Finally back!
Kategori: Japan
I am finally back on track (almost, it's monday today so) on writing my blog entries! This time it will be a bit different since I can't really remember what I've done throughout the period of time I havn't written anything.
First off though I would like to apologize that I havn't put anything up for 3 weeks or so, this month has been fairly hectic when it has come to school, and laziness has also been involved.
Secondly, this entry will be a bit different. In the previous entries I have structured it up with dates and what I have done on those days, but this time it will just be me rambling about pretty much everything that I have done and encountered, so it will be more like me rambling about everything rather than telling you about what I have done on specific days. I hope you will enjoy reading it either way and please leave a comment on what you think about it and what should be changed for your reading experience!
Secondly, this entry will be a bit different. In the previous entries I have structured it up with dates and what I have done on those days, but this time it will just be me rambling about pretty much everything that I have done and encountered, so it will be more like me rambling about everything rather than telling you about what I have done on specific days. I hope you will enjoy reading it either way and please leave a comment on what you think about it and what should be changed for your reading experience!
So yeah, the reason as I mentioned was that it has been hectic with school, and that was because the tests for this 3 months term were coming up, so I had (for once) been studying a lot for it. Surprisingly enough, I managed to climb my way up to J2! I thought it would be more difficult than it was to be honest, but judging from my learning pace and also me not knowing anything about the language before I got here, I felt like I was at a disadvantage. One of my teachers was actually fairly surprised when she stopped me in the hallway after the test to say that; "When you got here 3 months ago, you sat together with me, struggling with both Hiragana and Katakana (2 of the alphabets), but now you have grown a lot more and you are able to understand and conversate during class." It made me feel really good about myself for once, when she was really really happy to see me advance this much in a 3 month period. Hearing her tell me that gives me a lot more motivation to keep on going with the language (not that I was thinking of quitting) and study harder!
My attendance at class and the test result (100% attendance, woo!)
Studied really hard for the test. Kind of.
But if you really know me, you would know that I havn't just been studying (I don't even think you would have to know me to figure that part out). Of course I have been studying hard, but that also had to be celebrated somehow!
One of many things I have been doing during this period of time was going to Alcatraz E.R.together with Steve, Julia, Matilda and Melanie. Alcatraz E.R is located in Shibuya ( http://alcatraz-er.net/#_=_ ) and it has the concept of being a mental hospital/prison. We got greeted by personnel in nurse costumes who asked us who was the sickest person in our company, so naturally we pointed at Matilda, and she got diagnosed with being mentally unstable/crazy, so she had to pull a mannequins penis for us to go to our cells. I'm surprised if you're still reading after that sentence, because there's definitely more of that.
When we got to our cell, they threw us inside and closed the bars and made us order drinks. The whole menu was weird, so there wasn't really anything you knew what to get. You just had to order something and then go with the flow. So I did! I ordered a drink which then was served in a small sippy cup (a small cup that children drink out of), and of course when the "nurse" came with it, she had to serve it to me by feeding me with it. As any sane person you get weirded out, but when you are in Japan, you just have to go with the flow, as I mentioned.
During our stay, we ordered more of those weird drinks and also got served 9 different dishes, where I think 2/9 were actually good. So if any of you who reads this has any plans of going to Alcatraz, you might want to skip out on the food deal that we paid for.
Apart from the food, we had a really good time getting creeped out by naked dancing clowns, screaming people, force fed with drinks and much more!
When we got to our cell, they threw us inside and closed the bars and made us order drinks. The whole menu was weird, so there wasn't really anything you knew what to get. You just had to order something and then go with the flow. So I did! I ordered a drink which then was served in a small sippy cup (a small cup that children drink out of), and of course when the "nurse" came with it, she had to serve it to me by feeding me with it. As any sane person you get weirded out, but when you are in Japan, you just have to go with the flow, as I mentioned.
