September 19-25, 2005
Hello everyone
I was glad to hear from most of you during the week in reply to my weeklyemail last Sunday, but some of you have been in hibernation I presume?Come out from under the rock, and get in contact with me!!Anyways, I had a very interesting week, of which I'd like to tell youabout.Last Monday (19th) was a pubic holiday in Japan; Respect-For-The-Aged Day,so I met up with my friends Emerald and Ky-lee and we respected the agedby visiting the Imperial Palace. The Emperor of Japan resides at the ImperialPalace, so naturally, we weren't allowed in because of strict security,but we walked around the grounds, which are basically as large as 5 footballstadiums.
The Imperial Palace is located in the centre of Tokyo and it isa beautiful retreat from the traffic jams and concrete.After walking around the entire site, we all enjoyed a cold frappe - it isstill very hot here in Tokyo - around 30-35 degrees everyday and veryhumid.In the evening we went to a festival near Waseda University which was heldto mark the Respect-For-The-Aged Day. We danced to traditional Japanesetheatre music, ate some snacks from the vendors trying to make a buck, and prayed at the shrine for respect and peace. I participated in a raffle, in which I won an alarm clock!! That will certainly come in handy!!On Tuesday (20th), we had our orientation day at Waseda University, whichinvolved getting lots of information packs and paper work to read. We wentthrough Waseda University policies, rules, regulations etc and were givena course structure list. I will be studying 9 hours of intensive Japaneseclasses each week, as well as optional courses, of which I've picked afull load.The extra subjects I will be studying are:
Economic Deveopment
International Environmental Politics
Contemporary Issues In The Islamic World
International Finance and Monetary System
In addition to these four subjects and the Japanese classes, I am takingan optional Kanji class on Fridays for 90 minutes, which basically will helpin my recognition of the Chinese characters that pollute the Japaneselanguage.It is very difficult, considering there are over 20, 000 characters, andeach character has multiple meanings. So, the class will be bothchallenging but helpful.We also had a tour of the university. I am really happy with thefacilities etc - there s a university gym which I have joined, and the membership feeis only $30 per year and I can go there as many times as I want. I'll lookforward to that.There are about 100 exchange students in the SILS program at WasedaUniversity, which I am apart of. There are students from 29 different countries, including America, New Zealand, Estonia, Sweden, Italy, Spain,France, and Australia.Everyone is very nice and because of the environment we are in, it is veryeasy to make friends.
On Wednesday (21st), I spent the whole day running errands, and fillingout paper work. I bought all of my monthly ravel passes, one for my trips fromOgiukbo to Waseda University and return, and a pre-paid Tokyo Metro passfor subway travel. My station (Ogikubo) is on a great line, because I haveaccess to the above ground Japan Rail Lines as well as the Subway Network,which takes me to Shinjuku, Tokyo, Roppongi, Ginza and all the otherfamous places of Tokyo.I applied for my Alien Registration Card, which will be ready in 2 weeks.It is a card that proves my visa status and I have to carry it with me at all times. Japanese immigration and security is very strict.I also arranged a 50% discount which I can receive monthly off my mobilephone plan, because I now have a student card, which allows me the Student Rate. Considering I have a bill for $120 this month, it will come inhandy!!Japanese mobiles are quite cheap, calls are half the price of those in Australia, and SMS messages are non-existant. Everyone send messages viathe Internet, which they have access to on their phones. So I do the same; basicaly when I send a message to another phone, it is actually an email.They are very cheap - around 3 cents per message!!
I also bought another book - the 9/11 Commission Report on TerroristAttacks Against The United States. I am currently reading Bill Clinton'sautobioraphy "My Life" and once that's finished, I'l get onto theCommission Report.
On Wednesday I had the Waseda University Opening Ceremony for theinternational exchange students. It was good to meat the teachers who willguide us through the next year. We also heard the Waseda University choirperform and the orchestra play. The University is very prestigious, and iscelebrating it's 125th anniversary this year.On Thursday (22nd), I had my placement test - a 2 hour exam which testedour grammar, vocab and kanji etc - everyone is graded into different classesdepending on their ability. Some of the exchange students have only beenstudying it for 6 weeks, while others have done it for 10 years.I received my result yesterday at another orientation we had, and I'vebeen placed into the Lower Advanced class, so I am realy happy with that.
