Yay, my peeps! I have officially found my home (a.k.a I've moved into to my dorm room)!
I am on one of the top floors of my dorming facilities and have a wonderful view of Tokyo. Have I unpacked? No....
Apparently, I am tired because I have nothing else to say. Boo hoo! Oh! Yes I do! My friends and I have trouble making one of their beds. Silly us didn't realize that the big "comforter" was actually a futon and that the bed sheet went on the futon like a net around fish. Silly us!
Anyway, that's it for the night. Too tired to write and I am still not unpacked and settled in. In fact, MY BED ISN'T EVEN MADE (EEP!).
Until then, Later Peeps!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Tsukareta! So Tired!
Hey-ya guys and gals,
Please excuse any odd spelling or grammatical errors. The last 2...3...days have been tiring! My new study-abroader friends and I have been in and out of orientations, had to take the J-CAT Japanese language test and have been taken to lunch, dinner and outings by our Cal State System Sensei ("teachers", Japanese typically have no plural forms) and by our new Japanese friends from two of the clubs on campus. So much to do!!!! Tomorrow, We finally move into our home arrangements (either homestay, dorms, temple-stay, or personal arrangements).
So future Waseda study-abroaders, be prepared for busy days upon arrival. Also, double check your luggage before going to the airport to leave for Japan. I, in my finite wisdom, did not check my luggage and spent the last two nights tearing through my luggage for color-treated hair shampoo and conditioner, plus all but one of my various washes. Come to find out by my mom (whom I requested to look), I left all of that stuff at home..... baka nee~! (What an idiot!)
Anyway, I don't have much of a brain right now. It has been melted by the humid,hot days here and the near-constant use of Japanese with our new Japanese friends. Tsukareta~! (So tired!)
Another word of advice to you study-abroaders, bring a water container from home, such as a re-useable bottle or something. You will need it to stay hydrated since you'll have lil' time to go shopping for one for several days!
Welp, my brain is fried and nothing is coming to mind....oh wait! I found a Godiva chocolate shop tonight. That was fun.
Wait a bit for pictures, kay? Since I am in a hotel until tomorrow, my internet situation is...well...interesting.
So, yeah. Too much to say with too little brain to work with. I will share photos later.
Until then, Later Peeps!
Please excuse any odd spelling or grammatical errors. The last 2...3...days have been tiring! My new study-abroader friends and I have been in and out of orientations, had to take the J-CAT Japanese language test and have been taken to lunch, dinner and outings by our Cal State System Sensei ("teachers", Japanese typically have no plural forms) and by our new Japanese friends from two of the clubs on campus. So much to do!!!! Tomorrow, We finally move into our home arrangements (either homestay, dorms, temple-stay, or personal arrangements).
So future Waseda study-abroaders, be prepared for busy days upon arrival. Also, double check your luggage before going to the airport to leave for Japan. I, in my finite wisdom, did not check my luggage and spent the last two nights tearing through my luggage for color-treated hair shampoo and conditioner, plus all but one of my various washes. Come to find out by my mom (whom I requested to look), I left all of that stuff at home..... baka nee~! (What an idiot!)
Anyway, I don't have much of a brain right now. It has been melted by the humid,hot days here and the near-constant use of Japanese with our new Japanese friends. Tsukareta~! (So tired!)
Another word of advice to you study-abroaders, bring a water container from home, such as a re-useable bottle or something. You will need it to stay hydrated since you'll have lil' time to go shopping for one for several days!
Welp, my brain is fried and nothing is coming to mind....oh wait! I found a Godiva chocolate shop tonight. That was fun.
Wait a bit for pictures, kay? Since I am in a hotel until tomorrow, my internet situation is...well...interesting.
So, yeah. Too much to say with too little brain to work with. I will share photos later.
Until then, Later Peeps!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Konbanwa! Good Evening from Japan!
Hey my peeps!
Bikky here, reporting to you from Japan~! This has been one long day! Our flight in total was about 20 hrs, not including the 3 hrs spent waiting for the first flight. Then we get to Japan and are greeted by not only our study abroad leaders, but also by the school's international club! So much fun.
