100 Days!

Yeah, so today there is exactly 100 days until we will get to the airplane and fly to Japan. Our apartment is already strating look like someones moving because we started to pack books and such already. We know that expesially December will be very busy and probably we don't have even much time to do packing and that is crazy because we have to think so many things already now! For example our apartments contract is expiring 31th of December, but due the fact that we don't have much time to do moving and leave the key close the date we are flying, we already have to do it about two weeks earlier. It's all for work. The December will be always the busiest month from the whole year since we both have something to do with retail business (though my job situation is not much clearer than before, I should get the information during next week).

But since this is 100 days until Japan -post, I try to write more about Japan and japanese language ^^. I'm very close to finish off the Kanji Book 1 which includes 251 kanji and after that there is not that much to go to have the whole amount for JLPT4 (we don't have to discuss about the other goal okey, please...?). Minna no Nihongo is completely other thing. It's massive amount of info, but I think the harder part is the selective reading in the beginning. We have been using different book series for the beginner parts but we wanted to purchase the book 1 as well to make sure our knowledge maches the expected (in our school they have used Minna no Nihongo serie in beginners course). But it's really frustrating time by time because so much you already know, but there is always something new in every chapter (or then the new thing is only disagreeing with the earlier info).

This is maybe the first time I have actually been worried that our level is not enough for the intermediate program. There was no sense to applicate for beginner program and our contact from Go!Go!Nihon thought this is the best program for us, but yeah, I still wonder. The others have been in Japan for 9 months already, talking and using japanese. And then we come with our knowledge made up from the tv series we hear and grammar books we read. It's not very comparable. I don't mind working my ass off to get the situation balanced but I for sure am worried that what if that is not even possible. I guess if we are too much behind we will just drop to the beginner (damn I hope not).

But here is something usefull for instance. Our real "savings versus how much we think we're going to spend in Japan during 9 months" -plan. So this is actually the estimation how much we will have saved in total in January, but since it's such a short time, it's going to be pretty correct.
I have to point out that all the amounts are just estimations and tried to be estimated too high (only rent is basically precise)!

Savings minus
- Public transportation for 9 months // 900 euro
- Phone and internet bills for 9 months // 900 euro
- Rent for 9 months from one person // 2700 euro
- Food for 9 months from one person // 1800 euro
- School for 9 months from one person (all costs + insurance, exaggerated) // 5 000 euro
-> Free money for entertainment for each month: approximately 320 euro

ps. I finally got a new computer and blogging is actually enjoyable again ^^
pps. This post has been changed (+ pictures added later 18th since the blogger for some reason didn't publish the last version about it...

Helsinki 2013

Linnanmäki (amusement park) 2013

Question time!

I got over the flue super fast. I guess that was all thanks for sleeping that much. The past few days I have been wondering a lot about Tokyo, maybe because soon it's only 100 days to go. Moving is starting to be very near and the list about things to do gets shorter all the time. I want to make sure I actually write an answer for myself about these questions buzzing in my head so I've decided to list those questions in here and answer to those in Japan, a small ordeal for myself. And I hope these little questions and in future the answer to these help others because I've had some trouble finding answers for some of these :). I'll keep the full list on "Project Data" page.

Here are the first ones what I have been thinking during the ongoing week:
Will my look draw that much attention? (because I didn't pay much notice for that last time)
Do I start to feel it annoying that people don't acknowledge my Japanese language skills?
Will people actually start to acknowledge my skill?
Will I face look-related special treatment or troubles with basics like doing mobile phone contract?
What is going to be the hardest thing to get used to our new life during the first month?
Will I receive negative attention about my weight?

For the last one I can comment a little bit. I'm considered completely normal in Finland and I don't find myself really as "fat", but knowing that in Japan people are in normal scale thinner and the ideals about "being fat" are lower, I'm kind of scared to be thought as a fat person there. For only the trip I have made a decision to lose 3 kilos (to be 60kg), but that doesn't bring me any close for those super thin Japanese people, so I'm a little bit scared. Last time I didn't really face any problems, but I noticed that when I had to pick the size L instead of S in cloth shops, it already in a short period affected my thinking. We will see what happens~

ps. I finally ordered new computer and then I can get rid off this one! Yey!

Shibya (Tokyo), 2012

Job worries

This week is going to be very intimidating because my work contract ends (determined maternity leave substitutement) after this week's Sunday and due to staff reduction consultation we had earlier on this Summer in my company, my contract can't be continued to the of this year like it was first planned to do. Luckily there is still one good option that might happen. The place where I work can hire season help for the upcoming Christmas, so there might be a chance that I can be hired for that. If that would be the case, then my new work contract would start from 1st of October. There is only one and that is that those season help contracts has to be first offered for those who had been fired due to staff reduction and of course, they might take all the places.

So every day I go to work and I'm terrified to hear my superior to tell me that all the places were taken because for our saving for Japan, that would be a catastrophe. I know that with my attitude I believe I can get some job, but I'm a little bit too honest person. I wouldn't dare to leave out a fact that I can only work for three months and that has already been reason for Mikko not been hired for one company (gladly he got another job with relations). So thumbs up people! ;)

I have also been sick since Saturday and after work I have been mostly sleeping. The pause from the work would do good for my kanji studies and Minna no Nihongo though. And I need to get healthy again, there is so much to do! It's so hard to believe that after this month we already have to cancel our gym memberships (2 months term of notice) and some other contracts as well. Japan is already so close!

 Shibya (Tokyo) 2012 & Asakusa (Tokyo) 2012

Productive day

Today has been a very productive day. I begun the studying the first thing in a morning and continued 6 hours with a breakfast break. The result was 24 new kanji learned which helped me to fill the gap what the last weeks of August left. So now I'm once again in a right speed, but my right hand disagrees badly with the entire writing practice I have done today ^^.

I spent some time yesterday watching videos from different Youtube bloggers (who blog about Japan) like Rachel and Jun and Kanadajin3. I find it interesting to hear different experiences and I have to say that some of the tips they have given, if we would have known those when we first time visited Japan, some things would have been much easier. So I warmly recommend following those channels, especially Rachel and Jun are very nice to follow.

Some of those videos raises questions of course. One video told that Japanese don't use any deodorant and of course when you compare it with our culture in Finland it sounds really weird. One of our friends has been in Japan as an exchange student and she has confirmed this info for us earlier, but it still feels odd. In Japanese culture there is also plenty of rules about behavior that are very important but if you don't know those rules, you might break them but no-one will note that up for you.

The culture of ignoring misbehavior in order not to misbehave yourself is pretty interesting and gives a lot to think about. For example during our last visit in Tokyo, people in trains would just sit quiet doing their own things, just like in Finland. Speaking in a phone in a train is considered highly rude and there are signs that tell you not to speak in your phone in a train. However, if someone does this, nobody really says anything, they just maybe give you a bad look and continue what they were doing and that is a complete opposite what would happen in Finland. Here someone would shout that someone to shut up or at least would mumble to a closest person how irritating that one person is being.

I'm highly fascinated by this twist in Japanese culture. I often feel like some of the Finnish melancholic attitude comes from complaining out loud about everything and people tend to hang on with the unequal and bad happenings so long that they forgot to move on. I look forward to see the difference since in Japan it sometimes feels like they let go about things even too easily and move on.