First, I'd like to start off with apologizing for my not-so-active nor interesting activity up til now. Like I said earlier, I've been sick and haven't had much energy at all, + I've got some mental breakdowns every now and then because of my idiotic phone and other technical issues.
But I decided to ignore them from now on. So, on to another subject. Ever since I read a really-long-text-about-a-guy-who-lived-in-japan (the "-" thing is.. insider? I just started to use them..) I felt this urge to really start to look up things about this on Google.
I've been worrying sick about what school I should go to after 9th grade, what I should study to, in what country I should do that in and the most important - when, at what age, would I go to Japan? (I now apologize for this text, because I think it will be pretty long and not-so-interesting to read. :P But I want to write it, so screw your opinions. You don't have to read it, you know?)
So, after reading that really-long-text-about-japan, I got a new vision at certain things. He wrote that he went to Japan when he was 20 years old, not knowing any japanese at all. I guess I admire him for that courage, because I know that I, with my weak, upside-down going selfconfidence, wouldn't be able to just take the step and pack my bags with the plane tickets in my hand.
He went to something called "Language institute", which is a school that foreigners can attend. They learn japanese, but at a very formal level. The point with this school is that they prepare you for further studies in Japan. Something that is required is 12 years of school, which means that you have to have the basic 1-9th grade finnished + 3 years more, and I think those years are High School. (or upper secondary school, what ever you prefer to call it).
I immediately though "That's what I wanna do!"
Sure, there will be people who think I'm crazy. There will be those who basically can give me a book full of different reasons for why I should NOT go there, 85 % of them made up in frustration. I will probably regret it while sitting on the plane, because I'm the type of person who worry to much. I'll probably think "What if the plane crashes, what if mom dies while I'm there, what if my bamboo dies? What if I can't find the school, what if I didn't get that apparement after all" and so on, but that won't matter. Because I know, the moment I put my foot on Japanese ground, those thoughts will disappear.
Sure, call me a maniac. I agree, I kind of am, to a certain degree, but I can tell you that I think my future is hell of a lot more brighter than some of the people I know. (I won't tell any names xD) At least I have dreams and hopes and plans, and there's no meaning to that if I don't make them come true, right?
I've read countless of blogs by now, searching through the whole first page after searching "foreigner in Japan" on Google. I've read that long-text-about-japan at least 5 times, trying to build up my courage as much as I can, borrowing strength from the text he wrote years ago. Now, let me remind you that there's still 4 years left until I can make anything of this come true. This is where the maniac-theory comes in. ^^
What I found, was a lot of "good things about being a foreigner in japan" and the opposite, "bad things about..."
I didn't really get all of them, because the picture became a little blurry as they went from one point to another, first saying one thing and then disagreeing to the same thing in the next sentence.
But this is what I got:
Good things about being a foreigner in Japan (and ofc I use my bubbles ;)<3)
- Low expectations. When you come to Japan, no matter how good you speak Japanese, or how well you know the culture, you will be "gaijin". You will belong to "them", the outsiders. You will never become "us", even if you spend years trying to understand the "japanese way of thinking". This can be a blessing as well as a curse. How frustrating isn't it to never be concidered as "us"? But as the same time, since you are "gaijin", the japanese people will not expect you to know their rituals and way of living. If you make a mistake, they will not glare at you and think your stupid. Because they already think your a clumsy, stupid foreigner. If you succeed in calling your teacher "sensei" every time you talk to him/her and say "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" and "hajimemashite" the first time talking to someone, then they will think that you are unusually smart for being a blond foreigner. But if you make a mistake while wholding the chopsticks, or eat on the subway, they will forgive you. ^^
- You are different. Go and stand in the middle of some big city in the USA and you wouldn't be noticed even if you wore a red, curly wig and were dressed in a clown outfit. Okay, I admit I'm exaggerating now, but it's almost like that. But once you go to Japan, you will see nothing but black heads, and lots people with brown, coloured hair. In school, it's forbidden to colour your hair, so of course you will stand out even more. You will be looked at because you are tall, blond and have blue eyes. You are a star, different and a bit weird. But no matter what, you will recieve a warm welcome from these polite people. :)
- If you hate your country - go to Japan. If you don't feel like home in Japan, try space. Because then you don't belong in this world. ^^ Believe mee ~
I was originally planning on continue this text, but I don't want to. I'm going out now ^^ And I think you're pretty relieved as well ;) See yah!
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