Haven't really worked on the blog lately due to me actually having a life outside the computer. Win.
Also, all my pictures from Japan go here:
http://www.snap.ee/user/ESToomere/album/jaapan_2011
Visited a mountain Saturday (30/7/23) and went to re-sightsee some places yesterday (2/7/23). Check the album for more pictures.
I will resume updating the blog whenever something spectacular happens. Scratch that, I will update the blog when I can be arsed to do so.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
29/7/23
BORANTIA
After school headed to ZIP Graphics, got there gogo niji stayed until gogo hachiji han. Basically just helped out with various things and studied nihongo with Okachan.
After work Hiro-san, me and Fujimoto went and had some oishii ramen.
Got to Mikunigaoka station at gogo juuji and Hiro-san dropped me off so that I could ride the jitensha back home. Nippon at night is pretty sugoi!
---
NIHONGO:
'Borantia' - 'Volunteer'
'Gogo niji' - '2PM'
'Gogo hachiji han' - '8.30PM'
'Gogo juuji' - '10PM'
After school headed to ZIP Graphics, got there gogo niji stayed until gogo hachiji han. Basically just helped out with various things and studied nihongo with Okachan.
After work Hiro-san, me and Fujimoto went and had some oishii ramen.
Got to Mikunigaoka station at gogo juuji and Hiro-san dropped me off so that I could ride the jitensha back home. Nippon at night is pretty sugoi!
---
NIHONGO:
'Borantia' - 'Volunteer'
'Gogo niji' - '2PM'
'Gogo hachiji han' - '8.30PM'
'Gogo juuji' - '10PM'
Thursday, July 28, 2011
24 ~ 28/7/23
TABOU
Haven't posted for nearly a week! Time for a quick overview!
24/7/23
Whole day went into resting from the party last night, actually woke up at gogo niji.
25/7/23
Today after school went looking for ZIP Graphics. The place where my host-father works. After walking around for 2 hours and passing through some streets for the fourth time I decided to swallow the bitter defeat and head back home.
26/7/23
Culture class was pottery. Made myself a cup worthy of the kings. For alcohol consumption, naturally. I will receive it near the end of hachigatsu.
27/7/23
Culture class was monochrome painting. What this means is that you make 5 (or more) pictures in rapid succession using enpitsu and ink brushes. Totally felt like a sweat shop in there! The sensei was pretty cool though.
Afterwards headed for another try at finding ZIP Graphics. This time managed to find it. In 5 minutes. Chilled there for some time, had ice coffee, helped them cut some stuff (yey, free workforce ^_^). Afterwards headed home in host-fathers kurume.
Of course upon reaching home I realized that the jitensha was still in the Mikunigaoka-eki so I ran to the station, took the jitensha and rode back home.
Sports-HOO~
28/7/23
This morning figured out how to use the nihongo keyboard on my iPhone. Win.
Today for culture class visited the Yuusentei Japanese Garden. AMAZING place, check the syashin!
On the bus ride back me and Hiro-chan fell asleep. The heat is a dangerous thing!
*PICTURES BE HERE [later]*
---
NIHONGO
The nihonjin use '~' instead of '-' because when using katakana then '-' extends the letter (カ [ka] vs カ- [kaa])
In hiragana to accomplish this you have to get creative. For example the title of this post: 'tabou' is written as 'たぼう' but you don't actually pronounce the 'う' [u], you just make the 'o' sound longer.
Another example would be 'sensei', you do NOT pronounce the 'i', it's there only to make the 'e' sound twice as long.
Also another important thing to know is that nihongo has no capital letters and spaces.
'Tabou' - 'Busy; overwhelmed with work'
'Gogo' - 'PM'
'Ni' - 'Two'
'Ji' - 'Hour'
'Hachigatsu' - 'August'
'Kurume' - 'Car'
'Syashin' - 'Photo'
Haven't posted for nearly a week! Time for a quick overview!
24/7/23
Whole day went into resting from the party last night, actually woke up at gogo niji.
25/7/23
Today after school went looking for ZIP Graphics. The place where my host-father works. After walking around for 2 hours and passing through some streets for the fourth time I decided to swallow the bitter defeat and head back home.
