It has been a while - But TOKYO ROCKS !!

I　haven't written in a while..

Some updates>

The school festival during 30th of October to 2 November was pretty fun. The whole campus was filled with food stands where various clubs and circles such as volleyball circle etc sold food. We just walked around and ate and watched dance shows and stuff. I met one of Alex's volleyball members, Ryotaro. I have been having lunch and talking to him a lot recently, he has even been to the Seminar House where I made an approach at making kimchi nabe! He liked it so apparently i did a good job ^^

The presentation on Sweden went very well. We taught the audience about the gingerbread wish and talked about Midsummer, Christmas and Easter.

The Halloween went pretty good as well. However, the amount of guests that were supposed to be there, were not, which was kind of irritating since that made me only being able to invite Takami!

I helped clean up and decorate and made David and Jonas' makeup. David was a mimer, and Jonas was the Joker. They looked great !!

We had a beer pong tournament, where me and Aika where in the same team, Aika was blue and dressed in black, literally blue !! Her face and hands were painted in blue. I was a pumpkin ;) We lost the match despite Aika's four in a row score !

Team Jonas and David were up in the final against team Eddie and Joe. Team E,J ended up winning !

After the party people headed out, I actually stayed and fixed my resume which I sended to a couple of embassys.

I got a B+ on the Video reaction paper and a C on the manga exam !!

I went to Tokyo on the 6-9th of November !! On the evening of the 6th, I headed for Osaka to meet up with ASUMI !!! Long time no see, not since June 2007 actually ! We had dinner at a yakitori place and talked. She helped me buy a bus ticket for Tokyo; night bus which had extra comfortably seats with blankets that left at midnight and arrived early next morning at Tokyo station. It cost me about 7000 yen, so a lot cheaper than taking the Shinkansen train !

I arrived early morning on Friday in Tokyo, where I had breakfast and waited for Yuki to come meet me. He finally came at 10.30 and we headed for Akihabara, which is a famous anime district where they have girls in maid dresses serving manga nerds tea and biscuits. I bought a I love Akiba shirt and 2 mini Sasuke and Naruto figures for my keitai !! Yatta, and yes I am a nerd I KNOW ;) It was Yuki's first time to be there so he was quite impressed by it all. We played an arcade game where I beat his ass mohaha. But i bought him a Dragon Ball figure to cheer him up ;)

After Akihabara we headed for Ueno which has a national museum. The musem had many buildings so we chose 2 of them, one contained arts and crafts from all of Asia, including rugs and pots from IRAN !! Poor Yuki had a cold so by the end of the day his eyes were red and he was loosing his voice. I really appreciated that he took me around though, ありがとう！！

Headed to meet up with Haruka, Maya and Masashi for izakaya. We had a lot of fun and Haruka and Masashi were surprised over how good our Japanese had become. I stayed at Haruka's place where her overly protective dog Betty wanted to attack me every 20 minutes, but it was ok lol. Haruka's cute sister and cool brother said shyly hello to me everyday. And her mom cooked me some tasty food, so I felt really rewarded !

Saturday me and Haruka headed for Harajuku for some shopping and continued on to Shibuya !

Harajuku had some sick shopping and there was a massive line for the newly opened H&M ! I bought some cheap boots, pumps, dresses etc. Unfortunately I couldnt't spot anyone dressed as a anime character, unfortunately,.....

Shibuya square with the infamous 109 building was insane !! I have never seen so many people cross a crossroad at the same time ! The 109 building clerks were insane, so much makeup and extravagant hairdos ! I bought a really cute coat here, the buttons are heartshaped, this really brought out the girl in me ;)

Sunday, first we headed for Asakusa shrine, where we viewed a market and an ancient shrine where we did some praying ! By this time it was getting really cold, and I started to feel a bit weird. After Azakusa, it was time for rich business district Ginza !! We visited the Swarowski crystal store and saw the Salvatore Ferragamo and other stores. Ginza's main street was so clean

By the afternoon when we met up with Junya for lunch, I realized I was having a fever !!

I don't know how I finished the Vietnamese lunch but after that, we had to cancel the trip to Tokyo tower and the Lockup restaurant, where customers are chained to their tables like a prison. Instead we went to a mangakissa, aka manga cafe where I could sleep and Haruka read manga. I took the night bus back to Osaka and arrived at Hirakata at about 8.30.

But, Tokyo was amazing, despite the crowd, I could easily live there !!

I decided not to go to Korea this upcoming weekend, Im going to save the money and see what happens next semester. Im concerned about my internship spot, I really hope I get one !

Monday we had a meeting about the alcohol policy project and it seemed like some people were bothered by the beer pong games and the loud hip hop music. Oh well, you can't please all can you. Most of us felt that Mark Tracy should have informed us about how he wanted the drinking to be conducted, but he felt that it would have affected the result of the project. Guinea pig I tell you .