Anyhoo, we took a bus to our hotel we're staying in, which was a 30-40 minute drive, dropped our stuff off in our rooms, walked to our new school, got a tour, had our first orientation meeting, had dinner, then walked back to the hotel. So I have barely returned to the hotel!
Our dinner was a multi-course meal that included pickled radish and cucumber, sashimi (raw fish slices that you dip into soy sauce and wasabi) of two types of fish (one of which was probably tuna), miso soup, tempura veggies (kabo-cha pumpkin, mushroom, and pepper) and tempura shrimp and....some other tempura fish..... Oh! and can't to mention the bowl of rice and pot of cold tea (either roasted green or plain barley, but most likely barley). Restaurants tend to serve cold tea during the hot months to help cool down their customers.
Quick fact: Tempura is not Japanese in origin. It was brought over from Europe in the 1400/1500's when Missionaries first came to Japan. I believe tempura is actually Portuguese in origin.
Oh well, gotta take a shower and start heading off to bed. We have a full day of orientation tomorrow that goes til about 7:00 pm. So, night to ya'll...or good morning to you!
Bikky here, reporting to you from Japan~! This has been one long day! Our flight in total was about 20 hrs, not including the 3 hrs spent waiting for the first flight. Then we get to Japan and are greeted by not only our study abroad leaders, but also by the school's international club! So much fun.
Anyhoo, we took a bus to our hotel we're staying in, which was a 30-40 minute drive, dropped our stuff off in our rooms, walked to our new school, got a tour, had our first orientation meeting, had dinner, then walked back to the hotel. So I have barely returned to the hotel!
Our dinner was a multi-course meal that included pickled radish and cucumber, sashimi (raw fish slices that you dip into soy sauce and wasabi) of two types of fish (one of which was probably tuna), miso soup, tempura veggies (kabo-cha pumpkin, mushroom, and pepper) and tempura shrimp and....some other tempura fish..... Oh! and can't to mention the bowl of rice and pot of cold tea (either roasted green or plain barley, but most likely barley). Restaurants tend to serve cold tea during the hot months to help cool down their customers.
Quick fact: Tempura is not Japanese in origin. It was brought over from Europe in the 1400/1500's when Missionaries first came to Japan. I believe tempura is actually Portuguese in origin.
Oh well, gotta take a shower and start heading off to bed. We have a full day of orientation tomorrow that goes til about 7:00 pm. So, night to ya'll...or good morning to you!
Greetings from Hong Kong
Hey-ya Peeps!
Right now, I am sitting in Hong Kong awaiting my flight to Tokyo. The flight here was long, but alright. The only disappointment for me was that I hadn't grabbed my sketchbook upon landing here. The landscape and the clouds are beautiful in Hong Kong. The most amazing clouds I saw were gently spiraling up, like a multi-tiered fantasy cities in the sky! Absolutely beautiful! Anyway, this is just a check-in. Don't have much time to write and the internet's a bit slow!
Until then, Later Peeps!
Right now, I am sitting in Hong Kong awaiting my flight to Tokyo. The flight here was long, but alright. The only disappointment for me was that I hadn't grabbed my sketchbook upon landing here. The landscape and the clouds are beautiful in Hong Kong. The most amazing clouds I saw were gently spiraling up, like a multi-tiered fantasy cities in the sky! Absolutely beautiful! Anyway, this is just a check-in. Don't have much time to write and the internet's a bit slow!
Until then, Later Peeps!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Let the Games Begin!!!
Hey-ya, Folks!
It's Bikky here! By the time this post goes up, I will be at the airport going through security and the likes. So technically, this will be my last States-side post for almost a year. WOW! I really can't believe it. As I have been packing these last two weeks, I honestly felt like I was imagining the trip and was really supposed to be starting school at CSUF...except that I kept receiving e-mails regarding my study abroad trip!
By the way, for those who are not familiar with blogs, the author can have a blog posting go up automatically at a set time and date. So this particular posting of mine was written in the past and was set to go up around the time I arrived at the airport. So I won't be talking about my last day in the US. ^_^;
Anyway, for future Study-Abroaders, start packing a couple of weeks before you are schedule to leave! It will make life so much easier! And also look into international banking early, early, EARLY! Some banks will have branches and ATM machines abroad, others will not. For those going to Japan, CitiBank seems to be a good choice, because they have CitiBank ATMs available in Japan. They theoretically have a Japanese CitiBank branch as well, but as of now, the Japanese branch is not connected to the US branch. So, in other words, you aren't able to access your US account in a Japanese CitiBank. Mind you, I will revisit this banking topic later after I have more experience. :D
Well, that's it for my last US-based post. I will talk to you later.