26/7/23
Culture class was pottery. Made myself a cup worthy of the kings. For alcohol consumption, naturally. I will receive it near the end of hachigatsu.
27/7/23
Culture class was monochrome painting. What this means is that you make 5 (or more) pictures in rapid succession using enpitsu and ink brushes. Totally felt like a sweat shop in there! The sensei was pretty cool though.
Afterwards headed for another try at finding ZIP Graphics. This time managed to find it. In 5 minutes. Chilled there for some time, had ice coffee, helped them cut some stuff (yey, free workforce ^_^). Afterwards headed home in host-fathers kurume.
Of course upon reaching home I realized that the jitensha was still in the Mikunigaoka-eki so I ran to the station, took the jitensha and rode back home.
Sports-HOO~
28/7/23
This morning figured out how to use the nihongo keyboard on my iPhone. Win.
Today for culture class visited the Yuusentei Japanese Garden. AMAZING place, check the syashin!
On the bus ride back me and Hiro-chan fell asleep. The heat is a dangerous thing!
*PICTURES BE HERE [later]*
---
NIHONGO
The nihonjin use '~' instead of '-' because when using katakana then '-' extends the letter (カ [ka] vs カ- [kaa])
In hiragana to accomplish this you have to get creative. For example the title of this post: 'tabou' is written as 'たぼう' but you don't actually pronounce the 'う' [u], you just make the 'o' sound longer.
Another example would be 'sensei', you do NOT pronounce the 'i', it's there only to make the 'e' sound twice as long.
Also another important thing to know is that nihongo has no capital letters and spaces.
'Tabou' - 'Busy; overwhelmed with work'
'Gogo' - 'PM'
'Ni' - 'Two'
'Ji' - 'Hour'
'Hachigatsu' - 'August'
'Kurume' - 'Car'
'Syashin' - 'Photo'
Sunday, July 24, 2011
23/7/23
YAMA to YOPPARAI
Woke up, took a sulest and had Some breakfast. Then Hiro-san suddenly got the idea to visit Aso-Yama, you know what that means: ROADTRIP! Sadly it was kinda foggy so the view wasn't the best but there were a lot of bikes so that was a good alternative.
Then we got back home and Hiro-San had another brainwave: to go out drinking with tomodachi. So we headed to Tenjin but arrived there chyotto early. Doesn't matter, we headed to a six floor building CRAMMED with bars. Since we had to wait for Hiro-san's friend we stepped into the first bar had some beer and talked with the barmaid. Half an hour later Oka-chan arrived with another coworker and we headed to a hostess bar. To put it simply: epic stuff, a cultural thing you HAVE TO try in Nippon! We stayed there for many hours, me and Oka-chan discussed video games, the military, Second World war and the Nazis (including the SS Estonian Legion), we made many plans, drew a lot and in general had a lot of fun. Even managed to learn some Nihongo. Also two girls fell for me, managed to wiggle myself out with the 'Girlfriend Card'.
One of the best nights of my life. We got home at 3AM.
---
'Yama' - 'Mountain'
'To' - 'And'
'Yopparai' - 'Drunk'
Woke up, took a sulest and had Some breakfast. Then Hiro-san suddenly got the idea to visit Aso-Yama, you know what that means: ROADTRIP! Sadly it was kinda foggy so the view wasn't the best but there were a lot of bikes so that was a good alternative.
Then we got back home and Hiro-San had another brainwave: to go out drinking with tomodachi. So we headed to Tenjin but arrived there chyotto early. Doesn't matter, we headed to a six floor building CRAMMED with bars. Since we had to wait for Hiro-san's friend we stepped into the first bar had some beer and talked with the barmaid. Half an hour later Oka-chan arrived with another coworker and we headed to a hostess bar. To put it simply: epic stuff, a cultural thing you HAVE TO try in Nippon! We stayed there for many hours, me and Oka-chan discussed video games, the military, Second World war and the Nazis (including the SS Estonian Legion), we made many plans, drew a lot and in general had a lot of fun. Even managed to learn some Nihongo. Also two girls fell for me, managed to wiggle myself out with the 'Girlfriend Card'.
One of the best nights of my life. We got home at 3AM.