It's gotten way colder. The wind is chillier here, feels like ice to your face, thank god for my coat !

I thought I had lost my room key so after stressing around campus looking for it, I finally found it !! Yokatta..

I don't know why, but sometimes if you are given something and then it's taken from you, and you really appreciated it, you end up chasing after it, not wanting to let other things have a chance in your life. And I do believe that there is a difference in how girls and guys look upon affection. But I only have 1 month left here, so I have to enjoy and make the best of it, and I am <3

Big Bang released their new Korean album, and I listen it to pieces. And I have grown a big affection for G Dragon, even though Eddie mocks his name lol.

Here is a pic of him, in his glory ;) JYA !!

More midterms, fall approaching and HALLOWEEN!!

After a whole week of midterms, last week finally ended, with a couple of oversleepings here and there, whoops...
I bought Big Bang´s new album !! NUMBER 1, it is really good, I have fallen in love with "Make Love". I showed oppa the CD after a week of ignoring him due to emotional overload. Tension released and we went outside to prepare him for his upcoming interview, he went to Korea for the weekend.

Friday me and Wes went to this second hand store and we ended up buying some stuff. I bought a lot ! I bought a 100 yen bag, and currently the yen has gone up to 8 kr but still ! I bought about 5 sweaters and a dress that were all between 100 yen and 400 yen, it was insane and in such good quality too ! We headed back, for dinner with Evan at Roro who had cheap and awesome yakiniku, the meat just melted in my mouth!
Then it was time for some karaoke, with the intention of only singing Japanese songs; me, Eddie, Alex, Yu Xiao and Joe did some Home Made Kazoku, M Flo, Monkey Magic, Asian Kung Fu Generation and much more. There were loads of people from the Seminar houses in the other rooms as well, as always ! I got convinced to go to Club Mono which is this tiny bar/nightclub. We danced a bit, but it was too crowded so I went home.

Saturday morning me and Takami headed for Osaka and some green tea ceremony. Since I had done it before, I knew what to expect. Then we went to Umeda, to a store called Loft that has such awesome accessories, home decors etc that I just want to get me an apartment so I can start buying things from there to decorate my home !!
I bought a present for Aika, boots holders. Basically a pair of stuffed animals shaped like a sausage to stick inside boots to keep them from falling over. Such an awesome invention!
I even found my Halloween costume, a pumpkin dress !!
Back home, to shower and get dressed for Aika´s birthday outing. We went to Yotsubashi where we went to this club where her friend was a DJ. We had the club to ourselves; we were about 30 people and had food and drinks and danced. The dancefloor even had a strip pole.. LOL'

After that, time for some GHELYOON ! I don´t care if Americans call it Hooka, it´s ghelyoon. The café we went to is own by Iranians, called Hafez Café. I had some dough; Persian yoghurt drink and some kabab! It was soooo good, I had been missing Persian food. The 2 owners had been living in Japan for over 15 years so their Japanese was quite good. I envy them, they said they live peaceful, happy lives here.
Sanzhar tried to convince them that Japan can´t be home, but he is from Kazakstan so it isn´t the same thing at all...

After the ghelyoon it was time to go home and crash into bed. The next day I had to study for my manga exam and make meatballs for Aika with Jonas. We had Mischa roll the balls; and he became a rolling expert :P. Luke peeled the potatoes; excellent assistents. The brown gravy looked more like a creme colored cream sauce but the meatballs were soooo good!

Monday was my exam in manga and anime, I think I did pretty good! I had a walk with Alex and met his cute girlfriend Yuka, we turned good friends immediately!

Tuesday we got our exams back from week of hell! I did pretty good in both of them, B level ! I met Tae Hoon in the hallway, he grabbed my hand and said hi which made me both happy and confused at the same time. I decided to talk to him later that night.
Went to Kuzuha mall for Korean food; bibbimbap; stirfried rice with meat and vegetables.

Tae Hoon told me about the 2 hour interview where he had to translate from Korean to English and vice versa and to write about why he desired the job so badly ! And then, he told me he got the job !!! Congrats! He met the CEO of the company who said he would get a 5year contract. So he is probably leaving soon... I hugged him and refused to let go, at first he was ok with it but then he had to go study for an exam so he finally left.

