Avainsana: before exchange

Entrance Ceremony and choosing classes

We had Entrance Ceremony on Monday and it was a lot less painful than I thought it would be. You know how in Finland the ceremonies just seems to go on and on and on because the headmaster just refuses to shut up? Not here. His speech was maybe 5 minutes and entirely on point. Then we took pictures that are going to appear on magazine somewhere (I will try to find in later) and then we were done! So efficient, I like it!

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Dressed up nice and fancy for the ceremony. On the left we have Agné from Lithuania, Franziska from Germany in the middle, and me on the right. Just amazing. Look at all that European beauty and grace…

I finally found out about my Japanese classes and reached a decision about the HUSTEP core classes. Kinda. I’ve decided to go for Japanese Politics, Japanese Political History, Gender&Sexuality in post-war Japan, and Contemporary Japanese society for sure. I’m still kind of hesitating between Roadmap to UN with special reference to WHO and Introduction to Japanese Studies I (History). I’ll need to decide between those two by next week.

For the Japanese I have three different courses: Introduction to Japanese Grammar 2, Japanese Communication 2, and Kanji&Vocabulary 1C. Japanese Grammar is three times a week, Japanese Communication two times a week, and Kanji&Vocabulary class also two times a week. So much Japanese! Learning a completely different writing system… my poor brain.

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All in all we have four different level Japanese courses: Introductory, Introductory&Pre-intermediate, Intermediate, and Advanced. We also have different levels inside the levels (levelception, whoa). For example, in the Introductory level we have levels from 1A-4B and I got to level 2 in Grammar and Communication classes. I’m still a total beginner with Kanjis so I’m quite happy with my placement in level 1C on that class.

There were some communication problems with the placement test though, I’m just warning you guys in advance if someone is planning on applying for HUSTEP. Before the placement test you have to choose which Japanese classes you would like to take, as in, what level do you think you are. Then you take the test and it determines which level you actually are, however – and this is the fun part – unless you have also ticked the boxes for the levels underneath the one you think you are, and your results for placement test don’t quite reach to that specific level, then you’re not gonna get any classes. Which is ridiculous. One would think that if you don’t get the results that would be enough for the level you wanted to go to, then you would be automatically placed on level that fits you the best.

But nah, let’s just leave people without classes, shall we? Yes, that sounds perfect. Japanese bureaucracy, just what? Why? Why must you do this to us?

For new readers

Hello new Facebook people!

If this is your first time visiting my blog, then welcome! If it isn’t, then welcome back. This is my blog about my exchange year in Sapporo, Japan – an adventure I’m sure you will enjoy as I’m bound to experience some socially awkward situations, cultural differences and difficulties, as well as wonders and weirdness of the land of the rising sun – and I’m planning to blog all about it!

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I haven’t linked this blog to my Facebook before purely because I thought to myself: who the heck would want to read about my applying process and paper wars, unless they’re going through it as well? I’m sure you’re much more interested in what actually happens there, not how I got there. The blog entries tagged with ”applying process” are purely for those who might be planning on going through the same thing next year as I did this year. I’m sure they’ll need some support and someone to relate to. I sure as hell could have used some.

Therefore, as I am leaving to Japan today, I thought it was the time to let you guys know my blog exists. Feel free to comment and ask questions! I’d be happy to answer and chat all about it.

Time to go

Goodbyes are never easy. Not even when it hasn’t quite registered in yet how long you are going to be apart from your loved ones. Some tears were shed, I got hugs and kisses, and slowly it’s starting to become more clear in what kind of a mess I’ve put my spoon into.

I’ve gnawed most of the skin off my fingers by now, I’m so nervous. I think I have done everything and that I have everything I need with me, but still I have this terrible feeling I have forgotten something super-important. Right now I’m sitting at Helsinki Airport and waiting for my flight first to Nagoya (4 hours to go) and the second flight is tomorrow to Sapporo. The longer flight will be over night and thanks to Japan being 6 hours ahead of us, it will be 8am in the morning Japanese time when I arrive to Nagoya (that’s 2am for us, how the hell am I supposed to survive this?!). Afterwards I’ll switch to Japanese Airline and arrive at Sapporo around 1pm.

I think I have all important papers, and I was smart enough to exchange money in advance and picked the envelope here from the airport. I have my passport, visa and money, so even if I forgot something, I’m sure the rest will figure itself out.

Oh hell, here we go.

