fredag 30 juli 2010
torsdag 29 juli 2010
Erik's birthday
Today was Erik's birthday. His age is now equal to mine, and we are more synchronized than ever before. Also, we (Me and some people from the school) went to Tokyo Disney Land today. I didn't really know what to expect, but some parts were good, others a little worse.
First off, I slept too little last night, since Starcraft 2 had just been installed on my computer, and the summer break has just started, and also I had to go to bed 2 hours earlier than usual, and that made it way harder to sleep. So I was really tired pretty much the whole day. And then on the train station at Disney Land I did a so called "Gaijin Smash", which is when you as a foreigner, gaijin, do something wrong and get away with it because people are afraid to speak English with you. In Japan you have to use your ticket both on the way in and on the way out of the train stations, and I had paid 100yen (about 8kr) too little for the ride, so I would've had to pay for another ticket if I was gonna get out. But that's when I used the power of gaijin; I put in the ticket in the machine, it flashed red and small gates closed in front of me, ALMOST, because I was too fast and had already smashed through them and was on safe ground before anyone could ignore me from a distance! BOYAH!
The weather was rainy and windy, pretty much as I want it to be, classic Swedish summer. But it was much warmer, I wasn't cold at all. My shoes started leaking after a few hours though, and my socks felt like kitchen cloth, just after you've used them for cleaning some filthy filthy cup of really old, almost dried up chocolate. It wasn't nice.
The first thing we did was to get on a Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and it was awesome. After that we went on a fake Africa Safari in a boat, and in the front there was a Japanese guy talking. And could he talk... He was the most energetic person I've ever seen, and he was so happy and awesome he could've just standed there talking for 10 minutes without the boat ride and I would've been just as happy.
We also went on Space Mountain, which was an awesome indoor rollercoaster in almost complete darkness. It was BRUT'L. Erik and I was screaming "Bankai!" to eachother repeatedly and enjoyed the ride to the fullest.
But the highlight (read: not highlight) was the 4D (yes, FOUR DIMENSIONS, brut'l, aye?) movie with Michael Jackson from 1987. Fine, it was one of the first 3D mo... excuse me, 4D movies (the only?) ever made, and it was probably really impressive back in the days (the year of awesome) but I have to say it was a bit like watching the muppets with Michael Jackson as a guest in the show.
Anyways, we were there way too long, because the wait for Space Mountain was like 4.5 hours, so the visiting hours for our party was 10-21. In wet shoes. It was an itty bitty tiny bit too long for me, but I'm happy I went there!
Here are some pictures:
Erik (the birthday child) and Bill 2.
Markus (class mate), Erik (birthday chi... whatever) and Bill 2.
I liked that spot.
But enough is enough.
It looked awesome when it got dark outside.
Some flowers. Whatever.
It's 4.48 am now. I'm going to bed. Oyasumi!
söndag 25 juli 2010
This is the beginning
As most people know, I got a nasty cold just one week before I got here, and I had it for two weeks. Then when I finally recovered, I didn't rest long enough, so another cold was waiting for me just a few days later. Now it seems to be over again, so in a few days I will try starting continuing some routines which I had back in Sweden. I've been eating out very much, spending too much money on things I don't need and haven't exercised much at all.
This week I will try out a new wall climbing place, buy a rice cooker and start cooking my own food, and when I feel really well, start running before breakfast again. I really miss running, and the feeling of having exercised really hard, stretch, and then have an awesome meal and just cool down in my room afterwards.
My strive for vegetarianism has been a complete failure here, since I've just begun trying, and I don't know enough Japanese to be able to ask the right questions and read the menus properly. And avoiding plastic products? At the moment it seems VERY hard, but I will work on it. Everything is in plastic here. When you buy a bag of Werther's Original, every piece of candy in it is in it's own plastic bag. Sometimes, every potato chip in a bag of potato chips is in it's own plastic bag. You get straws when you buy juice if you don't say that you don't need it, and you get a plastic bag for EVERYTHING you buy. Sometimes you get one plastic bag per item you buy.