Wednesday afternoon I rewatched three movies for the video reaction paper for Political Economy class and later that evening me and Joel bought some ingredients for Korean dish ddeokbokki; Stirfried ricecake with gochujang sauce.
It´s made from rice cake, fish cake, and hot Korean pepper sauce. Tae Hoon came downstairs to help us cook, and he kept complaining why I didn´t help, well I didn´t really know what to do since I never done the recipe before so I kept clowning around with Tomo and Bill and Eddie in the kitchen, and listening to Andy´s IPOD. Tae Hoon was really concentrated about making the dish but he took it too seriously because the rice cake melted and it turned all sticky.
Takumi and Taiga were there as well to eat. Tae Hoon didn´t eat, he left to go some errands.
To be honest, I didn´t really like it that much. It was too sticky and Joel said it wasn´t supposed to be like that and Tae Hoon said he would make the real one next time (whatever that means).
I didn´t like oppa´s behaviour, he could´t even bother having dinner with us. He later told me that his exam is in Japanese linguistics and that its kind of difficult. I get frustrated over the fact that my Japanese isn´t as good as his or that he doesn´t understand my English sometimes. I feel left out from his life so i feel lonely.
I sat down to write my 5 page double spaced paper, and after a short break while talking to Willy about life, the 3 pages I had been writing were deleted ! :( So I had to rewrite it. I went to school later today to hand it in, and saw the Japanese busy preparing for this weekend´s school festival. I watched the Halloween costume contest where Ryo was dressed up as a swan and ended up winning his cathegory.
Me, Sebastian, Rebecca and Elin prepared for the upcoming Swedish presentation on Saturday afternoon; about 30 min of Sweden !

Tomorrow I have kanji quiz and I have to do rehearsal for the Swedish presentation. Since the school festival is going on, there will be some browsing on that as well. Then head back home, put on the halloween costume and get ready for party !! The party starts at 7pm and we have 40 guests on a VIP guestlist. Me and Luke Filipos bought some decorations and we purchased some snacks as well ! Time to enjoy ! I have´t been able to enjoy because of oppa, he made me very sad ever since we confessed , and that sucks. I just wanna be happy again :(

Why certain things change and others don´t .. And MIDTERMS WEEK

Last week was random in many ways.


My grandmother passed away Tuesday 7th after many years of cancer. It was expected though, she was becoming worse. I felt sad that I couldn´t do anything to comfort my family, but dad went to LA so daijobu.


I met Tae Hoon oppa a lot. He made plans everyday and it was fun, a change in my life.

I had an exam in Political Economy; and I was very nervous about it. But I got my exam back and it was a B ! Very proud of myself, I was 2 points away from an A.

On the 8th I watched My Sassy Girl with Tae Hoon; it´s a very popular Korean movie about a girl who shows off a stronge image of herself to a boy who wants to be by her side to discover what is hiding under that strong act of hers.
I also sent in an application for internship in Korea; hopefully I will get it! Wish me luck ;)

9th I went to Kyoto with Takkun, for some second hand shopping in Hanjiro. Hanjiro in Kyoto has a very cool design. When you walk through the wooden gate entrance you enter a hall in white wooden paint, and there are two old white bathtubs on the right side, filled with green water and goldfish. Then you walk up chandelier stairs with birdcages and you find tons of shopping ! Both second hand and new ones. I bought a supercool red leather bag, a bordeaux coloured hat, a dress, cardie and much more. May I mention that the bag only cost me 2000 yen :P
Takkun showed me another funky place; Chicago which specializes in 70´s and 80´s second hand shopping. I found a wicked 70´s dress for about 200 sek!

After some gyudon we headed off to buy Takkun a bag he had been wanting to buy, looked really cool on him!

Coming back to Hirakata I went to izakaya with Tae Hoon and his two friends Mike and Kenji. Since they spoke in Kansai Ben boys´s slang I felt kinda left out. Afterwards me and Tae Hoon saw the Dark knight, latest Batman movie that was really good.

Sunday 10th, I woke up at 9, showered and biked to Hirakata station with Maki to visit her hairsalon. Aiko, the hairstylist, had been to London to study so she spoke English.
I was there from 11 until 4pm for a straightperm, dye and cut treatment. I got beverages, cookies and massage, and I had 4 people who circulated working on my hair. The colour was lighter that I thought it would be but now I love it, and my hair is still straight even after showering; awesome ! The process was so long that I fell asleep at times.
1. Put 1st straightening treatment in, wait. Wash off
2. Straight hair out with iron
3. 2nd treatment put in. Wait, wash off.
4. Blowdry hair that is now superstraight.
5. Put dying treatment in, wait, wash off. Put treatment in, wait, wash off.
6. Dry hair and cut.
7.FINISHED !

Everybody who saw my hair loved it, so that felt good !

After the hairsalon I went to a shopping mall near Osaka with Tomokun, Masayo and Madoka. We found boots for Tomokun and some cool green pants at Uniqlo and I finally purchased a pair of black kneehigh boots for myself.
Dinner and head back home !

Last week was pretty intense, I had to study but I felt kind off depressed over some things, so I was very distray. But I decided to work hard to solve the situation.

