Himeji

This was my first time going to Himeji. I saw a lot of pictures and read quite a lot about Himeji on the internet. Thus, my interest peaked and I was off to Himeji. I am totally bypassing my entire traveling schedule, but oh well.

Himeji castle the field and the garden around it is quite beautiful. Definitely worth the trip. Supposedly it is even more beautiful during sakura season. However, the one thing I strongly disliked was the “zoo” next to Himeji Castle. I do not understand how this “zoo” is able to pass the strict restrictions, laws and regulation that are in place towards a zoo. This “zoo” was clearly not up to the standards and in a sense was abusing the animals they kept. Let me explain. 2 polar bears in a cage of 3 meters by 7 meters, with a small pool within that cage that is roughly twice the size of a full grown polar bear. One of the polar bears was heavily pacing from one side to another side. This is a sign of severe stress.

Next, a cage of 4 meters by 5 meters, roughly 30 flamingo's were cramped up in there. They looked miserable, their colour was fair and simply sad to look at. Then there were 3 kangaroo's, 2 camel and other large animals, separated by animal but living in a cage the size of my room in the Netherlands, roughly 25m2. It's preposterous.

In my previous blog I wrote about the Gaijin Forcefield (a superpower that foreigners have that gives them extra space in public places). Well, guess what? After my trip to Himeji castle I felt famished so I decided to go to a local restaurant that looks crowded. In Japan a lot of the time crowded means either new or popular. In this case it was the latter. The reason why I started to talk about the Gaijin Forcefield again is because I was actively avoided in this restaurant. Because this was a gift shop and a restaurant in one I asked the cashier on how to order. All she did was call someone over and the old lady guided my to my seat. Mind you that I asked on how to order in Japanese. So there I was, getting guided by an old lady, that unfortunately, could only walk bended. Unable to walk upwards, the only way for these people is to walk with a bend back.

Anyhow, the moment I sat the old lady said she would get me an English menu. Before I could complete the sentence: '日本語のメニューはいいんですよ' (The Japanese menu is fine), she already near the kitchen. How in the world did she manage to move roughly ten meters forwards with her bend-back in matters of a second? From that moment on I decided to call her 速ばあ 'Hayabaa' or fast-old-lady.

Next to me were two Japanese, most likely daughter and mother as one of them looked a tad older, but then again [Asians], you never know. They giggled a bit when they saw this, with a smile and a short nod I turned my head and opened the menu starting to look for something to eat. The old lady returned with an English menu and walked away. After a minute or so I had chosen what I wanted. Now all that was left was ordering so I closed the menu and placed it aside.

I started looking around a bit, looking several waitresses in the eye with a small nod, but nothing happened. This happened a few times. Then I repeated it but this time with an added 'raise of the hand', but again they looked and... nothing. The counter and the kitchen were straight ahead of me and I could see the waitresses talking, most likely about me and who should take my order.

You might wonder how I know they were talking about me, which is quite simply. The waitresses talking to one another, then looking towards me, then talking to each other again, several times with a few 'disagreeing hand gestures' and 'shaking of the head' and small bows is somewhat of a universal language.

So, nearing the 3 – 4 minutes of waiting I decided to just call them out when they got in my vicinity with a simple すみません, (excuse me) this time I got a reaction of 'はい、少々お待ちください' (please wait a moment).

Thus, I thought I was finally able to order, but alas, I was disappointed once again. Regrettably, aside from the acknowledgment nothing happened, yet again. This time the table next to me was done eating, hence one of the waitresses came to clean it up. It was Hayabaa. So feigning ignorance I just asked her politely on how to order. Her reply was, when I am done cleaning this table I'll come to you, please wait a moment.

Yes finally, I can order! I only ate a sandwich in the morning so I was famished. After taking the stuff to the kitchen I saw her coming out, but she went to a different table. Who knows, they might have called out to her before I did. But minutes passed and still nothing. The table next to me asked what was happening, so I replied in Japanese that they might be afraid of being unable to understand me if I spoke in English. Without skipping a single heartbeat, the bit older looking woman just shouted 'すみません' and in a matters of seconds a waitress came over. She was kind enough to direct the waitress to me and I just ordered in Japanese. Then all of the sudden the waitress started asking questions on where I was from, where I learned Japanese, and so forth. Really, now you care? After answering the questions as quickly as I could, receiving the typical '日本語はお上手ですね' (Your Japanese is good) and replying with the 'いいえ、まだまだです' (Not at all), she walked off to the kitchen.

