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phoenixrebirth88 · 7 years

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There are so many things I still have left to learn ...

Are These Filter Words Weakening Your Story?

After putting my writing on hold for several weeks, I decided to jump back in. I expected to find all sorts of problems with my story–inconsistencies in the plot, lack of transitions, poor characterization–the works. But what began to stick out to me was something to which I’d given little thought in writing.

Filter words.

What are Filter Words?

Actually, I didn’t even know these insidious creatures had a name until I started combing the internet for info.

Filter words are those that unnecessarily filter the reader’s experience through a character’s point of view. Dark Angel’s Blog says:

“Filtering” is when you place a character between the detail you want to present and the reader. The term was started by Janet Burroway in her book On Writing.

In terms of example, you should watch out for:

To see

To hear

To think

To touch

To wonder

To realize

To watch

To look

To seem

To feel (or feel like)

Can

To decide

To sound (or sound like)

To know

I’m being honest when I say my manuscript is filled with these words, and the majority of them need to be edited out.

What do Filter Words Look Like?

Let’s imagine a character in your novel is walking down a street during peak hour.

You might, for example, write:

Sarah felt a sinking feeling as she realized she’d forgotten her purse back at the cafe across the street. She saw cars filing past, their bumpers end-to-end. She heard the impatient honk of horns and wondered how she could quickly cross the busy road before someone took off with her bag. But the traffic seemed impenetrable, and she decided to run to the intersection at the end of the block.

Eliminating the bolded words removes the filters that distances us, the readers, from this character’s experience:

Sarah’s stomach sank. Her purse—she’d forgotten it back at the cafe across the street. Cars filed past, their bumpers end-to-end. Horns honked impatiently. Could she make it across the road before someone took off with her bag? She ran past the impenetrable stream of traffic, toward the intersection at the end of the block.

Are Filter Words Ever Acceptable?

Of course, there are usually exceptions to every rule.

Just because filter words tend to be weak doesn’t mean they never have a place in our writing. Sometimes they are helpful and even necessary.

Susan Dennard of Let The Words Flow writes that we should use filter words when they are critical to the meaning of the sentence.

If there’s no better way to phrase something than to use a filter word, then it’s probably okay to do so.

Want to know more?

Read these other helpful articles on filter words and more great writing tips:

Filter Words and Distancing Point of View

The Reasons Editors reject Manuscripts

Filter Those words and Strengthen Your Writing

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phoenixrebirth88 · 7 years

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Definitly trying to win the prize. Amazing art like this on a blanket ... Who wouldn’t participate? =D <3

Winner can pick any blanket in my Shop

It’s that time of year again! SHAMELESS SEASON. ( I mean the holidays). All this and much more super amazing, extra special Christmas gift ideas here in my ETSY SHOP. Gifts from $22.99

RULES:

Reblog to enter! Follow my Tumblr for more free crap :).

-The winner gets a free blanket of their choice. You can pick any blanket in my shop. (must be 18 or have a parent agree it’s ok! I’m not a weirdo.)

You can reblog all you like, and also check out my Facebook as I am toying with the idea of a shameless promotion there too. Just “Like” the page.

These rules are pretty straight forward so I will not be answering any questions that can be read here. I assume you are all literate.

*Not affiliated with Tumblr. ToS and Legalese that no one reads here: http://sta.sh/writer/#643980652

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phoenixrebirth88 · 7 years

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Week four, … That means I’ve been in Japan for an entire month already 0_° Time sure flies when you’re busy. And no, it’s not just all fun and games. School work is tough and sometimes I just want to throw my books out the window. Seriously, how many times can someone give out homework or tests? Apparently the answer in Japan is quite a lot. Between that and the obligatory activities I have to participate in, I don’t have much time to work on my thesis or even my ISP. Hell, finding time to sleep is becoming difficult. I think I need to reconsider slowing down a bit and focusing on things that are more important … Like sleep! This girl can’t go without her beauty sleep XD

But anyway, what happened to me this week? Well, for starters we had an information session on the only day I usually have a free afternoon (damn them >_<). We got some information about the oncoming High school visits, English camp, Japanese survival camp, etc. This in turn meant that when I had that brief moment where I looked at my schedule and thought November was going to be doable and easy, I now realized I had to correct myself and admit defeat to the powers of FWU. They do create quite a full schedule for us. But okay, I do get to do fun things as well so I shouldn’t complain too much :p

Take for example the obligatory one hour participation in the weekly Monday English activity. Usually every girl living in the dorm has to gather for English learning activities. This week it wasn’t as much an English activity as it was an International one. First, we had to guess what types of food belonged to which country. It wouldn’t have been so hard for me if all the words hadn’t been said in Japanese >_< Now we – aka my floor: A2 – did get some things right. We just didn’t get enough right to win a prize, but who needs those things anyway XD After that brief quiz, we were challenged to tie on plastic tales and run around while trying to steal the opponent’s tale. Very fun activity, but it left me quite winded. Conclusion: my stamina isn’t getting any better the longer I’m living in Japan XD So, yeah, busy schedule.