Friday 17th I met up with Miki and Yusuke in Kyoto for dinner. Came back home and went to sleep, very sleepy.

Saturday 18th a group of us went to Kyoto to cheer for Maki´s playoff lacrosse game. Jonas, Mischa, Luke and Bill taped M A K I on their chests but some parents made them put their shirts back on :S booo..
Kansai Gaidai girls led by 2-0 but ended up loosing by 4-3, so unfortunate. Maki was crying afterwards, but she really did a great job !
Dinner at a nabe restaurant, I had Kimchi nabe (Nabe is a hot pot with meat and vegetables, eaten during colder seasons).
Saw the movie The Prestige, very good movie about two competing illusionists. Bill has so many movies in his cd case so people are always having movie nights in the dining hall.

Sunday 19th was brunch day at Sandoro, awesome food as always. After that me Chikako and Masayo went to Kuzuha mall to buy Bill slippers from Uniqlo.
It was my brother´s birthday as well, but he wasn´t around when I called so :
AIDIN baka HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

Yesterday was Bill´s birthday, me and Aika made him a cake and bought him a card with a beer bottle on it that makes the sound of beer being poured up ;)
The cake was really good I might add !

I talked to Tae Hoon about the future, he is applying for jobs in Korea and Japan, and is heading for a job interview in Seoul this upcoming weekend.
I got a lot wiser after the talk.

Today I had my oral exam, extremely nervous because I wanted to do good. I have been learning so much grammar lately that it is getting confusing.
It´s MIDTERMS this week so everybody is studying, we have about 4 exams in reading, speaking and writing Japanese so people are busy.

Im studying some Korean on the side, Joel taught me some, he has studied it in the States:
Jeo neun Aida imnida ! [Chou noon Aida eemunida]

This weekend is Aika´s birthday, Tomo kun´s "friend" Ayano is coming for dinner ( practising what to cook for her), and Im off to have a green tea ceremony on Saturday with Takami.
And I have a cold ! But the weather is warm here, still which makes me happy.

I felt really happy and relieved today, I can do anything !!!!

Naega baram pyeodo neoneun jeoldae pijima BABY...
naneun neoreul ijeodo neon nareul itjima LADY......
gakkeum naega yeollagi eopgo, sureul masyeodo...
hoksi naega dareun eotteon yeojawajamsi, nuneul matchwodo neon naman barabwa.

Even if I forget you, don´t you forget me... Look only at me..
friendship does not cover up for lost love.. I had to break free, emptiness has it´s price and sometimes roads part, deciding which path to go is all about strength that one has to obtain to be able to mature.
I understand you have to do this, but I don´t have to wait for you because I have to be happy. No more tears.

Neon naman barabwa ...

Big Bang concert anyone ?

6th October

There is a Korean living in my dorm, he is kind of a mystery boy, because he is never around. He pops up occasionally at night. Name: Tae Hoon. He is majoring in Japanese; has studied the language for 7 years which makes him insanely good at it!
I had a conversation with him 2 days ago and when I told him I listen to Korean songs, he took out his Ipod and was very impressed with my knowledge ^^ We had a new song session again yesterday and I could sing along in most songs on my mp3 player which made him puzzled and he promised to teach me Korean. We sat up talking this and that until 6 in the morning and I went to sleep and slept in the next day. I had sushi dinner with Tae Hoon, Chikako and Tae Hoon oppa´s friend Kenji (oppa is Korean for big brother).

4th of October, I went to Kyoto with Tomo kun and Wes. We went to the manga museum and after that we had some lunch at a cool café that had yakiniku and steak. After that we strolled around Kyoto´s Sanjo area and then Wes headed back home to have dinner with his home stay family. There are talks of him moving back to Seminar house 4, because he is bored at times at his home stay in Kyobashi, Osaka.
Anyways, me and Tomo kun were on a mission; getting Tomo kun a makeover. A couple of days ago me and Aika were surprised that Tomo kun never had any cologne before; we had Michele spray some Aqua di Gió on him. The reason for this makeover is that my dear otooto kun (little brother) has found a cutie pie ;) .
So, we headed to find him a cologne, which was easier said than done. We found more girl´s perfume and makeup shops and we almost gave up, when we found a skin care shop that had small samples of their cologne for sale. So we bought one for Tomo kun. After that we headed to Uniqlo for shopping ! Uniqlo has cheap and awesome clothes. Shirts, skirts, black pants, business gear, casual wear etc. I bought a purple dress hoodie, and then I helped Tomo pick out his new style. He choose a bordeaux red parka and I found black pants for him, he choose a pair with pockets on the side and they made him look very tall and slim. And then I ran and got him a grey cardigan which combined with a scarf looked very chic ! The guys in the other dressing rooms where looking at me with amazement while I ran back and forth between racks and the dressing room.
So after content shopping we found a restaurant and had a set dinner of ramen, fried rice, gyoza and then we headed back home, exhausted. We went to Starbucks for some coffee, I had matcha frappucino, and the cute barista was working again, the one who might have a girlfriend who is Madoka´s friend. He ran out of cream so while he excused himself with a cute smile, I was all "Oh no problem whatsoever, please take your time!" :) Tomo kun just laughed at me and went "baka" (idiot). He gave me extra amount of cream and then we headed home.