Last minute traveling, planning and shopping

I went to Helsinki to get my Visa. That was one embarrassing experience I hope to never repeat again. I dragged my suitcase across the uneven stone-streets in bright sunlight with my jacket on. When I got to the embassy I was sweating and panting and the man at the door was the picture of perfect calm. One amusedly raised eyebrow was enough to send me into such deep state of mortification I’ll probably never forget it. Same thing with the woman behind the glass wall. I jammed my passport and wrinkled Certificate of Eligibility under the window with shaking hands while her (also wrinkled) face remained inexpressive as that of a gargoyle. I did detect a hint of disapproval from her though.

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But I did get my Visa. It was a happy ever after for me.

Next I hopped on M/S Superstar with my friend and sailed towards Tallinn. It was still summer there with temperature reaching +17 celsius and probably more in direct sunlight. Our hotel was a four-star beauty, Tallink City Hotel, located smack in the middle of city center. Uneven stone-streets continued to annoy me with their existence but how could you possibly stay angry when your surrounding are so beautiful. The Old City or Old Tallinn was stunning during the day, basking in flowers and sunlight, and gorgeous at night with illuminated terraces and lit torches. Martinis were delicious, food was okay, and everything was cheaper than in Finland.

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If you need a good place to hang out or spend the evening, head to Butterfly Lounge in Old Tallinn. It’s right in the middle but reasonably priced (price ranges for drink were from 6 to 10 euros), and the taste. Oh dear me. Best alcoholic drinks I’ve ever had and I’ve had a lot. Rhubarb Martini is something to experience on it’s own but the venue is also wonderful. I liked the simple and modern style they were going with, and between the buildings you can enter on the patio that is decorated with cherry blossoms and apple trees. If you’re feeling adventurous, you might even try Shisha. Apparently it is the place to be during the weekends but if you want to have a chill evening with your friends and just sit down and talk, this is a good place to visit during the week as well.

But right now I’m back to Finland and Rovaniemi and in the middle of doing my last minute shopping and packing. There were few things that I was suggested to bring more than usual because a) you can’t get it from Japan/it’s more difficult to get it from Japan b) it’s more expensive, or c) there is no variety for the product. My list included:

  • deodorant, because apparently Japanese people don’t need it or use much deodorant which means there are only few brands available
  • cold medicine, because I was told the Japanese kind isn’t as effective for us westerners
  • shaving cream and shavers, because for some inexplainable reason they are more expensive in Japan
  • tampons, because apparently Japanese gals are all about pads (WHY?!)

If I figure out anything else I would have hoped to bring or not have brought with me, I’ll let you know sometime later. Other last-minute shopping included a neck-pillow and earplugs for my 13 hour flight which I am sooooo looking forward to… Hngh, so much sarcasm my mouth tastes likes lemons.

I also did a placement test for my Japanese Course today  which was, to put it simplistically and in the most descriptive way, hell. You have 50 minutes to complete 20 pages of question which were all written in Japanese. …I got to page 5. Yeah, my Japanese ain’t that good. But I am pretty proud that I could actually answers some of the questions (it was in Japanese, you know, hiragana and kanji). The problem was me being such a slow reader. It took me a minute to translate one sentence (and I did not use the vocabulary) but I did translate them! And I think I actually got some of it right. I’m not too bothered with the result anyways as I applied for beginner’s classes only so the test was voluntary for me.

Moving day

I am exhausted. I’m dead. Please, don’t wake me up in the next 100 years or so. Let me just crawl into a coffin so I can enjoy the sweet eternal slumber of death.

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So, moving day was rough. I needed to get everything packed away permanently (and by that I mean for a year) so I needed to pack things extra-carefully. You can’t just dump everything into boxes like I usually do ’cause you’re not going to be unpacking them anytime soon. So yeah, most of my stuff went to storage at my grandma’s place and some (mostly clothes) are here at my mom’s place where I’ll be living until I leave. I need to decide what I’ll take with me and what I’ll pack away and what I’ll just throw away. And then half of our stuff plus my boyfriend’s stuff went to his new place. It was a hassle.

Just to make things extra fun for me, basically everyone who could have helped me was working or at school. My boyfriend did help some, dad helped to carry all the heavy boxes, and mom helped me to wash the windows, so thank you! But yeah. You have too many things to do? How about a nap instead?

Visa

Such imaginative titles I have for these blog entries. Like wow. Much thought. So creative.