Not to mention that I keep putting extra things on my own plate, like say the Japanese sign language activity. I think I already told you guys about that right? It’s an activity where all those interested parties who are staying in the dorm can join and learn Japanese sign language. Yours truly joined off course before she realized how full her schedule really was XD But what are two hours every month? Not to mention that it’s an excellent way to test your everyday conversation skills! So this Monday we all came together again to decide what story we are going to tell in February. After a long hour of discussion and argument – which meant we were chitchatting about everything and anything really – we decided to settle on “Swimmie”, the story of a little black fish that lives in the ocean and is being bullied – read: nearly eaten – by a bigger fish. He devises a plan with the other little white fish to work together and form a VERY big fish to scare away the bad big fish. Swimmie, as the only black fish in the group, becomes the very big fish’s eye. The end … Beautiful no? =p Apparently it’s a story that every Japanese high school student has to read (aka for their English class).

Then on Tuesday I had a very filled day. Not just the normal classes, but during the only break time I had, I joined my JD-mate at her club where she taught me to play the Koto. It’s an amazing instrument and has a very beautiful sound. She taught me to play an old song called “Sakura” (cherry blossom). If you think it’s easy, think again! Not only don’t you have the normal sheets of music – koto sheet music is written from right to left and top to bottom. Plus it is all written in kanji instead of with colored dots that have tails :p – but you have to read the kanji to know which snare you are to pull. But thanks to my great teacher – and hopefully some musical skill I can call my own – I managed to learn that song in an hour \(^_^)V

It relaxed me enough to give my presentation – the one my roommate was so kind as to correct – about “Tokyo Disney Land”, so off course I’m happy I went to check it out. That, however, didn’t mean my presentation went as smoothly as I had wanted it to. I had practiced it multiple times – so as not to stutter my way through my Japanese presentation – but off course I was super tired that day and couldn’t find the energy (or idea) to lift my head any higher than the computer screen or the piece of paper I held in my hands -_-; And afterwards, without having the chance to refuel my energy supply with much needed and sought after food, I had to attend cherry practice which kept dragging on and on and on … By the time it was finally over, I was ready to just drop to the ground and sleep – which I kind of did. Dinner was enjoyed with company while watching the next Giblio movie on the list: “天空の城ラピュタ” (also known as: Castle in the sky). Good movie, but advisable to watch it with friends so you can help each other pick it apart for its many faulty details – like throwing away a half eaten apple only to have it disappear into nothing while barely touching the shadows behind that person :p

Then on Wednesday we had our first field trip to Fukuoka city museum where we had to watch out for the three national treasures (being: a gold seal, a sword, and a spear). Sure, it was fun. Didn’t really learn anything new while being there though. Not to mention that right before the museum we were supposed to go see a left over piece of a wall that was once 20 km long and three meter tall. It had been made to protect Fukuoka from the armies of Ghengis Khan. What remained now was so anticlimactic even my usually energetic brain cells were left unimpressed. And I was practically a walking zombie at that time because even though I was super tired, I hadn’t slept very well =(

So by the time we were done there, Lore and Anni wanted to go see Fukuoka tower (literally right behind the museum). And even though I was dead beat tired, I still agreed to go with them because otherwise I would have to come back just to see that tower … Now who would do that?! After getting back to the dorm – and missing our stop by one too late – we made it back in time to still have five minutes to spare before the cafeteria closed. Off course me and Lore went there for convenience’s sake. An hour later or so and we had our second meeting for the Japanese sign language. This time, the roles were divided. Who would tell what and who would thus translate what part into sign language. This is going to be a tough one I think.

Thursday and Friday I’m going to skip as they were very unexciting. Saturday, I had my high school visit. It was a twenty minute walk towards said high school and off course I wore yet another pair of shoes that weren’t waterproof >_< Sadly, there isn’t much I could do to change that. So when I arrived, my socks where half wet already, though thankfully the slippers provided by the school – and those we all had to wear – covered the wet parts perfectly so no worries there =D

After a brief introduction, and receiving a sticker with our name and class printed on it, we made our way to the gym where we were welcomed by exuberant applause. To me it felt that we took the scenic route in the gym – literally walking the entire back and side before finally reaching the front and our seats while the entire time the Japanese high school students were applauding. Then after a speech from the director, the student body representative, and some other person I don’t remember the function off, it was up to us foreigners to introduce ourselves in easy English. That basically consisted of saying: “Hi. I’m Jana. I’m from Belgium. Please call me Jana. Nice to meet you.” After that, the students sang their high school song – each school has a specific song – for us and let me tell you, I was literally blown away. Not only do they sing with their entire lung capacity, but their voices, whether they were off key or not, were so loud that you couldn’t help but feel impressed. Once the song was over, we left the gym. Two students of the class we were assigned to would come and pick us up. I have to admit I was nervous about how much English these students would understand. After all, they’ve only been studying it for one year …

Once we reached my class – an entire class of 40 students just for silly old me – I was guided to the middle of the front row seat and told to take a seat while the students started their poster presentation. I learned about Fukuoka fashion, how medicine came into being, about the shinkansen, etc. When I say ‘learned’, I mean that I did learn some new things, but most of them were small facts because the students literally read the keywords on the poster. There was very few sentence structures. Imagine them saying: “I will talk about shinkansen. Speed control, Shock absorptions, silent.” Or something along those lines XD I was thankful for the English written posters though. Sometimes their English was too quietly spoken for me to fully understand it all ^_^;