After a several minutes of waiting for my food, a family of 4 Americans were seated next to me, and they too were somewhat avoided. But with an English menu they decided quickly and as soon as Hayabaa came with my food, she took the order from the family, in English. What... How... Why... I just... Huh?!

The food though was delicious. Karee katsu, all day, every day!

I have never had this much trouble order food in a restaurant. Mind you, this is Himeji, not some backdrop farmland. They even have an English menu, and it was offered to me, so what happened? I doubt this was the work of the Gaijin Forcefield.

All things considered, Himeji is definitely a place to visit if you are in Japan. Unfortunately, other then the Castle and the Zoo I did not have enough time to explore a lot in Himeji. So until maybe next time Himeji.

Then there are those random moments during one's journey that you will remember for a long time. On my way back, waiting for the train to arrive at the platform, two Japanese girls were acting “strange” with their umbrella. Strange in a way of having fun but in a weird way. One of the girls was “dancing”, more or less strangely moving her body along with the umbrella and the other one was taking taking pictures and recording her. So I just stood there looking at them, baffled, and they paid no attention to their surroundings. After a good few minutes they noticed I was looking and they just laughed out loud. At that time I was unable to hold in my laughter so I laughed too. After that, they came up to me and just started asking those typical questions: “Where are you from?”, “Are you American?”, and so forth. It was fun listening to their broken Engrish but for the sake of a conversation I switched to Japanese. Of course, as always, they are shocked that a foreigner is able to speak Japanese. So after a short conversation, both our trains arrived and we went our separate way. So... Gaijin Forcefield, what happened? Did ya miss? 発動失敗?

On a whim to Nara

Household utilities and electronics are quite expensive here in Japan. For instance, a rice cooker cost easily 50 euro's, and those are the small, 1 person sized ones. A small oven or bread-baker is easily 100 euro's. Skillets and pans on the other hand are quite cheap and durable too. One of my enjoyments in life is a cooking/chef knife. Nothing beats a razor sharp knife that allows you to cut quickly and precisely. Those chef knives that are sold in the supermarket are top-notch. It simply cannot be compared to those regular knives in The Netherlands, plus you always get the creators initials or the name of the knife carved into the blade. How cool is that!?

After about 5 hours of sleep I woke up in the early evening, and without much to do I just roamed around in the city, ate some ramen, played some games and went into a pub. Nothing extreme as this was my first day in Japan after 2 years.

Brain: “Psst... hey... HEY! WAKE UP!”

Me: “Mmm...?”

Brain: “Rise and shine, it is morning!”

Me: “Oh, come on. It is 4:22.”

Brain: “The sun is almost up. If chickens can do it, you can too.”

Since it was early in the morning, the sun was about to break the day and I was starting to feel hungry I went for a quick breakfast at the konbini around the corner. After eating, I went for a 5km run as this is one of the best ways to deal with jet-lag.

According to the weather channel is was going to be sunny day of around 16 degrees, while in The Netherlands the temperature was around 5 degree. Late April and at the time of writing, it is snowing in The Netherlands. Ominous! Anyhow, since it was going to be a sunny day I just decided to go to Nara, for the third time, to see some deer's, temples and visit places in Nara which I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting. After arriving in Nara, it became clear to me that thousands of other people had the same idea of visiting Nara. It was quite crowded and it only became more crowded as the day passed. Especially the amount of Chinese visitors.

