Elle's Adventures

Thought I should put up some of the photos that others have added of me on Facebook: I think I look about 10 years old in this one! Terrible photo of me! I never realised my hair colour was so light Welcoming Party...oh yes I love photos. Especially when they stand there for ages and I know it's about to happen. You're bound to get a lovely photo out of it. Pfft. The colour of my skin looks weird, and something is not quite right with my face! It's weird, I can't work it out... On a side note, 売買, pronounced baibai means buying and selling. Easy as! I'll have no trouble forgetting that one! Okay, back to study :D

Sometimes I am really embarrassed to be labelled as gaijin 外人 or gaikokujin 外国人, which in English is literally 'outsider' or 'outside country person'...obviously foreigner. In fact, you really notice that you are a foreigner in Japan; people stare, and not in a friendly way either. But the time I hate being non-Japanese the most is when other non-Japanese are here and don't respect the culture and customs; I do my best. For example, I was just watching a tv program on how foreigners (it's too easy to label ourselves and others with that term) disrespect geisha 芸者 and maiko 舞子. Most people are familiar with geisha (entertainers in traditional Japanese arts), but usually confuse them with maiko. Maiko are in fact apprentice geisha, and dress in more colourful, flambouyant kimono. Neither of the two are prostitutes, no matter how they have been portrayed over the last 100 years. This show was set in Kyoto, where the majority of geisha and maiko work. T...

On Friday, 1st May, I got to University, and realised I had left my shinkansen (bullet train) tickets at the dormitory. I was already feeling not so happy...in fact Nasu-san approached me before class began to ask whether I was okay; my reaction showed I was not. She listened to my problems, and made me feel a lot better :) After class she even gave me a really, really lovely card, saying that we could talk any time I would like. She's a very lovely person. Anyway, I went back to the dorm by bus, got my tickets, then caught the subway back to Uni to pick up my bags, then Natalia and I went together to Nagoya station, which is about 15 - 20 minutes by subway. We parted, as she was going to Osaka by bus. And so my adventure began!! My tummy was full of butterflies as I had never done anything like this before; especially in a country that speaks an entirely different language! Nevertheless, I found the platform and received a very lovely phone call from Dede, how lucky! ...