I posted the visa application today. It has been a hassle but mostly because of things that have nothing to do with me and all to do with Embassy of Japan in Finland. I e-mailed them twice and called them twice: first time they told me they would sent me the info-package right now, and the second time they told me to contact them via e-mail and ask for the info-package, so I did. Nothing. Nada. Complete radio silence both times. It wasn’t until the third time I called (and I was mildly annoyed, I’m not gonna lie) they actually send me the info. Like jeez, let’s all give them a slow clap, shall we?

For the visa-application you need:

  • visa-application form: filled on computer, then printed and signed, and with a passport-picture glued on top
  • photocopy of Certificate of Eligibility (the certificate was automatically send to me from Hokudai)
  • photocopy of passport (remember to check it’s not going to expire during your stay!)

Now, that was all the info-package required but there was a note that in some cases they might ask for further information. Since Hokudai had actually send me a Certificate of Admission and Certificate for Jasso-scholarship as well, I photocopied those and added them into the bunch. I mean, hey, what’s the harm, right? Hokudai info claimed they might be needed, so there we go. If the embassy doesn’t need them, then so what? The copies just end up in the trash. No harm done, I thought.

All the applications in Finland are required to be posted to the embassy. The info package said it would take a few days for them to go through the documents and they would inform me immediately when I could go and get it. On some website they said that with the Certificate of Eligibility the time required for procession is 5 working days. On the embassy’s page it said 1-3 weeks. Info-package said few days.

…yeah, I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see how long it takes.

Even though the documents are posted, you have to personally go and get the visa from the embassy. Easier said than done when you live on the other side of the country. And because I’m just about the unluckiest person on earth, the embassy is closed on the exact Monday I’m supposed to leave for Japan because of Respect for the Aged Day. And of course, it’s also closed on weekends. This means it’s cheaper for me to just go and get it from Helsinki a week before I leave. With Norwegian the flights were 58 euros there and back with just hand-luggage, and my wonderful friend from high-school very graciously promised to house me for one night (thank you, sweetheart! xoxo).

On the info-package that I got, they also said that when you go get your visa from the embassy you are going to need your passport, original Certificate of Eligibility, and (exactly) 22 euros in cash.

Lastly, I want to tell you guys this tip I learned from my co-worker. When you are booking you flight to Norwegian, there is this box called ”kampanjakoodi” or ”campaign code”. Put a code ”ALLE26” into it and you get the youth prices for those who are under 26 years old. Neat, right?

Vaccinations

I’ve never been scared of needles. Especially in hospitals, those people know what they’re doing. Why is everyone freaking out because of a teensy-tiny needle? I don’t get it.

Anyway, for my exchange year I needed to get four different vaccinations:

  • tetanus (jäykkökouristusrokote): must be renewed every 10 years. In Finland you get this free from your school’s health clinic.
  • twinrix (hepatiitti/hepatitis A&B): protect you from liver infections caused by viruses. You need to be given 3 vaccinations, the second a month after the first, and third after a year. The liquid from pharmacy costs about 50e per one shot but injecting it was free at my uni’s health clinic. Altogether, I’ll be paying about 150 euros.
  • ixiaro (japanin aivotulehdus/japanese brain-fever): Two shots, the second one 28 days after the first one. One shot is about 125 euros from my local pharmacy. Totally costs me about 250 euros.
  • nimerix (aivokalvon ja selkäytimen tulehdus, sekä veren infektio/meningnitis and spinal infection, and blood infection): One shot, about 60 euros from local pharmacy.

Staying healthy is proving costly, man. Sigh. But I’m staying in Japan for a year so this was a must. Totally all vaccinations cost me around 460 euros. I did save some money by going to my uni’s health clinic for the injections because they are free there. In the pharmacy they would have asked 15 euros per injection but in a rush that would have been one option.

If you’re staying in Japan less than 4 weeks, you usually need only hepatitis injections. Always talk to your doctor and hear their recommendations because they vary on the length of your stay, location and travel plans. Please stay healthy and safe, everyone! Don’t take unnecessary risks that might prove even more costly in the future because you didn’t take any precautions.

”Money won’t make you happy.”

I call bullshit. Like yeah, financial stability is just horrible, isn’t it? Why that title you might ask yourself. My friend, I have news for you regarding that exact subject.

I AM THE CHOSEN ONE.

Just kidding! Well, kinda. I have been chosen to be one of the lucky ones to receive the JASSO-scholarship and on the outside I’m cool as a cucumber but on the inside I’m freaking out. For those of you who don’t know:

”Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) offers scholarship for qualified international students who are accepted by a Japanese university, graduate school, junior college, college of technology (3rd grade or upper) or professional training college under a student exchange agreement or other student exchange arrangement on a short-term basis from 8 days to one year between Japanese school and their home higher educational institution outside Japan.”

