As the headline says.
It was an easy process to apply for it on the internet, just go this page and register an account. Then the application process is a walk in the park. If you are thinking of taking the test you have to hurry up with the application because the deadline is 1st of May. The fee is 5500 JPY.
Too bad that the Juli test only is given in Japan, China, South Korea and some other Asian countries. All people who wants to do it in Europe have to wait for the December test. And make it possible to take it in Sweden already!
If you don't know what the JLPT is you can read all about it here.
onsdag 24 april 2013
tisdag 23 april 2013
A Small Jump In Time
Uh, I had an awesome spring break and did a lot of breaky things.
Now when that is done, Hello again!
School has started and this semester I will study some Japanese. My plan is to challenge N1 (the highest grade of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test) in July, so I need to review grammar, and practice reading. I did the old version of the JLPT in December 2008, but failed quite badly and have ever since wanted to to it again. I think I'll do better with studying Japanese now when I actually am in Japan again than try to hammer my brain with grammar and stuff in Sweden where it feels kind of pointless.
The weather is getting better every day and the sakura (cherry blossoms) is in full bloom, but sometimes the weather is really acting strange. Two days ago it was snowing! And last week we had 25 degrees! I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out the window.
I have also practiced reading though manga a bit more lately and I am currently reading the latest released volume of Claymore (do you remember?), volume 23 and it is awesome.
There is also an anime that is airing right now called Shingeki no Kyojin, that is also a recommendation from me to all of you.
Now when that is done, Hello again!
School has started and this semester I will study some Japanese. My plan is to challenge N1 (the highest grade of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test) in July, so I need to review grammar, and practice reading. I did the old version of the JLPT in December 2008, but failed quite badly and have ever since wanted to to it again. I think I'll do better with studying Japanese now when I actually am in Japan again than try to hammer my brain with grammar and stuff in Sweden where it feels kind of pointless.
The weather is getting better every day and the sakura (cherry blossoms) is in full bloom, but sometimes the weather is really acting strange. Two days ago it was snowing! And last week we had 25 degrees! I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out the window.
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| Sakura in full bloom (I cheated and uploaded a picture from my vacation in Tokyo) |
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| SNOW! |
There is also an anime that is airing right now called Shingeki no Kyojin, that is also a recommendation from me to all of you.
 |
| Just a rainbow cloud in a circle around the sun. Nothing special here |
onsdag 13 mars 2013
Day of rest
No training today, so I decided to take a walk (in my new shoes) into town to buy t-shirts that I can train in, and maybe a new bag for school stuff. The one I have is from like 2008 and have seen its better days.
They said it would be 17 degrees and cloudy, but it was more like 8 degrees. LIES.
I met with Arthur who came from the lab and we went to a store called Graniph, which has a lot of nice
t-shirts and I found four to be to my liking. Two T-shirts is only 4200 yen (280 SEK), so it was totally worth it. After that we went and had some casual lunch at Higashiyama, a yakiniku place, that has a lunch menu including 300g of mixed meat (beef and pork), rice, salad and soup for 1000 yen (67 SEK). The downside with that lunch offer is that the meat is pretty fatty, but pretty good anyway. I will try something else next time though. When I lived in Sendai last time, I went there a lot during lunch with Tobias, and thinking of that reminded me of getting a new point card.
After lunch I realized that because I had bought nice t-shirts, I still did not have any to train in, which was the target of this visit to town, so we went back to UNI-CLO, and there I bought four no-name t-shirts for 500 yen each. Perfect to kill with my sweat.
Oh, we went to the arcade and played some jubeat as well. I'm sorry Arthur that I have made you addicted (mohahahahaah). I unlocked Kung-fu mama last time, a song that is available on the European iPad-version, and I got an A on advanced level 7 on the first try! The guy in the youtube clip plays extreme level 9. I tried that as well and I aaaalmost got a C (which is pass). Damn it's funny
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| Puma |
I met with Arthur who came from the lab and we went to a store called Graniph, which has a lot of nice
t-shirts and I found four to be to my liking. Two T-shirts is only 4200 yen (280 SEK), so it was totally worth it. After that we went and had some casual lunch at Higashiyama, a yakiniku place, that has a lunch menu including 300g of mixed meat (beef and pork), rice, salad and soup for 1000 yen (67 SEK). The downside with that lunch offer is that the meat is pretty fatty, but pretty good anyway. I will try something else next time though. When I lived in Sendai last time, I went there a lot during lunch with Tobias, and thinking of that reminded me of getting a new point card.
 |
| Said T-shirts |
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| The Lunch, with a big L, as in meat |
Oh, we went to the arcade and played some jubeat as well. I'm sorry Arthur that I have made you addicted (mohahahahaah). I unlocked Kung-fu mama last time, a song that is available on the European iPad-version, and I got an A on advanced level 7 on the first try! The guy in the youtube clip plays extreme level 9. I tried that as well and I aaaalmost got a C (which is pass). Damn it's funny
 |
| Exhibit A |
lördag 9 mars 2013
Sukiyaki!
