Classes in Nagoya University (About MEXT Scholarship - Japanese Studies (2))

Hello, nice to see you again~

As per my previous post, I'm going to talk about my classes here in Japan. First of all, my course name is 'Intensive Course in Advanced Japanese' or 日本語・日本文化研修コース (or, as they like to call it, １年コース). We have a total of 16 periods from Monday to Friday (3 periods each day, with the exception of Wednesday with 4 periods). Each period lasts for 90 minutes.

The First Few Weeks

I'm back for more rambling.

It's about life in Japan. The first month of it, anyway. I made a few videos about my trip and my dorm here, so check my YouTube channel. I have more projects in my laptop... but never actually got around to it. (Please send some cookies to energize me!)

So. Life here actually started on Monday, where the students of my program were gathered and led to the Ward Office to do some administration. 'Hey I'm here in Japan legally so here's my residence card.' 'Because I'm a citizen of Japan (though temporarily) I have to enter the health insurance program? Cool okay.' 'Yeah and also the national pension program. But I don't have any income here so I'll just apply for exemption on the same day I apply for it.' Yadda yadda. (There's a video.)

Packing Fiesta

New post coming through~! Like I said on the previous post, this time I'm going to rant about packing.

The final announcement for MEXT Scholarship – Japanese Studies was on early August, while we are expected to arrive in Japan on late September. We have about two months to prepare, but I was in the middle of volunteer activity out of town at that time, so my time was cut back for about two weeks :(

So first of all, I bought a suitcase, a carry-on, and a backpack. It's just a coincidence that my old backpack was getting worn-out and it's time to buy a new one, though. I got an electric blue 24' suitcase, a brown carry-on handbag, and a grey-red backpack. It sounds like an easy process; go out, buy, take it back. But nooo actually the hunting process itself spent about a month /orz. I had to hunt in two cities, about five stores to finally get the best deal.

Other than bags, I also had to buy shirts, pants, skirts, socks... All because I recently decided to wear hijab. Sooo yeah cue a change of style. All in all I spent quite a lot... Which only convinces me to save up as much money as possible from my monthly allowance in Japan. /shrugs/

Anyway, I've made a video showing the contents of my bags! That's the first time I filmed anything, the first time editing a video, the first time uploading videos—so please excuse the low quality. I'm learning. 

There you can see my suitcase first. Of course there are clothes. I also brought skincare products, cables, hair straightener (!!!), a pouch of toiletries, a pouch of accessories (the black one), and shoes. To be frank, this is NOT the final version of my suitcase, because there are some stuffs I haven't stuffed in there, lol.

The second bag, the carry-on, contains essentials I need during the trip. A change of clothes, a change of hijab, and a towel. There are also little trinkets I prepared for souvenirs for new friends in Japan :) There is actually a puch of makeup too, but I forgot to put it inside.

Last but not least, the backpack. I brought pens, my wallet, a pack of small plastic bags (this is essential for me, because I get motion sickness easily!!), a box of business card, a raincoat (the yellow thingy on the second compartment), a universal adaptor, and a fan (because I'm classy like that). The paper there is my preparation for my final thesis in college! I'm bringing along my future to Japan, haha. In this bag, I will also include my passport and laptop and camera and chargers.

I don't bring books to Japan. Mainly because I don't even have any to help with my research (what kind of a student am I) and I don't want to fill my bags with useless weight... I can find books there, afterall. (Yes, most likely in Japanese. No, I haven't the experience of reading textbooks in Japanese yet, so I'm diving headfirst.)

Other stuffs I plan to bring are: necessary documents, instant foods, instant seasoning, tea, coffe, etc. The instant food will be my life in the first weeks, lol. So much for adapting, huh.

Well... I guess that's it? There isn't much I can talk about here, I guess. I'll see you again in the next experience :)

[UPDATE!!]

I repacked my luggages! I had to take out four clothes and other stuffs to make room for more essentials I haven't put in. The contents of each bag is more or less the same though, nothing major change.

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Credit:
BGM: One Light - Kalafina
Tools used: Windows Live Movie Maker; Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX220 Digital Camera

About MEXT Scholarship - Japanese Studies (1)

Heya heya. 'Tis me, after a looooong while gone. Huh? Where have I been?

Places.

That is to say, I've been chasing my motivation to write to places. (Insert awkward laugh here.)

Soo yeah, yay for a comeback? I still have zero motivation to create stories, you see, so I guess I'll just stick to random posts... while actually giving useful information. Yep. I'm here to grace the world with my experience, along with some tips, about the legendary Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship – Japanese Studies! At least it's legendary in my school, lol.

Jepang!! Yatta!! ~part 2~

Keberangkatan dan Day 1 (12 Januari 2015)

Haloha, saya kembali lagi membawa kisah di bulan Januari #ceilah. Masih adakah yang ingat dengan kisah saya di part 1? Ya, berakhir di bagian beli barang dan sibuk UAS lol. Nah, dengan berakhirnya UAS secara resmi pada hari Jumat, 9 Januari 2015, saya pun bisa dengan bebas memikirkan masalah keberangkatan Jenesys ini.

Tiket pesawat menuju Jakarta yang saya beli adalah tiket hari Minggu (11 Januari) jam 5-an pagi. Saya berangkatnya berdua sama Violet. Berhubung pesawatnya subuh, Violet pun memutuskan untuk menginap semalam di kos saya, biar paginya naik taksi bareng. Ternyata kami berdua sama-sama nggak bisa tidur tuh hahaha. Alarm yang udah diset aja kalah cepet sama kami xD Setelah mandi (airnya dinginnn sampe menggigil, sedihnyaaa) dan minum kopi anget (dopping dikit bro), kami pun berangkat. Sempet was-was juga sih sebetulnya, mepet banget sama waktu check-in. Tapi untungnya masih sempat :””) Ohiya, suasana T2 Bandara Juanda lagi ruameee sama rombongan umroh. Kaget banget ngeliat T2 yang biasanya sepi itu jadi penuh orang, subuh-subuh lagi!!

Jepang!! Yatta!! ~part 1~

Jepang. Destinasi impian semua mahasiswa Sastra Jepang, termasuk saya. Demi apa, bulan Januari kemarin saya berhasil mewujudkan mimpi itu. Saya menginjak tanah Jepang! Dan gratis. Hoho. Kok bisa sih? Bisa dong, karena saya ke Jepang dalam rangka mengikuti program Jenesys 2.0 :”””)

Jadi semuanya bermula di bulan... bulan apa ya? September atau Oktober gitu deh. Lupa euy. Ada pengumuman dari admin prodi Sastra Jepang Universitas Airlangga, bahwa sedang dibuka pendaftaran program Jenesys untuk bulan Januari. Syaratnya, harus membuat sakubun (karangan) dengan tema yang telah ditentukan oleh sensei.

Saya ingat, waktu itu deadline sakubun tinggal sehari. Dan saya belum bikin sama sekali (hehe). Hari sudah sore, pikiran sudah semrawut, saya sudah nggak berharap banyak.