Not these deer's. They just chillin'

Around the afternoon I was famished and decided to go for a sweet potato which was grilled with charcoal, it was hell'a good. For those who have been to Nara know that you cannot eat anything near the temples without getting surrounded by deer's. One deer in particular, named Hank, was quite persistent. Hank acted more or less like a cat as he kept rubbing his head against my hands, shoulder or my head. After a while I gave him a piece of potato. After eating it, he did the same routine but this time Hank was a bit more vigorous. Meanwhile, without me noticing it, as I was paying attention to the deer that was trying to eat my potato, I was getting recorded by a few Chinese girls/women. The moment I noticed they were recording me, Hank took its chance, but rather then going for the potato, it went... for me. The bastard licked me on the lips. Of course they thought it to be humorous. I did not! Bloody deer kiss. After washing my face, I gave Hank the last part of the potato and went on my way to roam around Nara.

One of the things I noticed during my short breaks in Nara was that the Chinese people are big litters. They just throw their stuff on the ground: paper, plastic, anything. Unfortunately, there are many deers in Nara and I have seen them eat paper and plastic. Regrettably, I could not retrieve the plastic and paper from their mouths because by the time my hands reached their mouth they had already eaten it. This happened on multiple occasions. After giving a dirty look towards those litters, they simply just shrugged and walked off... The fuck?

One of the reasons I went to Nara again was a mountain I wanted to climb, as far as it can be called 'climbing', it is more like walking upwards. The mountain provides a lovely view over the entire city of Nara but regrettably it was closed until next Saturday.

Turtles are always cool!

Fun Fact: My Gaijin Force Field and Gaijin Deathstare are quite effective in Japan, especially in (local) trains.

Gaijin Deathstare, what?

As a foreigner, more specifically, foreigner looking you will get started at in Japan, a lot. A way to entertain yourself is to stare right back at them, and see who will be victorious. 9 out of 10, you will win. Sometimes you get a persistent person, and then the fun quickly dissipates. Usually from those cranky looking salary-man types.

The fun part of the Gaijin Deathstare is the moment you catch them looking or staring at you, is to look back at them, but without looking away. You can see them get nervous and uncomfortable quite fast. Its the little things in life that makes it fun to be alive.

There have been times where younger people, usually girls, stare at me from a distance as I walk towards the direction they are coming from and without looking away I too stare back at them. This usually ends up in either one of us or the both of us laughing out loud as we past each other. Fun times.

What about the Gaijin Force Field?

Well this is a interesting technique which unfortunately I do not have any control over. It happens in trains and buses where I, and probably those that have visited Japan before, have a 'force field' surrounding me which prevents anyone from entering the range of the force field. For example, there I am, sitting in the train during the early morning hours. Rush hour in Japan, namely Osaka, Kyoto and especially Tokyo is no joke. The trains are filled until you are packed like a sardine in a tin can. Whilst sitting I noticed the train getting more crowded as more and more people get on it as we pass each station. However, absolutely no one wants to sit next to the foreigner, me. They rather stands for 10, 15, 30 minutes than sit next to me. I do not believe I smell nor do I bite. In any case, it is somewhat relaxing as I have more space for myself on any train. This also happens when walking down the street. People actively avoid me, like something is pushing them to the side to let me pass. This skill however comes quite in handy during emergencies. If for instance, a person faints I can just stand around that person without anyone able to get close. This way, the person will actually have some space to breath.

We meet again, my dear friend!

Osu~

It has been quite a while since I have done anything on this blog. It is not that I had forgotten its existence, but rather there was nothing to write about. But that is going change. 

The reason I started this blog last year was to share my experience whilst living in Japan for the foreseeable future. I plan on updating this blog once a week, but once school starts and my free time dimishes over time, I will most likely update it less than before.

For starters, the first entrees after my arrival in Japan will be posted right after each other. This is because I was idiotic enough to forget my laptop in my hotel in Osaka after traveling to Tokyo. Yes, of all the things that you can forgot, I managed to forgot my laptop. Good job Brains.

-------------------

So here I am, on Schiphol airport around 23:30, (Yes, I use European time format) minding my own business. Walking around, exploring the vast and awfully quite airport. The reason for this is because my flight was in the early morning so I spent the night wandering the airport with my two large suitcases and large shoulder bag. Luckily there were trolleys available for use which made it so much easier to move around. Since I had roughly 7 hours to kill before I could check-in, or at least pass border control, I just sat down somewhere after a few hours and played a few games on my laptop. Before I knew it, morning had come and it was time to go. After waiting for a couple of hours I could finally board the plane and take off... and land about 450 kilometers East. The flight was not so bad, but city hoppers just feel a little too shabby for flight. Transfering planes at Frankfurt my journey resumed.

