Pictures from Golden Week’s 合宿。I had such a great time. I’m so happy I went. Im thinking of going to the other one next week since It’ll be my only chance to experience something like this. I can’t BELEVE I’m going to leave in less than three months. It baffles me and I’m at the moment when I’m starting to get really sad because everyone in this club is just so fantastic and fun to be around. I’ve met some really great people and I’m going to be sad when the time comes to say goodbye. : (
I am a student from San Francisco State University studying abroad in Japan for 10 months. I am attending Waseda University in Tokyo. These are my stories.
• Ask me anything
Life In Japan
Life In Japan
Bags Bags..and more Bags..
Last week I was walking around in Big Box (basically a small department store shaped like a box located in Takadanobaba) and I went into one of my favorite stores and started eyeing this cute polka dot backpack. I reluctantly left it there and thought to my self..hey if you want it in a few days come back and get it. Well…I couldn’t stop thinking about the cuteness so I went back and luckily it was still there. (they only have about three bags on display since the store is mostly clothes) Anyways I did this like lucky draw (the lady puts this box infront of me and I pulled out a card and used a coin to scratch how much of a discount I would get and I got the best one) and i got 20 percent off the original price!! Wooo. It was like 3,500 and I got it for like 2,800! Yay I’m stoked. Also I found the plastic zipper bag above one sale for about 500 and now I finally have a place to put all my swim stuff so It wont get all my school books wet in my backpack. YAAY! Also…I’ve been wanting this cute dog bag for ever and finally gave in and bought it…it was a little too pricy for my tastes but I wanted it soo bad! Anyways..I always find myself carrying a bunch of snacks or water from the day and I have to carry it in this ugly plastic grocery bag..now I have this cute flowery doggie bag to sport all my things in! And its great bec when I’m not using it it just folds right up and I can stow it somewhere for safe keeping. Horaaah! Fantastic shopping finds today. MUHAHAH! (As you can see I’m super genki right now)
-Michele
Anonymous asked: hey! Thanks for answering my question earlier. Much appreciated :)
glad to have helped!
Golden Week.
Next week is Golden Week. Its this fabulous week at the beginning of May where EVERYONE has vacation!! (Well I’m not sure about EVERYONE, but I’ll just have to find out and let you know later) CSU has planned a trip to..Hakone WOO! For two days. Yet again its jammed packed and has a long busy itinerary. The day after I get back from Hakone I’m going to Chiba with SOUSUIKAI (swim and waterpolo club), and I’m pretty nervous because this is my first trip with the club and Its going to be..well I have no idea actually. Im excited because I have no idea what to expect when It comes to a club “retreat”. I was told to be prepared because A LOT of drinking is going to go down. Slightly nervous and also a bit worried about my vegetarianism and what Im going to eat on this trip. Anyways I’ll update you once I figure everything out.
Hope everyones week is going well. For those of you in the US ganbate only like a few more weeks or a month more of school. For me…well three months haha. Anyways….じゃ〜ね！
Anonymous asked: Hey, I started following your blog a few months ago after a friend recommended it. I am trying to get a feel of what living expenses will be like (I am planning on applying to a program at Waseda next fall). So my questions are: 1) how much do you allot yourself for groceries each month? 2) going out 3) eating out 4) traveling? Money is my biggest concern right now and I was hoping you could give me some rough estimates. Thank you so much!!
Hey wow cool my blog was recommended! Whoopie! Anyways glad to be of help. Lets see, well since the exchange rate is horrid its going to cost a bit more. It honestly depends on what housing you get, because if you have a higher rent or low rent it can really affect what you spend the rest of your money on, and also if you live with a host family. I live in temple housing ( I pay around 300 per month in rent) which was offered as a sort of scholarship (if you get the Jasso then you can’t get temple housing) so for all the CSU kids that apply each year, you have to put down a 10,000 dollar deposit for housing (for the whole year). If you chose to live in a homestay, then that deposit isn’t given back to you and at the homestay you’ll be getting breakfast and dinner (not too shabby). Most people who I have talked to love their host families because its so easy and they don’t need to stress about cooking or food and most of them spend about 5 to 6 bucks a day on lunch or some pack their lunches (if their host family allows them to use their kitchen). The people who live in the dorms pay around 900 a month in rent, no food included, (I am pretty sure they get their housing deposit back..but I really can’t remember). Their dorm rooms are pretty sick and they get to chill with the international students and most of the parties and activities go on around there. Its a cool place to be but I like that I don’t have to pay that much in rent.
(okay on to your questions sorry I kinda went off topic) Food per week varies on what kind of things you like. I’m kinda a health nut so I buy fresh food like veggies and fruit. Fruit can be SUPER expensive in Japan so I usually spend about 4,000 yen a week in food. Around 50 dollars us. So..monthy I usually spend like 300 dollars. It varies though, my housemate eats differently from me and only spends about 2,000 yen on food a week, and probably spends monthly on groceries about a 100 bucks. So I mean if your okay with eating more of a Japanese type diet which is more rice, meat, and veggie based you could save more. But if you miss the stuff from the US you might be spending more, like I do..when it comes to fruit.
