Going to Japan in Summer

[samokan]

Originally Posted by Kai13

Hi there.
I did not came here for a while =P

Here's the deal, I want to go to japan, my father told me that one of this days we would go there, but it will take a lot of time for us to go there.

I'm portuguese, I wanted to know if I'll be well welcomed there.

How much it will cost the trip, in euros? I've been reading a lot of this forum's topics, but I want all this together. I have 150 euros saved, I know it will cost a lot more.

I'm a girl, when I go there, I'll use two ponytails on the sides of my head to look as japanese as possible.

As it will be my first time in Japan, I would like to know which places I should visit first, and were should I sleep?

Are the videogames and mangas and whatever cheap in Japan? I wanted to buy something for my DS

Is it really necessary to know japanese? I know the numbers 1-20, I know how to introduce myself, i know jhow to ask "what's this/that" and a few more things. Nevertheless till then I can still learn a lot.
I'm 16, it's not too late to start learning japanese, no? I shall learn it in a school within two years.

i will give you some approximate prices in yen and just do the conversion ..
you can use xe.com for that..

new manga are Y390 + tax = 409 ( approx )
Nintendo DS games usually range from Y3000 - 5000yen but sometimes they do have sales and there are also second hand shop which sold them at really cheap prices and the items are still in good condition.

ponytail?? why would it make you more japanese??

[yukiya]

Originally Posted by samokan

ponytail?? why would it make you more japanese??

I'm laughing very loud when I read this !!! :lol: !!!
To think that different people have different thoughts on the stereotype of Japanese girls XD

[Kai13]

Oh, I just thought that in Japan girls use 2 ponytails (one in each side of the head), it looks so kawaii, when I first used I got really different, and cute *_*, never thought I would look so girlish. I'm kinda tomboy.

I'll take some pictures one of these days, I have a few on my cell, but I have no usb cable.

I asked about it because I thouht I would look more like a japanese girl.

I'm looking forward to my trip to Japan, even not knowing when =P

[ChisaChi]

I didn't see any Japanese girls with two pigtails O_o Not teenagers at least anyway...

I found manga in Japan about a third of the price that it is in Australia, probably because they don't have to go through translation and importing costs I guess. On the downside they're all in Japanese of course, so I can't read them very well I did find some translated manga in an English language bookshop called Random Walk, but they were of a similar price and range to the ones at home.

I went for 2 weeks, returning last week - these are roughly my costs:
- food: 600-1000yen each meal, less for a simple combini store breakfast and more for a more fancy dinner
- accommodation: I stayed in a fairly fancy hotel in Osaka for 7000yen per night, a 3 star~ish hotel in Kyoto for 6000yen per night, and a hostel in Tokyo for 3500yen per night. All of the places were very clean and the staff friendly, so if you're strapped for cash then hostels are a decent way to go
- travel: most of the train rides in Tokyo were about 200-360yen, so with a bit of moving around we spent about 1000yen per day on train rides.

I still have to add up all my costs, but I think it ended up about AUD$4000 with spending money Our dollar is fairly high against the yen at the moment though, which worked out well.

[Kai13]

Well, my mother knows I love Japan, and today, she came to me and asked if I wanted to go to Japan for 2 weeks, this Summer, my answer is obvious to you, I guess.

Here's the deal, I know how to read Hiragana, and I shall start with katakana tomorow, today was my last hiragana day, I know them all already, nevertheless, tomorow I shall practice a bit more -_-''.
I know the numbers from 1 to 20.

I recently bought an english/japanese dictionary (yes, I'm really serious about learning japanese, I already contacted a few universities that have japanese courses), a useful phrases book and a CD's collection that teaches vocabulary, numbers, and basic stuff.

I'm so excited, I have a book with useful phrases, and I myself know already a few.

I wanna know if I can buy a lot of stuff there like CD's, videogames, and even clothes, that here in Portugal I can't find.

My mother told me she would like to go to Tokyo or Osaka, but for what i've read those to city's are quite expensive.

If we go, it will be in July or September.

What am I ought to do?


Thanks

[Kai13]

Forget my last post.

I might be going to Japan for 5 weeks in an exchange students program. From June to July, I'm just afraid of one thing, it that I'm going to have a Geography exam in June (1st call) and the second call of that exam I think it's in July 27th.

I will be staying with a japanese family, and I will attend to a japanese school.

The program asks for youngsters between the ages of 16 and 17 that know a bit of japanese or want to learn the language "badly".

The japanese government pays everything, the trip, my meals (not the personal ones), everything.

Does any of you already been in this kind of programmes? How did it went?
I'm going to attend a japanese school during my stay. Do japanese have school in Summer?

Thanks a lot.