Later, Peeps!
PS: I failed to post my last 2 posts. (DERP!) So they are up now, but they will state that they were posted a week or two ago, when they were supposed to be posted....Obviously I am still learning the ropes of blogging. (Derp-a-derp!)
PPS: This was written before the last post.
It's Bikky here! By the time this post goes up, I will be at the airport going through security and the likes. So technically, this will be my last States-side post for almost a year. WOW! I really can't believe it. As I have been packing these last two weeks, I honestly felt like I was imagining the trip and was really supposed to be starting school at CSUF...except that I kept receiving e-mails regarding my study abroad trip!
By the way, for those who are not familiar with blogs, the author can have a blog posting go up automatically at a set time and date. So this particular posting of mine was written in the past and was set to go up around the time I arrived at the airport. So I won't be talking about my last day in the US. ^_^;
Anyway, for future Study-Abroaders, start packing a couple of weeks before you are schedule to leave! It will make life so much easier! And also look into international banking early, early, EARLY! Some banks will have branches and ATM machines abroad, others will not. For those going to Japan, CitiBank seems to be a good choice, because they have CitiBank ATMs available in Japan. They theoretically have a Japanese CitiBank branch as well, but as of now, the Japanese branch is not connected to the US branch. So, in other words, you aren't able to access your US account in a Japanese CitiBank. Mind you, I will revisit this banking topic later after I have more experience. :D
Well, that's it for my last US-based post. I will talk to you later.
Later, Peeps!
PS: I failed to post my last 2 posts. (DERP!) So they are up now, but they will state that they were posted a week or two ago, when they were supposed to be posted....Obviously I am still learning the ropes of blogging. (Derp-a-derp!)
PPS: This was written before the last post.
All in God's Timing
Yesterday, I finished packing. Today, I am leaving for the airport. Tomorrow morning, I fly to Japan. Though this is an exciting time for me, I am constantly reminded that time has not halted just for me, life is not put on hold for my departure.
This morning, as my family got up to go to church, my mom found that our 19 year old cat, Cinnamon, had passed away sometime early this morning. He had gotten sick last weekend and began his rapid decline just a few days ago. Is this a sad turn of events? Yeah, yeah it is. But this sweet old man of ours has been in our lives since just before I entered kindergarten. We have a lot of wonderful memories with him, even in old age.
But God takes care of us and his creations. He knew Cinnamon was sick and He knows I am leaving. God knew that I would have trouble leaving Mr. Cinnamon, especially when he was sick. God also knew that a loss of this sort would disrupt my packing and planning. So God waited to take our sweet Cinnamon so that I could plan and pack, but not have to fly in fear of missing Cinnamon's last days.
For those who believe that faith in God is a crutch, you are sorely mistaken. He is our safety net and our source of strength, so that when life changes drastically, we can be at peace and know we can make it through the storms.
Luke 1:37~ My Life Verse
"For Nothing is Impossible with God."
This morning, as my family got up to go to church, my mom found that our 19 year old cat, Cinnamon, had passed away sometime early this morning. He had gotten sick last weekend and began his rapid decline just a few days ago. Is this a sad turn of events? Yeah, yeah it is. But this sweet old man of ours has been in our lives since just before I entered kindergarten. We have a lot of wonderful memories with him, even in old age.
But God takes care of us and his creations. He knew Cinnamon was sick and He knows I am leaving. God knew that I would have trouble leaving Mr. Cinnamon, especially when he was sick. God also knew that a loss of this sort would disrupt my packing and planning. So God waited to take our sweet Cinnamon so that I could plan and pack, but not have to fly in fear of missing Cinnamon's last days.
For those who believe that faith in God is a crutch, you are sorely mistaken. He is our safety net and our source of strength, so that when life changes drastically, we can be at peace and know we can make it through the storms.
Luke 1:37~ My Life Verse
"For Nothing is Impossible with God."
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