Warning: This is probably going to be a horrifically schmaltzy, soppy and self-indulgent entry. You have been warned.
First up, I have to mention one of the running jokes of my blog: 東方神起 (Touhoushinki) split up!!!!!! Kuroki Meisa is still ok though it's not as bad as it could be...
Secondly, IRIS ended a while back but there's a sequel (ATHENA)! All rejoice!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGcsdFp30yc&feature=fvsr
(They even filmed a bit of it in Japan, in Tottori, not that far from where Yoo lives...)
Basically, I figure this is going to be the last entry here for a while at least, I'd do a proper "Farewell"/conclusion entry.
I decided to take JLPT 1 last December. I won't get the results for another month or two, but I think I actually did okay overall, though there were some tricky bits... If I pass then I'm legally fluent in Japanese (I personally wouldn't say that but hey, if the Japanese government wants to I'm not gonna stop 'em). To be honest, when I first went to Japan I never really thought I would get to the level where I would take the exam. I think a fair amount of credit is down to my 2nd semester Kanji teacher, Nakanishi-sensei, who always encouraged us to make JLPT 1 our goal. Anyway, even if I pass I still need to study some more...
I might have actually forgotten to mention this ANYWHERE on the blog, but just for the record if you go out into the countryside, Japan actually has a lot amazing number of actually stunningly beautiful natural scenic spots. That's something I never knew before I went...
So, it really was the most amazing year ever, and I really did fall in love with Japan. So amazing, I decided it wasn't enough so I've applied to got back as a CIR for the JET programme! I'd really really love to get this, and if I do I'd be working in a city hall somewhere as a "Coordinator for International Relations" from August this year! Basically I'd be doing translations, cultural promotion and helping out foreign residents living there. It maybe sounds kinda sappy to say this, but I really think that since I had such a great time out there it would be great to have the chance to help others have a similarly amazing time. I've asked to go back to Osaka, though I'm fairly certain that won't be possible.
On a related note, if anyone reading this is even just vaguely considering studying or working abroad I would absolutely 100% recommend it. Doesn't matter where you go (thought obviously Japan would be good!), I think you'll have an incredible experience.
I think the most important thing I can say about my year abroad is that I have no regrets about anything I did (except maybe eating those noodles at Stevie's leaving party...), only perhaps a small number of things I did not do. But even saying that, even given the chance I wouldn't change a thing.
I touched on this last entry, but I really think I did a lot of growing up out there, and I really have had a lot to think about these last few months since I got back in terms of where I go from here, what I want from life and where I want to be and particularly what that would mean. To be honest, I don't really feel comfortable sharing some of the conclusions I've come to. On the other hand, I think that the fact I've been able to think about this stuff at all has shown me how much I've developed as a person thanks to my experiences on my year abroad. I guess the truth is that whenever you learn something new about yourself there are good sides and bad sides to that knowledge, and most importantly there are consequences to every choice.
So I guess this is the end. For now at least. If all my dreams come true and I'm really lucky to get the JET CIR position (I might be a little biased but I do believe I would be an excellent candidate), I figure this might get a sequel... So maybe not so much goodbye, but hopefully "see you again sometime soon.
Thank you everyone for reading this!
P.S. If you have been reading these posts please tell me sometime, either a comment here or facebook or just tell me in person, I'm always so happy to find out it's not just my Mum! ( Note to Mum: Although you're always a very appreciated!)
Friday, 7 January 2011
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Back in the UK - 3 Months On
So I promised I would definitely not do what I have in fact ended up doing, which was leaving this blog unfinished... sorry guys! I'm going to try to put this right now. So here I am, been back in the UK for 3 months now and finished my 1st semester of my (hopefully!) final year of uni. Since it's the beginning of a new year I just thought now would be an appropriate look over the most amazing year ever (last one) and get this finished off.
