Oishi ku nare ♥

On Sunday we had breakfast at Nanoka's, so I got to see what japanese breakfast is like. There was rice, salmon, soup with pickles in, scones, and a few other things but I wasn't sure what they were. It was all nice, except I'm not used to Japanese soup. It's served with nearly every meal I've had so far but I've been struggling to have more than a few sips. I need to start liking it... The four of us headed out to karaoke in Shibuya where we met Hiroaki. It was in a little room with a mix of english and japanese songs. We went to do purikura afterwards. In purikura you all go into a little photo booth and pose a bit, then you go to another booth and decorate the photos. It also changes your skin so it looks nicer and also changes your eyes. Although, it doesn't really pick up western eyes very well so mine are how they look in real life in the photo. (it probably didn't help that i forgot to look at the camera and looked at the screen instead lol) In Shibuya we went to see Hachiko by the train station. This is a statue of a dog that lots of people stand by to wait for their friends if they are meeting up. In 1924, a professor at the university of Tokyo took in a dog called Hachiko as a pet. Everyday after work Hachiko would greet him until May 1924. The professor didn't return that day because he had died, but the dog continued to wait at the station everyday for 9 years!

Tom wanted to see what a maid cafe looked like as well so Hiroaki took us to Akihabara. I was thinking that maybe girls don't really go in, but there were several other mixed tables in there. All the walls were pink with cute things everywhere and all the waitresses were dressed as maids. Whenever they brought out drinks to each table they would have everyone at the table "put a spell" on the drinks so they taste nicer. So in the cafe you kept hearing people saying "moi, moi, nyan, nyan, oishi ku nare!" That place was.. an experience... but I think it's something that tourists should do in Tokyo and this week I'm a tourist!

Nanoka had invited us back for tea so we went back and ate with her family. We had gyouza, fish, beef, and some other things (I'm not sure what they were but they were really nice and I will get better at remembering food names!) Her family are very friendly as well. We had to mainly speak in Japanese. I couldn't follow the whole conversation but I understood more than the day before :D

I've arrived!

On Thursday the three of us got our first flight from Gatwick. We flew with Emirates to Dubai and then to Narita. The flights were ok because it didn't feel like that long even though it was a 6 hour followed by a 9 hour flight here, but the food wasn't so good on one of the flights. I think it was either the food or the travelling or a bit of both that made me a bit ill on the flights- but that soon went away. When we arrived at Narita airport Aki was there to greet us and take us to where we are staying. First we got the train to Tokyo station, then we went to find somewhere cheap to eat. We went to Matsuya, and had gyumeshi. I think this was a rice bowl with meat, onions and sauce on top. I like it though, whatever it was. They rode with me on the train to my hotel. On the flight I thought I'd lost my camera at Gatwick airport but I found it when I got to the hotel- so I have no photos of the journey....

The next day I woke up at 5 wide awake so i went for a walk around Asagaya and then to Roppongi to meet Amanda and Tsukasa. Very difficult to meet someone at a station without a phone!! We went to Nanoka's house (a friend from Leeds) for a little bit to change into Yuukata ready for the Sumidagawa fireworks. There were so many fireworks there and some exploded in shapes like cats or pikachus. This firework show is the biggest firework festival in Tokyo so it was verrry busy and hard to find a place but we could see alright. We could just about see between the buildings.

After the fireworks we got a very crowded train to an Izakaya in Roppongi. I'm not sure what some of the food was but it was really nice (I would never have eaten something if i didn't know what it was a couple of years ago!) After this we went to Vanity club in Roppongi (still wearing the yuukata!) This place had an amazing view! It's quite high up so you can see a lot of Roppongi and maybe some other places too. Even in the toilet cubicles the back wall was glass so you could see the view from there. After this I missed the last train so Nanoka said I could stay at hers like Tom and Kawakami. I stayed in a traditional tatami room on a futon on the floor and slept really well!

The day after tomorrow!

The summer holiday has gone so quickly! Can't believe I'm actually flying out the day after tomorrow! Since my last post I've nearly got everything sorted to go. I've already had to say bye to a few people :( I said goodbye to Helen on Sunday and had a last few drinks for the year with a few friends last night. Going to miss everyone so much!

A few weeks ago I went to London to get my visa. It was surprisingly quick and easy to get but it did cost £43. To get this I had to take my passport, certificate of eligibility, a passport photo, the visa form and money. It's arrived now, it's pink with little sakura flowers on it and prettier than English passport pages (apart from the photo which is black and white and 10x worse than any passport photo.) I've also bought and half packed a giant suitcase that I can fit in (Yes, I tried) and have tried several times to get the last jab I need for Japan. They won't let me have it because I have a slight cold :S I'm going again for the sixth time to try and get it again tomorrow. This is the first time I've ever wanted a jab!

I've booked a hotel for the first week of being in Japan now. It's at Asagaya station which is about half way between my university and Shinjuku. It's close enough to where other people are staying too so it shouldn't be hard to meet up in that first week- I hope. This is the hotel I'm going to stay in. I found the first picture on google maps. I think it's the hotel anyway- but it says karaoke on a sign outside so I'll have a better look for it when I get there. The second photo kinda looks more like a car park as well, but it looks alright- better than a capsule hotel!

The flight is on Thursday at about 2pm (will have to check the time) from Gatwick. We have an 8 hour flight to Dubai then another 8 hour flight to Narita airport. We only get to wait at Dubai for about an hour in the middle of the night though.

My next post on here will probably be from Japan, so will hopefully be with pictures of Japan and more interesting. I will keep in contact with you through skype and facebook.

Going to Japan in 3 weeks!!!

This blog is so people at home can find out what's happening on my year in Japan, maybe future year abroad students want to see what happens on a year abroad in Japan, and also so I can look at it later and remember the year abroad (or cringe at what I've written- the reason I deleted my bebo after revisiting it years later :s ).
I haven't had a blog since high school when really there wasn't much to talk about, but now I have something to talk about! I'm going to Japan! At Leeds I'm studying Japanese and French, with that I get a year in Japan. At the start of the year I found out I'm going to ICU in Tokyo with James, Charlie and Sally. So now I've got my visa, booked my flight and found out where I'm going to live. I think all I have to do is pack and go get my last jab :'( before going. Maybe in the last week I'll find a load more things that need to be done before I go, but I hope not!
I'm going to stay in Global House on campus at ICU, which although it was my first choice I was very worried about applying for dorms. The on campus dorms at ICU all tend to have rules that would seem very odd if we had them in uni halls in england. Most of them have a curfew, you're not allowed visitors at any time of day, you must attend monthly meetings about the dorm and share a bedroom. At one of the dorms the only showers they have are communal showers, but according to the leaflet you get used to that....maybe... but at the minute I'd rather not. Luckily, Global house is a dorm with no curfew! and you share each flat unit with two japanese students and one other exchange student, so hopefully it should be helpful to get better at Japanese. The only proper rule it has is that you can't have visitors over night, which I guess is better than a curfew...
Flying over on the 25th (in about 3 weeks! eeee how did it get so soon?! really looking forward to it!!) with Shivvie and Amanda to explore Tokyo a bit and maybe visit Yokohama before starting uni on the 1st of September. So when I get there I will have more to write on here, but for now I need to go to sleep (when did half one in the morning happen?)