After the presentation, it was up to me to give some feedback. At first I was completely blank minded, but then I figured it didn’t matter too much what I said. So I kept my ‘speech’ basic and spoke very very slowly. It basically went like this: “Thank you for the presentation. I learned a lot. English is important. Don’t forget to practice each day, etc.” At the final part, I completely won over the teacher because she was vividly nodding her head ^_^V

After the presentations, they taught me the game “Fruit’s basket.” Each student is in one of four groups: apple, grape, peach, orange. When the one who’s standing in the middle calls out one of those four groups, those in that specific group have to change their seat. The one left in the middle is the one who then calls out the next group who have to fight over their seat. Sometimes, you can call out ‘Fruit’s basket’ and then everyone has to change their seat. I only landed in the middle once =) Halfway through the game, they invented the rule that if you have three outs, you have to sing a song. One guy was on his third strike out, so he sang a song with much vigor. By the end of the game, that same guy had sung maybe six or seven songs for me. One of them was the national anthem I think ^_^;

After that game, we played another game and a short quiz. Then it was back to sitting in rows – me at the front and center :p – and they all thanked me with some amazing gifts. I received two mantis origami – one green and one orange that are now brightening my room with their presence – and a kendama. One of the present high school boys showed it was done – he was super good – and then it was the end of the high school visit. I was told to leave a brief letter with any last message I wanted to convey and then we were on our way back home.

After a brief lunch with my roommate, I met up with Lore to go to Hakata station and visit the very large 100 yen shop there to buy our Halloween costume and some other necessities. I bought some much needed stuff so I could make my own spring rolls (I love those!). We ate at a local tonkatu shop and afterwards went in search of the foretold lantern viewing that was supposed to take place near Hakatat station. After some searching – with very little to no result – we decided to call it a night and went back home. On the station platform, we met Astri and Wulan – two Indonesian girls – who told us that the lantern festival was canceled at all but one region – which we didn’t come near off – so we felt kind of bumped about that =(

Sunday was mostly a day for schoolwork – which I’m slowly falling behind on – and some much needed cooking – aka the famous spring rolls that took much more time in preparing than I had first figured. And then another glorious week had come and gone, leaving me more and more exhausted by the time the weekend comes about. Maybe one of these days I should plan a day and do absolutely nothing but sleep and lie around … Heaven on earth if you ask me XD

The first month .. Week four, … That means I’ve been in Japan for an entire month already 0_° Time sure flies when you’re busy.

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phoenixrebirth88 · 8 years

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First, for those who read this, if you become a “follower” of this blog, you get mail notifications whenever I update my blogs. Nice perk considering I won’t be posting my updates every week on facebook.

So what can I tell you about my third week here? Well, for starters, we (aka me, Nati – the polish girl -, and Megu – my Japanese roommate) went to the movie Kimi no ha (what is your name). Talking about complete coincidence, we met up with the Korean girls we met at the English Village (who I meet often actually). They were going to watch the same movie. That should’ve taught me how popular Kimi no ha still was. It was a really good movie although it did take me a while to really get a good understanding of the Japanese. Every conversation was so quick I had to really focus to understand it all. Then, on our way back to the dorm, I saw a poster for the Big Bang concert – which I totally have to try and get some tickets for.

On Tuesday I went to try out the badminton club with Lina (Swedish girl). We waited for nearly an hour in an almost empty gym. The other club present was practicing their folk dance – or at least that’s what it looked like to me – and there were only two girls so … . After no one showing up, we finally decided to call it a night and went back to the dorm.

Wednesday we were free so I did some homework (lot’s of that going around here -_-; ) some shopping, and then at the evening there was a planned pre-cooking for the kasumi-sai (a schoolfestival). There were cookies to be made, some Thai dish I forgot the name of but it contained onions so I actually fled that cooking corner for a VERY long while … Hehehe XD And the last dish that was being made was green curry. I don’t know who made it, but there was something seriously wrong with it! It was WAAAAAAYYYYYY too spicey. And no, that’s not just the-not-used-to-any-spices-so-everything-is-always-waaaayyyyy-to-spicy food lover in me. The Japanese girls turned red after even one small bite and there was the same opinion going around by all those present. It’s weird that it was so badly made considering they make it here every year (or so I’m told anyway ^_^).

Oh and Wednesday at noon, me and Lore went to the cafeteria and Natalia and her JD-mate showed up to teach us some typical Japanese games. This one is one where you use some type of edible paper where you use a sharp object to go over the edges of the image and release it from its confines without breaking it – which I did once with the bear, but failed to do with the octopus that now has no real head anymore.

looks easy enough …

Wasn’t easy at all, especially with all those corners :'(

The face of one who gives up the fight against them corners

Afterwards, when I got back to my room, Manayo was sitting in the kitchen and we started talking about anime and which ones we liked. She was so kind as to lend me her copy of 暁のヨナ(akatsuki no yona) which is my more recent obsession. Gotta love that girl =D

Then on Thursday I had breakfast with my roommates and noticed that I was eating a lot in the mornings in comparison to them – though I’m usually the one who eats less than everyone else in the mornings – which led me to conclude that Japan is changing me! 0_0 Belgium … Be warned … When I return – in a very very very long time from now XD – I’m going to be a completely/ changed woman!