Japan may have come a long way concerning technology and conformity, but sometimes they just don't get that conformity isn't about having to open a plastic bag every time you're eating a single piece of candy, or the need to stuff away millions of plastic bags in your already tiny room with just enough space not to have tons of plastic bags in it.
Well, from now on, when I'm recovered and don't feel tired and sleepy all the time (I still do a bit, because of the heavy weather) I will try sorting out my lifestyle here.
See yaaaaaa! (Jaa ne!)
onsdag 21 juli 2010
Pictures 1
Isak in a arcade hall in Ikebukuro, after watching Predators at the theater (it sucked).
BlazBlue tournament in the same arcade hall in Ikebukuro.
Awesomeness in Ikebukuro.
BBQ and random awesomeness in a park in Warabi, celebrating Daniel's birthday (which was two days earlier).
Some pics (more is coming)
måndag 19 juli 2010
Totemo Sorry!
I'm sorry, I'm really bad at updating!
So: I was sick until last thursday when I finally recovered from my cold. The same day we went to see Predators at the theater in Ikebukuro (a city close to our school). I didn't have very high expectations but it didn't live up to them anyways. 1.5/5 is the final score for the movie. Sorry predator, I'll hold my thumbs for the new Alien movie instead! After the movie we went to an arcade hall across the street and tried out a few games and watched some Japanese people play BlazBlue. They were crazy.
Friday I went to another arcade hall with Erik and Bill nr 2, only to get my ass kicked so hard I didn't know it was possible. My goal every round was to score at least one hit on the other player so he didn't get "perfect". Then I got home and played some Starcraft 2 with Hannes. Only 2 weeks until release (and summer break!)
Saturday, Isak and I went to a maid café. It was awesome, but pretty damn expensive. At maid cafés you have to form a heart with your fingers and sing a jingle everytime you get served drinks or food ^^
Later on the evening we went to a club in Roppongi. It sucked. It were "free" entrance, but you had to buy a drink to get to the dancefloor, which was overcrowded. And if you didn't have a drink in your hand all the time, someone from the staff comes over with a menu and a flashlight and makes you order something, and if you don't, you know where the exit is. So I bought another drink and drunk everything except the last "slurk" and then I put the bottle in my pocket (I had my really big rave pants with lots of big pockets), and everytime the guy came over with the flashlight and menu I just picked up my bottle and showed him I still had some left ^^
And yeah, one of the things that sucked the most, was that only girls were allowed to dance on the bar table! If you tried to do it (and if you're a guy, read: MAN) someone from the bar comes and poke you in your ass (yes, in your ass) with a stick and tells you to go down. Didn't stop me and my friends from trying a couple of times each though ;D
On sunday, I was woken up by Isak who knocked on my door and told me it was a bbq in a park on the other side of the station, about 30 minutes away by walking, so I got up and we set off. It was a really cool park! I tried out some headstanding and some Japanese guy 50 meters away noticed and did the same thing, so we inofficially started a headstand competition. Which, for the record, I won! ;D So I went over there and talked to them. It was pretty fun, and we had a very short gymnastics showdown. And also: It's hard to explain in Japanese, to Japanese people, what a "dalarhäst" is. I told them it was a small wooden horse with red paint on it. The penny never quite hit the bottom. Anyways I got their phone mail address (you mail between your cell phones here, you don't use SMS), and we're gonna hang out sometime soon.
Today I was hanging out with Nanako, a Japanese girl I met online, in Shibuya and Roppongi. We went up in Tokyo Tower (Pictures will be posted shortly), and went to a karaoke place. They really take karaoke serious here, the entrance looked like the lobby of a luxary hotel, and had many floors; our room was on floor 9. I showed off my brutal power singing skillz by singing Aha - Take on me, Roxette - She's got the look, and Robbie Williams - Livin' la vida loca. After that we went to Shibuya and parted. And yeah, I got a cold today again, so now I'm back to normal ^^ (Don't worry mum, apparently most people here get colds all the time).
