Akihabara
Yesterday was our first schoolday. Well it was really just information, registrations and a placement test. The written test was based on the different JLPT levels (Japanese Profficient Language Test) which are divided into four different levels. Level 4 is the easiest while 1 is the hardest. I’m somewhere inbetween 3 and 2. I recieved both 3 and 2, but I noticed that the difference between them was pretty big. It’s not so much grammar that differs though, but mostly about expressions, words and kanji I’ve never seen before. In other words if I study some more words and kanjis 2 kyuu won’t be a problem.
Yesterday I had two goals: Get a SUICA or PASMO (commuter pass) and a cellphone. The first one is completed while number two is a bit more complex. Softbank which is the cheapest of all the prepaid operators requires you to have an alien registration card which you can’t get as a temporary visitor for 90 days. Luckily enough, the Softbank store in Roppongi only needs to see your passport for confirmation. So I will go there today together with David from Canada.
Japan is pretty known for being the mothercountry of electronics along with the US. While Shibuya and Harajuku specialize on clothing the district Akihabara (or Akiba as it’s called sometimes) specializes in the field of eletronics. All the nerds are drooling, I know. In Akiba there’s everything when it comes to electornics. From big airconditioners to small things such as cables or plugs. There is also something else here besides electronics: anime and manga. Lina wanted to go here to check out some manga and anime and buy a denshijisho (electronical dictionary) so we were a few people who decided to go there.
On the picture above we can see Yodobashi, which probably is the biggest electronic store I’ve ever seen. You can imagine an OnOff shop in Sweden times 10 or something, if not more. (OnOff is a Swedish electronic shop chain). Around 6 PM we started to head homewards and later the same evening someone was knocking on my door. I opened up and there stood one of the girls from Cambridge. Apparently she was running around all over cherry court knocking on doors and wanted people to come to her room to party. Spontaneously I said yes, got dressed and went upstairs. Inside I was greeted by the other girls from England and all of the 6 Finnish people who are also here on exchange. After a while we went to an Izakaya restaurant to continue our small party. Izakaya is a pub:ish place where you can eat and drink for a cheap penny. That day everything was like 218 yen per drink or plate of food which is crazy cheap compared to Sweden. And the sizes are as big as in Sweden.
It was really fun actually and I’m happy over my spontaneously made decision. After the Izakaya, four of the Finnish guys went by cab to keep the party going somewhere else. As Lina said this morning: The Finns really live up to the image we have of them.
Anyways, I’m gonna get ready and head out to Roppongi (and maybe someplace else as well). I might update before I go to bed tonight!