In the afternoon, me and Lore explored the rooftops of the school buildings and found our green zone of utopia which made me feel more at home ^_^/

Then on Friday, I went to the nearby Ramen shop with a few of the international girls here. It was delicious and very different from the ever fried cafeteria meals you can eat here – which all contain milk by the way which leads me to believe that this cafeteria is serving us easy over the counter meals … but then again, what did I expect? Then afterwards I took my first bath and didn’t have to worry about the water spilling over the edge an onto the floor because … THE ENTIRE ROOM IS THE SHOWER!! I know how I’m going to shape my bathroom when I have my own place :p

Then Saturday came a very important meeting … with my host mother! Basically the idea is that you meet up with your host family once a month to get a better understanding of how a normal Japanese family functions. Most girls had the opportunity to meet their host family with their JD-mate at their side, but sadly my JD-mate had to work so it was just me and my host mother – my host father had to work as a volunteer at the festival. Didn’t say anything yet about the festival, did I? Hehe, sorry. The festival was one which usually was held in September, but because of a taifoon was delayed until today (lucky me!). So me and my host mother walked around town, went to the 100 yen shop to buy a nabe pot which she was going to use to make udon, then when to her cozy apartment which is only like 5 minutes away from my dorm! How much better can it become? Well, keep reading and you’ll notice it is still possible =D

When I told her I would love to won my own kimono, she took me to a second hand store where we went took a look at the different available kimono’s. Sadly, though, there wasn’t one to my fancy, but it was fun. We talked about もも(momo = peaches) and the fact that they’re sadly only available in summer. She told me she loved them too, but sometimes ate some イチジク(ichijiku = fig) and loved them as well. When I told her I never ate one of them before, she offered me one to try when we got back to her apartment. I can tell you I loved the taste (much to my surprise because dried figs aren’t actually on my I-want-to-eat-them-all-the-time-list). After that, we shared our likes and dislikes over dinner and discovered we have a lot in common ^_^V Then she took me, Lore, and Anni to the fireworks festival and we walked by the really crowded food stalls, encountered another host mother with her Sri Lanka … eum … hosties? ^_^;

The fireworks were amazing to look at. It was a show of an hour long and believe me, I didn’t get bored for one minute! Afterwards, my host mother (By the way, her name is Chizuru) asked if all three of us wanted to go back and have some tea. Off course we said yes. Who would say no to a chance at speaking Japanese and getting to know each other better. First we had macha (green tea) and afterwards some deliciously soft tasting black tea. I know she buys the blend, but I’ll have to ask her where because I really loved the taste.

Chizuru also gave us some very sweet grapes to eat, along with a waffle – mine contained nuts and not the chocolate the other two ate because … Yeah … food issues – and even some speculoos cookies =D Amazing what you can find in Japan. When we told her they came from Belgium, she gave each of us a few to take with us. I also got the nabe pot to take home with me. I can honestly tell you I think I’ve got the best host mother of them all =D

Then on Sunday, a few of us went to a nearby Yabusame festival. At first I didn’t think it would be such an interesting thing, but boy was I amazed. There were three horses and three archers – and off course some other people as well, but that’s not the focus of my story here XD

After blessing the ground and putting up the targets, the archers took their horses for practice runs and see how much distance they had for their horse to run and stop. It was a sight to behold, believe me. Those animals storming past us at full neck breaking speed only to end up breaking on a small, maybe 6 meter long stretch of land. And those archers had three goals to hit. THREE!! I saw them manage that a few times, but it must’ve been extremely difficult to achieve that on such short distances. And off course, there were great pictures taken =p

After the yabusame festival, we went to the temple and briefly prayed (Japanese style). Then I picked my faith from a nearby stand, and yes, it was a good faith. I have the middle strength – you have strong, middle, and weak – so that means that even though it will come true, the strength of the prediction is medium so there are things that maybe won’t happen as strongly as you wanted them to (if I understood it all right anyway XD). So what was my prediction? Well, except the amazing “while on a stormy voyage on/over the sea, you will have to slow down and not go as fast”, which led to the “you’ll do good in school after having faced many troubles and working your ass off”, there was also the “You’ll find a lover – not boyfriend, people, but an actual lover – and come into money”. Now I’m wondering if that means I’ll find a lover and money, or find a lover with money XD

Week 3 First, for those who read this, if you become a “follower” of this blog, you get mail notifications whenever I update my blogs.