In general: School is fun, even though most of it at the moment is repetition on what I did at school in Sweden, but it's great, because then I can focus on studying new words instead of being troubled by grammatics! The class is: 5 Chinese, 3 Swedes, 1 Nepal guy, 1 guy from the Netherlands and 1 Spanish guy. We have a different teacher everyday of the week.
That's all for now!
I will try to write more and shorter entries in the future, and I will post the pics soon! Pinky promise!
So: I was sick until last thursday when I finally recovered from my cold. The same day we went to see Predators at the theater in Ikebukuro (a city close to our school). I didn't have very high expectations but it didn't live up to them anyways. 1.5/5 is the final score for the movie. Sorry predator, I'll hold my thumbs for the new Alien movie instead! After the movie we went to an arcade hall across the street and tried out a few games and watched some Japanese people play BlazBlue. They were crazy.
Friday I went to another arcade hall with Erik and Bill nr 2, only to get my ass kicked so hard I didn't know it was possible. My goal every round was to score at least one hit on the other player so he didn't get "perfect". Then I got home and played some Starcraft 2 with Hannes. Only 2 weeks until release (and summer break!)
Saturday, Isak and I went to a maid café. It was awesome, but pretty damn expensive. At maid cafés you have to form a heart with your fingers and sing a jingle everytime you get served drinks or food ^^
Later on the evening we went to a club in Roppongi. It sucked. It were "free" entrance, but you had to buy a drink to get to the dancefloor, which was overcrowded. And if you didn't have a drink in your hand all the time, someone from the staff comes over with a menu and a flashlight and makes you order something, and if you don't, you know where the exit is. So I bought another drink and drunk everything except the last "slurk" and then I put the bottle in my pocket (I had my really big rave pants with lots of big pockets), and everytime the guy came over with the flashlight and menu I just picked up my bottle and showed him I still had some left ^^
And yeah, one of the things that sucked the most, was that only girls were allowed to dance on the bar table! If you tried to do it (and if you're a guy, read: MAN) someone from the bar comes and poke you in your ass (yes, in your ass) with a stick and tells you to go down. Didn't stop me and my friends from trying a couple of times each though ;D
On sunday, I was woken up by Isak who knocked on my door and told me it was a bbq in a park on the other side of the station, about 30 minutes away by walking, so I got up and we set off. It was a really cool park! I tried out some headstanding and some Japanese guy 50 meters away noticed and did the same thing, so we inofficially started a headstand competition. Which, for the record, I won! ;D So I went over there and talked to them. It was pretty fun, and we had a very short gymnastics showdown. And also: It's hard to explain in Japanese, to Japanese people, what a "dalarhäst" is. I told them it was a small wooden horse with red paint on it. The penny never quite hit the bottom. Anyways I got their phone mail address (you mail between your cell phones here, you don't use SMS), and we're gonna hang out sometime soon.
Today I was hanging out with Nanako, a Japanese girl I met online, in Shibuya and Roppongi. We went up in Tokyo Tower (Pictures will be posted shortly), and went to a karaoke place. They really take karaoke serious here, the entrance looked like the lobby of a luxary hotel, and had many floors; our room was on floor 9. I showed off my brutal power singing skillz by singing Aha - Take on me, Roxette - She's got the look, and Robbie Williams - Livin' la vida loca. After that we went to Shibuya and parted. And yeah, I got a cold today again, so now I'm back to normal ^^ (Don't worry mum, apparently most people here get colds all the time).
In general: School is fun, even though most of it at the moment is repetition on what I did at school in Sweden, but it's great, because then I can focus on studying new words instead of being troubled by grammatics! The class is: 5 Chinese, 3 Swedes, 1 Nepal guy, 1 guy from the Netherlands and 1 Spanish guy. We have a different teacher everyday of the week.
That's all for now!
