Ey, Emma here! I’m in Tokyo studying japanese at an international language school. I’ll be staying here for a year! Check out my videos on YT too!Tumblr (3.0; @eemmainjapan)http://www.eemmainjapan.com/<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6fcooGXpg1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>During summer over here they have tons of different fireworks festivals, called Hanabi! Today we went to one of the biggest ones at <a title="Wiki" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumidagawa_Fireworks_Festival">Sumida River</a>. Damn! The fireworks lasted for 1,5h!!! And there were SOOOOO many people. INSANE! I’ve never sweated as much as I did today. I promised myself to never complain about being hot ever again if I just made it out there alive. (I think I’ll take that back now though…) It was so packed w people! And apparently some had been there all day, drinking, eating and camping to get the best spots. Kinda like Valborg back home. </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/884317092http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/884317092Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:41:12 -0400<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6bmobEQGK1qzcjlko1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Now on to the less important. We went to Disneyland today! One can never visit Disneyland too many times! It’s the happiest place on earth! :D</p> <p>We bought our tickets a few weeks ago through school and got a nice discount. I had been dreading walking around there in the extreme heat… but instead it rained! In this case I’m actually happy it did! Felt like 10C colder than normally. </p> <p>We spent 10 hours at the park! And I didn’t buy a single disney merchandise! And man, my body hurts from all of the walking. Good day, good day! Now sleep! Good night! </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/875178748http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/875178748Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:26:00 -0400<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6blrlvuMJ1qzcjlko1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>My hair today… was insane. It’s never had to endure such extreme humidity and wind. I walked around looking like a clown all day. Ffs. </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/875126655http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/875126655Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:06:00 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l67tqkFPVK1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>W00t today we started w kanji! And a ton of new stuff. Was so lost during the last hour of class. Thank god we have 2-3 weeks off after tomorrow! :D </p> <p><span>なつやすみ! (summer break) </span></p> <p><span><span>ps. my false teeth fell out when I took the pic. </span></span></p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/865807792http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/865807792Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:08:44 -0400<p>So today I had money again and wanted to go buy the backpack. And guess what, it was gone. Sold out. I went to two more stores of the same retail chain (Tokyo Hands), in completely different areas of Tokyo. Nothing. They’ve stopped making it, it’s out of production! Just my luck. Fuck you world. Don’t ever look forward to something, I tell ya. </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/861001720http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/861001720Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:23:49 -0400<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l62ludEsBH1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>We had the best view ever from our karaoke room! Daaaamn! On the 7th floor, so fucking awesome! </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/853459510http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/853459510Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:30:11 -0400<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l61qq9BT741qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Trying to learn some new words. Here are some examples of how I initially get my brain to memorize them. Usually remembering just the first sign makes me recall the rest of the word.</p> <ul> <li>しずか　　[shizuka]<span> </span>- QUIET</li> </ul> <p>“Sscchhhh, be quiet!” - the word starts w shi.</p> <ul> <li>にぎやか   [nigiyaka]<span> </span>- LIVELY</li> </ul> <p>Ninjas are livley - the word starts w ni.</p> <ul> <li>ゆうめい<span> </span>[yuumei]<span> </span>- FAMOUS</li> </ul> <p>All young ppl want to be famous - the word starts w yu.</p> <ul> <li>しんせつ<span> </span>[shinsetsu]<span> </span>- KIND</li> </ul> <p>The word ‘cheek’ is ‘kind’ in swedish, pronounced ‘schind’, but spelled exactly like the english word ‘kind’- the word starts w shin.</p> <ul> <li>ひま<span> </span>[hima]<span> </span>- FREE</li> </ul> <p>Being free makes me go “hihihihiihihihihi”- the word starts w hi.</p> <p>Any better ideas on how to effectively try to memorize 50 new words at once?</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/852695294http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/852695294Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:18:09 -0400<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5t5vnwBmF1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>I found the most awesome backpack today. The one I use atm, I’ve used every single day for the last year. Fell in love w it right away. Now I have a new (another) crush. It’s PERFECT. The colors, the size, the materials… AAHHH! PERFECTION! ANYBODY WANT TO BUY IT FOR ME?? Buhu…</p> <p>No I’m not crazy, it’s just perfect!</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/832095116http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/832095116Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:06:58 -0400<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5rgb7Mgtf1qzcjlko1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Just watched Cat Shit One. Loves it! lol. Anime and manga is definitely NOT what made me fall in love w Japan. I just don’t get it. I’ve never liked animated stuff. The anime I’ve come across so far is either about samurai or Gundam robot type fighting shizzle. Hate both. This however was all nice and fluffy AND interesting. Bunnies in war w camels, what’s not to love! Made me want to play MW2 baaaad!