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phoenixrebirth88 · 8 years

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I’m way behind on blog typing schedule – I truly do realize it – but in my defense, I blame it on the faulty working internet that had me cursing my precious time spend on trying to upload the last blog :’(

But okay, what has happened to me on this particular week? Well, to be honest: A LOT! On Monday I had my OPI (oral proficiency interview), which I sadly enough didn’t ace. Then again, it’s not on any points and I did already know that speaking is my worst skill ever =( So I forget a lot of words I want to use, but at least I’m working on that – aka: talking a lot with the roommates and Japanese friends here – so I hope that by the end of this semester I’ll have made some progress in that department. Though remembering all the different foods you have here by name is VERY hard. Especially if the only Japanese you truly know well is academic Japanese ^_^;

But I’m digressing :p

On Monday night there was some English activity at the dorm which we were expected to attend. So, along with my two new Japanese roommates, I went and attended this slightly weird half an hour activity. It was fun, but slightly weird and hard on the brain – which honestly has a habit of shutting off after six p.m. =/ – but it went something like this: one persons starts and says ‘I went to the zoo …. Panda’ – this is where I was slightly confused because honestly they left some parts out of that sentence, but I just went with it. Do as the Japanese do and all of that, right? XD – Then the others repeat it and add one more animal. Oh, and don’t think it’s that easy! You are clapping your hands in a certain pattern at the same time! Not so good for the slightly exhausted body and brain of mine, but I think I managed. I only screwed up once, so go me! ^_^V Afterwards, me and my roommates were sitting in the kitchen and talked for a while about everything and nothing (but most importantly what I haven’t yet done/eaten in Japan). One of them was going to see a movie called 「君の名」(kimi no ha What is your name), which is a beautiful animated movie and if I remember correctly is shown on the London film festival. We actually set a date for the next Monday – which is a holiday fwy – and that was the highlight of my day =D

Then on Tuesday, we had to decide which presentations we wanted to do for our pop culture class. My first one is due in two weeks – Oh Boy! – and it’s about Tokyo Disney Land which was surprisingly not very popular in the choosing moment and though it wasn’t my first choice, I’m happy I’m going to be done with one of the two presentations already so soon after starting the school year =D

When I got back to the dorm, there was a warning about an oncoming typhoon, so I went to the store to buy some much needed groceries, because really, going out in the rain isn’t very fun. Imagine soaked shoes in maybe a minute or so of walking in that kind of weather …

Then on Wednesday, classes were canceled because of said typhoon – not that I had any classes anyway XD – and my roommate suggested that we all – as in all four of us – eat some takoyaki together for lunch, which was amazing. After that, we went to watch a movie – not the one I mentioned above – along with a classmate of one of my roommates. 「聲の形」(koe no katachi: the shape of your voice), yet another amazing animated movie I heard great things about and I have to say it was a really touching story. There were a lot of people at the cinema actually, and the typhoon that was predicted to come didn’t come at all XD It happens a lot apparently :)

I did notice some differences with cinema’s in Belgium though. You buy tickets – which as a foreign exchange students is actually okay in terms of price – then snacks and drinks, all before presenting your ticket and entering the theaters. You can only enter those theaters ten minutes before the movie starts. The drink is put in the arm of the chair – which are really comfortable – and they even have an umbrella holder. It stays dark in the room until all the end credits are over with and then people get out in an orderly fashion – do learn from that Belgium! – and when you exit the room, there is a worker there that separates and organizes your garbage for you so you don’t have to worry which thing goes in which bag. Oh and for an animation, there was a lot of people, from young to old, male to female. It’s amazing that animation is so popular in Japanese culture. Not to mention that the music is often so well chosen =D

Afterwards we went to Kanal city. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s basically some kind of big shopping center not far from the cinema. We walked around for a while, visiting shops and my roommates pointing out things that are famous in Fukuoka or products that Fukuoka is well known for – and me getting really tired after a bit of walking ^_^; – and then we hit the trains back home. It was crowded, but at least it’s not taking a train in rush hour while being in Tokyo :/ Those are NOT fun! On the way back, my roommate Manayo – she’s a really REALLY sweet girl – asked me what I was planning to eat. When I told her I hadn’t yet decided, she suggested that she make us some yakisoba. It was quick in the making AND very delicious as well! My first Yakisoba experience and I loved it =D

Then on Thursday, I had a full – and I do mean FULL – day of classes. My normally Friday afternoon class was put on Thursday for a change :’( Not to mention that there was this gathering from old KU Leuven students here at FWU that the people from FWU wanted us to attend. It was fun, don’t get me wrong, but also so time-consuming. Especially considering we only had about 20 minutes to show up, talk to those Belgian folks, and then get our asses to class (on time!). The last part was kind of hard considering everyone suddenly wanted to talk to you when you showed intentions of leaving XD There was apparently also someone from the newspaper “De Standaard” (I hope I didn’t get that wrong ^_^;), but she only talked to Lore and Eline while completely not noticing me :’( Although I was pretty busy talking to some other very kind people …

Then on Friday I had my first meeting with my ISP advisor (Individual Study Project). I’m writing about the influence of Buddhism and/or Shintoism view on life on the low organ transplantation rate in Japan. Very interesting topic. Not so sure though in which way it is researchable. But back to the meeting with my advisor. I had the entire conversation in Japanese (go me!), but I did screw up one time when I wanted to ask him whether he wanted to read my paper in Japanese or if English was also fine. He understood it as: ‘I don’t know which language I’m allowed to write in’, and called the international center for information ^_^; In the end we did get it sorted out though. So now I’m going to be writing it in Japanese (although I did warn him there could possibly be many faults in there), but he just said that considering the conversation went well, the paper should be okay as well =D Such faith in me he has ^_^V

Saturday was English Camp where we HAD to participate in an interview that High school students would take from us in English. Some of them had good English, some less so, but all in all it was fun. In the evening there was a pizza party where I got to know some great Korean girls that are now first year students at FWU – and I keep bumping in to them everywhere I go, but you’ll read more about that later on. After the pizza party there were games where we had to guess the object that was being shown to us. Note for those considering the same idea: never ask someone to try and show someone an Island while only using your own body to sign it to them!