---
'Yama' - 'Mountain'
'To' - 'And'
'Yopparai' - 'Drunk'
22/7/23
SAYONARA CHELSEA-CHAN
School was pretty fun, sadly a lot of people left today. Chelsea as well, was fun teasibg you, best of luck in your future endeavors! After the ceremony me and Hiro-chan chilled in school annoying people. After that we walked to Yakuin station just to explore the South-side of Fukuoka.
At home talked with the neighbours some more.
---
'Sayonara' - 'Goodbye' (very dramatic, something you say to someone who you will never see again)
School was pretty fun, sadly a lot of people left today. Chelsea as well, was fun teasibg you, best of luck in your future endeavors! After the ceremony me and Hiro-chan chilled in school annoying people. After that we walked to Yakuin station just to explore the South-side of Fukuoka.
At home talked with the neighbours some more.
---
'Sayonara' - 'Goodbye' (very dramatic, something you say to someone who you will never see again)
21/7/23
QUIET
Nothing remarkable happened. Yuuki and I were joking around during the culture lesson.
At home talked with the neighbours and played with the children.
Nothing remarkable happened. Yuuki and I were joking around during the culture lesson.
At home talked with the neighbours and played with the children.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
20/7/23
ESUTONIAGO
Had a lot of fun in school today, whilst the others were scribbling their sentences on paper I asked the sensei if it's okay to write it on the whiteboard, luckily she agreed and I managed to show off my knowledge, humor and hiragana (and katakana) skills. I am all that is man!
Also, Mark is a pretty awesome guy, thank you first impressions for failing me again! Me, Mark and Hiro-chan had tempura for lunch which, like you guessed, was very oishii!
Before I talk about the culture lesson first the evening. I taught some Estonian to my host-family, luckily they knew about the umlauts so Ö Ä Ü were no surprise, Õ on the other hand... also, I get constant praise for my Nihongo so that's excellent!
And for the culture lesson we visited one of the largest temples in Nippon:
Had a lot of fun in school today, whilst the others were scribbling their sentences on paper I asked the sensei if it's okay to write it on the whiteboard, luckily she agreed and I managed to show off my knowledge, humor and hiragana (and katakana) skills. I am all that is man!
Also, Mark is a pretty awesome guy, thank you first impressions for failing me again! Me, Mark and Hiro-chan had tempura for lunch which, like you guessed, was very oishii!
Before I talk about the culture lesson first the evening. I taught some Estonian to my host-family, luckily they knew about the umlauts so Ö Ä Ü were no surprise, Õ on the other hand... also, I get constant praise for my Nihongo so that's excellent!
And for the culture lesson we visited one of the largest temples in Nippon:
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
19/7/23
ZEN
Nothing remarkable happened in school apart from finding out that another classmate is leaving. 3 people out of 6 are of the original 6 with me, soon there will be only 2 left. It's awesome because I get to meet new people all the time!
For culture we had Zanzen Meditation in Hakata. The Buddhist priest was very awesome, the building was very awesome. I feel awesome. Totally should return there (and they said it's okay).
WALK HOME WITH ME
Nothing remarkable happened in school apart from finding out that another classmate is leaving. 3 people out of 6 are of the original 6 with me, soon there will be only 2 left. It's awesome because I get to meet new people all the time!
For culture we had Zanzen Meditation in Hakata. The Buddhist priest was very awesome, the building was very awesome. I feel awesome. Totally should return there (and they said it's okay).
WALK HOME WITH ME
Monday, July 18, 2011
18/7/23
UMI NO HI
Today is the national holiday called 'Umi no Hi' or 'Marine Day'. Basically every third monday of July is when everybody take a day off and visit the beach - it's Summer afterall! BUT! Today's weather was, like I estimated, cold, rainy and windy. Of course cold here means it's near 30 degrees but at least I don't feel like I'm boiling alive.
Took the chance to work on my Nihongo vocabulary and Hiragana, starting to feel pretty good about my skill level, hopefully I will soon master Hiragana.
Miki also told me the reason why the weather is like that: apparently there's going to be a hurricane (or 'Taifoon/Taifuun' like the Japanese and Estonians call it) and the train schedules are different 'due to the danger'. Sounds like fun!