Yesterday I went out with a couple of friends to a restaurant to have some shabushabu or sukiyaki. When we arrived we noticed that you could choose a combination (both of them in the same pot) for only 200 yen extra. That seemed like a splendid idea, but if we wanted some other taste of the broth than kombu, it was an additional 200 yen. By an unanimous decision we then decided to only go with the sukiyaki, with tabehoudai and nomihoudai and it was really awesome. I could barely walk afterwards because my stomach was so full.
When you make sukiyaki, you first melt some fat in the pot and fry thin slices of meat. When they are getting ready you push it to one side, add vegetables, tofu (It has to be separated by sort and look nice!) and then pour a mix of sugar, soy sauce and mirin over it. Then it is left to simmer for a while before you pick the tasty meat and vegetables with your chopsticks and dip it into whipped raw egg. Then NAM NAM NAM.
After the dinner we met a few more friends that couldn't attend the first party, and walked to a nearby izakaya for another nomihoudai. We got french fries included, but who could eat anymore?
Anders had brought his iPad and we played a kind of game on it where someone writes a yes/no-question. When everybody has answered the result is shown and it's fun to try to guess who answered what, specially when you make strange questions. It's similar to the "I have never..."-game.
Where did we go after that? ABOO of course!
As usual I initiated the famous card drinking game "higher or lower" and everyone got pretty drunk (thanks to me). Unfortunately I did the mistake to drink only beer the whole night which my stomach didn't like that much. Also, the smell of the garlic popcorn didn't make it better so to speak.
When you make sukiyaki, you first melt some fat in the pot and fry thin slices of meat. When they are getting ready you push it to one side, add vegetables, tofu (It has to be separated by sort and look nice!) and then pour a mix of sugar, soy sauce and mirin over it. Then it is left to simmer for a while before you pick the tasty meat and vegetables with your chopsticks and dip it into whipped raw egg. Then NAM NAM NAM.
 |
| Photo of sukiyaki with focus on the meat |
 |
| Just some meat in egg |
Anders had brought his iPad and we played a kind of game on it where someone writes a yes/no-question. When everybody has answered the result is shown and it's fun to try to guess who answered what, specially when you make strange questions. It's similar to the "I have never..."-game.
Where did we go after that? ABOO of course!
As usual I initiated the famous card drinking game "higher or lower" and everyone got pretty drunk (thanks to me). Unfortunately I did the mistake to drink only beer the whole night which my stomach didn't like that much. Also, the smell of the garlic popcorn didn't make it better so to speak.
torsdag 7 mars 2013
Training
I'm back on track!
After no training during my trip to Tokyo, and then because of the cold I got two days before I came back to Sendai, it felt really good to go to the gym and kill my legs. I have a problem to walk properly today, and it's going to be even more difficult tomorrow. Lovely feeling!
I was feeling a bit "uäääää I don't want to train today!!!" yesterday, but I started to watch some motivational videos on youtube and thought "of course I will go to the gym today!". So pro-tip: if you don't feel like training, watch motivational videos on youtube and remember WHY you are training.
One of the videos I watched featured a lot of chins, pull-ups and other exercises including a bar, so yesterday evening I searched the nearby area for such equipment. I remembered that most of the schools I've seen has like a bar-rack on different heights in the school yard, and as we have a school across the street from where I live, I went to check it out.
There they were, the beautiful bars shining in the darkness, a construction with two different heights. Unfortunately, they were too low for me, but then I noticed another set to the right which had perfect height. I noticed a sign below that said: 「危険です。危ないですから使わないでください」or in English: DANGER! It's dangerous, so please do not use these.
I don't know if the reason behind that was because it was late, and they put up the signs every night, or if you just can't use them for som other reason.
I will use them (evil laugh).
After no training during my trip to Tokyo, and then because of the cold I got two days before I came back to Sendai, it felt really good to go to the gym and kill my legs. I have a problem to walk properly today, and it's going to be even more difficult tomorrow. Lovely feeling!
 |
| Skip leg day, and you will end up like this |
One of the videos I watched featured a lot of chins, pull-ups and other exercises including a bar, so yesterday evening I searched the nearby area for such equipment. I remembered that most of the schools I've seen has like a bar-rack on different heights in the school yard, and as we have a school across the street from where I live, I went to check it out.
There they were, the beautiful bars shining in the darkness, a construction with two different heights. Unfortunately, they were too low for me, but then I noticed another set to the right which had perfect height. I noticed a sign below that said: 「危険です。危ないですから使わないでください」or in English: DANGER! It's dangerous, so please do not use these.
I don't know if the reason behind that was because it was late, and they put up the signs every night, or if you just can't use them for som other reason.
