Just got back from ALOOK in sannomiya to get my eyeglass fixed. That plastic little thing that keep your glass from falling if you have a flat nose like me. They give me the new ones. And its free!

First vandalism ive seen in japan. Meriken park

KOBE UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCE

NOW IT's the post about my dorm...

I stay in Kobe University International Residence here. It's just been renovated like 2 or 3 years ago i guess? So it's so nice here. It's located in Port Island. There are many government apartments here. And i guess there are some offices here in the island by seeing the commuters in rush hour. It's so quiet here. very very quiet. and...empty? I don't see much crowd here. Although judging by the number of apartment here, there should be more than 1000 families living here. The only crowds I see are students from school. Even that doesn't compare to schools in Jakarta.

I live in D room. the smallest room type here.

If it looks big to you, imagine it smaller. and smaller. Because in fact, it's really small. For me, a small (even among asian) asian girl, It's okay. But i always see all the other westeners here and wonder how they survive in that D room. I can barely sit straight on the toilet since my knees will be head to head with the door. E room is bigger. I guess they have space for one more bed. but that's it. I am lucky to have a room with a nice view. Most of rooms here overlook other buildings. but everything else is so nice. and clean. the refrigerator is just enough for one person. and i shop for groceries everyweek. the stove is IH. it uses electricity and uses special kind of pans and so on. there are 2 power outlet, one beside the table and one on the...doorway(?).
One side of window is doubled with a sliding door that has a net for bugs. So you can get air from the outside without bugs coming in. There is a small balcony outside to hang clothes. They provide like a hanger...or something. all you need to do is buy the laundry rope. The AC can be used for cool and hot air. and the best thing about this room i have to say is the lamp. because not only i can adjust the brightness. i can turn it off or on with a remote control. kekeke. goodbye having to get up in a cold night only to turn off the lamp....or getting too scared to get up waking up at midnight.

there are one laundry rooms in each floor for except one floor (i guess). and common room in each floor too. there is also a microwave in the common room. For the laundry you need to buy the laundry card for (1.000 yenn on the first floor, washing will cost 60 yen and dryer 20yen/20mins) there are 2 study rooms on the first floor with free internet (you have to have an id and password to access the internet, it will be given by Kobe University). ah and also there is a storage room in each floor too. so you can keep your suitcases or other goods there. there is also a japanese room on the first floor. It's not that big...like the name, it's a japanese style room. you also can watch tv or hangout on the first floor.

There are 3 kombini or convenience store near (seven eleven, lawson, and family mart) and 2 supermarkets very near too (Daiei/Gourmet City and Toho). Gourmet city is much bigger than Toho. but some things are cheaper in Toho. You can buy cheap food at night. the later the cheaper things can become.hmm.. what else. there are many parks and schools here. the station is very close. ah IKEA is also walk distance so you can buy cheap furnitures etc there. 

Water bill is every 2 months. you have to pay it to the dorm office. dormitory is paid through bank while electricity bill through kombini.

kkk its been like 1 month? ive had new appreciation for blogger. it needs a huge commitment to stick into it. lol.

well ive been in japan for one month now. and i have to say its been....lonely? welll first i want to tell all what ive been doing here. some memories may be lost.

First day here, after my last post, me and cintya rushed to look for the limousine bus. We can take bus, train and apparently ferry (we figured this out late) to the main island. because ive heard that trains in Japan are complicated (and it's true, eventhough ive only seen ones in kobe, ive hard that tokyo train system is MUCH more complicated) so we decided to take the bus. We asked the information where to buy the ticket. and i have to say i kinda freaked out when i knew that we had to buy it from a machine.....fortunately there was an officer there that can help us. we hurriedly got on the bus. the man outside the bus was rushing us to hop into the bus while he took care of our luggage.

It was a nice bus...and a nice ride. We hadnt got any proper sleep on the plane so we slept through the trip. Since kobe is a port city, there are many goods? ship there. I thought to myself. what a luck. going thousand miles away from Tanjung Priok only to go to another port city. Hoho. But of course it's much nicer here. Then we got off at sannomiya bus station where our tutor had been waiting....for like 4 hours....I thought we would go straight to the dorm because I WAS DA*N EXHAUSTED. but nope we had to take care of our pension...insurance...and all that to the city office.

The city office was nice, everything was so in order...well...it's japan. BUT you have to make sure to bring a japanese speaker with you because i didnt meet anyone there that can speak even only basic english...AND you have to keep in mind that's what will face you in the future in Kobe. very little number of people can speak English. at least that's what ive seen here.

and because this is not indonesia where you can just call ojek...we had to walk with huge luggages with us. now that ive known the way around. it was a short walk. but just imagine bringing 30-40kilos around. not knowing where is it and havent rest for more than 24 hours. I'm really thankful for our tutors kazusa and akari since they're such honey sweet people.

FINALLY we went to our dorm. i guess ill just talk about the dorm in another post. After washing up, we went to sannomiya to buy toiletries and so on. then we had dinner in this nice restaurant. ooh i really miss that thing from chicken parts.....hoho

well the next 29 days have been fun. we went to osaka for indonesia art show...to tarumi outlet store by the sea...and...ah i cant force myself to think

Arrive in japan!!!! So hungry. Immigration took like 3 hours. I was so overwhelmed with all of the kanji. Huhu. How am i gonna last here!?

wow. its been so long that i have wanted to write. but i just got the will like....2 seconds ago.

there are so many things missed. althou i really want to write it. ive downloaded blogger app on my phone so i can update whenever i want to.


now is 11hours to my departure to japan. people keep asking things like "are you scared?" "are you nervous?" and the like. well. if i want to tell the truth. i dont feel any of those. all i feel is overloaded excitement in my heart. you know. that kind of feeling where you feel like your chest is gonna burst. maybe i'm too self centered....?

last week i dropped off my friend who was going to japan too. others are like boo hoo i'm gonna miss you and i was there like..meeeh.

I CANT BELIEVE THAT MY INTERNSHIP WILL END IN 1 WEEK!!!
I'm.....I'm.....

SO HAPPY!!!!

ohohohoho it's not that my internship sucks. instead it has been really awesome. The ups definitely outweigh the downs. I seriously consider my office now to be my future office. The work is challenging. The atmosphere is constructive. Most of all i like what the founders and seniors there want the juniors to do, have, and instill. although i cannot say for sure that the social aspect really suits me. but still's  my internship is really exciting and helpful in many ways.

It's just that... work life sucks compared to college life. seriously, elementary school should have a separate subject to teach kids that YOU DONT WANT TO GROW UP SO FAST