Een bijschrift invoeren

Then on Sunday we had a cooking experience with them. I finally learned how to make okonomiyake (Japanese pancake). It’s surprisingly easy as well. Some flour, eggs, water, mix it all up, put in some cabbage and seafood stuff and then start cooking =D Off course there was also some yakisoba, but sadly enough that one was already cold by the time our okonomiyake was completely done cooking :(

The kichen crew XD

Then afterwards, we went to the nearby lantern festival. It was beautiful and not too big. There were like paper bags that each contained a small candle placed on the edge of the streets and other places. Some were decorated, but those on the edge of the street weren’t. Off course, no matter where you go, you’ll always encounter juvenile delinquents. Okay, so they were high school boys causing mischief, but still. They burned one of those bags by pressing it against the flame. I saw only because I was walking by at that moment. Off course, with me being me, I couldn’t stop myself from leaning over the edge of the bridge I was on and commenting in my worst Japanese ever :p The guys looked kind of startled, pretended they hadn’t done anything, or even some tried to act as if I wasn’t talking to them … Boys *deep sigh*

And then the week was over and gone with :(

Week 2 I’m way behind on blog typing schedule – I truly do realize it – but in my defense, I blame it on the faulty working internet that had me cursing my precious time spend on trying to upload the last blog :’(

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phoenixrebirth88 · 8 years

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I realize I’m getting behind with my blogs, but finding time to write them all is becoming slightly difficult. Where is all the time going because I seriously don’t believe we have 24 hours in one day here! :/

So as some of you may already know, there was a weekend trip on the first and second day of October towards Kirishima in the kagoshima prefecture. It’s about a four hour bus drive from Fukuoka, but thankfully we made frequent stops along the way. Amazingly enough, they stopped at a highway parking area each hour and half \(^_^)/ And really, stretching of the legs as often as I can is a must for me! Especially so with the cold air-conditioning that is freezing my joins … Oh dear. Now I sound like an old lady XD

But anyway, after leaving at eight in the morning from our university, the first REAL stop on Saturday was Mahoroba-no-Sato. Off course it was no coincidence – or at least, I don’t think it was – that the place had a shop full of Giblio characters. We watched 隣のトトロ (my neighbour totoro) on the way there.

We had a delicious lunch with a lot of things I had never tried before. But off course, with my food restrictions, I couldn’t actually choose my seat. Those people that had food problems/restrictions were all sitting together as much as possible. This allowed me to get the know the Vietnamese girls a little better, so I’m happy for that \(^_^)V

After lunch we traveled on for another hour or so before we reached the Kirishima open air museum, a place where they WANT you to use your every senses to study the artwork spread across the garden. You should touch it, smell it, climb it, … which of course I did. It was lot of fun =D

When we finally arrived at the hotel – after watching the first half of Kiki’s delivery service –we were literally meeting a staff members every five to ten paces who kept telling us to ‘go this way’. Then we were in a room where they explained the rules of the onsen (bathhouse) to us. There was a part (pink) that’s purely for women, one (blue) purely for men, and a mixed space (although the mixed space turns women’s only from 19.30 until 22.30 or so).

After that we went to our assigned rooms. We changed clothes and wore our yukata, drank some green tea (brewed by yours truly XD), Went to the onsen, had dinner with karaoke (the staff took this moment to transform our room and put out the futon’s to sleep on), went to the onsen again, and then finally went to bed.

We left on Sunday after a quick – and delicious – breakfast. After a few minutes of driving (and slightly getting lost), we arrived at a nashi farm (Japanese type of pear). Though it was the first time I saw a Japanese fruit farm, I was slightly surprised to see the fruits still hanging from the trees while in bags.

After that we drove on to the Kagoshima city Aquarium. Just in time for the dolphin show …

And then while watching Howl’s moving castle, we continued our path towards the sengangen – traditional Japanese garden – where we had lunch!! (^_^)/ And I even found some amazing pineapple sorbet!!

the Cloud eruption

Then we arrived back at our dorm around 17 in the evening and I still had to do some shopping, so off we went in search for food and other stuff. When I got back, though, I realized I had a small problem. I had bought some pumpkin croquette that I was going to eat with some carrots and spaghetti, but I realized that, except for one small pan, I don’t have much stuff for cooking. But thankfully my brand new roommate came to the rescue. She offered me the use of her pan and I got myself some spaghetti. Then when I placed my carrot on my plate to cut them up, she offered me the use of her chop board – which I gratefully accepted – and when I had trouble cutting those carrots with my tiny knife, she laughed and offered me her ‘real’ cutting knife – which I refused for the sake of my honor XD.

Then we had dinner together and got to know each other over some Japanese conversation – in which I had trouble focusing because she was speaking soooo quickly. And on Monday we had breakfast together so that was nice as well \(^_^)/

Kirishima weekend trip ( 霧島 ) I realize I'm getting behind with my blogs, but finding time to write them all is becoming slightly difficult.