Basically it’s the mother of all scholarships and I got the full thing. This year (2016-2017) the scholarship’s monthly stipend is 80,000 JPY which converted into euros is around 700 euros. It will cover my rent, bills and most of my food-spendings. Along with the normal student-support from KELA, I’m all good to go. I had been mentally prepared to be declined and having to take a student loan but apparently it shall no longer be necessary.

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”Money won’t make you happy”? Clearly you’ve never received a scholarship before.

I did a thing. Or two.

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My biggest problem ever. Will probably always be but what can you do when you love food? If you didn’t get it, that was a pointer to my last posting about the nutrilett-experiment which went – surprisingly enough – quite well. It was totally manageable when you drank water all the time. One thing which helped me to go through this crazy-ass thing was a regular eating schedule because of the breaks at work. You eat in regular intervals and since you are working, you don’t really get chances to ruin your diet because there just isn’t any food in sight. In total I lost about 3-4kg during 10 days from which 1,5-2kg was probably just liquids which I of course gained back when I sifted back to proper food.

Of course the results weren’t mind-blowing (but I did lose some!) but I have learned a thing or two from this. For one, my plate-sizes are enormous. Two, I eat a ton of carbs that I get from bread, potatoes, rice, burger buns, etc,. And three? I can actually go through something like this once I put my mind into it.

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So now – a few kilos lighter and a few ideas wiser – I’m on the right road. I haven’t weighted this little since high school and it feels good, man.

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As you can probably guess from the picture, I’ve been busy. First of all, my computer broke down. Crashed and burned. Not quite literally of course but it did get jammed real bad and for a moment I thought I would lose all my files and photos. Thank god my usual computer-fixer is a fucking miracle worker. He worked some computer magic and now I have my baby back and I can finally update my blog.

So, my computer broke and before I could get it fixed my holiday in Spain started (Did you see the photo? Palm trees! Palm trees!!). It. Was. Awesome. Never been so tan before. The weather was awesome, people were smiling, and I drank too many glasses of sangria to count. But the sand and sunscreen, ugh! Everywhere. Every nook and corner – whether it be bed-clothes, your clothes or your skin – it was covered in those. It was nice to get back home and take a proper shower.

But apart from doing absolutely nothing which has been lovely as well, I have actually accomplished something with my exchange! I did a thing! Olé!

So I finally bought the airline tickets which has been a major pain in my ass since April. First I didn’t buy them because I was afraid of getting them on the wrong day which, with me being such an airhead, was a good idea since I got the month wrong from the beginning. Then my computer broke down and I went to Spain. Then Finnair informed that tickets to Japan bought after 1.7.2016 would allow you to bring two suitcases instead of one, so I had to wait for that. But now I have them and-.. and-.. holy fuck, I’m actually going, aren’t I?

I will live alone in Japan. Alone. For a whole year. Shit. Who made this decision?

Oh yeah. I did.

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Going 100mph (100 mistakes per hour)

I am such a dumbass. Such. A. Dumbass. But thankfully I’m a lucky dumbass.

I have been putting off buying the flight-tickets to Sapporo. But anyway, I had been planning to buy the tickets on 16th, 17th or 18th of September (elokuu). However, today when I was talking to my friend at work and told him I’m leaving ”elokuussa” he was – strangely enough – really weirded out. He told me that when he had been in Japan for exchange, they had arrived in syyskuu.

So I did some research.

Apparently, even though I have a certificate of bilingualism for English, I still can’t tell months apart. Months. I literally cannot do something an elementary school-kid can do. Shame! Utter humiliation! Sometimes I can do English very well, and sometimes it’s just nope.

Just FYI, September doesn’t mean elokuu, it’s syyskuu. And elokuu, in English, is August not September. So, had I bought the tickets a few weeks ago as I had planned, I would have had bought them a month too early.

Well, my troubles don’t really end here either. First of all, I don’t know (or remember) all vaccinations I have been so graciously given and there aren’t really any markings about those either because apparently digital data-banks weren’t a thing in hospitals until a few years ago. And I need to know those because I need vaccination against Japanese brain-fever (I don’t know about you guys but I think it sounds delightful! …should definitely get the vaccination, asap).

Secondly, I didn’t pass my swedish exam (fucking-fuckity-fuck) even though it was my third time trying (I-am-a-useless-human-being-i’m-so-sorry).

