K so I've just gotten to Singapore airport and have to wait a few more hours to my flight to JAPAN! It'll be 3 years in August that i've been learning Japanese... been one hell of a trip so far. Really really really can't wait for this trip, just been waiting for it for so long. It's only a 2 week holiday to check out the scene and see some friends but I can usually pack a lot into a day (thanks to skills anki forced me to pick up) so i'm sure it'll be a fun filled blast.

I might post updates as I go if I can! That's what I hope to do anyways.

Going to be staying at a hotel right at the scrumble crossing in shibuya for 4 days then off to Osaka for a week to stay with my ex-flatemate who lived with me for about 6 months last year. Staying a night in Kobe at a decent hotel aswell and going to make day trips to Nara and Kyoto of course.

It's weird having watching Japan from the outside for nearly 3 years you tend to know a lot of stuff that someone who has never been to a place just shouldn't know. I read the guide to Japanese popculture on the plane. All 59 pages... there was only 2 - 3 things I didn't know. Hahaha...

But to be honest the thing I'm looking foward to the most is the things that will surprise me. I'm pretty sure anyone who's been at this long enough knows that, no matter how much you know, you still know like NOTHING (well it feels like).

Anyways, wish me luck. I mean tell me Ganbatte! cos it's just so much cooler.

Sweet! Seems like you have everything planned, I'm really interested in your opinion on your expectations vs the real deal and what really is worth seeing as opposed to what the guidebooks say. I start mine in less than a month so a fresh perspective would be a godsend

Have a great time! I'll be really interested to read any updates you do post. Do you mind giving a brief description of how good you felt your Japanese was before you went, and how well it held up once you'd arrived?

Make sure to take a lot of pictures and enjoy the trip. As for some words you don't know, that's in any language. But I'm sure you can read/understand almost anything that comes your way now.

One word: Blog.

Especially about communication skills.

You should catch the beginning of the Gion Matsuri festivities in Kyoto at the end of your trip. Don't hold all this heat against Japan. It is wonderful the other eight months of the year. Kansai just began energy conservation to aid the Tohoku area, so most buildings have their air conditioning set a little warmer than what is comfortable.

My language skills are awesome so i'll have no problems in that regard! Only a two week trip so i'll probably get very little "study" done but lots of conversation catching up with mates. I have lots of Japanese friends where I live in NZ anyways but it's going to be pretty crazy stepping into a world that's completely Japanese. Might be nice for a change.

Ugh, the heat... one thing I got a brief taste of when I stepped outside the airport at Singapore just a little while ago. Hot AND humid. Eek. Still...

One of the objectives I have for this trip is to seriously just chill on a river bank like I see the kids doing in drama. Haha. Sounds kinda dumb but there's NO places like that where I live and I really like the look of them.

It's really hard to say what my expectations of Japan are at this point... what does one expect anyway? I suppose its like seeing a picture of someone lots and hearing stories about them all your life and then finalllllllllllllllllly getting to meet them. You feel you kinda already know them but then they turn from a 2D idea into a 3D experience. So I guess Japan will just become fleshed out and a bit more real in my mental map of the world.

I mean, a whole country full of people that speak Japanese? All I can expect is that it's going to be nothing less than awesome for someone who truly just loves that Japanese language.

Only an hour and a half til my flight leaves for Tokyo!

I wish you a great time in Japan! And keep posting updates as often as you are able to!

頑張ってね！

And a blog would also be nice with lots and lots of pictures. I even have a name for you, The adventures of a Kiwi in Japan ;p

congrats on the trip... I'm in Japan right now as well (in Chiba). This was my 1st trip here since I started to get serious with Japanese a couple of years ago. The first time I went to Japan I didn't understand anything (couldn't even read kana) It's definitely been awesome to actually communicate with people now. I know I still have a long way to go though. Glad you are confident with your abilities

Hm, theoretically I know especially Tokyo by heart. I would not need any plan to orientate, since I'm walked through it in several dreams, but practical - nope, no idea lol Just guessing it looks like Tokyo. I wish you a great time there, mezbup! (Why summer, why?!?! Japanese people are escaping Japan especially in *this* time lol)

I started reading kino no tabi and recognised that indeed vocabulary is almost everything once you have some basic grammar knowledge. It's annoying looking up such words as 腿　根絶やし and stuff like that, since it's not that frequent (= not frequent enough to be contained in core6k ).

Though, I'd imagine I would probably around in Japan with a mechanical pencil and a note blog, since I can write better than speaking. (I'd request the people I talk with to write their answers down lol Yeah, that's how bad my listening comprehension is.)

Even though its Summer, its a good change for us in the Southern Hemisphere. Sucks for me, I'm going in December. Hopefully it's not too cold.
I wonder, if I cram KO, Core6k and some more vocab in the next 5 months, I wonder how easily it will be to get around.

Good luck on your trip! 頑張ってね! I'm sure you'll have a great time.
I haven't been to Japan since my skills got awesome, so I'm jealous, but I'm planning to go there for 3 months in August/ September. I can't wait. The last time I went I couldn't understand much and felt like an idiot, turned out well though, it led me on to RTK, AJATT etc.

mezbup Wrote:One of the objectives I have for this trip is to seriously just chill on a river bank like I see the kids doing in drama. Haha. Sounds kinda dumb but there's NO places like that where I live and I really like the look of them.

Haha, I know what you mean, I got the urge to do that after watching 金八先生, there's an even better looking river here however, and it still gets boring rather quickly

thecite Wrote:I'm planning to go there for 3 months in August/ September. I can't wait.

