IN WHICH TISH NEEDS TO REVIEW EVERYTHING
Think I have the phone situation worked out for Japan. We'll see.
Omfg, I finally got a functioning phone, but it wasmore just as difficult as I anticipated. I didn't want to buy a prepaid phone this time, so I decided to go the route of getting a sim card for my phone (I unlocked it).
But, it was a little taihen. Basically, I have a functioning phone because of Masahiro, but, he literally gets a post of his own because I owe him my life or something. He's another one of those super nice people that does super nice things that makes you cry inside because that's how nice he is.
But phone, yeah. I have a data only sim: I'm using Line, a free app that's super popular over here, and just useful to be honest. I'm not sure how prevalent it is in the US; I never looked into it because, well, I have a regular voice and data plan at home. But yeah, hit me up on Line if you have it (or want to get it), or e-mail.
Line ID: latesia.m
e-mail: m.latesia@gmail.com
Oh, I bought my 定期券 (teikiken, school commuter passes) a few days ago. It was a tiny bit of a struggle (my kanji is rusty, and we had to use kanji on a form filling out the commuting info from our dorm to the school), but it worked out. I'm only here until December, so I got a 3 month commuter pass; I'll just get a one month pass for December then peace out.
On commuting passes: basically, they are cards you can buy that make travelling via train and bus a bit easier. They're rechargeable cards that you can put money on, and you just scan it when you enter a train terminal or board a bus, and BOOM: fare deducted. You can also use them to buy stuff from some vending machines, use them in stores, yeah. Pretty handy, and they keep you from having to buy tickets all the time.
The top one is my teikiken; it's a Pasmo. Yatsu Station, the station near my dorm where I start most of my commutes, runs on a private railway line owned by the Keisei Electric Company; they use Pasmo (which is the card used by a lot of private railway and bus/tram companies) so that's what I had to buy. The green card with the penguin is a Suica; I bought it at Narita Airport, and plan on using it to explore, hang out with folks, etc. JR East produces and uses the Suica card. Pasmo and Suica have nearly identical functions, especially now that the different commuter cards have basically been streamlined and consolidated so that they're mostly interchangeable. Long story short, Pasmo and Suica are interchangeable, and can be used on eachothers routes. And I have both of them.So much powerrrrr
This is getting a little long, so I'll post the second half of my adventures in Part 2.
And I'll show you my dorm room eventually; I'm not done cleaning it, so you have to wait.
nothing says you need to review every aspect of Japanese like taking a test. And doing miserably on it.
I'm so rusty I'm surprised I haven't given myself tetanus yet.
(*this is based on the slight misinformation of getting tetanus from cutting yourself on a rusty nail. you don't get it from the nail per se... whatever, just google, you know what I meant)
We did a bunch of orientation stuff on Wednesday, and ended our day with a computer based test. And I did just awful. I mean, yeah, I did arrive yesterday and may still have a minor case of 時差ぼけ jisaboke (jet lag), but I still shouldn't have done so poorly on that test. It's a disgrace.
Okay, I didn't do poorly per se. I just know I could've done better. Luckily for me (and any other wild-eyed foreigner studying Japanese who didn't do as well as they hoped) my eyes have been opened, and I will be studying intensely for the next week when we take the real ones.
Just, ew, no. The test was awful. I also really hate computer based tests :/
Also, bought some Skype credits to call the fam sometimes. Boom. (My family really likes to talk, so I decided to get unlimited skype calls to the US).
Omfg, I finally got a functioning phone, but it was
But, it was a little taihen. Basically, I have a functioning phone because of Masahiro, but, he literally gets a post of his own because I owe him my life or something. He's another one of those super nice people that does super nice things that makes you cry inside because that's how nice he is.
But phone, yeah. I have a data only sim: I'm using Line, a free app that's super popular over here, and just useful to be honest. I'm not sure how prevalent it is in the US; I never looked into it because, well, I have a regular voice and data plan at home. But yeah, hit me up on Line if you have it (or want to get it), or e-mail.
Line ID: latesia.m
e-mail: m.latesia@gmail.com
Oh, I bought my 定期券 (teikiken, school commuter passes) a few days ago. It was a tiny bit of a struggle (my kanji is rusty, and we had to use kanji on a form filling out the commuting info from our dorm to the school), but it worked out. I'm only here until December, so I got a 3 month commuter pass; I'll just get a one month pass for December then peace out.
On commuting passes: basically, they are cards you can buy that make travelling via train and bus a bit easier. They're rechargeable cards that you can put money on, and you just scan it when you enter a train terminal or board a bus, and BOOM: fare deducted. You can also use them to buy stuff from some vending machines, use them in stores, yeah. Pretty handy, and they keep you from having to buy tickets all the time.
The top one is my teikiken; it's a Pasmo. Yatsu Station, the station near my dorm where I start most of my commutes, runs on a private railway line owned by the Keisei Electric Company; they use Pasmo (which is the card used by a lot of private railway and bus/tram companies) so that's what I had to buy. The green card with the penguin is a Suica; I bought it at Narita Airport, and plan on using it to explore, hang out with folks, etc. JR East produces and uses the Suica card. Pasmo and Suica have nearly identical functions, especially now that the different commuter cards have basically been streamlined and consolidated so that they're mostly interchangeable. Long story short, Pasmo and Suica are interchangeable, and can be used on eachothers routes. And I have both of them.
This is getting a little long, so I'll post the second half of my adventures in Part 2.
And I'll show you my dorm room eventually; I'm not done cleaning it, so you have to wait.
I added you to LINE. RAWR!
ReplyDeleteYou sound really busy, but interesting busy! :D ♥