During our stay, we ordered more of those weird drinks and also got served 9 different dishes, where I think 2/9 were actually good. So if any of you who reads this has any plans of going to Alcatraz, you might want to skip out on the food deal that we paid for.
Apart from the food, we had a really good time getting creeped out by naked dancing clowns, screaming people, force fed with drinks and much more!
Just got locked in
My vague attempt on smiling together with Matilda (left) and Melanie (right) and also beautiful art behind us
A bit too happy for someone who just got locked inside a cell
Steve seems to fit in though
I higly suggest you go to this restaurant for the experience, because it is very unique!
Apart from going to that crazy place, I have mostly spent my time together with friends at "normal" bars around Tokyo, so there is not much to say about those places. There has been alcohol, food, and talking with various interesting people, either japanese or people from all over the world. It's truly awesome to hear their stories, what they do here, what they've done back in their country etc.
A green beer in celebration of St. Patricks Day
Some fried chicken and beer!
A few days before the test, me and Antonio got invited to Gwyn's apartment which is located in Kichijoji, where he lives with his girlfriend, to celebrate his birthday and also study for the upcoming test. We studied together and Gwyn and Alice cooked and served us alcohol, which was highly appreciated from them, and the food was also really delicious! We also opened the bottle of Absolut Vodka, which he got as a birthday gift.
Studies and beer-drinking. Good combination
Delicious food!
After the tests were done, the next day we went out to a pub (kind of) together with one of our teachers, to celebrate that the tests were over and we had all passed! It was a really beautiful place and we had a really good time together as a class. The pub also brewed the beer they had on their own, so it was really unique and interesting. Since most of the beers on tap in Japan are basically all the same, it was nice to taste something else for once!
After the visit to the pub, some of the company went home, including our teacher, but the rest of us wanted to hang out more during the night. Gwyn knew a place which was fairly close to the pub we were at, so we let him lead the way there so we could continue drinking alcohol together!
After the visit to the pub, some of the company went home, including our teacher, but the rest of us wanted to hang out more during the night. Gwyn knew a place which was fairly close to the pub we were at, so we let him lead the way there so we could continue drinking alcohol together!
Some hours passed and before we knew it we were really drunk, so we decided to stumble our way home instead since we had to come to school the next day as well to listen to the principal speaking about some of the graduates etc.
Class J1B (1/2)
Class J1B (2/2)
Kim (left), Laura (middle) and Julia (right)
Antonio (left) and Gwyn's girlfriend Alice (right)
Me (left) and Nakajima Sensei (right)
The class got together to buy her a boquette of flowers, which Idit and TingTing picked out!
"The Brewery" (1/2)
"The Brewery" (2/2)
Some beer tasting action!
A "few" beers later!
"Slush-sake" at the other bar!
Now when I have catched up on time and I am actually on track, yesterday I spent my day in Akihabara together with Steve and Julia. On sundays, all the driving roads around the main area are closed off, so you can walk away freely. We ate kebab at our regular place (it's so good) and also bought some candy! Steve tried to find a new SIM-card for his phone in Akihabara, you'd figure they would have it since the other name for this town is basically "Electric Town", but sadly, he did not manage to find what he was looking for. So we headed to Shibuya with our bags of candy and sat down and had a beer before going home for the day!
Tokyo bananas (sponge cakes with banana flavor, I think..?) and Sake KitKat (Getting drunk on candy, only in Japan)
As you can see, I am still alive and well, and once again I apologize for my absence for this long! Now that I have spring break, I will probably be able to put up new things every sunday, depending on if I have enough pictures and material for me to put up on the blog! Hope all of you readers are as happy as I am when I am over here and I hope you will check out the blog next sunday! (Even though it's monday today)
またこんど!
Mamma säger:
Jätterolig o intressant läsning...och mycket o fina bilder ;) Ja jösses vad mycket du hunnit uppleva redan. Och Grattis igen till det avklarade provet :D Så himla bra jobbat "Bobbe" <3 Är Nakajima Sensei läraren du haft dessa 3 mån?