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Just got the results today and I don’t believe! I actually passed the JLPT 3 exam last December. Actually, I had an idea that I passed when I saw I had a “Do Not Bend” envelope sitting on my desk hinting to the fact a certificate was enclosed. My scores do reflect at how much I didn’t know as I did say I guessed A LOT of the exam. I got 90% for JLPT4 so just managed to scrape through on this one. Here’s a breakdown:

Writing-Vocabulary – 60/100
Listening – 87/100
Reading-Grammer – 126/200

Overall – 273/400 (68%)

I don’t know if I’ll be ready to take the new N3 exam this year. I’ve bought the text books but haven’t opened them yet so got a long way to go. Would be good to become fluent in Japanese.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this letter on my desk when I arrived home this evening:

Enclosed was my pension handbook that I had when I was in Japan and a “Notice of the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment (Remittance)”. The icing on the cake was when I read the contents and noticed that the refund was five times larger than what I was expecting it to be, even after deduction of 20% income tax. Now I don’t feel so bad as when I left Japan and I was hit with one years worth of Resident’s tax in my last month – that left me feeling poor. Very poor.

The amount refunded is higher than expected because it appears I was contributing to an Employees’ Pension rather than the National Pension. I’m pretty sure I filled in the forms wrong (to claim the lump-sum), considering it was mostly Japanese and the English equivalent was pretty dire. At least the Japanese Pension agency knew what to do with it and has given me, what I would say, a fair refund of the contributions I had been making into a pension system I would probably never be able to receive any benefits from.

I did apply for this all the way back in July 2009 so it’s taken 6 months to process but I have a feeling that they waited until the new calendar year for the (resident) taxes to sort themselves out and to confirm my (non) residency status. The system is quite mysterious if you don’t understand Japanese.

For those in a similar situation, you should check if there is some agreement between Japan and your home country before applying for the lump-sum withdrawal. For example, your home country may allow those contributions you made in Japan to count towards your pension back home. As far as I know, the UK doesn’t have this agreement yet. The only agreement between UK and Japan is that I don’t need to be liable to taxes/national insurance contributions to both systems at the same time.

Now I just hope I gave them my correct bank details!

The JLPT exam is exactly 1 month away now. I registered for the JLPT 3 exam a while ago, scheduled for Sunday 6th December 2009 globally! I’ll be taking mine at SOAS, University of London. It’s a once a year thing, so hoping I won’t miss it!

I got in contact with a few possible tutors when I left Japan but things didn’t really fit (schedules and location etc) so I took the self study route. I’ve been at it since September and have an idea what I need to know to pass. As it stands, exactly one month before my JLPT 3 exam, I’ve yet to start learning the Kanji! I’ve just covered the grammer points and I’m hoping I’ll have time to go over all of them again as well as do some past papers! Now that sounds like a challenge.

I did surprisingly well in last year’s JLPT 4 but I did have about one and a half year’s worth of tuition by the time I took that exam. This time I have about 3 months for double the difficulty. Anyway, I’ll try my best as always.

I’ve used various sets of text books in the past including Minna no Nihongo but my favourite is the Genki series from Japan Times:

If you’re just starting out in Japanese, I highly recommend starting with Genki I. There is a sufficient amount of English explanation for all grammer points as well as plenty of exercises. If you have a lot of money to spare or a Japanese friend who can buy these for you in Japan (much cheaper over there), I’d recommend getting the CDs, workbooks and answers too! If you’re attending a class, your teacher will probably have all the audio tracks and make copies of the workbook exercises as homework, so in that case you don’t need to get it. But for me, doing self-study, I feel they’ve helped me a lot.

CDs and workbooks:

Answers to the workbook exercises don’t seem to be available in the UK but they are on www.amazon.co.jp, so you’ll need to know someone in Japan to get that.

After the exam is over, I’ll be looking to move on from “elementary” Japanese to intermediate. Any suggestions for a good text book?

