Birthday Boys!

In the Picture from the left: Yaya-san, Jamikon-san, Davide-San, Medi-San and Ken-San. I said birthday Boys, because Yaya-san was the representative of the class distributing the birthday gifts ;)...a Birthday Cake!

Orientation Day

Today was Orientation day. Various representatives for different school came to present their Technical School. Among them there were different faculties like Computer, Design, Psychology and Business School.

Up to now most of the students that wanted to start this year, have already choosen their path, but for the undecided ones, i think this was their last chance for this year.

What's the difference between University and Technical school? Both are recognized in Japan as official Schools, but hearing from various students, entering a Technical School is easier than the university. Why? To enter an University you need to pass the admission test, whereas for technical school mostly they only Interviewed the candidate, but didn't have to pass an actual test.

From what I've heard, entering a Japanese university is not very easy, it requires quite a good level of Japanese... that's why, the students that prefers University over Technical school, I think they will stay at this school for another year...

イモトアヤコ (Imoto Ayako)

You'll be surprised if you have never seen Japanese TV before. The one in the picture is Imoto Ayako and is the protagonist of one weekly TV show on Sunday. Is a funny girl. She travels around the world trying various daring things. Check her out on youtube here!

The nice thing on Japanese TV is that they always have some subtitles on what is being discussed, so if you cannot understand what they are talking about, reading the subtitles might help ;)

I'm not sure if in Japan they have Digital TV. At home I have only 10 channels, 2 of which are for Shopping (they sell stuff...).

By the way...did you know that you can watch TV for free on your Japanese mobile phone?

Valentine's Day in Japan!

14th of February was Valentine's Day. But what does Valentine's Day work in Japan? Well, as in any other country, is the day of people in Love. What is the difference in Japan compared to the rest of the world? ;) well...you'll be amazed...

First of all, in Japan, the ones receiving a gift on Valentine's Day....are... MEN! You read right ! Girls will buy expensive chocolate or in some cases, prepare small chocolates themselves and give them to the loved ones. Of course, doesn't mean that men's can just get away with their chocolate ;) ... but the interesting thing is that on february 14th, they will get the chocolate. On March 15th, is the opposite, girls will receive a gift and the day is called the "White Day".

Another thing to point out, is that if you are a man and will get a chocolate on the 14th of february, doesn't necessarily mean that they are in love with you. There are different levels of chocolates: The one for the Loved One, the One for friends and the One for Colleagues. It always depends on the cost. If you get a, let's say, Doraemon Chocolate, it means ...well...you are just a friend, but if you get a chocolate box from Godiva (one of the most expensive chocolate shops in Japan that looks like "Chocolate-Boutiques") it means...well... you are the lucky one!

Unfortunately this nice tradition is slowly disappearing. In fact, even in japan, is more and more usual to celebrate Valentine's Day in the Western Style, which means more fand more requently girls now expect a gift from men... too bad!! isn't ? ;)

Yaki-Tori-Don!

This is really delicious! You need to try it! Is a "Don". A "Don" is generally a bowl of rice with some toppings on top. In this case is a "Yaki-Tori-Don" which means "Grilled Chicken Bowl". On top there is some seaweed to add more traditional taste ;)

You can find This one in one of the various shops around Sannomiya Station. Where you see the sign saying "焼き鳥" (Yakitori) just check the menu if you find "焼き鳥丼" (Yakitori-Don). Usually shops have written outside what is their main dish, and you will find that outside Yakiniku (grilled meat) Restaurants, they always write Yakiniku (焼き肉）in big Kanjis! Just make sure you check the price before entering ;) some places offer Yakiniku-all-you-can-eat-buffet starting at 1,500 Yen, but expensive ones, can easily go up to 6,000 or more...

Worth to try! believe me!

Test Results!

We got the Test Results of December Test! In our class various classmates tried the level 2, which is quite hard. One of them attempted level 1. I and other non Asian Students, we tried Level 3.

We with level 3, in Class "C" passed all. Our chinese friends had troubles with level 2 and It looks like nobody manages to pass that one as well. There was a surprise, though, Our classmate Inson-San (she is from korea) Attempted level 1 and ...guess what! She passed! Congratulations! Amazing!

If you plan to enter an university in Japan, they don't really look at this test, since you need to pass the school test to be enrolled. Some of the students, still didn't have a level 2 but managed to enter the University...but still, you need to know quite some japanese to pass the entrance tests, which are not that easy, since includes mathematics and other tough vocabulary...

The next test I think will be around July... but still no information yet...

Setsubun: Season Festival

Setsubun literally means "Change of Season", but in February, there is a special event that usually matches the lunar New Year which is celebrated.

The Celebration consists in wearing a mask and people throwing Soya roasted beens at the one wearing the mask to chase the evil away.

I personally didn't see it, but I've read about it. On that day they sell the soya beans for the occasion. There is an article that explains the details on wikipedia (click here) if you would like to know more ;)

Cooking Day!

Today was cooking day! We met near the school at 10 AM and were ready for our adventure ;) Is nice to have a "Day Off" and doing something different than studying Japanese in Class.

Even though we had just a rough idea on how to cook the planned recipe we all did our best. For cleanliness, we all used Face Masks.

We were about 70 students! Wow! Teachers did really a good work preparing all the ingredients and planning this activity...not easy! It took us about two hours to prepare all the dishes, dessert included!

Every team was of about 10 students. This is the team lead by Miyake-Sensei and as you can see they were almost finished. We had just a little trouble with the rice that didn't completely cook, probably we put too many ingredients ;) and here they are completing it in a normal pan, nevertheless... it was delicious!

This team did really an amazing work presenting their final result! Tamago-yaki, Miso-vegetable-soup, and fish with vegetables!

And of course, at the end, Dessert! This was absolutely the best! Really good!

At the end, before leaving, we cleaned up everything in record time and left at around 3.15 PM. Just the time to take one last picture with our teachers :)

A day with University Students!

Today we met the Students of the Girls' University of Kobe. We already know some of them as we met them last year during a previous visit to their school.

This time we had few questions to answer, like "What was the most amazing thing you did" or what would you do with "1,000,000 Yen" ($10,000). It was interesting hearing the answers ;) One of the bravest thing one of the students did, was eating two bowls of rice topped with grilled meat ! (and no kidding! is quite big and one usually fills you up)

Every group did a presentation on the answers of one of the group members.

Most of the students that came to our school, will finish this year. After that, they will enter their career work. Actually, listening to young people, one of the hardest time for a Japanese is during their school years. I know one girl, she is only 14, that wakes up every morning at 5.30 AM to go to school. When I said "Every Morning" i literally mean including Saturday's and Sundays. On those days they have practice for extra school activities like playing in a Band or training for various Sports.

And here...a video :) !

Sushi!!!

Today we went with a couple of students, Davide-san and Yaya-san to have lunch together. We found this place where we can have a sushi set, called "Rokko-plate" (Rokko-san is one of the mountains surrounding kobe) that with Miso soup costs 710 yen. I real deal!

If you want to get the best bang for your bucks, you need to always choose a specialized restaurant. It means: if you want to eat sushi, look for a sushi place. If you want to eat Tonkatsu, look for a tonkatsu place. You can find sushi everywhere, but the best quality you usually find it in a sushi restaurant.

This plate is only a "Lunch Special" it means that at night prices go up. One thing about Fish in Japan, compared for instance to Europe, is that it doesn't smell like fish. You can put your nose directly on the fish...amazing...no smell!

Come and try!