</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/828161528http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/828161528Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:57:07 -0400<p>It’s been ages since I’ve actually had to FORCE in new information like this, like actually remembering specific words, words that don’t even look like words. When I’ve learnt new languages in the past, I haven’t had to think like I do now. When I learned german I lived in germany, when I learned english I lived in the states and it came more natural. And I was a kid. Now I’m 23 and I think I’m starting to run out of memory. Japanese is fucking different, I can’t relate to any other language I know.</p> <p>I’m really enjoying the process tho. This year here is gonna create a really good foundation. Learning a new language has to be one of the hardest things to do. Really. A completely new way of interacting w ppl. My brain is gonna super evolve! Damn I’m gonna be so smart once I actually get into the flow and start to understand what ppl are saying.</p> <p>It’s a real challenge tho, I tell ya!</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/827024135http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/827024135Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:59:23 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5nkr5Cn5w1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>RedBull or ramen in a can? </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/819441015http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/819441015Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:42:41 -0400<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5luuaCGyB1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>I don’t know why, but I constantly want to eat stuff. Maybe cus everything is new and exciting and cus there’s so much to choose from. Buying groceries is fucking expensive tho. And some fruits are insaaanely expensive! The other day we bought 3 apples for 500 yen/ 4 EUR/ 42 SEK/6 dollars! _Three_! Okay, the apples were huge.. but..</p> <p>I now know WHY they cost so much and the story behind it is kinda neat. Apparently there’s some restriction on the import of apples, meaning they want to keep “the foreign apples” at a minimum and protect their own. The japanese apples go through some pretty insane processes in order to achieve the right quality. Farmers wrap the apples in different kind of colored papers in order for them to get the exact right color. And this is all done while the apples are still ON THE TREES. The paper protects the apples from getting too much sun and getting “too red” (among other things). And yea, that does sound like a lot of work, so I understand why they’re expensive.</p> <p>“Nihon no ringo” — “Japanese apple” in japanese :D</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/815479853http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/815479853Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:25:21 -0400<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5jy4oJC1k1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Hey it actually worked to take a bath! </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/811040097http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/811040097Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:41:12 -0400<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5g4h0ppFa1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Just back home! It took _3_ hours to get the damn phone! It’s not that we had to wait for our turn, it was more or less constant paper work and us waiting for them to get it into their system. We were four people, each one of us w a english speaking staff member with whom we spent 3 consistent hours! Some of the papers were pretty funny, at one point we had to fit our entire signature into a 2x2 mm big square. Kinda hard when you don’t have a name written in kanji. At the end they presented a campaign where you could choose either to get the monthly fixed cost free for 5 month or get their mascot toy dog that could walk AND bark. lmao. I took the 5 months. They were all super friendly… but 3h, naha. Anyway… so now I have a japanese phone. My plan from the beginning was to just get a japanese simcard, put it into my iPhone and still be able to use all of the apps and stuff. But the cost for internet per month was insanely high. So now I have a phone w functions of one from the 90s. The camera takes pics that are so pixellated that you can’t even see what’s in the pic. The entire interface, colors etc look so old! But whatever.. now I have an excuse to buy japanese pimping stuff :D</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/801962178http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/801962178Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:07:48 -0400<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5e4mtOguZ1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Just made this for dinner! :) Curry stew shizzle! nom nom</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/797504575http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/797504575Sun, 11 Jul 2010 07:16:05 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5colps8e11qzcjlko1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Watermelons are yummy. Btw, <a title="My video" target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgIsa4k9z6Y">here’s</a> the video of the apartment.</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/794192277http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/794192277Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:32:00 -0400<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5cf8fIokh1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Celebrating our move! Cheap-just-add-water-noodles ftw! lol Will make a video of what this place looks like in a little bit! </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/793664560http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/793664560Sat, 10 Jul 2010 09:09:51 -0400<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l530f94xwm1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>It’s raining. </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/772487582http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/772487582Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:11:33 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5161yT52M1qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Ate at our favorite Indian fast food restaurant in Shibuya yesterday! Never ever eaten such good nan-bread! Mmmmmmm! Missed it!! </p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/768908776http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/768908776Sun, 04 Jul 2010 07:17:58 -0400<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l4vr95Wel01qzcjlko1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Just bought a plant, now it’s all cozy in here!! :D</p>http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/757577174http://www.eemmainjapan.com/post/757577174Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:10:17 -0400