Four months in Kagoshima and...
- I can no longer smell the distinct smell of Kagoshima I used to sense when I first arrived (don't worry, it's a good smell)
- I can find my way around Tenmonkan (downtown) by instinct (okay, just sometimes)
- I no longer find the prices ridiculously expensive (now that's scary)
- some of my friends are coming towards the end of their stay (sniff)
- I now have four students!
- I can now understand announcements (on trains, etc.)... although not completely
- I've finally seen snow!
- I still don't understand why the father (Otosan) in the Softbank commercial is a dog
- I'm starting to write more about what I feel instead of what I see (things don't stand out like they used to)
- the email inbox on my phone has reached capacity several times and I had to delete some of the older emails (I sent the emails to my gmail for backup before I deleted them)
- I am starting to dread leaving Japan (which is about six months away)
- I am starting to dread having to go back to a life without email on my phone :P
- I still can't pluck up the courage to apply for a Japanese-speaking job
- I'm starting to slurp my noodles (hehe)
- I've tried natto (fermented beans) and don't like it
- I'm starting to miss food in Taiwan and the Philippines :(
- I now drink alcohol (don't worry, I'm not becoming an alcoholic)
- I now have a favorite drink: Kahlua and milk!
- I'm missing Crunchyroll (a site where one can watch free movies and TV shows) cuz the site is blocked in Japan... T_T
- I now know that "Kagoshima is warm" is a myth
- I now cook my meals instead of eating out (most of the time)
- I'm starting to think that the food I cook is pretty tasty
- pulling all-nighters no longer feel impossible (either for Karaoke or work)
- I have several more publications under my belt
- I have a better understanding of what a haiku is
- I've been to izakayas (Japanese taverns) several times
- I now have countless print club photo stickers
- I have ran out of poses when taking pictures at the print club (photo sticker booth)
- I have stopped keeping tabs on how much money I spend each day (sad but true)
- I still forget sometimes that cars drive on the left
- I think Canada should grant me a citizenship because I'm now a permanent fixture with the Canada Project (just kidding, hehe)
- I now wear skirts!
- I now have around 50 names in my address book (on my phone)
- paying for the rent doesn't hurt as much as it did when I first arrived
- this is the most socially active I've been in all my life
- we are now finishing up the semester at IUK
- I no longer feel that the classes here are slow-paced
- I'm getting used to 1.5-hour class periods (instead of the 3-hour class periods we have at NTNU)
- Sorting the trash is no longer such a stressful chore
- my Leo Palace apartment is starting to feel like home
- I'm getting used to living alone in such a spacious setting
- I've met the Kagoshima city mayor face to face twice
- I still haven't been to Sakurajima (Kagoshima's very own active volcano)
- I now understand the fun of going out in large groups
- having three children no longer look so scary
- the clouds and the night sky in Kagoshima continue to look really beautiful
- I no longer yearn so much for city life
- my Japanese is still just halfway ok
- I wanna be as well-rounded as many of the Japanese friends I met :D
- I now have over 100 entries on my blog
- I joined my first Japanese speech contest (and lost...)
- I've done my first volunteer work and enjoyed it!
I'm sure I missed a lot of stuff, but there you go, a sum of the four months I've been here.
I'm looking forward to the rest of my stay and hope that time would stop passing by so quickly.
- I can no longer smell the distinct smell of Kagoshima I used to sense when I first arrived (don't worry, it's a good smell)
- I can find my way around Tenmonkan (downtown) by instinct (okay, just sometimes)
- I no longer find the prices ridiculously expensive (now that's scary)
- some of my friends are coming towards the end of their stay (sniff)
- I now have four students!
- I can now understand announcements (on trains, etc.)... although not completely
- I've finally seen snow!
- I still don't understand why the father (Otosan) in the Softbank commercial is a dog
- I'm starting to write more about what I feel instead of what I see (things don't stand out like they used to)
- the email inbox on my phone has reached capacity several times and I had to delete some of the older emails (I sent the emails to my gmail for backup before I deleted them)
- I am starting to dread leaving Japan (which is about six months away)
- I am starting to dread having to go back to a life without email on my phone :P
- I still can't pluck up the courage to apply for a Japanese-speaking job
- I'm starting to slurp my noodles (hehe)
- I've tried natto (fermented beans) and don't like it
- I'm starting to miss food in Taiwan and the Philippines :(
- I now drink alcohol (don't worry, I'm not becoming an alcoholic)
- I now have a favorite drink: Kahlua and milk!