On Thursday we also had a health examination, to ensure that we are "fit"enough to be able to use the gym facilities. It included a hilarious urinesample, in which we were all given coffee cups and had to force wee intothem - a great ice-breaker for all of us!!On Friday (23rd) went to Akihabara, famous for the once black market stalsfilled with electronics products - bought a head set for my computer,because I have downloaded a program that allows me to make FREEinternational, domestic and local calls to other users of the program. Itis called Skype - you can download it from www.skype.com - Once you downloadit, you can add me to your contact list (Tokyo Timmy) and we can talk forfree!!!After Akihabara and some more window shopping, we went out for dinner andkaraoke. Went to an Engish-style pub and ate fish and chips - a good breakfrom rice - and then headed to what the Japanese call a Nomihoudai - youpay a set rate at the counter, which allows you to do karaoke for 1 or 2hours, with an all-you-can-drink alcoholic menu incuded in the price - we behavedourselves, but others didn't!!
On Saturday (24th) after ringing my mum for her birthday, went to our lastorientation at Waseda. 3 hours of nothing really, apart from getting our class schedules.Mondays I have 1 class in the afternoon, Tuesday I have class from9am-12pm and then another class in the avo. Wednesdays is my whole day-off, andthen Thursdays and Fridays I have classes from 9am until 6pm. Each class goesfor 90 minutes, and we have a 1 hour lunch break.Last night I went out to a big party which was hosted by the Waseda International Group - they held the party to welcome all of the exchangestudents. We booked out a restaurant, traditional Japanese one, and filledit with over 180 people!! It was agan Nomihoudai - all you can drink for$30 with food included too. It was an amazing site - 180 people sober at6.30pm and 180 people smashed by 7pm!! After the first party finished at 8.30, wewent to a second party, again Nomihoudai until 10.30pm. I must have had 30drinks of beer or spirits - so I definately got my $30 worth!!So, today I am resting. I woke up at midday and my friend who lives in theroom next door to me invited me downstairs for breakfast - but I had topass! Also had to pass another invitation out today. Got a major headache!!
There is another typhoon, this time headed straight for Tokyo, so we havemade some preparations for it. It should pass by tomorrow. Heavy rains andstrong winds, that's all.Got a free week this week, until Friday, when classes at uni begin. Kazuyais coming on Thursday to stay with me for the day and evening before hestarts work at a new resort in Hakone on Saturday.So, until next week, take care everyone and keep in touch.
Miss u all!
Tim
xx
I was glad to hear from most of you during the week in reply to my weeklyemail last Sunday, but some of you have been in hibernation I presume?Come out from under the rock, and get in contact with me!!Anyways, I had a very interesting week, of which I'd like to tell youabout.Last Monday (19th) was a pubic holiday in Japan; Respect-For-The-Aged Day,so I met up with my friends Emerald and Ky-lee and we respected the agedby visiting the Imperial Palace. The Emperor of Japan resides at the ImperialPalace, so naturally, we weren't allowed in because of strict security,but we walked around the grounds, which are basically as large as 5 footballstadiums.
The Imperial Palace is located in the centre of Tokyo and it isa beautiful retreat from the traffic jams and concrete.After walking around the entire site, we all enjoyed a cold frappe - it isstill very hot here in Tokyo - around 30-35 degrees everyday and veryhumid.In the evening we went to a festival near Waseda University which was heldto mark the Respect-For-The-Aged Day. We danced to traditional Japanesetheatre music, ate some snacks from the vendors trying to make a buck, and prayed at the shrine for respect and peace. I participated in a raffle, in which I won an alarm clock!! That will certainly come in handy!!On Tuesday (20th), we had our orientation day at Waseda University, whichinvolved getting lots of information packs and paper work to read. We wentthrough Waseda University policies, rules, regulations etc and were givena course structure list. I will be studying 9 hours of intensive Japaneseclasses each week, as well as optional courses, of which I've picked afull load.The extra subjects I will be studying are:
Economic Deveopment
International Environmental Politics
Contemporary Issues In The Islamic World
International Finance and Monetary System
In addition to these four subjects and the Japanese classes, I am takingan optional Kanji class on Fridays for 90 minutes, which basically will helpin my recognition of the Chinese characters that pollute the Japaneselanguage.It is very difficult, considering there are over 20, 000 characters, andeach character has multiple meanings. So, the class will be bothchallenging but helpful.We also had a tour of the university. I am really happy with thefacilities etc - there s a university gym which I have joined, and the membership feeis only $30 per year and I can go there as many times as I want. I'll lookforward to that.There are about 100 exchange students in the SILS program at WasedaUniversity, which I am apart of. There are students from 29 different countries, including America, New Zealand, Estonia, Sweden, Italy, Spain,France, and Australia.Everyone is very nice and because of the environment we are in, it is veryeasy to make friends.