I will use them (evil laugh).
måndag 4 mars 2013
Gaming day
It worked like a charm and I had 30 viewers at one point!
I only played as PE and started as lvl 8. became lvl 9-8-9-8 and ended at 9 again. That's when I decided to stop.
How's that for nerdy computer gaming talk?
Oh, and I have gotten a big blister on my foot for some reason. I mean, a little walk for one hour shouldn't do that. It has stayed the same size for 4 days, but today I killed it by puncture it and drain it from liquid. Mmmm, blister liquid.
| Just look at that! |
Oh, and I also joined the dark side and signed up for spotify premium.
söndag 3 mars 2013
Slow-paced holiday
I wanted to complete the series from my visit to Tokyo, but due to lazy and tired, I won't!
So what has happened since?
After I came back from Tokyo, I have spent my time watching shitloads of anime. I finished 67 episodes of Hunter x Hunter in two days for example. It's a nice anime, so If you haven't started watching it yet please do. The downside with catching up to the latest episode of a series is that you have to wait a whole week for the next episode! And I think you appreciate a series more, whether it is an anime or a TV-series, if you are watching a lot of episodes in a row. If you have wait a whole week in between a bit of the magic disappears.
Lately I have also stepped up my reading of manga. I had a lot of trouble to really get into the story in the beginning, probably because I haven't read comics for like... 18 years or so, but I didn't give in to my urge to quit after a few pages. "This is ridiculous! I don't understand every single word and therefore I should give up!" - No, I was steadfast and continued reading. In the beginning I was looking up a lot of words (like every second that I didn't know the exact meaning of right away), but that didn't help me getting sucked into the story, so I stopped doing that.
After a while I realized that most of the words, although I haven't explicitly studied them, are already known to me. Either I know the meaning of one or both of the kanji (but haven't seen them together) or I have heard the word while watching anime. I have to say that my reading speed has doubled, almost tripled after these 11 volumes of Claymore that I have read so far. That doesn't mean that I read fast, only that I sucked before - insufficient reading practice does that to you. So kids, if you are studying Japanese, don't forget to read a lot because it takes time for your eyes to get accustomed to read Japanese.
Oh, and speaking of manga, I also went to BOOK-OFF here in Sendai, and found a package with the first 30 volumes of Katekyō Hitman Reborn! for only 3500 yen! And as I've finished the 11 volumes of Claymore that I have bought I tried the online version of BOOK-OFF and ordered the remaining 12 volumes. Too bad that the series is not finished yet because it seems to be like 4-5 months between the releases of a new volume.
Well, you probably thought "wait, what? no food porn?"
I won't make you disappointed.
So what has happened since?
After I came back from Tokyo, I have spent my time watching shitloads of anime. I finished 67 episodes of Hunter x Hunter in two days for example. It's a nice anime, so If you haven't started watching it yet please do. The downside with catching up to the latest episode of a series is that you have to wait a whole week for the next episode! And I think you appreciate a series more, whether it is an anime or a TV-series, if you are watching a lot of episodes in a row. If you have wait a whole week in between a bit of the magic disappears.
Lately I have also stepped up my reading of manga. I had a lot of trouble to really get into the story in the beginning, probably because I haven't read comics for like... 18 years or so, but I didn't give in to my urge to quit after a few pages. "This is ridiculous! I don't understand every single word and therefore I should give up!" - No, I was steadfast and continued reading. In the beginning I was looking up a lot of words (like every second that I didn't know the exact meaning of right away), but that didn't help me getting sucked into the story, so I stopped doing that.
After a while I realized that most of the words, although I haven't explicitly studied them, are already known to me. Either I know the meaning of one or both of the kanji (but haven't seen them together) or I have heard the word while watching anime. I have to say that my reading speed has doubled, almost tripled after these 11 volumes of Claymore that I have read so far. That doesn't mean that I read fast, only that I sucked before - insufficient reading practice does that to you. So kids, if you are studying Japanese, don't forget to read a lot because it takes time for your eyes to get accustomed to read Japanese.
Oh, and speaking of manga, I also went to BOOK-OFF here in Sendai, and found a package with the first 30 volumes of Katekyō Hitman Reborn! for only 3500 yen! And as I've finished the 11 volumes of Claymore that I have bought I tried the online version of BOOK-OFF and ordered the remaining 12 volumes. Too bad that the series is not finished yet because it seems to be like 4-5 months between the releases of a new volume.
Well, you probably thought "wait, what? no food porn?"
I won't make you disappointed.
 |
| My breakfast at a place next to the capsule hotel in Shinjuku |
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| Meat for しゃぶしゃぶ (shabu-shabu) |
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| And the set shabu-shabu table |
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| This is a small bowl at Ramen Jiro. I could barely finish it, and they have a large as well! |
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| Some fried things with mayonnaise |
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| Curry at Coco house. I tried a new one, so it is fried fish with fried shrimps. It was really good |
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