- I'm missing Crunchyroll (a site where one can watch free movies and TV shows) cuz the site is blocked in Japan... T_T
- I now know that "Kagoshima is warm" is a myth
- I now cook my meals instead of eating out (most of the time)
- I'm starting to think that the food I cook is pretty tasty
- pulling all-nighters no longer feel impossible (either for Karaoke or work)
- I have several more publications under my belt
- I have a better understanding of what a haiku is
- I've been to izakayas (Japanese taverns) several times
- I now have countless print club photo stickers
- I have ran out of poses when taking pictures at the print club (photo sticker booth)
- I have stopped keeping tabs on how much money I spend each day (sad but true)
- I still forget sometimes that cars drive on the left
- I think Canada should grant me a citizenship because I'm now a permanent fixture with the Canada Project (just kidding, hehe)
- I now wear skirts!
- I now have around 50 names in my address book (on my phone)
- paying for the rent doesn't hurt as much as it did when I first arrived
- this is the most socially active I've been in all my life
- we are now finishing up the semester at IUK
- I no longer feel that the classes here are slow-paced
- I'm getting used to 1.5-hour class periods (instead of the 3-hour class periods we have at NTNU)
- Sorting the trash is no longer such a stressful chore
- my Leo Palace apartment is starting to feel like home
- I'm getting used to living alone in such a spacious setting
- I've met the Kagoshima city mayor face to face twice
- I still haven't been to Sakurajima (Kagoshima's very own active volcano)
- I now understand the fun of going out in large groups
- having three children no longer look so scary
- the clouds and the night sky in Kagoshima continue to look really beautiful
- I no longer yearn so much for city life
- my Japanese is still just halfway ok
- I wanna be as well-rounded as many of the Japanese friends I met :D
- I now have over 100 entries on my blog
- I joined my first Japanese speech contest (and lost...)
- I've done my first volunteer work and enjoyed it!
I'm sure I missed a lot of stuff, but there you go, a sum of the four months I've been here.
I'm looking forward to the rest of my stay and hope that time would stop passing by so quickly.
11 comments:
You really seem to have a much richer life there than you had in Taiwan. Maybe the same experiences are available for you there if you look at Taiwan with a fresh eye and open yourself up for new possibilities.
Mudslides are delicious, aren't they?
i'm thinking too that i have been too busy with work and school to really enjoy taiwan, and partly cuz i was kinda forced to go to taiwan in the first place, i had been resisting it from the very beginning (maybe also because i'm jaded :P)
btw, you're really fast today :D
what mudslides?
Mudslides are a mixture of Kahlua and milk. You can actually buy pre-mixed bottles.
I checked your blog first thing after finishing my morning coffee.
cool! now i know another name for Kahlua + milk
i really like it!
morning coffee huh? i'm ready to go to sleep cuz it's 2am here now :p
ttyl
Sleep Well.
Don't worry, we will go to Sakurajima together sometime soon!! :) How's the 31/1 for you? ;)
the 31st sounds great! tho, faiz will be gone by then and tienchi will be in tokyo... Orz
Gah, I don't think we can make it before Faiz leaves, since this is his last weekend. You might want to bring him on the weekdays or something before he leaves if he wants to go.
Ack, I forgot about Tienchi being in Tokyo...but I don't think she was that keen on cycling around Sakurajima anyway? Maybe we can do the cycling on 31/1, and go again for random fun later. ;)
donican:
so on a whim we went to sakurajima today with a japanese friend of ours :D
it was like, finally! LOL
we'll talk about further trips to sakurajima on saturday then?
will you go to the daytime event on saturday?
I'm just a random person who's researching 桜島, but I think crunchyroll is banned in Japan because Japanese production companies were very pissed at having their movies and dorama free on the site. All dorama are removed from cr atm (which makes me sad, I really wanted to watch Attack No.1 yesterday)
hi jackie,
you should try mysoju.com
it works like crunchyroll although the quality is a bit worse
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