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Now, this means I have to take the test after I came back from Japan and I think we can all guess how that’s going to work out. So as an applaud for myself I award myself with this golden star:

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My exciting May Day

See how excited me and Nemo were about vappu? Can you see the excitement basically oozing from us? Apparently we’re getting old together. We enjoyed our nap very much, thanks.

There hasn’t been much to be done about the exchange for now. I renewed my passport because it would have otherwise expired in the middle of my exchange, and before the new passport arrives my hands are pretty much tied. Not much to be done before Hokudai contacts me with further inquires or information.

For now I still need to:

  • apply for soleGrant
  • make a study grant change to Kela
  • apply for visa
  • get the proper vaccination
  • buy flight tickets
  • rent a storage for my stuff

However, my bachelor’s thesis is finally done, yay! Just a few more essays, swedish written exam and one learning diary to complete and then I am officially done studying for this spring. After that my time is going to be spend preparing for the exchange, working, then two weeks at Malaga, properly preparing to leave, and then in August it is time to go. I swear to god it was January just a second ago… where does all the time go?

This is it. I’m in.

The title tells it all. Holy hell, I’ve been accepted to study for a year in Hokkaido! Holy crap on crackers, I can’t tell you in words what kind of a rollercoaster this whole thing has been but I also cannot quite express how amazing I feel right now. Words don’t do it any justice.

I was starting to feel worried when the first days of April went by and nobody contacted me. Of course I know Japanese are often very precise in everything they do and when the website said ”you will be notified on the first week of April” and yet nothing happened…. Well, a lot of nervous sweating happened on my part but lets not focus on that. Obviously I was beginning to think ”oh, the accepted probably get the notification first and then later those who weren’t accepted… bummer”.

In the end I was right. Japanese people are very precise. The acceptance letter came to my university e-mail on the 1st of April but I didn’t realize it arrived there because I had used my other e-mail during the applying process. But yeah, long story short, I have been accepted! Hooray!

For now they expect me to fill out a confirmation letter, another information sheet about me and add another picture in the bunch because apparently the size I used was wrong. Strange. Anyway, the deadline for those is 2nd of May.

I’m going to keep the blog posted about the process I’m going to struggle through before the exchange and then… and then. Afterwards. About the exchange. Aaaah! I’m so excited!

My internal struggle of being a materialist

So the papers have all been sent, I’ve been to my orientation lectures and now I have nothing to do until the beginning of April when the final results will arrive. Meaning, I have nothing better to do with my time than to worry.

Now that the result-day is creeping closer, the reality is starting to seep in. Where am I going to put all this stuff if I’m really going? 

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t store crap. I’m hardly a hoarder. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t now and then indulge in pretty tableware and exquisite clothing. Right now the clothing isn’t really the problem because I’m going to take all my nice clothes with me to Japan if I ever get accepted. So my purchases are perfectly justified. (I’m very translucently not mentioning how they are eating away my savings because I like living in a bubble where I don’t look at my bank account. Much adult. Wow.) The problem is me struggling like an alcoholic in Alko, only I go to into shops that sell small pieces of interior design and have my heart ripped apart every time I see something nice and quirky and awesome that I just can’t buy because (hopefully) I won’t be there to enjoy it much longer. Of course I could buy it and store it but I have so much stuff to begin with that I just can’t buy more. SOB.

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I have gone a little crazy lately: Marimekko shirts, I’m dreaming of a Marimekko dress and I want to buy about all the things from Iittala. But it’s fine, I have managed to contain myself and direct all my attention to Marimekko. Japanese people like Marimekko, I think? I hope they appreciate my new shirts that I’m going to bring with me.

People sometimes ask me why I work so hard. I have two reasons for it: 1) in order to survive in this capitalist economy and 2) because I’m a materialist.

I can’t help it. I love stuff.

Utter confusion

Okay, it seems everything is finally coming together. All the application forms are filled and ready to be scanned and then slammed to form one big pdf-file. I feel dehydrated from all this nervous sweating.

The only thing still bothering me is the chest x-ray to which we have yet to receive answer to, and JASSO-scholarship. In the HUSTEP application there is one place where they ask if I would like to apply for it. Of course I do but is marking it as a ”yes” in one place all that is required? On other websites they require official report of income and another motivation letter. We’ll see how it goes.

Now, I’m off to scan these bad boys and hopefully after that I can finally focus on my bachelor’s thesis. Sigh.

EDIT// All documents send on February 25th. Now all I can do is wait.