Turning Down Invitations

Invitations..

That is what I get almost every week.. From drinking at Japanese Bar (居酒屋 Izakaya) (even though I can't drink alcoholic drinks), eating out at some restaurants near Ikebukuro campus or even invitations to some events like going to Ueno Zoo and watching baseball match at Jingu Stadium.. and I had to turn down all of it..

Saying "Sorry, I can't go" is not the hardest part for me, explaining the reason why is the hardest.. From "I already made arrangements with a friend", "Got tonnes of homework" and the usual phrase "I'm tired"..

I wish I can tell them that I'm not a normal exchange student, I'm on a very tight budget and I do not have the luxury to spend my money for other things like entertainment or eating out (but I managed to do it sometimes though)..

I hope they can understand my situation.. Sorry guys for turning down your invitations..

Rikkyo's IVY Festa

I walked for about 25 minutes to Rikkyo University's Niiza campus.. Today's weather was quite OK even though it rained for a while. I was looking forward to an event called バルーン　イン　ザ　スカイ(Balloon in the sky). The visitors was given a balloon each and when the time comes, they released it together.

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Then, there was some kind of Flea Market in the middle of Building 1,2,3,4 compound.. I wish I knew earlier.. Everything was cheap..

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Some autumn clothes:

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Later at 2pm, Japanese stand up comedy started on the stage. It was by COWCOW. To be honest, I don't know who are they and I understood little of their comedy because of the language barrier (I still have a hard time understanding Japanese that is spoken fast). Well, it seems to me that majority of the audience love them, they laughed a lot..

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

After watching the show, I went to the stalls to check out the foods they're selling. Everything looked delicious and I like the way the students try to persuade visitors to buy their foods and they're very friendly too..

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

The guy in the pic volunteered himself to pose,

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Choco Banana! I have to try it someday..

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Cotton candy stall:

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Students from samosa stall.. Very friendly and cute too.. Hehe..

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Yaki soba,

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Yaki tori,

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

And finally, before going back, I went to see Wind Orchestra performance in the Chapel.. It was my second time entering church/chapel.. The first one was in Ikebukuro campus.. Had some misunderstanding at the entrance, I barely hear what the woman at the entrance said, so, I insist on entering through the main door but she made me enter the chapel through the side door. Enjoyed the concert!

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Last but not least, I was amazed towards Japanese determination in recycling.. They put a coloured notice in the booklet given to every visitor on how to separate the used bottles, chopsticks etc. and if you are not sure, they stationed some one to help you at the garbage bin.. Wow.. One salute from me!

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

A little tired but I had a great day!

Sunday morning.. 日曜日の朝..

Its Sunday again.. I can say that this week's Sunday is not quite the usual Sunday because I forgot that today is cleaning my room day but it will be ok since my autumn break is until Thursday.. I will clean my room tomorrow.. Hehe.. Oh, and I went to IVY Festa in Rikkyo's Niiza campus.. It was a nice experience going to a Japanese festival.. The food looked (since I can't eat it) great and it is truly an ideal carnival with lots of people, activities and foods.. :)

I start my day with an early morning shopping to buy eggs (the supermarket near my dorm, Daiei sell 10 eggs for 98yen (u.p 198yen)) and bananas.. I'm not a cheapskate kind of person but I did what I have to do, i.e. try to minimise my spending as much as I could.. I don't mind waking up early.. Really.. Here's what I bought:

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

After that, I did the usual thing I do in the morning.. Checked my e-mails, Facebook, Twitter, my favourite blogs and the weather..

Since I arrived in Japan, it has become a habit for me to check weather forecast or 天気予報(tenki yohou) before going out. Today, I fully trusted the forecast and I didn't bring along my umbrella even though it looked like it was going to rain. Well, it did rain but only for 10-15 minutes.. I was glad I made the right choice. The other method to determine if I should bring my umbrella or not is by watching people who passed by my dorm, I watch them from my balcony and if many of them have umbrella with them, I will bring mine before going out.. This kind of method seldom fails.. Haha..

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

After breakfast, I went out and my destination: Rikkyo's Niiza campus.. For the IVY Festa.. ^^

Borang Permohonan - 入学願書 (Nyugakugansho)

Borang ini ku terima selepas lecturer menghantar nama ku ke pihak Universiti Rikkyo dan mereka menghantar panduan berkaitan universiti beserta borang ini. Oleh kerana ingin menyertai program pertukaran pada sesi musim bunga (april), borang ini perlu dihantar sebelum 11 November.

Borang permohonan ini dalam bahasa Jepun disebut 立教大学観光学部特別外国人学生入学願書(Rikkyo daigaku kanko gakubu tokubetsu gaikokujin gakusei nyugaku gansho) dan boleh diisi dalam bahasa Inggeris ataupun Jepun tapi ku memilih untuk mengisinya dalam bahasa Jepun.

Seperti biasa, pelbagai maklumat peribadi perlu diisi seperti waris terdekat, latar belakang pendidikan (dari SK sampai UM) dan tahap kecekapan bahasa (BM, BI, BJ). Tapi paling kurang digemari ialah menjawab soalan subjektif mengenai 'Motivation for studying in Japan' dan 'Future plans after returning to your home University'. Aku jawabnya dalam B.Jepun tapi sekadar untuk memenuhi syarat sahaja.

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

From Ryugaku 留学 - Jepun

Akhir sekali, sebelum hantar borang ni, kenalah check checklist yang disediakan bersama borang. Kat bawah ialah senarai dokumen yang kena ada:

1. Application form

2. Letter of recommendation from lecturer

3. Official Transcript

4. Certificate of Japanese language proficiency

5. Certificate of Health (kena buat medical check-up dan bagi Dr. isi)

6. Certificate of financial resources (kena ada sponsor yang boleh tunjukkan simpanan dalam akaun bank minimum 1juta yen)

7. Copy of passport

8. 2 recent photographs

Bila semua dah ok, aku poskan menggunakan poslaju ke Jepun.