Ok. We're going to do a rewind. I'll start writing again after a long and not-so-mysterious, but tedious absence.
Let's start with what happened last April, shall we?
Highlights:
* My 1st spring!!!!! : )
* Ritsumeikan
* I-house
* Rits Orientation & Welcome dinner, I-house Welcome Party
* Places: Jumbo, Vesna, Book-off
* Mt. Daimonji hiking trip
* Hirosawa Pond
* Bike lessons HAHA
* Sightseeing around Kyoto
* Hirano jinja
* Hanami
Here we go.
Gaaah. I need some enthusiasm. Blandness, go away. Gaah, I don't feel giddy. I usually feel giddy about writing here, but not today. Anyway, let us continue...
APRIL
"I'M GOING TO JAPAN! Weeeeeh ~" (Rodriguez, 2011)
I applied for the exchange student program last July 2010. I had three options, actually.
1. South Korea
2. Japan
3. USA
Of course, it was Japan or nothing. I've always been interested in Japan and I've been dreaming of travelling to Japan (Tokyo, specifically. Yes, I wanted to study in Tokyo U yo.) since I was a kid. But I never really seriously studied Japanese. I did take a basic introductory class (learned Katakana and Hiragana), but I wasn't good/patient enough to continue studying Japanese.
It all started in the summer of 2010, I asked my professor, Ma'am Ria, about some scholarships. She then helped me and Jamu with the details and even wrote a recommendation letter for me. After heaps of CVs, essays, paperwork, and interviews, a year later, I finally got some results!
I got the
JASSO scholarship and was accepted at
Ritsumeikan University, Kinugasa Campus. I didn't pick Rits, my school did all the selection, but I'm very happy that I was assigned to Rits (will explain this later). I was actually very lucky because each year, there are a lot of students who apply for the exchange program (especially the one for Japan), and this year, only 5 students were chosen. All four of them were Linguistics students, majoring in Japanese. And I was the only one who wasn't fluent/wasn't majoring in Japanese. *happy dance yo*
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| After waiting for almost a year, I finally got accepted! : ) |
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| Yup, I brought my rubber ducky with me. I'm cool. No, not really. |
Let's skip the details about packing - that wasn't too exciting. It was exasperating, actually. Not very fun. I brought two suitcases with me, plus a big yellow backpack. I hate packing.
Airport:
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| It's my happy/sleepy face. |
My cousin who works at the airport also helped me. Thanks! : )
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| : ) |
It was my 1st time to fly alone. And also my 1st time to go abroad. Good times.
I sat next to a Filipina. I wasn't too sure if she was Filipina, so I asked her if she was (in Japanese hihi).
She was so nice! I talked to her for most of the flight (which was only 3 hours long) and when we got to Japan, she even helped me with everything. She walked with me and even waited for my MK shuttle to come. I was very lucky. Cheers to that!
I should probably get in touch with her, I still have her number somewhere. I didn't have a cellphone for a month, so I wasn't able to contact her. I should call her some time this summer.
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| Not bad, not bad at all. Or maybe I was hungry. Not bad. |
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| I'm in Japan! :D hoho |
I then rode an MK shuttle with five more people. There were two (noisy) Filipinas, two Japanese women, and a Japanese man with me. I didn't talk to the Filipinas because they seemed really busy with their own little world of gossip (the shuttle driver even asked them to keep their voices down a.k.a. shut up). The Japanese woman I sat next to was very fluent in Filipino! I even thought she was Filipino; it turns out that she has been working with many Filipinos and has been to the Philippines on several occasions for work. She even lent me her cellphone so I can call my mom and dad. Again, I was very lucky! : )
I arrived at I-house I at around 10pm. I was supposed to arrive at 9pm; I don't know what happened. My flight was on time, my shuttle was on time, everything was on time, but in the end, everything wasn't on time. Strange life. I was tired. I met the Yamazakis - they were very kind. I remember Yamazaki-san even gave me a can of coke haha. I was tired and my Japanese was really bad, so that entire scenario right there was soooooo messed up. I couldn't understand what they were saying. Then I met Shige, he carried my luggage. So Jeong was also there. I don't really remember much, I just remember Shige and Yamazaki-san making my bed HAHA. They were fixing my bedsheet. hahaha. So Jeong gave me a brief tour, but we just went to the lounge and I saw a couple of people. I don't really remember who, but I think it was the UBC people. I was looking for Lena because I talked to her via LJ before coming to Japan, but I didn't meet her until the next day.
Then I ate something from my bag, unpacked, organized a bit. Then went to bed.
The next morning, I met up with Shige to go to Rits together. I think people were shocked when I told them that I didn't know how to ride a bike *cue in depressing music* Aaaah, my non-biking days were the saddest days. haha.
So Shige and I walked to Rits together. We did this for a couple of days, then I memorized the way to school and started to walk on my own.
I enjoyed talking to Shige, it was always interesting to talk to him
1. My Japanese is bad. His english is actually ok, so we get to understand each other.
2. He talks really fast. He's funny.
I remember that we basically talked about the things I love about Japan
(Murakami, food, culture, movies, anime, music, etc)
I also got lost on my way to Rits - the 1st time I walked alone. Haha.
Next entry: Ritsumeikan University
Bye for now