First up, arriving back in the UK wasn't such a bad thing really. It felt really nice to be back in some ways (seeing people again, eating cheese), all thought at the same time for a long time I had this really weird feeling like I was just "on holiday" in the UK and would be going back to Japan soon. Obviously this wasn't the case :-(
So, I thought it might be interesting to list a couple of the weird things that happened to me, silly mistakes I've caught myself doing and strange observations I've made as I've tried to readjust to the weird and wonderful place that is the UK
1) The UK is CHEAP!!!!!! I arrived back at Heathrow Airport and went to Caffe Nero for a coffee and a pastry. It cost me about £3.50. I actually said to the barista: "Is that all?"
2)I forgot how UK currency works... I literally was reduced to holding out a handful of coins and letting the shop assistant find them for me on a few occasions. Another time the sales assistant said £2.20 or something and I gave them £40 and asked "Is that enough?". This was obviously rather embarrassing...
3) The UK is kinda dirty... especially the bathrooms :-(
4) I have an embarrassing habit of bowing to people, especially lecturers when I say thank-you/ goodbye.
5) It took me a while to get used to being surrounded by people who all speak English... This let to a few cringe-moments where I would be telling a dodgy story a little too loudly like I'd been able to in Japan and all of a sudden everyone sitting round about would go very quiet... :-X
6) It took me about a month to get used to eating European food again... I spent about 5 weeks eating seeds, nuts, raisins and dried apricots and such like because I literally could not find anything I wanted to eat in shops... Japan definitely changed my tastes in food (well, not just food but those are other stories). I really miss rice... and noodles (ラーメン食いたい). Have developed a somewhat odd attachment to yoghurt and granola... I don't particularly care for pasta anymore. British Chocolate is far too sweet.
7) British TV has it's weird bits as well. I actually miss those Japanese food/chat-shows...
8) I get irrationally frustrated that my parents don't understand Japanese.
9) I've lost count of the number of people I knew before I went to Japan who don't recognise me anymore. Occasionally this comes in handy.
10) I miss rice and noodles everyday whenever I wanted them.
11) I miss Korean food. Luckily this is not impossible to come by here. The Korean Takeaway in Edinburgh needs to work on their チヂミ (I'm not sure if that just means make it more Japanese...) but otherwise is pretty good. The staff find it funny that I seem to be the only white person in Edinburgh that knows how to pronounce "jaepujaegh" or "doghbokgeh" semi-properly. I havn't had the heart to tell them I'm basically just ordering in Japanese (It seems to work just fine!!!)...
12) In contrast the Korean supermarket in Birmingham refuses to accept that yes, I really do want to buy that Kimuchi, and yes, I do like it.
13) Since I'm now doing my 3rd year classes, I'm in with what was the year-group below me in 2nd year. They're actually a really nice bunch! Anyway, since they didn't actually know who I was when I randomly appeared in their lectures in October, it turned out they just assumed I was an ERASMUS student, and started asking me where I was from in kinda slow, simple English which I thought was pretty funny. This got better when I found out about a month later that having introduced myself as "From Edinburgh and did a year-abroad in Japan", this had mutated into half the year group thinking "From Aberdeen and half-Japanese"... I was understandably more upset about the Aberdeen part... ;-P Do I really look Asian?????
Actually, I was pretty impressed they noticed it was Japanese I was speaking on phones etc, not just assuming Chinese...
14) I have caught myself using American English on occasion. I say "What's your major?" and "Cellphone". I blame Shin, Tony, Marina, David, Carlos, Andrew, Alek and Basim for this. Australian English has been mostly kept to a minimum. Thankfully.
That's most of the funny stuff that I can remember... To be honest, It's been easier to fit back in to life here than I expected. Not to say it's been easy... I really miss so many things and so many people, but I think the fact I've been so busy with 3rd year studies has actually helped... I've actually enjoyed this semester the most out of all my time in Birmingham. Oddly enough I think my Japanese has improved since I got back rather than forgetting it all...