I was supposed to go to a flea market yesterday, but it was cancelled due to rain so me and Chikako headed back to bed, since it was 9 in the morning. We heard that a couple of people had fallen of their bikes which they have been riding drunk of course. They were taken to the hospital for treatment. Everyone had gone the park; a park which apparentely is very beautiful and a perfect spot for drinking. We even have a Facebook group for it.

These past days have been sunny and warm but now it´s back to rain, but it´s still warm, 25-26 degrees and rain this week. Lars is coming from Sweden so it´s gonna be nice seeing him.

30th of September I had dinner with Jonas and Miki and Miki´s friend in Osaka, we went to karaoke in Namba and to a izakaya after that. I had a stressful moment when I arrived there, because I ran out of battery on my keitai (cellphone). Yup I finally bought one, about 700 SEK for a prepaid one, with a 3 month card and free emailing for 70 SEK per month. I have already sent about 100 emails since I got it. In Japan one sends emails instead of sms, so you can contact someone from your computer if you want to.
My keitai is black, from Softbank and I have decorated it with rhine stones, AIDA of course and lots of purikura stickers.
Anyways, there I was in Namba station with no clue of where Miki could be, so I ran to a phone booth to call her, but I couldn´t get a tone, so I turned and looked around and there she stood with Jonas. Thank God !
The karaoke place was brought to us by a bouncer who took us there. It looked like something from the future with floors similar to ones in a shower with white tiles and the rooms where red and grey; with red furniture. The bathroom was even cooler, the sink was a see through one !

Anyways the izakaya was cool as well, we took off our shoes and sat down in a sunken down booth on the floor. The food was good as usual, but Jonas made the mistake of ordering a Bloody Mary and the taste of tomato was too weird for him to finish it.
I met Jonas on the 26th alongside Team Kansai Gaidai; Azusa, Sachiko, Miki, Yuko, Saori and Tomomi, we had fika and it was very fun. Jonas had been surfing and stuff for 2 weeks in Kyoto and alongside the coast. He loved Japan of course !
After the fika I met up with my speaking partner, Takami to have dinner, I made yakitori and rice and miso soup for her, she liked it ^^.

I have been to yakiniku as well, it is actually a Korean dish. It´s meat barbecued on the table and eaten with rice, very good ! I had it with Koshin and Madoka. We had an all-you-can-eat meal and left the place very contented.

Yesterday when I woke up, I biked with Jonas, Mischa and Luke (US one) to Royal Host, a diner opposite KFC to have lunch. We had a set lunch which was bruschetta or soup, a sallad, and pizza or spaghetti and dessert of choice included, about 120 SEK ! When me and Jonas told the others that it would probably cost twice as much in Sweden, their jaws where wide open.
After lunch, the guys bought some KFC to go and we headed back in immense rain! I hate rain !!
I got cleaned up and took the bus to go meet Tomo kun and Takumi down in Hirakata shi to find new shoes for them. We didn´t manage to find anything nice; they wanted pointy boots and we only found dark sneakers and business shoes. There are about 10 girls´ shoe shops but it´s a bit harder on the guy department. I managed to find a 1200 yen dress at second hand so it wasn´t a total waste of time anyways ;) .
Tomo kun joked about us going to Starbucks and me being all shy and dumb to Takumi so Takumi had us go there again. But cutie boy wasn´t working unfortunately hehe.

Tomo kun wanted to find a way to talk to his favorite girl, so I offered to help; as in having him email her about me wanting to have Japanese friends so why don´t we have lunch together. It took him about 15 minutes to write it but it turned out good, she is up for it !

I bought a set of Shiseido skincare products by the way. Shiseido is the world´s oldest skincare brand and it´s Japanese. The lady who helped us gave each of us a foundation gift and a mascara gift as thanks for my generous shopping. There was even a lottery; in which I got 2 free scarfs :)

I have been feeling lately that Im back in highschool. Because I have classes everyday and lunch in the cafeteria. After lunch, time is spent browsing people from the staircase between McDonalds and the cafeteria (If I didn´t mention this, we have a Mc on campus, you pick out your burgers yourself and pay by the counter).
One day when Mischa and I were browsing the campus, 2 girls came up to him to take pictures with him and after that another pair of random girls started talking to him while we sat on the stairs. I am not that fortunate on the guy department; Japanese guys just stare! And sometimes you can be as lucky as to have a group of guys staring at you together.
Whoever said Japanese people are shy should reconsider the word shy. They can be found staring at you so much that you put your head down almost in shame. Usually someone who stares at you turns away their head when caught staring but not Japanese people :).