I will try to write more and shorter entries in the future, and I will post the pics soon! Pinky promise!
lördag 3 juli 2010
The horrible trip.
So, I've been in Japan for a couple of days now.
The trip was HORRIBLE. My plan on sleeping only 1.5 hours before going, so I could be able to sleep on the plane, didn't work out at all. I slept a total of 1.5 hours on the plane, at most. And at Heathrow airport, I was so hungry and so tired. I had some weird burger that didn't taste anything, and tried to read my book, but it was really hard when being so tired. Add to that that I had a cold at the time, my throat was drying up every now and then and I had to drink tons of water. It was really hard sitting comfortable for 11 hours on an airplane as well, even though I bought an awesome neck support pillow!
BUT! There were also some awesome things on the trip! For example, I met a funny family on the plane to Heathrow, they were going to New York for a couple of weeks, and we had some fun conversations. And on the plane to Narita I sat next to a Japanese couple that had been to their honeymoon in Spain for 8 days, and they started talking to me (I even got a high five when saying congratulations!). I got to use my Japanese skills a little as well which was very exciting. I also watched "How to Train Your Dragon" on the flight, and it was awesome!
When I stepped out of the airplane it felt like something was wrong. It was like walking into an aquarium, it was so humid! And I had some troubles finding my friend Flink at the airport, since we were at different exits. But I bought two phone cards (one was eaten by the machine so I had to get another one) and asked a guard to help me use a pay phone to get in touch with Flink. After like 15 minutes, he had realized that he'd been waiting at another exit and made his way to where I was.
1.5 hours (something like that) was the time it took by train to Warabi where I live. Even that trip was horrible because my ears were feeling blocked, and my nose was blocked, and it was warm and I was super tired.
When we arrived we had some food at a fast food place. It was really funny to hear the staff saying "hello" and "good bye" to all the customers as they arrived and left the restaurant, and all the automatic lines they were saying all the time. People say you grow tired of it over time, but at the time it was awesome.
But at least I was there. I was done. The trip was over, and now I'm here. I'll give you more details of the stay in another entry, coming up soon!
The trip was HORRIBLE. My plan on sleeping only 1.5 hours before going, so I could be able to sleep on the plane, didn't work out at all. I slept a total of 1.5 hours on the plane, at most. And at Heathrow airport, I was so hungry and so tired. I had some weird burger that didn't taste anything, and tried to read my book, but it was really hard when being so tired. Add to that that I had a cold at the time, my throat was drying up every now and then and I had to drink tons of water. It was really hard sitting comfortable for 11 hours on an airplane as well, even though I bought an awesome neck support pillow!
BUT! There were also some awesome things on the trip! For example, I met a funny family on the plane to Heathrow, they were going to New York for a couple of weeks, and we had some fun conversations. And on the plane to Narita I sat next to a Japanese couple that had been to their honeymoon in Spain for 8 days, and they started talking to me (I even got a high five when saying congratulations!). I got to use my Japanese skills a little as well which was very exciting. I also watched "How to Train Your Dragon" on the flight, and it was awesome!
When I stepped out of the airplane it felt like something was wrong. It was like walking into an aquarium, it was so humid! And I had some troubles finding my friend Flink at the airport, since we were at different exits. But I bought two phone cards (one was eaten by the machine so I had to get another one) and asked a guard to help me use a pay phone to get in touch with Flink. After like 15 minutes, he had realized that he'd been waiting at another exit and made his way to where I was.
1.5 hours (something like that) was the time it took by train to Warabi where I live. Even that trip was horrible because my ears were feeling blocked, and my nose was blocked, and it was warm and I was super tired.
When we arrived we had some food at a fast food place. It was really funny to hear the staff saying "hello" and "good bye" to all the customers as they arrived and left the restaurant, and all the automatic lines they were saying all the time. People say you grow tired of it over time, but at the time it was awesome.
But at least I was there. I was done. The trip was over, and now I'm here. I'll give you more details of the stay in another entry, coming up soon!
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