All 3 boxes that I sent from Japan arrived at my home in Cambridge today. That means I’ve completely moved back. Boy did time go fast. I really enjoyed it out there. I’ve settled back in quite quickly though and done lots of shopping! It’s gonna take me ages to unpack all my stuff and find a place to put it. I left in early 2008 with just one suitcase and a backpack. I came back with one suitcase and an extra 60kg of stuff – including another suitcase, lots of clothes, books, gadgets and odd things.

The iPhone 3GS is still working pretty well. Definitely feels faster than the previous versions. I ordered a hard case off ebay over a week ago but still waiting for it to arrive!

I arrived safely back to a pretty hot UK yesterday. My room has surprisingly changed from plain white to flowery wallpaper, thanks to my parent’s DIY. All the more reason to move out now!

Anyway, I had a fun and challenging 16 months in Japan. That time has sadly come to an end though I’m not complaining at all about having to come back. It’s just hard to leave a country after living and working there and having made many friends. It was, at times, emotional too, especially after meeting a very special person (who shall remain secret). It’s always hard to say good-bye.

My last week in Japan was pretty hectic but I had a party almost every night. Mostly dinner with friends and co-workers. A huge thanks to everyone who could attend and also to those who I met during my time there. They made my stay really nice.

This was one group of friends (Hanako et al) at a jail themed restaurant called the Lockup. They asked the restaurant to give a special gift because I was leaving. So I got a birthday cake, despite it not being my birthday, and this Polaroid. (Sorry, I didn’t use a scanner.) The card they presented the Polaroid in spelt the restaurant name as “Rockup” and the space labelled for you to write a message said “Massege” making me think of a massage. Japanese English always puts a smile on my face. Huge thanks to Hiromi who helped me arrange it.

Later that evening I finally had a chance to go to Ayano’s bistro (Les Rendez-vous de Tokyo). It’s a cute little place in Nishi Azabu (near Roppongi). I wish I had the time to go and eat there but I did try an incredibly delicious Fondant Chocolat. Sweet Ayano also treated me for the meal and drinks. It’s a shame I never got to spend a lot of time with her.

During the weekday, I had dinner in Ginza with Alphametrics staff, Miho, Yuji and Kiyomi. So glad I could see them all again. Had some fun weekends with all of them and they were always very helpful.

My very last night was at Hilton Narita. I didn’t want to wake up really early the next day to travel to the airport. For sure, I didn’t sleep on the plane as always but I could stay awake without feeling too tired. I got some good shuteye in the taxi on the way back from Heathrow though.

This is for a bug report…my in flight entertainment system didn’t really like me pushing the buttons too much.

Anyway, what’s next? First I need to tidy my room and read half a year’s worth of post. Next, I’m on the market looking for a new/used car so I have some wheels to get to work. The iPhone 3GS has also jumped on to my “must buy now” list as I really need something where I can be connected all the time, hence a 3G smartphone.

And in a little over 2 weeks time, I’m heading off to Thailand for a bit of work and holiday. Still need to plan that!! So yes, I’m still fairly busy but I have a couple of days off before I start work again on the 1st of July.

I’m just 3 days away from leaving Japan now. At the moment, I’m living out of my backpack as I’ve flown all my belongings home already. I think I packed my USB card reader too so I’ll upload photos once I’m back in Cambridge. My old laptop doesn’t have a MemoryStick reader… I have a farewell party almost everynight. No time to do anything these days.  I’ll miss all my friends I’ve made here, as well as life in Japan but looking forward to going back too.

A little while ago I wrote about free money. Well today I got a notice in the post that it was transferred and it was indeed in my bank account. Pretty good timing considering I’ve only got one week left in this country. Lots of work still to do and almost a party every night starting from tomorrow!

This was probably my last trip in Japan but it was a fun and a relaxing break from work. I went to Kumejima （久米島）, one of the most beautiful islands in the Okinawa Islands group with a sub-tropical climate. Kumejima is accessed by a short 30 minute flight from Naha Airport on Okinawa’s main island. It was by a propeller aircraft as pictured below. I particularly liked the illustration on the safety briefing card in my front seat pocket. The ride itself was quite exciting too as the small plane was very susceptible to turbulence. It felt like a roller-coaster at times with everyone in the plane shouting “whooaaa” in sync.