This week I have an exam on Thursday and the weekend probably includes IKEA with Takami, Chikako and others, Kyoto second hand exploration with Takkun, maybe Osaka with Tomo kun and Takumi and maybe some other sight seeings. We have Monday off again; this time it´s Health and Sports Day.
I might meet Lars and the others for izakaya or something. They are gonna go out for dinner tomorrow at a nabe restaurant. Nabe is a hotpot dish which I adore but I can´t because of the exam.
I am planning a trip to Tokyo soon, probably around the 7-9 of November, and Korea around the 20-24th of November. Im gonna stay at Haruka´s place and meet Masashi, Yuki, Nozomi, Eiko and Daiki.
Halloween is coming up as well, so there is a planning of a party at SH4. Me and Bill had this idea of having Tomo kun be Michael Jackson since he can do the moonwalk, and then we are gonna practice the Thriller. Ii desu ne?

Im gonna meet Miki and Yusuke for dinner soon as well, maybe even Kento.
I haven´t meet Asumi or Ayane or Mio yet. Neither have I been able to meet Keiko and Yu. And I have promised Masako to go to Fukouka. Lots to do. Im also busy this week with my applications for my upcoming internship, Ganbaru yo !

I haven´t been homesick yet, however a couple of days ago I was really craving Swedish candy, especially licorice and that made me really homesick. But I really find Japan interesting and hope to stay here more. Or anywhere in Asia in spring.

DBSK have released a new album, with head song Mirotic spinning in my head. And Big Bang have a new English album for release in Japan on the 22nd and a upcoming concert in Osaka on the 28th. If I get tickets I will drag Tae Hoon with me, he likes Big Bang but dislikes DBSK (even though he admitted some songs to be good). Im hoping to go to Home Made Kazoku´s concert on 19 December in Osaka with Eddie, if we get tickets that is.

OYASUMI !

Osaka shopping MO !!

Last week I had 2 vocabulary quizzes which went pretty good. My speaking test went well aswell; I got up one notch, to SP2F, Writing however... Down to 2A, but it´s all good, I don´t mind at all !
What else happened last week, well busy with classes at daytime, chilling out in the evening.

We have a MO group !! It all started with Jonas learning hiragana where the example of も was do you want some mo´ ? And then it all escalated to the mo ink and Mo-fia ;)
Mo, mo, mo , mo mo mo !! /kanye west Jesus walks.

My negotiation class went well, we learn many interesting stuff, it´s just to bad that

Friday was karaoke night, and there were sooo many people there that we almost suggested Otoosan to start a club and get entrance fees from guests :p
I booked a room at Big Wave thanks to Koshin and about 50 or so people headed for karaoke ! It was lots of fun. I spoke to a Japanese guy who is interested in going to Växjö university, yaaay !

Everybody was running in between rooms and mingling, the whole thing ended up with 2 people not paying for themselves, confusion. Poor Chin san was under pressure, but when we asked the 18-year-old, he was all smiles and said it is a fun job. MAJIDE ?!

Saturday, Aika and Hiroki had their graduation. I met up with Hiroki for lunch, he was still in a sort of a shock that I was actually in Japan :P We talked a lot, and his friend Masashi joined us as well, asking weird stuff ;)
Aika was very pretty in her dress, me, Madoka and Ayako made a surprise dinner, with 3 cake rolls, it was very delicious and Aika was very happy. The evening was spent watching a movie and just relaxing.
Sunday morning I headed to Hirakata station to meet up with Masaki, my homevisit partner, he took me to Nara; which was Tokyo´s former capital. We went to Nara park, where tame deers walked around and got fed. There was a buddhist museum which depicted the pilgrimage roads of the 33 buddhist trail temples. It was very interesting. There was a lot of rain pouring down, so it was good we got inside in time :) Afterwards I did some shopping and then we had dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant; Capricciosa. We had a set dinner; which consisted of a big bowl of Caesar salad, a bowl of pasta of choice, a big pizza and drinks. Total price about 2000 yen, roughly 100 SEK. Thank you Masaki !
After that I took the train(s) back all by myself, I am very proud of that ! You have to change 3 trains to get back to Hirakata so I memorized the way back.