Today is the national holiday called 'Umi no Hi' or 'Marine Day'. Basically every third monday of July is when everybody take a day off and visit the beach - it's Summer afterall! BUT! Today's weather was, like I estimated, cold, rainy and windy. Of course cold here means it's near 30 degrees but at least I don't feel like I'm boiling alive.
Took the chance to work on my Nihongo vocabulary and Hiragana, starting to feel pretty good about my skill level, hopefully I will soon master Hiragana.
Miki also told me the reason why the weather is like that: apparently there's going to be a hurricane (or 'Taifoon/Taifuun' like the Japanese and Estonians call it) and the train schedules are different 'due to the danger'. Sounds like fun!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
17/7/23
HETARE
Pretty lazy day once again... woke up this morning, decided to play a computer game for an hour. Ended up playing for seven.
Then took my jitensha for a spin on the neighbourhood and ate dinner.
Hopefully tomorrow will be chutto more productive!
---
'Hetare' - 'Incompetent, lazy'
'Jitensha' - 'Bicycle'
Pretty lazy day once again... woke up this morning, decided to play a computer game for an hour. Ended up playing for seven.
Then took my jitensha for a spin on the neighbourhood and ate dinner.
Hopefully tomorrow will be chutto more productive!
---
'Hetare' - 'Incompetent, lazy'
'Jitensha' - 'Bicycle'
15/7/23 ~ 16/7/23
NATSU
Friday was pretty typical school day, afterwards hanged out with Hiro-chan in Fukuoka.
On Saturday Hiro-san parents were here and I got to show off my SUGOI Nihongo skills; pretty lazy day, enjoyed a great amount of ice and ice coffee, the Summer season is now fully here in Fukuoka!
Also began writing this blog.
---
'Sugoi' - 'Amazing'
'Nihongo' - 'Japanese language'
'Natsu' - 'Summer'
Friday was pretty typical school day, afterwards hanged out with Hiro-chan in Fukuoka.
On Saturday Hiro-san parents were here and I got to show off my SUGOI Nihongo skills; pretty lazy day, enjoyed a great amount of ice and ice coffee, the Summer season is now fully here in Fukuoka!
Also began writing this blog.
---
'Sugoi' - 'Amazing'
'Nihongo' - 'Japanese language'
'Natsu' - 'Summer'
14/7/23
TEMPURA
During the lunchbreak ordered myself two bowls of tempura. OISHII! But chutto too much!
The culture lesson was... cooking. Pretty simple and oishii. But chutto too much!
---
'Chutto' - 'A little'
During the lunchbreak ordered myself two bowls of tempura. OISHII! But chutto too much!
The culture lesson was... cooking. Pretty simple and oishii. But chutto too much!
---
'Chutto' - 'A little'
13/7/23
BUDDHA
Visited another temple for the culture class. The temple had a huge Buddha statue and art about the Buddhist hell.
Visited another temple for the culture class. The temple had a huge Buddha statue and art about the Buddhist hell.
12/7/23
AOI
For culture class we had Calligraphy! We exercised writing our names in Katakana, made our Kanji name stamps and even produced a Kanji piece of calligraphy ('Aoi' - 'Love').
The sensei was very nice and praised my looks and beautiful eyes, shame that she was well over 60...
For culture class we had Calligraphy! We exercised writing our names in Katakana, made our Kanji name stamps and even produced a Kanji piece of calligraphy ('Aoi' - 'Love').
The sensei was very nice and praised my looks and beautiful eyes, shame that she was well over 60...
11/7/23
HIRO-CHAN
Maurits left to travel around in Japan. But instead of Maurits we got a new student named Hiroyuki (just like my host father) so of course I had to name him Hiro-chan! Basically his father is Japanese and his mother Brazilian, he grew up in Spain and now is in Japan to visit his grandparents AND learn Japanese. Sugoi, ne?
Oh and the Summer season is slowly beginning with thunderstorms!
---
Honorifics:
Hiro-san - just like Mr. or Mrs. in English
Hiro-chan - used when talking about little children
Hiro-kun - used when talking to somebody much younger than you
'Sugoi' - 'Amazing'
Maurits left to travel around in Japan. But instead of Maurits we got a new student named Hiroyuki (just like my host father) so of course I had to name him Hiro-chan! Basically his father is Japanese and his mother Brazilian, he grew up in Spain and now is in Japan to visit his grandparents AND learn Japanese. Sugoi, ne?
