Last week I basically went to class every day and studied a lot. I had basketball practice, but otherwise I did not do too much. On Friday, my friend Zach and I had lunch with some Japanese friends and then we headed to Akihabara to explore. Akihabara is the famous "Electronic District" of Japan. They have lots of shops selling electronics, but Akihabara is mostly famous for its sub-culture that revolves around Japanese cartoon books and tv shows (manga and anime). We walked around the city and checked out the shops in the area. We also saw a lot of people dressed up as maids or other characters from different Japanese cartoons which was very interesting. Arcade games are very popular in Japan, so we checked out a 5 story arcade and played our way through the floors. The most fun games were music related, but they had classic arcade and shooting games as well. The people in there were very serious gamers though so you have to be careful not to disturb them. We hung out in Akihabara for a couple hours then went home for more studying.
This was a drum game I played with my friend Zach. You drum along with the game and you have to interact with special dances. You can see yourself on screen and they put special features on your picture. It was pretty cool.
On Saturday, I studied during the day. At night we had a barbecue at my dorm that was a nice study break. My friend John and I made Chicken and Veggie Skewers that were delicious. I also tried some different meat and fish that some of the Japanese residents made.
BBQ
On Sunday I spent the day studying. Monday was my Japanese Midterm. It was tough but I did very well since I studied a lot. I pretty much spent the rest of the week studying as well, since I have three midterms Monday June 9. Wednesday I attended a Japanese career panel though. I heard some American and British speakers discuss working in Japan and the pros and cons of their companies. It was extremely informative since I may decide to work for a Japanese company in the future. I learned a lot about the structural and managerial differences between Western and Japanese companies and how best to go about handling those differences.
It's Saturday night now and I have spent all weekend studying and I will likely continue that until Monday when I have my 3 exams. It's been tough but I have something to look forward to. My dad is coming Tuesday June 10 to hang out with me in Japan for 6 days! I have the whole week planned out and we are going to have the best time. I just have to get through exams first! Luckily, my dad will be here during his birthday AND Father's Day! I am so excited to see him and show him Japan! We're going to do all the tourist stuff in Tokyo so I should have a way more entertaining blog for you next time. Sorry this one is kind of short and boring, but my last two weeks have been pretty boring! I'm looking forward to freedom after these exams though.
To wrap up, I am going to discuss some things I wish I would have known before I came to Japan. This may be helpful for people deciding to study abroad in Japan in the future.
First: Prepare to commute a lot. I feel like I spend most of my Japanese life on trains going to and from places. It gets frustrating and you should just be prepared for it.
Second: Bring basic medical supplies with you to Japan. I have trouble finding Japanese equivalents for basic medical supplies. Like I got a cut the other day and wanted some anti-bacterial stuff to put on it so it wouldn't get infected but I couldn't find anything like that. I've also dealt with colds here a couple of times and finding cold remedies has been quite a chore. It would be better to bring a decent supply of Advil, Neosporin, Cold Meds, and other basic medical supplies with you when you come to Japan.
Third: Be prepared for a general lack of space. In Japan, space is very limited so you have to just get used to everything being smaller. Your room, your bed, desks in class, etc. I'm not that tall, but I still find that Japan is often built for people smaller than me. My friends that are well over 6 feet have an even tougher time.
Fourth: You're going to be treated differently. In Japan, I am very obviously a foreigner and I get treated differently because of it. Often I am treated better, like I'm a celebrity. Sometimes though, I get looks of distaste just for being different. People assume I am doing something wrong or stupid just because I am a foreigner. It can be frustrating.
On the whole, Japan is amazing and I love it here. These are a few things I wish I had known before I got here though.
I will post again soon and it will be filled with much more interesting stuff because I won't spend all of my time studying!
Sayoonara for now!
-A.J.
No comments:
Post a Comment