Monday 22nd
Classes, came home and studied a bit, then me, Masayo and Alex went to Kappa sushi ! Kappa sushi had the whole Kaiten sushi concept and we had sushi and dessert for about 40 SEK each, and I was full by that time ;)
Headed back and saw 10000BC with Aika and Tomo kun, and after the movie we goofed around with Chikako and did some roleplay ^^. What is your best seductive posture ?

Thuesday 23rd
Holiday, which meant going to OSAKA !! Me, Jonas aka Kapibara san, David aka Chichai Bear san, Aika, Ayako, Imane, Luke and Chikako went to Namba and Shinsaibashi for shopping !!
I got a 1000 SEK Zara beige golden coloured trench which I am absolutely in love with ! I found matching pumps for about 200 SEK. I also got 2 cool tshirts; one at second hand hot spot Hanjiro, and a cool Ghostbusters at I love NY.
Lunch at the Zara building, amazing Chinese restaurant with a slightly different system of buffet. You basically ordered everything by pushing the button and the staff came running with the dishes. We actually wanted to go to Dessert Paradise, but it was full ( all you can eat cake !), and Brazilian all you can eat was closed for siesta.
David bought a tshirt at Bathing Ape, yup BAPE !!! The decor was somewhat odd, it looked like a shower room, and upstairs was more lounge comfy. I wanted to snap a photo of a shirt for Aidin, but I was denied because of copyright. We even went to the Evisu store, where they were just about to paint stripes on a new pair of denims ;)
David found the CA4LA hat store, so many wonderful, expensive hats, definitely have to get one ! He bought one of course !
We even saw the Nike id Store where you can design your own custom made sneaker.

The fashion here in Japan is very special: Girls usually wear high heals as in thigh high boots or pumps with shorts or skirts, and knitcaps who are really popular here. Another thing that is popular is Indian boots, fur vests, black vests with white longsleeve on boys and overalls ! And checked knitted prints. So there you go, outlook on upcoming trends !

Me and the Japanese girls finished the night at a café for some coffee and chatting and came back on the 10pm train.

Off to bed, class tomorrow !
Oyasumi !!! and OSAKA RULES !!

Weekend over, back to schoooool

Well, no fullmoon party either.. Why ? Because after googling up some pics with Chikako, the one that started at midnight seemed sort of boring; monks in a line carrying candles and just walking.. So, me, Ryo, Tomokun, Chikako and Todd headed out to rent a movie. The place we got to was just insanely cheap : 50 YEN per movie/music cd and you keep it for 7 days !!!! Gobstruck.... They even had all Naruto seasons, and any other anime, Korean drama, American series etc that you can imagine... Unfortunately no English subs...
We got Identity and Silent Hill and I found all of Home Made Kazoku´s albums to get home and copy. We got some snacks at 7/11 and headed home for movie night !!!
I finally got my room sorted out as well, papers are in neat order at my desk, and my clothes are sorted out!

Monday 15th
Woke up at 11am, got dressed and headed out, Takkun´s parents picked me up and took me to Takkun´s tiny apato for lunch. We had meat and a delicious potatoe salad, which Tomokun´s mom had made as well, but it contained apples as well.
The potatoe salad contains boiled potatoes, ham, mayo, cucumber and hardboiled eggs! So freaking delicious !!
Takkun has a model´s wardrobe, with vintage coats and shirts, a great sense for fashion. He promised to show me some cool second hand stores that are in Kyoto ! The kid has such a thick hair, I think it´s 3 times the average person, yokatta, but he is gonna cut it to shoulder length which I think suits him more though. He has a beautiful girlfriend, Yui who lives in Tokyo, they have been dating since highschool!
Headed back home to study, took a so called powernap that lasted 3 hours, woke up at 6pm, got something to eat and then I tried to study some for my review test. Tomokun was studying for his TOEFL exam, so we ended up studying together, but instead we just started talking about Japanese history, culture etc. Todd, Eddie and Chikako joined our convo that lasted until 4am !
Off to sleep !