Oh and the Summer season is slowly beginning with thunderstorms!
---
Honorifics:
Hiro-san - just like Mr. or Mrs. in English
Hiro-chan - used when talking about little children
Hiro-kun - used when talking to somebody much younger than you
'Sugoi' - 'Amazing'
9/7/23 ~ 10/7/23
GAIJIN
Pretty lazy weekend, the only highlight being dinner with Miki, Sho-chan and Hiro-san.
---
'Gaijin' means 'Non-Japanese' and how Gaijin I felt whilst eating dinner!
Pretty lazy weekend, the only highlight being dinner with Miki, Sho-chan and Hiro-san.
---
'Gaijin' means 'Non-Japanese' and how Gaijin I felt whilst eating dinner!
8/7/23
PERVERTS
After school we (me, Maurits, Frederic and Simon) went sightseeing... Japanese women.
When getting back to Mikunigaoka station I decided to walk home via a different route and what an adventure that was!
After school we (me, Maurits, Frederic and Simon) went sightseeing... Japanese women.
When getting back to Mikunigaoka station I decided to walk home via a different route and what an adventure that was!
7/7/23
HAKATA DOLL and my fame in TEREBI
In school continuation of Hiragana and basic conversation study.
Fukuoka used to be 7 villages, over time they grew larger and formed two towns: Fukuoka and Hakata; after some time these two also connected and thus Fukuoka became the single name: West side of Fukuoka is simply called Fukuoka and the East side is called Hakata, between the two runs a river. It's simple to make a mistake of your location since over time different name traditions have evolved, thus the central train station is Hakata is called Hakata station but the airport, which also lies in Hakata, is called Fukuoka airport. The centre of Fukuoka is called Tenjin, here lie the main shopping malls.
After school Yuuki-sensei took us to paint Hakata dolls for the culture lesson. Over there we were also filmed for a Japanese TV-show (thus my Japanese movie star career begins; also, 'Terebi' means 'Television') and my doll got the 'Kowai!' ('Scary!') status. Oh also, the Hakata doll place had a SWEET samurai armour on sale (for the "cheap" price of 340 000 Yen)!
In school continuation of Hiragana and basic conversation study.
Fukuoka used to be 7 villages, over time they grew larger and formed two towns: Fukuoka and Hakata; after some time these two also connected and thus Fukuoka became the single name: West side of Fukuoka is simply called Fukuoka and the East side is called Hakata, between the two runs a river. It's simple to make a mistake of your location since over time different name traditions have evolved, thus the central train station is Hakata is called Hakata station but the airport, which also lies in Hakata, is called Fukuoka airport. The centre of Fukuoka is called Tenjin, here lie the main shopping malls.
After school Yuuki-sensei took us to paint Hakata dolls for the culture lesson. Over there we were also filmed for a Japanese TV-show (thus my Japanese movie star career begins; also, 'Terebi' means 'Television') and my doll got the 'Kowai!' ('Scary!') status. Oh also, the Hakata doll place had a SWEET samurai armour on sale (for the "cheap" price of 340 000 Yen)!
6/7/23
KANPEKI!
Continuation of Hiragana study, 'Kanpeki' means 'Perfect' in Japanese. It is also Naoko-senseis favourite word.
Culture lesson was a temple, nothing overly exciting since we were walking around in pouring rain.
---
I'm going to keep things short and sweet (oishii) unless something REALLY oishii happens ;)
I am, afterall, studying here thus I live in a routine.
Continuation of Hiragana study, 'Kanpeki' means 'Perfect' in Japanese. It is also Naoko-senseis favourite word.
Culture lesson was a temple, nothing overly exciting since we were walking around in pouring rain.
---
I'm going to keep things short and sweet (oishii) unless something REALLY oishii happens ;)
I am, afterall, studying here thus I live in a routine.
5/7/23
HIRAGANA!?
Today in Genki JACS we learned some more basic greetings and started with Hiragana.