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phoenixrebirth88 · 8 years

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First week of classes

So how has my first week of classes in Japan? I’m glad you’re SUPER excited about finding out about that – or at least I hope you are, because otherwise what are you doing reading my blog??! ^_~ Oh and did I tell you I met my second roommate in the first half of the week. Though I can’t remember which day it was – though maybe it was Sunday evening – I do still vividly remember her surprised…

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phoenixrebirth88 · 8 years

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First: Be warned this is going to be a loooooooong blog XD

Second: There’s so much I want to tell you guys that I’m going to reconstruct my last week with the help of pictures!!! =D

Okay, let’s start with Thursday. We were free until four, so me, my Belgian co-students, a German student and a girl from Poland went to the nearest 100 yen shop and went crazyyyyyyy … Okay, so we didn’t really go crazy, but I’m sure we all wanted to XD We went shopping, bought some necessities, went back to the dorm to put everything away, then went back into town (don’t worry it’s only a 10 minute walk :p ) to eat some delicious things (and got praised for being able to read Japanese). I bought myself some milk-free bread (which I found in the form of a baguette. Go me! XD).Oh and I promise to explain more about the food differences in another blog =D

From left to right: ME °_°, Eline (BE), Natalia (PL), Anni (DE), Lore (BE)

Thursday at four we had a campus tour. To give you all an idea of how amazing and huge this campus is …. The tour only lasted 5 minutes -_- (4 buildings or so in total XD). After the tour, we all returned to the dorm for an amazing welcome party with the JD-mates!! There was pizza and snacks and sushi and … Well you get the picture right? A lot of amazing food was present as well as amazing company. I talked a lot with one of the Swedish girls, the Thai girl, an Indonesian girl, and a girl from India =D And off course the presence of our JD-mates made it all the more fun! There was a short ‘movie’ about Fukuoka and life in Fukuoka, some explanation about public transportation, etc. All in all a very successful night!

Everyone from the WJC program & their buddies \(^_^)V

Then Friday we had the opening ceremony. Everyone was wearing some VERY beautiful clothes! There was a short speech, self-introductions of the WJC students that was preceded with some much needed bowing (A LOT of bowing >_<)! Basically, it went something like this: when your name was called, you have to go up to the front and stand in front of the row of ‘important’ FWU people, bow once to the left, once to the right, then go stand behind the mike, introduce yourself, when done stand in front of the important people again, bow once to the left, once to the right, and return to seat. Funny side-note: after the asian girls introduced themselves, it was up to us Western girls to do the same. Lore – my friend from Belgium – was up first and she’s really tall by the way. She had to change the height of the microphone before she could start speaking – really funny sight – and off course everyone in the room laughed at that. Another reason why we Western people stick out so much XD

So after that, we had a busy day of orientation sessions (I’m going to spare you the boring details). But at the Welcome Reception that night (with a lot of delicious food and yet another self-introduction), I met my advisor for my ISP (Individual study project), Otha-san. I was kind of caught off guard because I was talking with some new WCJ friends when all of a sudden I hear ‘Jana-san’. When I turned around, I saw So-san (one of the people of the international office) and another man standing in front of me. I was introduced to him and then we we’re on our own … Queue awkward Japanese conversation where I dropped the conversation ball A LOT! XD … But at least he was patient and really kind as to give me the time to think about my words before I spoke (which doesn’t EVER happen in Dutch. At home, I just literally say what my brain is thinking at that moment :3 ). Then he gave me his card and I had to send him a mail by Friday the latest (my first 名刺: meishi!). I mailed him on Monday while cursing quite a lot, because using keigo (敬語 – formal speech) isn’t my best skill. And after a bit of back and forth mail trafficking, I finally managed to land an appointment on the 6th of October!! \(^_^)/

Then Saturday … ooooh what a beautiful and interesting day that was XD We – like maybe 10 girls and a side note here is that two of the three German girls were dressed in traditional German clothes – went to the Oktoberfest in Tenjin (Japanese version 2.5 :p ). There were a lot of beer stands, sausage stands, German music, etc. Now why was it so interesting? Well, when we were sitting at our table a camera crew suddenly showed up. There was this man who I was told is pretty famous in Fukuoka region (I sadly forgot his name) and he and his crew made us – read: forced us XD – to eat some Thai food (like these little balls of … something spicy). Then, while looking at the camera, we had to say ‘name of the food I already forgot’ は最高だ！Basically, this XXX is the greatest! And then he and his crew disappeared again.

So life returned to its usual course, which means that a few of us drank beer while others ate sausages. When suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard this Japanese man ask his friends behind me … ‘Does this drink come from Germany?’ So off course I had to look and open my big mouth and tell them that ‘no, Mojito doesn’t come from Germany’. And then the gates of hell opened and he stared at me with this shocked expression of ‘Waaaaaa! A foreigner that can speak Japanese’. And then he started asking all kinds of questions in English that eventually Netti (Germany girl that sat next to me) answered so I could make a silent retreat. Haha! And when we left, they kind of lingered before they managed to drag up the courage to ask us for a picture XD

Then Sunday, we went to Tenjin to buy ourselves a phone. We passed a small pet store (which we couldn’t resist exploring – que adorable pictures), a street fare, and then finally: big camera! I was real smart again and forgot my visa card at the dorm and had to go back on Monday to finally buy it -_- We were there for a really long time on Sudnay, shooting question after question at the poor guy while he was trying to get one phone installed XD (but I managed to land me a ‘cheap’ one year internet use that allows me to use up to 3 GB of internet a month!)

