Two years...
...since I first came to Japan!
April 8th marks the 2 year anniversary of the day I first went to Japan. I fulfilled one of my biggest dreams by going there. It is hard to believe it has already passed, and that it is almost a year since I came back to Sweden.
Someone wrote something about this... but I can't remember who, or where I read it. Well, they said that it felt so weird to already have experienced their dream. And to believe it is already "over". Because you can never get that feeling back - what you felt the first time your dreams came true, and when you experienced those things you had imagined and dreamt about.
But I know I will be going back to Japan. Maybe next year already since my brother wants to do the same thing as me and study a year in Japan. So I might go with him during his first couple of weeks (or longer, haha). It all depends on what I will be doing next year of couse... but that I do not know yet.
Sometimes it feels almost like my year in Japan was another life. Because time there passed so quickly, and I did so much. And in the year since I came home it has been like that too, but I have been doing entirely different things. And here, well I just can't shut my mouth about Japan. I feel like I must be so annoying sometimes! D: And when I talk to my friends I made in Japan we don't talk that much about Japan... because we were all there at the same time. We don't have to make lengthy explanations, and we know just how the other feel about it.
Memorable things I did, that happened to me, and that I learnt in Japan:
- Studied Japanse and actually learned to speak the language! :O (And I still can speak it alright I think.)
- Made some wonderful friends. Swedish, Japanese, Danish, Chinese and other nationalities.
- Lived by myself in my own apartment place for the first time. And LOVED it.
- Learned to cook foreign dishes out of sheer desperation (haha).
- Visited Osaka, Nara and Kobe.
- Saw Japan's biggest Buddha statue, and the worlds biggest wooden building.
- Went to a themepark for the first time in my life - Universal Studios, Osaka.
- Petted deers in Nara.
- Somehow got to hang out in the VIP-room of a big club with a bunch of models.
- Got to experience how different the dating cultures in different countries actually can be.
- Realized that I am quite good at certain arcade games.
- Tried sooo many different kinds of delcious foods.
- Became more hardworking due to what the educational system is like in Japan. But also realized how damn lazy I can be at times.
- Had Chinese mormons trying to convert me to Christianity, hahaha.
- Spent many lovely summer evenings drinking liquor by the river.
- Did more clubbing than ever before in my life.
- Learnt that IKEA = love.
- Realized I shouldn't expose my skin to summer sun ever again, and that I am not made for climates where it gets hotter than 30 degrees.
- How bad the world economy can affect you when you are abroad.
- Learnt that I should work more on socializing the antisocial side of my personality.
- Learnt to be braver.
- My bed I had there made me never want to sleep high up again. Also pillow made of gravel = pain.
- Realized that Japanese people are amazing, and sweet, an caring and I am bad at showing that myself... d'oh.
- Learnt that you can have adventures anytime, anywhere. When you want it, or when you least expect it.
- Experienced how difficult it was to be away from my family and best friend for that long a period of time.
- Always felt really safe, even when myself on a street in the middle of the night.
- Got to feel what it was like on the receiving end of racism.
- Made a tattoo and got my septum pierced.
- Passed the JLPT Level 3.
- Learnt what I will/will not spend money on the next time I live by myself.
- Learnt how incredibly handy a Denki Jisho (electronic dictionary) is. I still use mine of course.
- Found new respect for the isolation and heating systems of Swedish houses.
- Became someones "secret admirer".
- Had a damn good time.
If I liked Japan before I went there, I must be helplessly in love by now. I miss it so much, I can't wait to go there again. There's just something (or maybe alot of things at once), that gives me that feeling when I think about my experiences there and how much I miss it. It is special and dear to me.
I am thinking of how beautiful it must be in Kyoto right now. The Sakura trees should be blooming or budding... it is one of the best seasons of Japan. And here we have meters of snow, although it started melting a little bit.
When I go there next I want to see more of Japan too of course. I never got the chance to see Tokyo, and I would love to go north, maybe to Hokkaido. But all this costs money of course, so it will have to wait... or I will have to win the lottery - which will never happen because I don't gamble + have no luck in games (OR love for that matter).
Today I am going to visit Viktoria in Östersund, and will stay there a few days. It will be great! I miss her so much. We became so close in Japan, and there I could come over to her place anytime I wanted. She was just two floors down... so we hung out almost every day. But I am still grateful that she lives fairly close. She lives closest out of all of my friends I made back there anyhow. I'm glad I can go like this and visit her every now and then. Because I would really hate lose contact with her. But yep, we will have an awesome time!