Thuesday 16th
Test at 10, went pretty well I think, Speaking and Writing was troublesome with the kanjis again, but Im studying hard at it!
Lunch with Viktor and Sebastian with fun topics of why Japanese girls walk with their toes pointed inwards while wearing high heels.
Political economy class was very interesting, we discussed East Timor and it´s future procedures and then me, Sabrina and Yuji prepared for our expert panel which is on Thursday, where we have to discuss Washingtong consesus and a chapter in our book for about 15-20 minutes in front of the class. It is an active discussion!
Met Masayo in the hallway and headed to the basketball/football/freesbee court where Aika, Ayako, Alex, Mischa, Tomokun and miss Pineapple san Madoka were playing freesbee, and some cool Japanese guys were attempting football in the gazing sun !
There is one very kakkoii boy among the ryuugakusei students ;). It was pure entertainment watching the football match I have to say !
After the freesbee, me and Masayo decided to finally make an attempt at making cheese cake, I had promised her for days and days ! Headed to Fresco with her, Tomokun and Ayako on her funky moped to get the ingredients.
Back to the dorms, where we started making dinner, and baking cheese cake. Everyone got curious about our cheese cake, and the only problem was that we didn´t have anything to bake it in, so I rode with Ayako to the 100yen shop to get a couple of tiny baking tins. Everyone was getting impatient about the cheese cake. Even Koshin, who came to visit. I decided to bake 4 of the cheese cakes in the oven, and put 1 in the freezer.
After dinner and many minutes of waiting, we finally had our cheesecakes ! And it was a success !! Everyone who tried them loved them, YATTA !! The one that was put directly into the freezer turned out to have a icecreamy kind of flavour. I noticed we used a bit too many biscuit crums but it was all good !!
Finally watched the Silent Hill movie with Tomokun, and it was creepy but not in the horror sense but in the "strange movie" sense....
Off to bed, I have a vocabulary quiz tomorrow, manga class and then the resultats of that freaking Friday negotiation will be revealed, yikes !
I got my computer back, finally ! So there will be pics up, probably tomorrow, be patient !!

Love from Seminar House 4 ;)

crazy days

I have been soooo busy this past week. We have classes everyday, and some start at 9am. Lunch is usually around 11 or 12 and then I have afternoon classes. And HOMEWORK ! It feels like highschool all over again.
I have been thinking of dropping one class because it is a bit too many classes. However, I like all my classes: Speaking Japanese, Reading and Writing Japanese, Japanese popular culture and media; (about anime, manga and tv drama), Political economies in East Asia (very interesting, about political and economical situations in countries such as East Timor, South Korea, China, Japan and so on), Negotiation.
My negotiation class this Friday was about us doing pair work negotiations, I was a company who sold motor vehicle pistons and my partner was a company who wanted to buy pistons. We each got our instructions and had about 25 minutes to prepare for it. Then we set up a meeting somewhere on campus for the negotiation. I had a hard time getting my cheap partner to buy the pistons for the price I wanted him to and he complained about our pistons´ quality having been bad in previous sales.
So when we finally settled, he told me wanted us switching papers and reading eachothers instructions. I GOT SCAMMED ! His company wanted to buy pistons from us at any price, and they were desperate ! I was too kind ! We handed in the paper and I decided that I have to continue this course just to improve my character integrity !!! Revenge time !

My Speaking Japanese seems good, but Im struggling with our new kanjis, I have to study harder !

People here get drunk all week long. So when I wanted to do something fun on Friday, most people were already hungover from the other night. So me and Sachiko went to a izakaya, drank cocktails and umeshu and ate delicious food. We called Koshin up who came and joined us. Later we went to the Ring, which is an entertainment complex where you pay an amount of money and then do karaoke, play pool, whatever. Free softdrinks included.
After that, I took the train to Makino Station, where Koshin met me up on his motorscooter, he followed me home, these kind Japanese :). However, the shortcut we took was in the middle of the road so maybe not the safest way home.
Yesterday aka Saturday 13th, I wanted to go clubbing. Viktor and Sebastian where leaving a bit earlier though, so I decided to give up that. There is a club called Pure in Osaka, where girls pay 2500 yen aka 150 kr, and guys pay 3500 yen aka 250kr, then you get free drinks all night, and they are open until 5am !
I hung out with Masayoh, Madoka, Chikako and Aika, we drank umeshu wine which I had bought and they got tipsy after about half a glass haha. David and Jonas were sipping beer. Then came A.J and wanted us to play Flip Cup; you stand at a table on a line, 2 teams, and pour beer into plastic cups. Then you drink them up and have to flip the cup upside down with your hand. You get pretty drunk after a while...
After a couple of rounds, it was karaoke time. I declared my love yet again for Chin, the guy at Big Wave and poor him, he blushed. Since I was a bit tipsy, I asked whether he had a girlfriend and he mumbled no, but at that time we got our room. We were about 15 people in one room, screaming and singing and drinking. I felt a bit over it so I snook home after half an hour and went to sleep and slept until 11 the next day. I managed to lock my phone because I kept dialing the wrong code, so Im trying to look for the code paper which I brought.
Today is Sunday, and I had some awesome steak, fried shrimp and rice with Taylor, Eddie, Bill and Liz at Obaachan´s. 500 yen aka 35 Sek for lots of food.
Tonight there is a Fullmoon festival in Kyoto which starts at 1am, so everybody is taking the last train from Hirakata and stay there until the festival is over and head back with the morning train at 5am. We have a Respect the Aged holiday tomorrow so Daijobu !

kisses from Seminar House 4