J-fever

It's been 2 weeks since I came back to Singapore but I'm still adjusting Singapore life - culture, weather, life style and of cos studies.

Japanese students spend 30 mins to 1 hour, preparing to go to school, excluding some girls' makeup time on the train (according to one of my friends' survey in school). They may be said to dress up too much in Singapore but what I like the most is their attitude to groom themselves in order of the viewer or the other person to feel pleasant while with them. Coming back from this kind of life, I can't stand in my class here when some people don't use perfume or even deodorant, especially when they are sweaty and smelly, not mentioning some people wearing singlets/speghetti with shorts in class or some with just-woke-up-from-bed fashion. Anyway, I almost puked in the class of 55 students just now with someone smelly sitting around me.

I just moved into my new flat in Braddell after much disappointment of property market hike in Singapore. Accomodation cost in Singapore is not different from that in Tokyo anymore. I still have no internet at home and there is a problem with the circuit-breaker in my unit, cos of which we can't use water heater.

It's just 2nd week of the new semester but I'm more stressed than I was in the last week in Rikkyo cos 3 out of 4 courses I'm taking have case study everyweek. Talking about case study, it's not just 2-3 page case like my zemi case in Rikkyo, but 10-15 pages long. What is worse, I'm still in my holiday mood.

I wanna take JLPT 2 this year though it's very very challenging for me cos a normal person will take one year to prepare from level 3 to level 2. I only have 3 months left, yet I haven't started anything. The only way to take this exam is to take 4 Japanese lessons per week starting from this Wednesday. I don't know if I should do this or not, cos it might affect my GPA this term. Had I stayed in Rikkyo for one more semester, I could have been able to take it without difficulties. Now, I have to take a few seconds to think before I speak in Japanese and as time gets by, I'm using more English to Japanese friends here. Sigh! Really Scary!!!!! It's just 2 weeks plus that I don't use Japanese whole day but I started thinking in English now when I speak. Although I'm sharing my house with one Japanese exchange student, I'm talking to him in English only cos I can't understand his accent - Kansai accent. Talking about accent, I'm quite satisfied with my Tokyo accent though it's not as perfect as a native Japanese. I dare say that I'm one of the few students from SMU going to Japan whose accent is not Gaijin-poi (foreigner's accent). I must thank to Rikkyo and my IFL as well as zemi friends who talked to me in Japanese most of the time. I guess the environment in Rikkyo is very Japanese compared to the other university which I could have gone. But generally all of our Japanese skills have improved a lot, with some even starting to learn level 1 stuffs.

Currently, I'm having a sore throat and lost my voice after eating fries and oily foods without drinking much water. When my friends saw me in school, they said "Oh, you not only changed your hair and fashion but also your voice." Haha... my what-they-call-sexy voice is too coarse and soft that I've got problems participating in class (kinda excuse not to participate haha...) After coming back to Singapore, I lost 2 kg. (Perhaps I miss Japan too much? haha...) Still hoping to lose few more kgs ^_^ (wish I could)

Recently, I met up with Taku and Jin from Rikkyo in Singapore but feel too bad cos I'm too busy settling down to show them around Singapore. But, once I'm settled, I have to change back to my Japan life style, speaking in Japanese more, hanging out J-exchange students, taking more J-classes, preparing for JLPT and finding my way to work in Japan.