I seem to make quite a career in Japan. I don't think I wrote anything about my last experience as an assistant language teacher some time in november I think, and now that I have done that a second time (yesterday), I guess it's time to catch up with that.~♥

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A Happy New Year to Everyone!


Seeing as I'm probably the first timezone-wise, "Guten Rutsch!" if you're of the superstitious kind (and understand German).:)

( Hatsumode! )


P.S. I came home at not quite three in the morning, and there was already some poor guy on a motorcycle delivering the first load of New Year's greeting cards. Could you ever imagine that in Europe? I know I can't.

Finally HOLIDAAAAYS!~♥

And boy did I wait for that to happen. I guess it wasn't that much physical exhaustion but more of inner stress, but I have felt so totally worn out for the last couple of weeks. Always sleepy, drained, you name it. But now I have three weeks to sleep as much as I want and try to find new sources of energy, and I am so looking forward to that.

Well, guess what I did today, on my first holiday? Sleeping in? Not exactly. Actually, I did wake up at 6 (like usual), forced myself out of the house at about 7:45 (like usual...) and went to university (...).
No really, I was aware that I don't have any classes today. But as our campus happens to be about five to ten minutes walking distance to the imperial palace and today is the Tennô's birthday, also known as the only(?) day where the "common" folk (included every single gaijin that happens to be in Japan, it seemed) is allowed inside of the enclosure...

As a warning: I don't claim any artistic value for these pictures, as most of them have been shot while walking and a bunch of people pressing around me. Not exactly the best conditions for taking perfect pictures, but I want to show them anyway for you to have a clue about what it was like.

( Uhm, enjoy? )


So much for the pictures. Other than that, we had fantastic weather for today. Freezing cold, my fingers went totally numb with my camera still in hands in the end, but all in all sunny and none of the clouds the announced in the weather forecast in view at all.

Bakumyna and I ended our morning with a quick lunch at Loteria (one of the japanese concurrents of MacDonalds) before we proceeded to burn all those calories with an overly enthusiastic match of Taiko drums in our local Arcade Game center, our new guilty pleasure of choice.:D AND I WON!!!:DDD

Also, when you go to the restroom and suddenly hear someone talking to you in the cabin although you know that you are all alone, it may just be the toilet that is speaking to you. Oh Japa~an... *facepalm*


Next task: Post a short entry about the koto club, the training in case of a fire/earthquake including simulators, find an affordable onsen for our holiday with chochajin beginning of january :D ...and figure out what I want to cook/eat for christmas tomorrow. Which is surprisingly difficult, I still have no clue at all except that I don't want this to be instant ramen. *facepalm*

I'm used to being told that my Japanese is very good by now.
Actually, you can't, as a foreigner, have a conversation with any Japanese without that at some point, they will compliment you on how good you speak their language. Usually at the beginning of the conversation, in extreme cases even when you barely stuttered a simple "hello" with a heavy accent and bad pronunciation. It became that much of a cliché that you even see that kind of scenes with the exact same sentence in movies whenever a Japanese speaking foreigner is involved. Except that no Japanese seems to be aware that most foreigners who have had that kind of experience for a few times don't take them seriously on that compliment anymore, especially when you don't hear it that often the better your Japanese actually gets.

However, this is the first time that a Japanese told me in their usual appreciative and very surprised manner that I'm indeed speaking fluently Japanese. And I barely even had the time to stutter my name in that particular case, maybe four words all in all, probably barely audible against the background noises. Now that was a variation I've never ever stumbled across before, because seriously, "fluent", me?

Not that I'm taking this seriously, mind you, but still, I love my Japanese!:D It's quite annoying when you hear the same compliment with the same wording over and over again for no good reason at all, but when I think of most Germans or French, they'd rather rant about how bad your pronunciation is or just how much you suck at grammar if they care to try to understand at all.
But Japanese? I often feel slightly mocked with that compliment when I know how bad I worded what I really wanted to say, but I clearly remember my first trip to Japan when I was nothing but a beginner in that language and just how good it felt to be praised for the effort I made. It's positive, and that's all what matters when you ignore the little voice that tells you that they praise you for nothing because they don't expect any foreigners to master Japanese at all, but hey, I like my happy little pink bubble at times.

Uhhh, I'd better not comment on how long I haven't updated anymore. *embarrassed cough*

Today was the Christmas party of the residence here.
In a nutshell? I'm... not too sure whether I shall laugh... or bang my head against the wall. In the meanwhile, I'm trying to do both. Simultaneously.