First up, arriving back in the UK wasn't such a bad thing really. It felt really nice to be back in some ways (seeing people again, eating cheese), all thought at the same time for a long time I had this really weird feeling like I was just "on holiday" in the UK and would be going back to Japan soon. Obviously this wasn't the case :-(
So, I thought it might be interesting to list a couple of the weird things that happened to me, silly mistakes I've caught myself doing and strange observations I've made as I've tried to readjust to the weird and wonderful place that is the UK
1) The UK is CHEAP!!!!!! I arrived back at Heathrow Airport and went to Caffe Nero for a coffee and a pastry. It cost me about £3.50. I actually said to the barista: "Is that all?"
2)I forgot how UK currency works... I literally was reduced to holding out a handful of coins and letting the shop assistant find them for me on a few occasions. Another time the sales assistant said £2.20 or something and I gave them £40 and asked "Is that enough?". This was obviously rather embarrassing...
3) The UK is kinda dirty... especially the bathrooms :-(
4) I have an embarrassing habit of bowing to people, especially lecturers when I say thank-you/ goodbye.
5) It took me a while to get used to being surrounded by people who all speak English... This let to a few cringe-moments where I would be telling a dodgy story a little too loudly like I'd been able to in Japan and all of a sudden everyone sitting round about would go very quiet... :-X
6) It took me about a month to get used to eating European food again... I spent about 5 weeks eating seeds, nuts, raisins and dried apricots and such like because I literally could not find anything I wanted to eat in shops... Japan definitely changed my tastes in food (well, not just food but those are other stories). I really miss rice... and noodles (ラーメン食いたい). Have developed a somewhat odd attachment to yoghurt and granola... I don't particularly care for pasta anymore. British Chocolate is far too sweet.
7) British TV has it's weird bits as well. I actually miss those Japanese food/chat-shows...
8) I get irrationally frustrated that my parents don't understand Japanese.
9) I've lost count of the number of people I knew before I went to Japan who don't recognise me anymore. Occasionally this comes in handy.
10) I miss rice and noodles everyday whenever I wanted them.
11) I miss Korean food. Luckily this is not impossible to come by here. The Korean Takeaway in Edinburgh needs to work on their チヂミ (I'm not sure if that just means make it more Japanese...) but otherwise is pretty good. The staff find it funny that I seem to be the only white person in Edinburgh that knows how to pronounce "jaepujaegh" or "doghbokgeh" semi-properly. I havn't had the heart to tell them I'm basically just ordering in Japanese (It seems to work just fine!!!)...
12) In contrast the Korean supermarket in Birmingham refuses to accept that yes, I really do want to buy that Kimuchi, and yes, I do like it.
13) Since I'm now doing my 3rd year classes, I'm in with what was the year-group below me in 2nd year. They're actually a really nice bunch! Anyway, since they didn't actually know who I was when I randomly appeared in their lectures in October, it turned out they just assumed I was an ERASMUS student, and started asking me where I was from in kinda slow, simple English which I thought was pretty funny. This got better when I found out about a month later that having introduced myself as "From Edinburgh and did a year-abroad in Japan", this had mutated into half the year group thinking "From Aberdeen and half-Japanese"... I was understandably more upset about the Aberdeen part... ;-P Do I really look Asian?????
Actually, I was pretty impressed they noticed it was Japanese I was speaking on phones etc, not just assuming Chinese...
14) I have caught myself using American English on occasion. I say "What's your major?" and "Cellphone". I blame Shin, Tony, Marina, David, Carlos, Andrew, Alek and Basim for this. Australian English has been mostly kept to a minimum. Thankfully.
That's most of the funny stuff that I can remember... To be honest, It's been easier to fit back in to life here than I expected. Not to say it's been easy... I really miss so many things and so many people, but I think the fact I've been so busy with 3rd year studies has actually helped... I've actually enjoyed this semester the most out of all my time in Birmingham. Oddly enough I think my Japanese has improved since I got back rather than forgetting it all...
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