Hello everyone,
so yesterday I arrived safe and sound back in Germany. The flight back was really ok, I was able to sleep and entertain myself with good movies. After a good nights sleep in my own bed at home I feel like a new person.
Starting today I will study Japanese again, there is much for me to learn until I start working in a Japanese company from April next year. If I manage with my busy schedule I will try to keep you updated on how I am doing in Tokyo.
So just wait a couple of month and there will be new adventures of myself in Japan. Next time everything there is to find out about Tokyo!
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
One week - so much left to do
Hello everyone,
so my last week in Japan just started, and it is sad, that my time here is almost at an end. But I will make the most of it!
Last week I did exactly the same, and lived life to the fullest, here is what I did all week:
Monday:
Well Monday was my first day in freedom (after taking the JLPT), so I went to a temple I always wanted to go to, but never found the time. The temple is called Daigoji (醍醐寺) and is a world heritage site. This temple a little bit outside of Kyoto to the south-east was established in 874. It is a big complex of buildings built on the side of Daigo Mountain. Though the temple was destroyed repeatedly by fires, its five story pagoda, built in 951 remained intact and is now the oldest reliable dated building in Kyoto. This makes it already worth a visit, but you shouldn't miss the Bentendo Hall, a very famous building (especially in Autumn, when the surrounding leaves turn their color).
so my last week in Japan just started, and it is sad, that my time here is almost at an end. But I will make the most of it!
Last week I did exactly the same, and lived life to the fullest, here is what I did all week:
Monday:
Well Monday was my first day in freedom (after taking the JLPT), so I went to a temple I always wanted to go to, but never found the time. The temple is called Daigoji (醍醐寺) and is a world heritage site. This temple a little bit outside of Kyoto to the south-east was established in 874. It is a big complex of buildings built on the side of Daigo Mountain. Though the temple was destroyed repeatedly by fires, its five story pagoda, built in 951 remained intact and is now the oldest reliable dated building in Kyoto. This makes it already worth a visit, but you shouldn't miss the Bentendo Hall, a very famous building (especially in Autumn, when the surrounding leaves turn their color).
five story pagoda
Bentendo
Tuesday:
On Tuesday I went to eat Chinese Food with my host-mother, a friend of hers and a Greek girl. I had never had "real" Chinese Food before, always only the westernized fastfood that you get everywhere in Germany. It was an interesting experience. I tried jellyfish and shark fin, both really tasty, as well as pork meet in a dark sauce and other really tasty dishes.
Wednesday:
My personal highlight of the week: Universal Studios Japan, aka The Wizard World of Harry Potter. It was exactly as awesome as I expected. The rebuilt the Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmead with all its famous Shops like Zonkos, Honey Dukes, the three Broomsticks and the Hogs Head. It was all created with love to detail and you could really feel like someone who had just entered the world of Harry Potter. Unfortunately the merchandize was very expensive, but I still had to buy some things.
Hogwarts Castle
Ollivanders
Thursday:
I relaxed and stayed home, except for going to dinner at an Indian Restaurant, which was really good, and afterwards having a short stroll along a street illuminated by christmas lights in all the trees.
Friday:
I met with Kati after school (and three exams that day) to go to Osaka. We first went shopping (for me more like window shopping, I can't buy much more things since my luggage is already full), then we at dinner (Kushikatsu, I always forget to take a picture sorry) and last we went to the German Christmas Market in Umeda. It is actually exactly just like a German Christmas Market, only there are more Japanese people, and it is much more expensive. They had Stollen (Christmas Cake) and Glühwein (hot wine) and decoration for christmas and the atmosphere was also really nice.
Saturday:
I met with Roy (for the last time in a while) and went to Uji (a small town south of Kyoto, famous for its Matcha). It was really cold and we were half dead from walking so much but we went to see Byodoin (平等院) a very famous Temple (it is on every 10 Yen coin), the Uji shrine and the Ujikami shrine and also the Mimurotoji Temple.
Afterwards we ate and went to Karaoke, ate again and just sat at Starbucks talking about everything and nothing.