Now I am going to stop here for a second and explain a few things. I have been on several flight before, and all of them were great, at least I had no complaints, but this one... I would like to dub it: "Hell". Mind you, at this point in time I have been awake for, give and take, 55 hours, as I had about 2 hours of "sleep" before going to Schiphol. I do not know why I could not fall asleep. I was not nervous, anxious, or anything. I was just being myself. I did not get any sleep nor did I eat proper, so I was hangry. Knowing this was going to be a long flight and knowing myself, I cannot sit still for a long period of time, I was looking forward to finally being able to fall asleep after a few days and at the same time it would "lessen" the duration of the flight. Sleeping is like time-travel. One second you are in the present, the next second you wake up and several hours has passed.

1 day before leaving I was allowed to change seats in the plane. Seeing as my seat was a rather unfortnate one because I like to gaze through the window, I changed my seat from one right next to the wing to a seat in the back of the plane, about 10 meters back from where I was originally suppose to sit. I confirmed it, printed the documents and went on my way. I got on board, looked at my seat number and... then I noticed it was the same seat as before. Double checking it... Yup, the same seat. Since I could not change it anymore and complaining to the flight attendents would not help me at all I gave up because I was too tired to even start a conversation. Sat down, looked through the window... Oh wow, 1/4 of a view, nice~! Well, whatever. I was hoping to sleep most of the time anyways. The keyword is 'hoped' because the Law of Murphy was applied on this flight.

As I said I had not slept for quite a while, I was hangry (hungry and irritated) and not in the mood for anything but sleep. As more and more people started to board and find their seats, two people locked eyes with me and sat next to me. The person next to me was smelling like he had not taken a shower for a few days and his breath could use a few mints. We exchanged short introductions, and quickly did our thing. He probably noticed I was not in the mood to talk. During his introduction he, for some reason, mentioned he loves alcohol and that we was going to get drunk so he could sleep... Once the plane was full I noticed there were a total of 5 babies on the area were I was seated, and after the plane took off, I saw 3 more babies in the area behind me...

After a few hours I still did not feel tired and the guy next to me started to drink his first alcoholic drink... his second, then his third. As for me, I was watching a movie but I could hardly concentrate due to the lack of sleep and there were no interesting movies available. So I took my laptop and continue a game I was playing in Frankfurt. However, after a few minutes the person in front of me set his backseat all the way down so I hardly had any room for a laptop. So that was out of the question. So I took my phone and played Triple Triad.

Around 3 hours in the flight I started to feel tired from just staring at the screen whilst “watching” a movie. Finally, I thought this was it. I could finally get some sleep. I shut down the screen, put my noise cancelling ear pieces in and closed my eyes. 5 minutes... 10 minutes... 15 minutes... 30 minutes...

Me: “Brain! What are you doing?”

Brain: “Huh? What do you mean?”

Me: “Hook me up with some melatonin! I want to sleep!”

Brain: “Tsk, who died and made you king?”

“Whateva, I do wut I wan'”

Me: “. . .”

After failing to fall asleep, with hardly any room to move, I had to get away so I just started to walk around and do some stretches in the back of the plane. I tried to converse with some of the Japanese that were also standing there but alas, they did not feel like it. The flight attendences too were not in the mood for it as they were to busy with serving people. After about an hour I went back to my seat and played Triple Triad again. After about an hour I started feeling drowsy again. Closed my phone, put in my earpieces, made a small pillow and tried to get some sleep...5, 10, 15 minutes later.

Brain: “. . .” *giggle*

Me: “Are you serious?!”

Brain: “Hahahaha psych!”

Me: “M!@#%&*(^%#$”

I took my laptop and watched Gaki no Tsukai until the battery died.

Legs: “Could you at least give me some attention. I am hurt all over! Go walk around a bit, would you!”

Me: “Alright., alright”

Eyes: “Yo! Food's here!”