Does anyone know if there are any problems when staying for so long? Do they look at you with more scrutiny at immigration?

I'll be going in September too myself.

If you're going in on a visa waiver (and as a tourist, you would), the time you get varies. For people from the U.K., it appears to be six months.

Detailed country list (in English) here: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

Have a great time Mezbup!!!　良い思い出を　；）

dizmox Wrote:

thecite Wrote:I'm planning to go there for 3 months in August/ September. I can't wait.

Does anyone know if there are any problems when staying for so long? Do they look at you with more scrutiny at immigration?

I'll be going in September too myself.

yeah, i managed to overstay my visa when i went by a few hours, and it was pretty bad. It would have been fine if i had 4000 yen left for the extension on the spot at the airport, but i didn't, so they wouldn't let me on my plane home... :/

Anyway, i found out that how much of an extension you can get generally depends on your countries relations with Japan. For instance, Japanese people are allowed a 6 month visa for coming to Britain, so they're pretty much happy to extend British people's visa to 6 months too. (you should go to the office before your visa runs out though!). So, probably check your home country's regulations for some insight, i guess... (oh wait, you're from the uk...)

IceCream Wrote:Have a great time Mezbup!!!　良い思い出を　；）

dizmox Wrote:

thecite Wrote:I'm planning to go there for 3 months in August/ September. I can't wait.

Does anyone know if there are any problems when staying for so long? Do they look at you with more scrutiny at immigration?

I'll be going in September too myself.

yeah, i managed to overstay my visa when i went by a few hours, and it was pretty bad. It would have been fine if i had 4000 yen left for the extension on the spot at the airport, but i didn't, so they wouldn't let me on my plane home... :/

Anyway, i found out that how much of an extension you can get generally depends on your countries relations with Japan. For instance, Japanese people are allowed a 6 month visa for coming to Britain, so they're pretty much happy to extend British people's visa to 6 months too. (you should go to the office before your visa runs out though!). So, probably check your home country's regulations for some insight, i guess... (oh wait, you're from the uk...)

I wish Japan would do the same for Austria, as what Austria is doing for them, granting them stay here without the need for any Visa. No work, no visitor, no whatever else Visa there are out there. You are Japanese? You are welcome in Austria. I don't know however, how this new red-white-red card is going to affect the Japanese, in terms of allowance to stay in our country. I just wish, oh well, 9 months would be more than i could wish for, should i ever get there.

I should be going for the first time in September as well. I'm just looking for a good flight deal. I might be able to get one for under £500 through the travel agents on cheapflights. If my girlfriend didn't work for a draconian, i.e. typical, Japanese company, I could've gone when Aeroflot are offering flights for under £350... I'm probably going to be limited to areas in and around Tokyo, but I'll try to make the most of it

is that return for under £350?!?! when? where? !!! or only one way?

thecite Wrote:I'm planning to go there for 3 months in August/ September. I can't wait.

dizmox Wrote:I'll be going in September too myself.

Javizy Wrote:I should be going for the first time in September as well. I'm just looking for a good flight deal. I might be able to get one for under £500 through the travel agents on cheapflights. If my girlfriend didn't work for a draconian, i.e. typical, Japanese company, I could've gone when Aeroflot are offering flights for under £350... I'm probably going to be limited to areas in and around Tokyo, but I'll try to make the most of it

It will be like an invasion from koohii I'm going in August for 3 months. We really should get together in Tokyo for drinks.

@Javizy how did you find such cheap tickets? I paid almost 600£ for mine but the cheapest I could find was 450£ both of them Aeroflot, I was just picky with the dates/arrival hours/total fight time/wait in Moscow.

Nagareboshi Wrote:I wish Japan would do the same for Austria, as what Austria is doing for them, granting them stay here without the need for any Visa.

Pretty sure they are, Nagareboshi. Austria's on the exemption list at 6 months or less. Again, that's for tourism and other unpaid activities, but I'm guessing that's what you're after in any case.

mlorenz Wrote:If you're going in on a visa waiver (and as a tourist, you would), the time you get varies. For people from the U.K., it appears to be six months.

Detailed country list (in English) here: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

Oh, I thought it was 3 months.

I'll probably be in Kyoto most of the time when I go. I'd like to go Tokyo again but taking the Shinkansen to be there for a few days seems prohibitively expensive.

dizmox Wrote:I'll probably be in Kyoto most of the time when I go. I'd like to go Tokyo again but taking the Shinkansen to be there for a few days seems prohibitively expensive.

Shinkansen tickets aren't cheap, haha. I live in Kyoto but my ex moved to Tokyo for her job... and we kept dating for eight more months. Lots of Shinkansen tickets, no more money

mezbup Wrote:It's really hard to say what my expectations of Japan are at this point... what does one expect anyway? I suppose its like seeing a picture of someone lots and hearing stories about them all your life and then finalllllllllllllllllly getting to meet them. You feel you kinda already know them but then they turn from a 2D idea into a 3D experience. So I guess Japan will just become fleshed out and a bit more real in my mental map of the world.

Try not to have *any* expectations - cos whatever they are, it's probably going to be a different experience.

Have fun, and definitely try and keep us updated!

I came here for 90 days this time and I didn't get any weird looks.

I found that the people who were most willing to approach/help me were older folks. And they were all really cool people, too. I just wish my Japanese hadn't been so wretched then.

And I agree-- don't go in with any preconceptions. I just sort of experienced it and let it wash over me. It totally wasn't what I was expecting, even though I thought I knew what it would be like. It was still loads of fun getting lost, making mistakes, and generally being confused in a totally different culture.

It was kind of like being a 5-year old again.

Can't wait to go back.