After a 30 minute bus ride across the island, which seemed like a ghost town as there was practically no one around, we arrived at our hotel, Resort Hotel Kumejima Island on the east of the Island. We headed straight to the beach. There were scattered clouds and the usual summer haze with the humidity but it was so beautiful. This is Eef beach （イーフビーチ） on the eastern side of Kumejima.

This is me going as far as I could without getting wet. The water was crystal clear and had an amazing blue/green colour to it.

The first night’s dinner included stuffing ourselves with typical Okinawan dishes.
Goya chanpuru – a slightly bitter vegetable, typically fried with egg and ham (aka SPAM). We also had sashimi and a fish from Okinawa. Finally finishing with Taco Rice. I don’t know the origin of this last dish but I think it’s got something to do with the American military in Japan. It’s surprisingly tasty though with its mixture of rice, salad, beef and cheese!

The next day we went by boat to Hatenohama (ハテの浜). An almost unspoilt stretch of white sand beaches just off the east of the Kumejima island. We went snorkeling here and enjoyed an almost private beach to ourselves.

Apart from a couple of posts with bamboo sticks on top of it for make-shift shade, this loo seemed like the only permanent structure on Hatenomaha.

I think our tour guide, pictured below, has quite a nice job. Just drive the boat to the island, enjoy the scenery, then drive us back.

Later in the afternoon, we decided to rent a car. Originally, we thought the island was small enough to navigate by foot but in reality, it’s a big little island. Our hotel assistant was very helpful and negotiated a discount for us. We got 1 days free rental and we didn’t need to fill up the car on return. How nice. We drove around various sites on the southern coast (all amazingly beautiful and can be seen in my Flickr album) before stopping at Aarahama （アーラ浜） to watch the sunset. The waters were so calm and like the rest of the island, not another soul in sight.

The last night’s dinner was at a restaurant with live Okinawan traditional music. The food was great and so was the entertainment. I was surprised when some people from the audience could join in the show but I have a feeling that being a small island, everyone knows everyone and they all know Okinawan music. The place name in Japanese is 島風 (〒901-3108　久米島町字比嘉160-90 TEL.098-985-7333), just opposite the Resort Hotel Kumejima Island. The traditional folk music will sound strange for some but I can only associate it with nice memories so I like it a lot. Both times I have heard this is in Okinawa, which will probably always be in my top places I’ve visited.

Keeping with the advances in technology, my videos are now available in HD! I’ve only uploaded the two best videos onto YouTube. You can switch on HD by clicking the “HD” button but it’s probably better viewed at the full resolution directly on YouTube then.

A slightly more upbeat tune:

The final day we spent visiting all the sites on our tourist map before heading back to the airport to go back to Tokyo. I wish I had more time to enjoy the Okinawa Islands more.

I racked up just over 600 photos and videos with my new camera on this trip. As always, I only select the best for Flickr. Check out the lot on Flickr: Kumejima, Okinawa

A friend of mine, Ayano, just opened her own restaurant in Tokyo last weekend. She called me a few times to ask for help with construction and assembly of furniture but I never had time. I also missed the opening party last weekend but I hope I will get the time to check out her new bistro before I leave this country at the end of this month.

Hide Bldg B1 3-13-20 Nishiazabu, Minato-ward, Tokyo
Phone 03-54-10-8110
Website http://lesrendezvous-tokyo.com

Last weekend a group of us headed down to Sendai, a few hours north of Tokyo. This was our lunch, cow’s tongue. Very tasty believe it or not.

We also saw one of Japan’s three views, Matsushima, a cluster of hundreds of tiny islands. We didn’t explore much so didn’t really get a photo that showed this place off but it’s in my memory anyway.

It was more like a relax and sight see weekend. Got to try a nice onsen at the hotel too aswell as have another grand Japanese dinner. At night, we enjoyed the region’s number one sake.

This is a shot of everyone I got using the “smile” function on my new camera. It will automatically take a picture when someone smiles. No need for a timer, though that options also available. I added the other shots on the sides so you can see the sequence of events!