Little robot that literally couldn’t take his eyes of me XD

The first dish

After 30 minutes … And we were only getting started >_<

Such a cute fluffball. He wouldn’t sit still :p

Halfway through the meal :)

After that we went to get some 焼肉(yakiniku or basically some type of BBQ). We had kind of skipped lunch and our time at Big Camera turned out to be longer than foreseen, so we had a late lunch and an early dinner into one: lunner? Dunch? Haha XD Anyway, It was delicious! And you only have to pay 2600円for all you can eat and you can stay and eat for up to two hours! You can’t go wrong with that, right?! After that we got some Purikura. No, that’s isn’t some type of food. We were waaaaaaayy to full for that. Purikura is kind of like a photo booth that afterwards allows you to write on the pictures and decorate them as you want. We went into a Barbie one XD

忙しかった ( It’s been really busy!!) First: Be warned this is going to be a loooooooong blog XD Second: There’s so much I want to tell you guys that I’m going to reconstruct my last week with the help of pictures!!!

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phoenixrebirth88 · 8 years

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This is the very FIRST time since I’ve left Belgium behind that I found the time AND energy to start writing this blog! It’s kind of embarrassing to admit how tired I was. And it wasn’t just because of what I’ve done either! First, our flight from Helsinki to Tokyo was delayed with an hour because of the need for a baggage count while we were already boarded (but thank the Lord for movies because ‘Alice through the looking glass’ brought some great relief from waiting XD). Then, while finally in the air, I started worrying about our connecting flight in Tokyo because we only had two hours (one hour with the delay) to transfer and we still needed to get our residence card there. Of course, I forgot to take into account how admirably kind Japanese people and organizations are, because the moment our plane touched ground and we were on our way to the passport-check, I saw the most beautiful sight of my day … My name (along with those of my two travel buddies XD) on a piece of paper stapled against a black board. They were calling for us! They were waiting for us! It was a miracle! XD Haha, not really, but it felt like one anyway. Instantly, the stress that had been building on the 9 hour long flight finally fell away \(^_^)V

We got this beautiful thing instead :)

So then we got our residence card (which didn’t even take 5 full minutes 0_0). Then it was baggage claiming and getting past customs which was surprisingly easy because all he did was take a look at our passport and our customs paper and we were setting our first steps on Japanese soil! Off course, we soon realized that things weren’t quite as easy as we had hoped. We had to find our departure check-in desk which led us on a search for another terminal (we took a shuttle bus but had to leave behind the baggage cart :’( It wasn’t easy to travel with 2 times 23 kilograms worth of baggage AND a 10 kilogram piece of carry-on, but we somehow managed and made it!! Then the trouble began of getting in the air while a typhoon was raging away outside. I seriously thought at one point that the plane was going to skip of the runway XD

So to cut this short, we arrived at Fukuoka airport with yet another delay of 30 minutes (no idea why because the captain’s Japanese explanation was a bit too fast for my exhausted mind to comprehend), finally claimed our baggage, met our JD-mates (Joshi-Dai mates or buddy), and took a taxi to the dorm (my first time taking a Japanese taxi =D).

There was some necessary paperwork and the retrieval of bed sheets. My Buddy had brought my bags to my room while I was filling out the information needed downstairs. She is sooooooo sweet! She even made my bed for me =) Then there was a ‘brief’ orientation at six, some last minute (or first time) shopping at seven thirty, and finally my dinner at nine which is sadly waaaaaay too late for me =( Sleeping sadly enough didn’t come easy. I had hoped it would, considering I only slept about an hour on the entire duration of my flights.

Then today we had a placement test on which I ‘briefly’ forget the katakana for ‘na’– the same one that appears in my name and thus the one I HAD written on top of the sheet ^_^ (took me some time to figure that one out hehehe) :3

In the afternoon we went to Higashi ward office to get some last needed documentation and our National Health Insurance (which basically means you sit down on a chair for 3 hours and wait and perhaps get up once to let them check the information you have presented them). On their defense, though, we were a large group (twenty people) XD

Afterwards we went to some store to buy a Japanese SIM card, but since I’m thinking about buying a phone here as well, I think I’m going to wait a bit longer to buy that card :) Oh, and I mustn’t forget that delicious dinner I had (the first one that didn’t involve a convenience store). My first REAL experience with Japanese ramen and it was delicious!!

And I finally met my first roommate (a Korean exchange student) who was slightly embarrassed to have caught me cleaning the shared bathroom (which I should’ve done yesterday, but again: WAAAAYYYY too tired XD ). I kept telling her it was fine. Haha. Apparently she only arrived this morning. She gave me some amazing Korean cookies that I’ll definitely try out over the next few days! =D

Pictures of the room and ‘apartment’ will follow. Now off I go to bed and hopefully I’ll sleep a lot better tonight than I did last night ^_^

First steps This is the very FIRST time since I’ve left Belgium behind that I found the time AND energy to start writing this blog!

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