Stomach: “Wait your turn Legs! It is my turn now!”

After eating and walking around a bit, I was 6 hours or so in flight and changed my clothes to something more comfortable, sat down, closed my eyes and hoped for the better. Luckily I was able to sleep for about 2 hours. After waking up I still had roughly 2 hours left to fly. The guy and the Japanese in my row were sleeping like a baby. During the flight the babies too made quite the noise with their crying.

I know it sounds selfish as I was neither the only person on the plane and it was even tougher on the parents with their babies. I feel sorry for them, truly.

After a long and tedious flight, I finally landed in Kansai Airport.

This is my third time coming to Japan and as I remember the first time I came here, I remembered the intense euphoria. Unfortunately, it was not as intensive but still present. It felt rather more profound. Or maybe it was because I had only slept 6 hours in a time span of 72 hours. My scumbag brain did not create any serotonin, dopamine and melatonin... Thanks a lot, Brain!

Everything was more or less the same as I remembered. Took the special rapid services to Namba and from there the underground metro to Doubutsuenmae. I was staying in the same hotel from 7 years ago. If you happen to go to Osaka, try to arrange a room in Hotel Raizan South. They have private rooms quite cheap. The rooms and hotel are very clean, the staff are friendly and speak English too, plus they have a male and female onsen! The exterior did not change but the lobby did. They removed the wall between the South and North so it was one big lobby and the receptionist were young(er) people rather then the old couple. I did not make the same mistake as last time by sleeping on a futon. As a Western a bed is so much better. Regretabbly, I could not go to my room straight away. I had to wait another 2 hours but I could at least drop my luggage off. Carrying two large suitcases and a large shoulder bag on my bag is quite challenging with my exhausted body.

Tara and I were suppose to do lunch at 12:00 but unfortunately I could not make it and had to re-schedule it. So I just started walking around the area, trying to see what has changed over the past 7 years but no major changes were found. After a few hours of walking around I went back and could check-in. The first thing was a long shower to freshen up. Because I arrived around 8:30 in the morning in Osaka I had no choice but to be active the entire day in order to lessen the jetlag. Unfortunately, my body thought differently.

Brain: “Hey guys! What's up?”

Me: “... Hmm, nothing much. Just going to get something to eat. Right, Legs”

Legs: “Yeah, we are just going to the konbini because Stomach is hungry”

Stomach: “That's right.”

Brain: “Oh terrific! Well if Stomach is hungry then I have got something for him!”

“Here you go best buddy!”

Stomach&Legs&Arms&Me: “Heart, stop!”

Heart: “Sorry guys, I am just doing my job.”

Brain: “Here is the melatonin you asked for!”

Me: “No! Not now you unproductive piece of shit!”

Brain: “Sorry, I cannot hear you over the sound of dopamine”

Stomach&Legs&Arms&Me: “No~!!!!”

Brain: “KAPOW! Here, take my serotonin attack”

Me: “Legs, move your slow ass!”

“Arms, hurry up and change clothes!”

Arms:”Shut up! I am working magic already!”

Brain: “Cheers guys”

Me: “Aww cr...a...p”!

The final stretch of the year! 今年の最終的なストレッチ

I can already imagine them saying it
バカ外人です～

The final block period is well on its way, just 5 more weeks until our next and luckily, our final exams of our year. Now, in order to go to Japan, I have to pass all Japanese exams and other subjects but should I be unable to pass one exam I highly doubt they will withhold me from my study exchange to Japan in Spring 2016. Regardless, what kind of student of Oriental Languages and Communication - Japanese would I be if I do not pass all exams.

Regarding our workload for this block period; it has tripled. Thanks, school! The reason for that is that we have to write and write and write a lot of stuff. We have our English assignment. It requires us to create a thesis based on a subject of our own choice. The good thing is that we are allowed to take our presentation material and topic we had to do in the previous block period, and expand that with additional information, obviously, and create a thesis. Which is a big plus if you had chosen a topic that is suited for a thesis.

