Back after a long hiatus. A lot of stuff has happened back in the lowlands, but as always it’s exciting here too.Research and courses have been keeping on a very S&M level tight leash, so I couldn’t really find the time or energy to post anything, sorry about that.on one of the more interesting side of things I experienced a pretty heavy earthquake here. A couple of days before the big one in China.I was working late at the lab on the fifth floor when it started. It feels really weird, at first you wonder if you’re maybe drunk coz the world seems to be moving around you. And when you realize it really is a quake (if you’re a quake virgin like me) and begin to wonder at point it’s becoming dangerous (and start getting the hell out o there). Later a friend of mine that’s been here for 3 years said it was the heaviest yet in Tsukuba since she came here. Lesson learned for the next time, get the hell out quicker ^^.to end the post here’s something to enjoy:

chewy signing out

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Chewy advice time! -nice and meaty-

If you plan on going to Japan better get used to doing “jikou shoukai” which basically means introducing yourself. You can usually start with “Hajimemashite” which basically is a greeting for the first time (but only for the first time). In case of students you can state that you’re from this and that department like for example “Industrial design no Li Xiao wei to moshimasu”, two points to note here, first of all start with your last name and second to moshimasu is “to be called”.
You can state things like that you’re a exchange student and stuff now and end it with “yorushiku onegaishimasu” which is translated to something like: “I’ll be in your care from now on let’s have a nice and fruitful relationship”… okay maybe not that weird but there’s not really an English equivalent of this.
Mata ne,
Chewy

Back for another post!

So the thing I noticed about Japanese is that if you wanna have some conversation, you’re gonna have to start it.
Because even though just about any Japanese person you speak to will be polite and very friendly (Tokyoites a bit less I’ve noticed) you’re gonna have to initiate the conversation. For example the class today. The first class of this semester nobody really knows each other (not just me as a foreigner) and when I entered the classroom everybody was sitting quietly (reading a book, or making some notes) and about as widely spaced as possibly from each-other. Even amongst the Japanese themselves they kinda keep to themselves. No being the crude westerner that I am (and desperately seeking as much human contact as possible ^^) I initiated a conversation with a (genuine, mind you) question. The funny thing is that after that the ball gets rolling and a lot of people will join in and it suddenly gets a lot more “gezellig” (nigiyaka, there is a word aside of dutch for it).
So keep it in mind when you go to Japan ^^

mata ne,
Chewy