On Wednesday (21st), I spent the whole day running errands, and fillingout paper work. I bought all of my monthly ravel passes, one for my trips fromOgiukbo to Waseda University and return, and a pre-paid Tokyo Metro passfor subway travel. My station (Ogikubo) is on a great line, because I haveaccess to the above ground Japan Rail Lines as well as the Subway Network,which takes me to Shinjuku, Tokyo, Roppongi, Ginza and all the otherfamous places of Tokyo.I applied for my Alien Registration Card, which will be ready in 2 weeks.It is a card that proves my visa status and I have to carry it with me at all times. Japanese immigration and security is very strict.I also arranged a 50% discount which I can receive monthly off my mobilephone plan, because I now have a student card, which allows me the Student Rate. Considering I have a bill for $120 this month, it will come inhandy!!Japanese mobiles are quite cheap, calls are half the price of those in Australia, and SMS messages are non-existant. Everyone send messages viathe Internet, which they have access to on their phones. So I do the same; basicaly when I send a message to another phone, it is actually an email.They are very cheap - around 3 cents per message!!
I also bought another book - the 9/11 Commission Report on TerroristAttacks Against The United States. I am currently reading Bill Clinton'sautobioraphy "My Life" and once that's finished, I'l get onto theCommission Report.
On Wednesday I had the Waseda University Opening Ceremony for theinternational exchange students. It was good to meat the teachers who willguide us through the next year. We also heard the Waseda University choirperform and the orchestra play. The University is very prestigious, and iscelebrating it's 125th anniversary this year.On Thursday (22nd), I had my placement test - a 2 hour exam which testedour grammar, vocab and kanji etc - everyone is graded into different classesdepending on their ability. Some of the exchange students have only beenstudying it for 6 weeks, while others have done it for 10 years.I received my result yesterday at another orientation we had, and I'vebeen placed into the Lower Advanced class, so I am realy happy with that.
On Thursday we also had a health examination, to ensure that we are "fit"enough to be able to use the gym facilities. It included a hilarious urinesample, in which we were all given coffee cups and had to force wee intothem - a great ice-breaker for all of us!!On Friday (23rd) went to Akihabara, famous for the once black market stalsfilled with electronics products - bought a head set for my computer,because I have downloaded a program that allows me to make FREEinternational, domestic and local calls to other users of the program. Itis called Skype - you can download it from www.skype.com - Once you downloadit, you can add me to your contact list (Tokyo Timmy) and we can talk forfree!!!After Akihabara and some more window shopping, we went out for dinner andkaraoke. Went to an Engish-style pub and ate fish and chips - a good breakfrom rice - and then headed to what the Japanese call a Nomihoudai - youpay a set rate at the counter, which allows you to do karaoke for 1 or 2hours, with an all-you-can-drink alcoholic menu incuded in the price - we behavedourselves, but others didn't!!
On Saturday (24th) after ringing my mum for her birthday, went to our lastorientation at Waseda. 3 hours of nothing really, apart from getting our class schedules.Mondays I have 1 class in the afternoon, Tuesday I have class from9am-12pm and then another class in the avo. Wednesdays is my whole day-off, andthen Thursdays and Fridays I have classes from 9am until 6pm. Each class goesfor 90 minutes, and we have a 1 hour lunch break.Last night I went out to a big party which was hosted by the Waseda International Group - they held the party to welcome all of the exchangestudents. We booked out a restaurant, traditional Japanese one, and filledit with over 180 people!! It was agan Nomihoudai - all you can drink for$30 with food included too. It was an amazing site - 180 people sober at6.30pm and 180 people smashed by 7pm!! After the first party finished at 8.30, wewent to a second party, again Nomihoudai until 10.30pm. I must have had 30drinks of beer or spirits - so I definately got my $30 worth!!So, today I am resting. I woke up at midday and my friend who lives in theroom next door to me invited me downstairs for breakfast - but I had topass! Also had to pass another invitation out today. Got a major headache!!
There is another typhoon, this time headed straight for Tokyo, so we havemade some preparations for it. It should pass by tomorrow. Heavy rains andstrong winds, that's all.Got a free week this week, until Friday, when classes at uni begin. Kazuyais coming on Thursday to stay with me for the day and evening before hestarts work at a new resort in Hakone on Saturday.So, until next week, take care everyone and keep in touch.
Miss u all!
Tim
xx
posted by Tim at 10:34 AM
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