Eating out..can get pretty expensive unless you know the right places to go. I usually set aside about 20-40 bucks a week to eat out. I try to go out only once or twice a week but sometimes during breaks and club activities it can be harder to spend less. If you join a circle be ready to spend money on drinking parties and stuff like that.
Going out…I would say the only thing concerning going out is how much It’ll cost you to get there. Every time I go out to Shinjuku or Shibuya it costs me like 10 bucks just in one day getting from school to Shinjuku. I live farther away so its more expensive. The people who live near Waseda have it cheaper. It all depends on where you live and how far you go.
Traveling..so CSU has all these trips planned for us. Its added in the expenses that you pay up front. Its pretty nice because we get to go to all these very popular places. If you want to do anything out side of that or outside of the country it just depends. I went to China and the ticket was far more cheap than if I were to buy it from US going to China. I can’t really answer your question in full because Im not really sure where you plan to go. But so far I’ve spent around 2,000 in Traveling (to Singapore and China with food and all that jazz added in the price), but I probably wont be going out of the country anymore since the last semester of Waseda is super busy.
Phew anyways, I really hope I helped in regards to your questions. I know this was SUPER long if you have anymore questions please PLEASE let me know. I hope I helped.!!
花見
There is just way too much drama with the CSU group right now. Its just intense. I mean I guess it makes sense though, you come to a foreign country with a group of 24 strangers and then your forced to go on trips with them, socialize with them, and basically see them everywhere whether you get along with them or not…its obviously going to cause problems especially because EVERYONE has completely different and clashing personalities. Anyways, yea..so the Sakura is blooming everywhere and its pretty awesome. Not much has been going on here except that school has started and I have a lot of school work to do. Crazy I only have about four months left in Japan.
Its nice being in Japan on holidays that I don’t really celebrate, like Easter..but of course my Facebook feed is spammed with all these..interesting status’s.
Sleepyyy. I wanna explore some place new.
![ennuiae:
I wonder if i can check all these off by the end of tomorrow
my list for tomorrow..reblogging from original blog = ]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m228g9Sycb1qki82oo1_1280.jpg)
I wonder if i can check all these off by the end of tomorrow
my list for tomorrow..reblogging from original blog = ]
MERP!
Ugh so school starts this Friday. I’m tired for no reason..well actually. Two nights ago I had most of the CSU girls come over for GRILS NIGHT! We painted our nails, gossiped, took shots (me mostly) and played kings cup. It was pretty fun but we stayed up super late and now I’m just tired. I really want to go out to Shibuya and stare at toy camera’s and buy school supplies but I’m just so TIRED! I slept for about 10 hours but I feel like I should go back to sleep. Anyways for those of you who are interested in Waseda and classes this semester I’m taking:
Japanese Intensive Level 3 (supposed to be the hardest one there…and I’m NOT looking forward to it)
Reading Children’s Literature level 1-2 (hopefully this is easy)
Vocabulary and…uhh to tired to write this all out…some vocab class…
some ethnic studies class….and an art history class…
going to sleep.
The Penis Festival.
So a couple of the CSU kids and I went to the famous penis festival. I’m not even sure where it was because I was just following everyone…but wow..it was interesting. There was a huuge parade with these people carrying a wooden shrine of a very large member..tons of other things too of course. It was jammed packed with people and of course foreigners making fools of them selves. (no wonder most Japanese people hate us) Overall it was pretty fun. I just got out of the mob when an old grandma (baachan) was with her husband (i think) and in Japanese she’s like: “Go get me a dick..I want one” to her husband, and so he goes and gets her one of the lollipop dicks..and its kinda broken and shes like “ahh its broken!” and starts eating it and gives me a piece..and we are just eating it and it was a pretty nice bonding moment for me lol. Also they gave me a zipper pull to put on my little bronze dick animals that I bought while waiting for people. Anyways yesterday was fun, we went back early and walked around Shibuya and went to the disney store..which is so ADORABLE! Then from Shibuya we walked to Harajuku and got some crepes..and I went and looked around at this second hand lolita shop…such beautiful dresses for about..idk 40-50 bucks! SUCH A GOOD DEAL! Im buying one before I leave..must have a lolita outfit. Okay anyways..hope everyone is having a good last day of the weekend..my monday (today) consisted of sims..and re watching 10 Things I Hate about You..now I want to download Royal Tennenbaums..
PARFAITS! <3
So while we were walking down the streets of Kyoto we passed this beautiful, wonderful parfait place. We just had to go in, and we did. These are what we had..it was nice going with a big group because I got to take pictures of EVERYONE’S!! : ) Enjoy!