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"Autrefois sa mère lui racontait de longues histoires où il y avait des anges aux grandes ailes de lumière, qui planaient dans le ciel au-dessus de la ville, et descendaient pour porter secours à ceux qui en avaient besoin, et elle disait qu'on savait que l'ange était là quand on sentait sur son cou un passage de vent, rapide et léger comme un souffle qui vous fait frissonner."
("David" by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio)

Remember the time when I used to curse the Japanese language with it's impossibly long sentences and many many determinants?
I failed to remember at that time that not only the German language can be very guilty of this phenomenon too, but French can obviously be as well. And now I'm sitting here, trying to translate this mess of a text into proper Japanese... RRRAAAAAHHH, curse upon thou Le Clézio!
On the other hand, I have to admit that his writing style is so beautiful it makes you cry. Claire was the one I think who mentioned how sad it was to have to go to Japan first in order to realize how beautiful the French language can be, and while I have more or less always been aware of that, I still wholeheartedly agreed with that comment.

And by the way, it's a good thing that I wasted my time writing this completely gratuitous ranting entry, because I haven't noticed before googling his wikipedia entry that he won the Nobel Prize in Literature this year.Oo; I guess I should really watch/read more news once again, having no more excuses with a new internet connection in my room and such... And it seems like I'm even getting a new tv very soon, or at least Hatsuhara-san, the one in charge of us, already contacted Séverine and me twice about her currently ordering new tvs for both of us, YAY!

[/pointless rant]

I don't know whether you know the situation or not, when you are talking in a language that is not your own and you usually suck at, and suddenly, out of nowhere, you're feeling your lips moving, hearing your voice talking, but that can't be possibly you talking that well. And your mind freezes in silent amazement, while your lips still go on talking on their own, and it sounds just great! Almost like you knew what you were talking about.

It's an amazing feeling, I can tell you. A bit disturbing as well, but who am I to complain? Okay, it wasn't that big of a conversation, I was just asking for a particular book in a bookstore, but I rarely managed to talk that fast and precisely without stuttering before, while I was even able to understand almost everything the bookseller replied, like I were totally used to talking Japanese.

Isn't it great?

Well, you may rest assured, that short period of euphoria didn't last for long. When I entered the small restaurant I'm sometimes eating at (fast, extremely cheap, nearest proximity, three very persuasive arguments, aren't they?) because I was too tired to do anything on my own once at home, I ordered a butadon (rice dish with pork slices on top) for take away.

They made me repeat my order thrice. I even showed them the picture on the menu to be sure. I told them it was a take away. They came with a steaming bowl of rice on a tray, along with a cup of hot tea instead.

Unfortunately, I forced myself hard not to show my foul mood all of a sudden, because I told myself that it had to have been me who wasn't clear enough, who used the wrong vocabulary etc., thus it had to be my fault and not theirs. And even though I was quite ready at that point to screw all logic and allow my nasty self to come out and play, I tried hard for my best smile when I sat down to eat. It wouldn't be that good an idea to be "that ill-mannered, arrogant foreigner" after all, not here, not now, not ever, and especially not in a restaurant I want to be able to go to another time... *sigh*

I really wanted to go outside and stroll a little through my own district today in order to search for cheap (secondhand) books for my master's thesis today. But then, it started raining just when I decided to get up... Of course. We haven't seen any rain in a while, so it's nice to have some rain for a change.[/dripping sarcasm]
Anyway, then instead, I'll just stick around a little more in my comfy pajamas and upload those pictures from my room. I made some a while ago, but now I finally achieved to put away all that stuff lying around, and even my giant suitcase is now safely hidden in my cupboard! That alone merits new pictures and a nice meal as a reward, don'tcha think so?<3
Well, I haven't managed to clean up everything, but this'll do for now for the pics.

( Click here for more pictures... )

So there won't be a big entry with pictures after all tonight, as I didn't know before that I was going to have to do some research concerning one seminary of my french uni now. But somehow I feel bad always promising things and never being able to do what I wanted to, so instead, have some miserable random thoughts of my humble self. Because heck, what is an internet connection in your very room good for if not for some spontaneous and totally unneeded jabbering on your blog while slurping your late dinner that are those overcooked instant miso ramen? *g*

Today, for some reason, one of our tutor graced us with a short presentation of the japanese "dating pattern". And while we, after an awkward moment of silence, began to stammer, as a reply to how western people start to date, about presents, long talks and overall growing intimacy which might (or might not) be followed by a confession any time later, according to our tutor (as far as I did understand), the Japanese start with a confession and begin to date when the response to the confession was "positive".
So either I did misunderstand some part of her explanation, or our tutor doesn't know all about dating in Japan yet... or those countless clichéd confession scenes in shôjo (girls') manga were a lot closer to reality than I would ever have thought possible. And for some reason the mental image of grown-ups sheepishly handing over their pink rabu-rabu (read: love love) letters to their love interest, like seen in oh so many teenage romance manga, scares me a lot more than it should. *coughs* Claire (the other one from my university in Paris) mumbled something about that being the method that children would use where we come from, to which our tutor only laughed at the cultural difference...
Seriously, I'm not sure how to classify that one. On the one hand, she is still very young (or looks very young, don't ask me how old she actually really is), but she doesn't exactly look like the typical romance-crazy airhead either... Any experience/knowledge on that matter? Is it just me who has a hard time picturing grown-ups in the stereotype teenage "I like you, do you want to go out with me?"-pattern, cultural differences or not...? *iz confuzzled*