Hiragana is actually quite simple. We have the base five vowels: A I U E O (you know who how to remember those five ;)) and then you start applying systems to it! The K-system for examle is: KA KI KU KE KO, the T-system TA CHI TSU TE TO and so on and so on. Not hard to speak or understand. Except for the fact it's a whole another alphabet you need to learn to WRITE.
After school I had my culture lesson which was tea ceremony.
Today in Genki JACS we learned some more basic greetings and started with Hiragana.
Hiragana is actually quite simple. We have the base five vowels: A I U E O (you know who how to remember those five ;)) and then you start applying systems to it! The K-system for examle is: KA KI KU KE KO, the T-system TA CHI TSU TE TO and so on and so on. Not hard to speak or understand. Except for the fact it's a whole another alphabet you need to learn to WRITE.
After school I had my culture lesson which was tea ceremony.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
4/7/23
YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU!
Time for my first school day. I wake up, have a nice cold shower and a breakfast to top it off. I walk to train station, buy a ticket and get on the train. It takes me an hour to get to Fukuoka - local train. The whole ride over I hold my ticket in my hand, bad decision, in Fukuoka the crumpled ticket gets stuck in the machine and I've caused my first fuck up. Oh well, taijobuu!
After leaving the station and by using my amazing map reading skills I navigate my way to Genki JACS. Yuuki-sensei is the first person I meet, I enquire her for the best place where to exchange money, she actually gives me a new map with directions. To the bank!
Oh Japan, why so much bureaucracy!? I have to fill out two papers to exchange money and then another paper to exchange my big Yen bills into smaller bills, this of course takes some time. Eventually I return to Genki JACS and the orientation begins. After that we actually have our first Japanese lesson! We learn how to introduce ourselves and some basic greetings. Exciting stuff!
After the classes end I accompany my new classmate back to the train station through the pouring rain. A train ride later I arrive back at Mikunigaoka and walk home in the pouring rain. Did I mention the pouring rain? Apparently it's still the rainy season here in Fukuoka...
Time for my first school day. I wake up, have a nice cold shower and a breakfast to top it off. I walk to train station, buy a ticket and get on the train. It takes me an hour to get to Fukuoka - local train. The whole ride over I hold my ticket in my hand, bad decision, in Fukuoka the crumpled ticket gets stuck in the machine and I've caused my first fuck up. Oh well, taijobuu!
After leaving the station and by using my amazing map reading skills I navigate my way to Genki JACS. Yuuki-sensei is the first person I meet, I enquire her for the best place where to exchange money, she actually gives me a new map with directions. To the bank!
Oh Japan, why so much bureaucracy!? I have to fill out two papers to exchange money and then another paper to exchange my big Yen bills into smaller bills, this of course takes some time. Eventually I return to Genki JACS and the orientation begins. After that we actually have our first Japanese lesson! We learn how to introduce ourselves and some basic greetings. Exciting stuff!
After the classes end I accompany my new classmate back to the train station through the pouring rain. A train ride later I arrive back at Mikunigaoka and walk home in the pouring rain. Did I mention the pouring rain? Apparently it's still the rainy season here in Fukuoka...
2/7/23 ~ 3/7/23
ATSUI, NE? TAIJOBUU DESU KA?
"Ohayoo gozaimas!" as I wander into the kitchen 3 in the afternoon, oh jet-lag... the weekend in a nutshell: I talk about Estonia, Miki talks about the neighbourhood, Hiro-san introduces me to two very important Japanese words: "Taijobuu" - "It's okay" and "Atsui" - "Hot", "I will be mumbling these two constantly" I acknowledge to myself.
---
Seeing as this was quite short let me explain a few things:
The date: the Japanese write the date as follows: day/month/ruling year of the Emperor so 3/7/23 is read so: day three of the seventh month, Heisei-23; simple, right?
Oh and I'll be talking about the '~ vs -' in a later post.
"Ohayoo gozaimas!" as I wander into the kitchen 3 in the afternoon, oh jet-lag... the weekend in a nutshell: I talk about Estonia, Miki talks about the neighbourhood, Hiro-san introduces me to two very important Japanese words: "Taijobuu" - "It's okay" and "Atsui" - "Hot", "I will be mumbling these two constantly" I acknowledge to myself.