Byodoin
Sunday:
The week is almost over! In the morning we went to a nice tea place with a friend. Afterwards Roy and me went to watch "The Hobbit" (I thought it wasn't bad, could have done some things better though).
And that is how my week ended. Thank you for reading all that.
Not its only one more week, and I still have a lot of tests, and the weather will also be bad half of the time.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)
Hi everyone,
so I haven't really been writing a lot, but thats mainly because I didn't have time to do anything fun, and also because I didn't really have the time to write. The reason for that was the very very very important Japanese Language Proficiency Test, that I took yesterday. For the last two weeks I have been preparing for this test, but really I started studying for it sometime in August.
The JLPT is the test if you want to officially prove a certain level of Japanese Language knowledge. It is split up in 5 Levels, N5 being the lowest, N1 the highest and most complicated. Each one of these tests is only twice a year and in every level there are parts that you need to pass. Like Vocabulary and Kanji, Grammar, Reading and Listening. I think it is very sad that there is neither a writing nor a speaking part, but as the Japanese say "shouganai" which basically means: It can't be helped. But like most words and phrases in Japanese language it implies much more than that. I am drifting of topic here.
Last year in December I took the JLPT N3 Level, it was relatively hard, you need to know about 650 Kanji and around 3000 Vocabulary. It was really hard for me, but I passed. Reading and Listening sections were really easy for me. One year later I thought I needed to prove myself that I had learned a lot, and also if you have N2 it is much easier to find a Japan related job. So I have been studying, and going to school, and doing my homework, and studied some more after that for good measure. But I have to say, yesterdays test was really hard. In N2 Level you need to know 1000 Kanji and 6000 Vocabulary terms. Listening was still easy for me, but Reading to really tricky because of the questions, it was hard for me to understand the nuances of the answers. The last problem with the test is the time. I am usually really fast at taking tests, always the first to hand it in, but the JLPT has so much to do and to read and so little time, that I didn't even manage to start reading the last text, and so I had to guess 3 questions completely (they weren't the only ones that i guessed).
I will know in February if I passed or not, and until then I will just not worry and enjoy my freedom. This week and also next week to a lesser extent are going to be really busy with things I really want to do and places I want to go before returning to Germany. So wait for my next post with exciting adventures and beautiful pictures.
so I haven't really been writing a lot, but thats mainly because I didn't have time to do anything fun, and also because I didn't really have the time to write. The reason for that was the very very very important Japanese Language Proficiency Test, that I took yesterday. For the last two weeks I have been preparing for this test, but really I started studying for it sometime in August.
The JLPT is the test if you want to officially prove a certain level of Japanese Language knowledge. It is split up in 5 Levels, N5 being the lowest, N1 the highest and most complicated. Each one of these tests is only twice a year and in every level there are parts that you need to pass. Like Vocabulary and Kanji, Grammar, Reading and Listening. I think it is very sad that there is neither a writing nor a speaking part, but as the Japanese say "shouganai" which basically means: It can't be helped. But like most words and phrases in Japanese language it implies much more than that. I am drifting of topic here.
Last year in December I took the JLPT N3 Level, it was relatively hard, you need to know about 650 Kanji and around 3000 Vocabulary. It was really hard for me, but I passed. Reading and Listening sections were really easy for me. One year later I thought I needed to prove myself that I had learned a lot, and also if you have N2 it is much easier to find a Japan related job. So I have been studying, and going to school, and doing my homework, and studied some more after that for good measure. But I have to say, yesterdays test was really hard. In N2 Level you need to know 1000 Kanji and 6000 Vocabulary terms. Listening was still easy for me, but Reading to really tricky because of the questions, it was hard for me to understand the nuances of the answers. The last problem with the test is the time. I am usually really fast at taking tests, always the first to hand it in, but the JLPT has so much to do and to read and so little time, that I didn't even manage to start reading the last text, and so I had to guess 3 questions completely (they weren't the only ones that i guessed).
I will know in February if I passed or not, and until then I will just not worry and enjoy my freedom. This week and also next week to a lesser extent are going to be really busy with things I really want to do and places I want to go before returning to Germany. So wait for my next post with exciting adventures and beautiful pictures.
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