On an almost-unrelated-but-then-still-frighteningly-matching side-note, why do I notice only now that I'm done eating that the only ramen bowl I own (not bought by me, mind you) has a phoenix couple pattern on the ground, including the charm sinogram for double fortune (also known as "good fortune in romantic relationships")? *facepalm*

I'M ONLIIIINE!!!<333 (Vol.II)

Oh my gaawd, finally! I don't even want to know for how long I've been talking with this guy on the phone to install internet in my room and how many problems I faced ("Blank boxes? Yes, I do see the two blank boxes, but why on earth won't they accept neither my user ID nor my password???"), but finally, finally I have my own internet access!
And yes, I did say that I didn't want my own connection, no-no, never. But when I asked for a phone line in my room (also known as the "parents' hot line"~♥), it almost seemed stupid not to have an internet connection in my room as well, especially as the advantages of the infamous internet lounge of the hall are rather limited as I got to know.
Very limited indeed. Not even mentioning the hard chairs and small tables and shaky LAN cables here, I was a bit frustrated at how lame the connection was at times. But the most frustrating part was that my beautiful plan to come in contact with some of the japanese girls here that way was a total failure, and more than that, few were the occasions when my existence seemed to be more than made of thin air for them, whether it was for holding a door open or a simple "hello", let alone for more. And no, don't worry, not all the Japanese are like that... but it seems like that special type that lives in its own little bubble, untouchable for the rest of the world (including other Japanese) has built a nest here.
Just our luck. But well, at least now I don't have to balance my whole computer equipment plus homework stuff plus Pocky sticks plus other obligatory working material two floors up through the rain whenever I have to access internet anymore...
Plus, I'm very sorry to hang that much behind for the email stuff, I'll admit that I haven't even checked my emails for at least a week now, not to mention that when I did, I didn't have the time at all to reply to most of them. This is my homework for today and the rest of the week, updating my journal and catching up with comments and emails. *coughs*

By the way, if anyone wants my new fixed or mobile phone number or my mobile phone email address, just ask and I'll send you a personal message or email. (Chochajiiiin, I'll be sending you a PM right away!<3):)


Ok, that's all for now, I have to rush and go for some groceries before my motivation lets me down for today, but the next entry might come up this evening, maybe even with a few photos!

Ja, mata ne...~♥

I... wanted to sit down today, have a nice drink, and start typing up a few entries I wanted to post very badly this week. Then I wanted to post a lot few pictures I made this week. But then, I also wanted to clean up my room today, iron my laundry I piled up in two weeks, unearth a bakery that sells more than the usual ultra-soft toast-bread to eat with an omelet (instead of the nth spaghetti menu since my arrival)... and do most of my homework for my classes.

Instead, I was idly staying in or on my bed and at least finished that Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney game on my Nintendo DS that had kept me occupied for way too much time. Finally, I can relax now and concentrate on more important stuff from now on, like my kanji. Or my grammar. And no, I can't help this sarcastic tone, why do you ask?


Well, for not making this entry a totally gratuitous one, I'll squee a bit about my new baby instead!~♥ Say, isn't it sweet? How long have I been dreaming of a neat camera to take pictures of Paris, my surroundings, Japan, you name it, and then I finally finally returned home on thursday, after the longest day of classes, sandwiched on the bank of the Tôkyô metro on almost-but-not-quite-yet rush hour, clinging at my baby against my chest in it's brown Bic Camera paper bag. The people must have thought that this crazy gaijin was on some kind of trip, with that stupid smile tackered on my face, but at least my next-door neighbor and friend Claire seemed more than understanding when I attacked her happily that evening.

Speaking of coincidences, we discovered that Claire and me shared the exact same dream when coming to Japan:

First, buy a really good camera.

Second, charge for the legendary World Outside and terrorize poor Japan with this camera as best as we can!

The only slight difference we have so far is that I'm primarily interested in taking photos of landscapes (helloooo waking up before sunrise in order to use the best sunlight at dusk and dawn, lucky me that at least dawn is at about 5 p.m. by this time of the year), Claire likes macros (small items like flowers) best. Now I just need to choose a good and light tripod(?) so we can start our bigger photo safaris through Japan...

