’s not as good as I remember if I’m honest :( I suppose it would still be good at night and not during the summer holidays, but it was just absolutely packed full of loud American tourists, bratty kids and tacky tat!  It had a few pretty bits still, however! It was about 28 degrees and humid by this time, and we were preeeetty toasty, so we decided to go and sit by the canal.

We then went to Cyberdog, which was interesting…I headed downstairs and was freaked out (those of you who know the place will sympathise, anyone else should look at their website).  Let’s just say, I got a chance to practice my Japanese reading with some of the products for sale downstairs.

After wondering round Camden for a bit, Joe had to go for an interview at Embankment, and I had to get back to Kings Cross, so after going to Covent Garden again for a while, we both walked our separate ways; Joe on to Embankment, and I walked back to Charing Cross to have another look at a statue of Oscar Wilde which had tickled me that morning.

After gradually getting hotter and hotter walking around London all day, it was nice to get back on the air conditioned train back to Leeds, which arrived (slightly late) back at 9:35. 

So there’s the story of my trip to London to get a visa!  Hopefully it was of some help if you are going to Japan and haven’t yet got your visa…it was a simple procedure, apart from having to get to the other end of the country that is!

In other news, I’ve done some more on the side bar of my blog; I’ve added links to the blogs of other people from the University of Leeds who will be in Japan at the same time as me, as well as the links of some good websites relating to my blog and Japan!  Oh, and have a look at the map I’ve got!  It’s been exiting (sad, I know) seeing how many people from all over the world have been visiting my blog!  Any flashing stars on the map are users viewing my blog at the moment.  Also, it’s now even easier to follow my blog (heh)!  I’d really appreciate it if you’d follow me, which you can do by clicking the ‘Join this site’ tab on the right side bar.  You can do it not only with a Blogger account, but with a standard Google one, as well as a few others.

That’s all for now, please stay tuned! 

James

A Bit of a Catch Up

Hello again!  So here’s a quick round up of the stuff that’s happened since I made my last Youtube video.  To be perfectly honest I’m quite relieved I don’t have to catch up on all those videos I haven’t done yet any more as I can just write everything on here! Apart from the China one – gaah!

I finished my first year at university!  I can’t believe how quickly it went, either!  It’s going to be sad not being able to see all the people I got to know during the year, especially those off my course and those with whom I lived for the year.  Luckily I’m going to be at university in Japan next year with Green-san, Becci and Sally, as well as the Japanese friends I made whilst they were in Britain last year, so it’s not like I’m going off on my own :)  I’m flying from Manchester to Tokyo with Ash too, so that’ll be good.  We’re both taking our PSPs and Tekken so we can spend the whole flight fighting like the cool kids we are!

During the last term of the year we obviously had exams, which were scary!  But in the end I got enough revision done and was quite pleased with my results, especially in my core subjects.  I got 1sts in Basic Japanese Language 1 and Core German, and 2.1s in Basic Japanese Language 2 and Chinese.  There was a little moment of panic after my BJL2 oral exam, because I didn’t think I’d done particularly well, and in order to go to Japan we pretty much had to have at least a 2.2 to go without any complications.   But in the end it turned out I’d done well enough, so a couple of days after getting results I went down to STA Travel with Ash to book our first tickets.  I got a single from Manchester to Tokyo Narita, via Abu Dhabi for £363 with Etihad.  I didn’t get a return, as I still don’t know when exactly I’d be returning to the UK.  I just hope they let me into Japan on a one-way ticket!!

I suppose the worst part of finishing my first year at university was moving out of my house.  I really liked my room, and the people I was living with, and just everything about it really!  Well, I suppose if you’re being picky it could have been a liiiittle bit closer to the university, but I was fine with the twenty minute walk in the morning – it gave me valuable time alone with my iPod!  Seeing as I just worked out how to embed Youtube videos into these blogs, I might as well post my January video about my residence!

I really liked that house – look at the size of my room!  Lots of the rooms at that house were that size, and it only cost about £3400 for the entire year, self catered.  My room felt empty once I’d moved out!  Even emptier than when I first saw it, strangely enough.  I got this video on my phone the day I moved out;

I finished my exams on the 1^st of June, and had a little end of exams BBQ a few days after, which was nice. I didn’t really have any plans between then and going to Turkey with Ayu and a couple of friends at the end of June, so I just split my time between my home in Otley, and my student house in Hyde Park.  It’s only a 25 minute drive, which makes it easy enough to spend a lot of time at both.  Other than that I did some extra shifts at work, so that I’d have some more money for summer.  I couldn’t see Ayu until she’d finished her exams on the 27^th of June, so I had nothing better to do!  I went for Turkey for a week, and it only cost £145 for flights, transfers and an apartment for a week!  I was very impressed!  We were in Side, a lovely old historical town full of ancient architecture and ruins.

After that I had about ten days back in Otley, most of which I spent seeing Ayu and doing more shifts at Rhythm & Booze (yes that’s the ACTUAL name of the shop in which I work), before going to our holiday home in Robin Hood’s Bay, near Whitby, with my parents and Ayu for a week, for my dad’s 50^th birthday.

That was really nice as well, but the weather was a bit dull for a few of the days.  It’s sad thinking it’s the last time I’ll get to go to Robin Hood’s Bay for over a year :(

Anyways, I’m tired of writing for the time being, so this will have to be enough for this post!  Tune in tomorrow where I’ll excitedly tell you about my new DS and moan about the Royal Mail sorting office at Sheepscar and a woman on eBay. 

I bet you’re wetting yourselves in anticipation.

James