I’m a couple days behind on blogging about my trip but I’ll have time later today during the train ride back into Tokyo (city).
Some pictures.
Memorable First Day
I had a memorable first (full) day yesterday. I met a new friend and we went to Kamakura and Enoshima. I believe the first place went to was Myohonji temple and then we went to Enoshima Island. On the way to Enoshima Island we stopped for a meal since we were hungry and have been walking all day. I was really surprised that my friend was so thoughtful and unselfish she was. We went to a restaurant to eat and she doesn’t even eat shellfish. She said she wanted me to enjoy since I’m a visitor. What a surprise it was. I’m so lucky to have met a great person. I woke up early again, well super super early at first, but I went back to sleep since I have a run later this afternoon. I’m currently hanging out at a Starbucks in Shinjuku. Completed my kanji lesson and was waiting for the JR Travel center to open up at 8 and it’s now 8:41. I better get going.
Yesterday and today was a great reminder to be greatful for what I have and to count my blessings. I’ll login later and post a bunch of photos.
I’m in Japan!
On the plane to Japan, I realized the a lot of my Netflix downloads for a few shows failed. I ended up rewatching a couple episodes of Terrace house, a Japanese movie called Sakura Guardian in the North from the in-flight entertainment, and an english movie – that for some reason I can’t remember the name right now. I tried practicing some kanji but during the time it was a little challenging due to the little turbulance. So I ended up watching a few things on my never ending youtube playlist, which, I can now cross off.
I think it was my first time in a while that I rode on ANA. It was great. I sat in premium economy so I had extra leg room. The gave a few meals and plenty of snacks. Also, they gave us a face mask, toothbrush, etc..it was prety cool.
It’s now Monday morning April 2nd in Japan. I woke up super early at 4:30am. My host family is still asleep. I decided to get up and get ready. Then I took a stroll down the street to family mart to pick up a few things. Of course I bought mentaiko onigiri, canned coffee, and a egg salad sandwhich. I was looking forward to it when I went to bed lol. I also picked up a few toiletries that I forgot to bring. Here’s a few shots I took on the walk this morning on the way to the konbini (aka Family Mart).
Level 5
I hit level 5 on wanikani exactly a week ago today. I’ve been thinking about different things to post. Last week was an insanely busy week as I went out of town for work. Followed by a company party during the weekend. I think I’ll start telling folks in Japan (like my teachers) about this site. I’ll blog during my trip and post pictures. There’s a possibility that I’ll also meet up with a very popular youtuber so I’m pretty stoked about that.
Here’s some pictures from last year’s trip. I’m reviewing a bunch of them and will post more but it will take a while as I have somewhere near a thousand pictures. lol.
Level 4
Finally, hit level 4 on wanikani today! Sheesh. That one took a while.
Post Weekend Check
Welp, it’s Monday. I didn’t get much studying done. The other class that I’m taking consumed most of my time during the weekend. I’m still on level 3 in wanikani but am just about to bust through to level 4. I still attend my weekly Japanese classes along with 8-10 hours of lessons online each week.
Here’s some words, that I learned or asked about before. However, couldn’t recall them when it came time to use them.
あまい – sweet
すっぱい – sour
にがい – bitter
からい – spicy
よく – often
よる – night/according to
何か – something
なんでも – anything
ほぼ – almost
あきた – boring
きまずい – awkward
だけどう – but, however
ですから – because
だから – because (informal)
りょうしん – parents
きが いる – change clothes
ひどい – terrible
oh i guess I have another question.,,
ほか に も？
also, is あきた more common than おもしろい
pre weekend check
The month of January isn’t over yet. I’ve taken around 42 lessons, each with a 30-60 minute duration. I still wani kani daily but not obsessively. I’m still on level 3. I have a few things I’m juggling at the moment but I’ll check in with more progress at the end of this weekend.
忙しい です。
It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Some things I’ve been working on.
- Conversation practice. I need to do more of this, however, most of my conversations follow the same format. I’ll need to review more vocabulary and grammar before I kick off the next wave.
- I’ve spent some time researching schools and the possibility of studying in Japan. I’d like to go for 3-6 months to study Japanese. There will be some changes at work later this year so this is a possibility. However, there’s a quite a few chain of events that need to happen in order to make it happen. I’ve probably spent more time doing this than I should have. I should be studying.
- I’m taking a certification class to learn how to teach English. My initial motivation in doing this was so I can teach my language partners appropriately. However, now that I’ve been informed that there may be changes at work – this could be a possibility of part time employment or another path to go to Japan for longer than 3 months. I also have an online tutor that will be starting a business for teachers starting this summer.
I also brainstormed some ideas for my blog. Well, in reading the first few entries there’s not a whole lot I can take away and study from. So here’s what I’ve come up with.
- I’m aiming to have 10 hours of lessons, which includes the 2 hours of class I attend weekly. So really 8 additional hours of lessons. Next month is another italki language challenge which I may adjust the amount of hours to get another badge. Last time I aimed to get 1st in the number of Japanese lesson hours which I achieved. However, I much more busy now.
- “What did I learn this week?”
- “What questions did I ask?” Yes, I ask that many questions, so that deserves its own, maybe weekly, blog post.
- Interesting YouTube Channels or videos that I’ve watched. Haven’t really watched anything in the past week that wasn’t related to studying abroad.
- Maybe I’ll post some of the Japanese food I make.
Welp, that’s it for now. I have an hour to study before my next lesson.
Reviewing vocabulary and conjugation
I have one main teacher in Japan who I meet online regularly I’ve met a few teachers online and sometimes the teaching style is not the greatest match. However, the chances are slim that you will find one where you won’t enjoy learning from if you truly want to learn the subject you are studying. Today, I told her about this blog and I haven’t told anyone about this blog. I don’t know when I’ll give out the link. Maybe before I go to Japan. We were reviewing some vocabulary and conjugation from earlier lessons as we both knew I struggled with this from time to time.
For now, here’s a video that I watched and will bring up in my next lesson. Also, I’ll start to add some videos that I watch and either found useful or entertaining. There’s quite a few youtube channels that I follow.
Relaxing JPOP
That’s the name of the playlist I literally just started listening to. I needed something relaxing before posting.
Welp, I’m trucking along with lessons and what not. I log on to wanikani probably 5-6 times a day. I wake up and wanikani and wanikani before I go to sleep. I also fired up memrise once again since I find that I forgot a lot of the vocabulary in Genki I. I have an italki lesson almost every day. Some days it’s just a half hour lesson. Other days it’s 4 one hour lessons.
I’m trying to get my schedule down pat since I’ll be taking a class again but I kind of want to keep the half hour lessons going. Anyway here’s a couple pictures from my last trip to Japan. I’ll post more later.
日本語学生 - "Never stop learning." 