---
Seeing as this was quite short let me explain a few things:
The date: the Japanese write the date as follows: day/month/ruling year of the Emperor so 3/7/23 is read so: day three of the seventh month, Heisei-23; simple, right?
Oh and I'll be talking about the '~ vs -' in a later post.
1/7/23
KONNICHIWA
10 in the morning, I step off the Finnair 9,5 hour flight and instantly get hit in the face by the heat. The whole airport is one massive sauna. Surprisingly the girl working in immigration knows about Genki JACS, even asks me how many students are there with me "Sorry, I'm here alone?" I answer her with uncertainty since I really don't understand her English, "Ah... the infamous Japanese English" I wonder to myself. After getting my luggage I also got a free baggage check, oh joy! apparently I looked suspicious, whatever I'm sleepy and trying to understand the security personell is pretty hard (Oh English, where art thou?), when they're done I have the chance to run around in the airport looking for check-in for domestic flights, finally I find the check-in and then I proceed directly to the domestic flights waiting area. Dumb move. Very dumb move.
I have 5 hours till my flight to Fukuoka, I have no Yen, and even if I did have local currency there is only one little crappy shop in the waiting area. For the first hour I run around, enjoy the peculiarity that is Japanese toilets (the high tech Western style ones, Thor forbid if I'd have to use the traditional ones!), and try to talk with the security personell in the smoking room (to no avail). The next four I try to sleep on the benches that are designed to kee sleepers away. At least somebody special (you know who you are) keeps me positive.
Fast-forward to 3 in the afternoon and finally I can get on the flight to Fukuoka. Only white person on the plane, I ignore everybodies looks and sleep the whole flight, I am awakened by the pilots landing skills (try to imagine an F16 doing a quick-land on an aircraft carrier) - 9/10 I think in my head, bumoy but right to the point - the Fukuoka airfield DOES serve as an airfield for the SDF...
After getting my luggage I step out of the airport - luckily Miki and Sho-chan are already waiting for me, 30 minute ride follows and I am now in my host-home.
After a nice cold shower I hand the gifts over to Miki and talk about Estonia, later I get to meet Hiro-san. Back in Japan, baby! I mumble "Oyasuminasai" as I stagger to my room and fall into a deep sleep on my tatami.
10 in the morning, I step off the Finnair 9,5 hour flight and instantly get hit in the face by the heat. The whole airport is one massive sauna. Surprisingly the girl working in immigration knows about Genki JACS, even asks me how many students are there with me "Sorry, I'm here alone?" I answer her with uncertainty since I really don't understand her English, "Ah... the infamous Japanese English" I wonder to myself. After getting my luggage I also got a free baggage check, oh joy! apparently I looked suspicious, whatever I'm sleepy and trying to understand the security personell is pretty hard (Oh English, where art thou?), when they're done I have the chance to run around in the airport looking for check-in for domestic flights, finally I find the check-in and then I proceed directly to the domestic flights waiting area. Dumb move. Very dumb move.
I have 5 hours till my flight to Fukuoka, I have no Yen, and even if I did have local currency there is only one little crappy shop in the waiting area. For the first hour I run around, enjoy the peculiarity that is Japanese toilets (the high tech Western style ones, Thor forbid if I'd have to use the traditional ones!), and try to talk with the security personell in the smoking room (to no avail). The next four I try to sleep on the benches that are designed to kee sleepers away. At least somebody special (you know who you are) keeps me positive.
Fast-forward to 3 in the afternoon and finally I can get on the flight to Fukuoka. Only white person on the plane, I ignore everybodies looks and sleep the whole flight, I am awakened by the pilots landing skills (try to imagine an F16 doing a quick-land on an aircraft carrier) - 9/10 I think in my head, bumoy but right to the point - the Fukuoka airfield DOES serve as an airfield for the SDF...
After getting my luggage I step out of the airport - luckily Miki and Sho-chan are already waiting for me, 30 minute ride follows and I am now in my host-home.
After a nice cold shower I hand the gifts over to Miki and talk about Estonia, later I get to meet Hiro-san. Back in Japan, baby! I mumble "Oyasuminasai" as I stagger to my room and fall into a deep sleep on my tatami.
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