April 8th marks the 2 year anniversary of the day I first went to Japan. I fulfilled one of my biggest dreams by going there. It is hard to believe it has already passed, and that it is almost a year since I came back to Sweden.
Someone wrote something about this... but I can't remember who, or where I read it. Well, they said that it felt so weird to already have experienced their dream. And to believe it is already "over". Because you can never get that feeling back - what you felt the first time your dreams came true, and when you experienced those things you had imagined and dreamt about.
But I know I will be going back to Japan. Maybe next year already since my brother wants to do the same thing as me and study a year in Japan. So I might go with him during his first couple of weeks (or longer, haha). It all depends on what I will be doing next year of couse... but that I do not know yet.
Sometimes it feels almost like my year in Japan was another life. Because time there passed so quickly, and I did so much. And in the year since I came home it has been like that too, but I have been doing entirely different things. And here, well I just can't shut my mouth about Japan. I feel like I must be so annoying sometimes! D: And when I talk to my friends I made in Japan we don't talk that much about Japan... because we were all there at the same time. We don't have to make lengthy explanations, and we know just how the other feel about it.
Memorable things I did, that happened to me, and that I learnt in Japan:
- Studied Japanse and actually learned to speak the language! :O (And I still can speak it alright I think.)
- Made some wonderful friends. Swedish, Japanese, Danish, Chinese and other nationalities.
- Lived by myself in my own apartment place for the first time. And LOVED it.
- Learned to cook foreign dishes out of sheer desperation (haha).
- Visited Osaka, Nara and Kobe.
- Saw Japan's biggest Buddha statue, and the worlds biggest wooden building.
- Went to a themepark for the first time in my life - Universal Studios, Osaka.
- Petted deers in Nara.
- Somehow got to hang out in the VIP-room of a big club with a bunch of models.
- Got to experience how different the dating cultures in different countries actually can be.
- Realized that I am quite good at certain arcade games.
- Tried sooo many different kinds of delcious foods.
- Became more hardworking due to what the educational system is like in Japan. But also realized how damn lazy I can be at times.
- Had Chinese mormons trying to convert me to Christianity, hahaha.
- Spent many lovely summer evenings drinking liquor by the river.
- Did more clubbing than ever before in my life.
- Learnt that IKEA = love.
- Realized I shouldn't expose my skin to summer sun ever again, and that I am not made for climates where it gets hotter than 30 degrees.
- How bad the world economy can affect you when you are abroad.
- Learnt that I should work more on socializing the antisocial side of my personality.
- Learnt to be braver.
- My bed I had there made me never want to sleep high up again. Also pillow made of gravel = pain.
- Realized that Japanese people are amazing, and sweet, an caring and I am bad at showing that myself... d'oh.
- Learnt that you can have adventures anytime, anywhere. When you want it, or when you least expect it.
- Experienced how difficult it was to be away from my family and best friend for that long a period of time.
- Always felt really safe, even when myself on a street in the middle of the night.
- Got to feel what it was like on the receiving end of racism.
- Made a tattoo and got my septum pierced.
- Passed the JLPT Level 3.
- Learnt what I will/will not spend money on the next time I live by myself.
- Learnt how incredibly handy a Denki Jisho (electronic dictionary) is. I still use mine of course.
- Found new respect for the isolation and heating systems of Swedish houses.
- Became someones "secret admirer".
- Had a damn good time.
If I liked Japan before I went there, I must be helplessly in love by now. I miss it so much, I can't wait to go there again. There's just something (or maybe alot of things at once), that gives me that feeling when I think about my experiences there and how much I miss it. It is special and dear to me.
I am thinking of how beautiful it must be in Kyoto right now. The Sakura trees should be blooming or budding... it is one of the best seasons of Japan. And here we have meters of snow, although it started melting a little bit.
When I go there next I want to see more of Japan too of course. I never got the chance to see Tokyo, and I would love to go north, maybe to Hokkaido. But all this costs money of course, so it will have to wait... or I will have to win the lottery - which will never happen because I don't gamble + have no luck in games (OR love for that matter).
Today I am going to visit Viktoria in Östersund, and will stay there a few days. It will be great! I miss her so much. We became so close in Japan, and there I could come over to her place anytime I wanted. She was just two floors down... so we hung out almost every day. But I am still grateful that she lives fairly close. She lives closest out of all of my friends I made back there anyhow. I'm glad I can go like this and visit her every now and then. Because I would really hate lose contact with her. But yep, we will have an awesome time!