International Exchange Fair @ Ritsumeikan

Hi again 皆さん！

Another little update coming up..!

I can´t believe we are halfway through the week already, the days are passing by really fast somehow.. On Monday I had classes and so on, it´s a pretty long day so when it´s finally finished I only felt like relaxing.. I have class in the first, forth and fifth period, and spent the time between the classes in the library studying.

On Tuesday I finally got the chance to buy a cellphone again. Me and Donato went to Softbank early since we both had classes a bit later that day, but unfortunately they didn´t open until 10..

The thing about getting a Japanese cellphone is that it really takes a long time before you can have it. I had class at 10:40, so I decided to go there after my class instead.

There will be a nice bunch of papers you have to fill in and so on..It actually took around an hour from the time I entered the store till I could leave with my new phone.. In other words: If you´re planning to buy a Japanese phone make sure you have enough time available.!

It does by the way seem like most of the exchange students are buying phones from the Softbank-company. They are apparently the cheapest, and besides they have some kind of free-messaging-to-other-Softbank-phones deal too. Unfortunately Japanese phones doesn´t work outside of Japan, so if you´re planning to stay for a year or less I guess buying the cheapest one they have really is the best offer. I have an iPhone, but I can´t really use it here.. So for me buying a Japanese cellphone really is mottainai (a waste).

Representing Norway at Ritsumeikan´s International Exchange Fair

Today me, Alex and Maho participated in the International Exchange fair for Japanese

students wanting to studying abroad and we were representing the University in Bergen were all three of us have studied.

I think it would have been quite nice if it weren´t for the fact that the Japanese students didn´t show up. At least there weren´t many. We were there for 2 hours, and we only talked to one girl who really considered studying in Norway. But she hadn´t decided yet, the decision stood between Norway and Sweden.

I had even brought with me a book about Norway in Japanese, which I bought in the souvenir shop (Nilssen på Bryggen) I´ve worked in the last three summers in Bergen. But I am going to participate tomorrow as well, so I really hope more people will come then..!!

After the fair me, Chase, Maho and Alex went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It was close to our university, and pretty cheap too:) Supposedly it´s one of the typical places the Japanese Ritsumeikan students go to eat as well. I´m sure I´ll go back there sometime, the dinner was really good.

Tomorrow my lessons starts early so I better get to bed. Good night:)

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.