And yes, of course I did take quite a lot of photos since thursday. And yes, I did want to figure out how to upload those many many photos on my computer with this new software from Canon, but, uhm, my hard-drive is almost bursting with unneeded stuff and I'd need to tidy that up first and, uhm, well, I didn't do anything of that kind yet. Yeah, I'm lame, and rest assured, I'm the first one to know that. *sigh*

But as a teaser, have this photo of my room that I took with my old (sweet, but crappy) camera (compared to my new one): I have more of them, but as I took the exact same spots with my new camera as well and 2 million pixels vs. 12 million pixels are that exactly, 2,000,000 vs. 12,000,000 after all, I guess it's more interesting for you and me to wait for the better pictures.:) That, or I'm just searching for more excuses for being lazy today, you choose. And, uh, sorry for displaying my laundry like that, although the messy room on the better pictures might be even more embarrassing after all...

( Clickety click! )

Next topic: the hall of residence I'm currently living in.

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[Almost Edit of Doom: I have been writing this entry for one and a half hour. One and a half hour! And then, when I wanted to finally post it, I accidentally clicked on some of the nerdy options here and lo, everything was away, replaced by some stupid html line, and the text not in the cache nor everywhere, simply GONE! Fortunately, it was just a minute ago that I opened the preview window, and there it was, in all it's integrity, minus the lj-cut, ready copy'n'pasta!~♥ *cries tears of joy*

My first post is now long overdue, and there is in theory so much to tell... that I feel almost tempted to stop right here right now before this single post is turning into a lengthy novel. Well, anyway, I have to start somewhere, so lets just begin with a cheery "Yôkoso! Japan" like those many signs that plastered my way out of Narita Airport, Tôkyô, Japan.

I arrived in Tôkyô on september 16th, 10 days earlier, and while for some, Japan is complete unknown and exciting and stuff, so everything might seem like it's worth reporting in every single detail, but for me, I rather have a hard time feeling excited at all.
Not that I haven't been enjoying those 10 past days, oh no, quite the contrary. Except for the days when I decided that my little apartment needed some serious clean-up (like... this morning), I have been going out most of the times, either for just exploring the shopping arcade with all those tiny little shops in my neighborhood, or for a walk (including, yes, it's true, several shopping tours) through Shinjuku or other districts in Tôkyô. I just don't feel really excited at all. I haven't been particularly thrilled when I finally stepped out of the plane, nor when I was riding the bus from Narita Airport to Shinjuku (except when you count that feeling of content relief that I decided to send my 26kg heavy suitcase per delivery service to my new home and thus didn't have to carry that one around anymore), nor when I arrived. Oh, I was very happy! It was just that it rather felt like coming home than to start a great adventure...

Well, I finally sort of realized that I was in Japan (in Japan. In JAPAN, for God's sake!!!) when I had my first real "tourist"-day with zanagi on tuesday (on whatever official holiday that one was) where we headed to Odaiba (a place I didn't know yet), including a giant ferris-wheel, a beach and unfortunately no ice-cream. Furthermore a boat-tour on the Sumida river to Asakusa, some obligatory sightseeing at the Kaminarimon (one of the most famous places in Tôkyô) and a nice evening sitting at a typical Izakaya (some sort of bar) in Asakusa, my favorite district in Tôkyô like ever!♥

Other than that... I got to know that I am a very deep and healthy sleeper as I happily slept through a taifun (with an open window, mind you!)... and my very first real earthquake. Well, not so heavy that any stuff dropped from my shelves, but still a clearly noticeable one, as it lasted probably about 30 seconds and woke up most people on that day... except me. Damn! But oh well, I have one year to spend on this island and will very likely have my full share of earthquakes at the end, and except for my bruised ego when everybody mocked me, no damage seemed to be done.
(By the way, I might not have noticed a slightly heavier earthquake yet, but sometimes I feel like I'm sort of seasick or something like that. And I'm sure that I don't imagine things when I feel like the earth is slightly shaking at these times, especially when one friend remarked the exact same thing at the same time, sitting next to me. So the earth is often slightly shaking after all... Fascinating!

I could write about a lot of other things now, like my residence, the other exchange students, my first days in university... but I think I'll better write a new entry for that one, this might get a bit lengthy after all. Just a short notice before I head off (one of my friend informed me that she was booooored, while others already headed for Ikebukuro and wanted us to meet them there): We five "Gaijins" seem to get along really well for which I'm so very grateful, Tôkyô is great (no surprise there) although the weather could have been a tad better on a few days if you ask me, and the women's only university is a women's only university. Which should probably mostly speak for itself. And listening to Japanese all day long is quite exhausting. But we're getting better anyway, even if I still probably talk like a two-years old at times...