We have to attend a new (annoying) subject known as Business Journalism and Correspondence. The idea is to interview a person related to our course and business field. I get the idea behind it and it could prove to be useful later on, especially if you are good at networking. The part I find annoying is the amount of writing you have to do for a subject which I think holds no water for my future. Yeah, I know it is a selfish thought. So what, sue me!

One of the things our school is good at is not notifying its students or at least within time frame so that we can prepare ourselves. They like to surprise us a lot. Because we did not had any lessons in what is known as 'Knowledge of Country and Folk' during the previous block due to, yet, unknown reasons the school decided to give both the previous block lessons for that subject and this block period lessons at the same time. Which includes writing two essays I believe. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

This is definitely not a bad thing, but in addition to all the kanji, Japanese words, definitions and grammar we have to learn this block period, we, of course, have to know everything from our previous block periods and first year too.

In a couple of weeks we are about to embark in the most exciting and highly thought off adventure known as 'Keigo' - the most difficult grammar use of the Japanese language. Highly formal (honorific) language. All the sarcasm aside, it should be fun. It sounds quite fancy and posh but extremely difficult to learn. Even the Japanese have difficulty using this high formal language.

All the negativity and complaining aside, this is the last period and if I pass every exam it will be the end of it, at least they cannot withhold me from going on my exchange to Japan. I will celebrate to that
ヨシャアア～～～　“ヽ(´▽｀)ノ”
After this block period, school is over meaning it is time to work my ass of during the summer holiday to roundup some money for my exchange to Japan, which will not be nearly enough but every penny helps.

Until next time,

またね～

No more exams 試験が終わり

Finally~~!!! The three dreadful long and difficult exam weeks are over! This means that I am another step closer to going to Japan for exchange and only one more exam period to go and it is summer vacation and the end of my second year.

Now that I have a week off from school, it is time to play some games and enjoy the sun. At least, I hope it will not be blocked by the clouds. Up until now, we had fair weather with lots of sun and pleasant Spring temperatures, of up to 25C. Can I get a hooray for Spring? xD

It is time for me to finally relax a bit, play a few games and study on a slow pace during the vacation. Study, you say? Yes, study. It just does not end.

Until next time.


私の日本語は完璧じゃありませんので間違えはたくさなります。どもうすみません。

よっしゃああああ～～試験はやっと終わりました！この一ヶ月は辛いで、３週間の試験期間は長過ぎますよ。一歩、留学は少しずつ近くに来ます。楽しみです！！。
一回だけの試験期間が残っています。それから夏休み～～！

今は暇なのでゲームをして、日光浴もしたいと考えています。オランダで春の天気はほとんど１５摂氏から２５摂氏です。それはいい天気ですよ。太陽も多いし花と木も咲きます。春と夏は一番いい季節だと思います

それや、これで。。。

また今回

Rajko

Introductory blog

This is my first entree on my first blog ever . It's kind of exciting when I think about it :)

A short introduction is in order, I suppose. 

Who is this mysterious person typing these letters? An average guy with an average life :P

My name is Rajko Udovicic and I am a university student, studying Japanese at the University of Applied Sciences in Maastricht, the Netherlands, currently in my second year. Just two more months left and school is at its end. At least for 2 months, because va-ca-tion~!!

Vacation time means I will have a lot of time to play games and work in order to pay the 5 months trip. 

Because my PC cannot handle any recent games unfortunately, I am stuck at playing Diablo 3, Marvelheroes, CS, and other MMO's that can be set to a very, very low setting.

If you play Diablo 3, hit me up. I play on the EU servers, obviously. My tag is Schaapje-2944

In the second semester of my third year I will have the opportunity to go to Japan for 5 months to study at Shiga university. A big hooray for me... Yay! Luckily, my journey to Japan starts half way March, thus there will be a lot of sakura (cherry blossom) viewings with lots of sun and warm weather. Something that the Netherlands usually lack.

Regrettably, I still have to wait an entire year and with that, A LOT of studying. But in the end, it is worth the effort.

For now, I guess this is it. From this point forward I will try to maintain my blog and create new entries whenever there is something to update.

Feel free to subscribe or follow my blog, and as the saying in Japan goes; よろしくお願いします。

Until next time

- Rajko