Living in Japan
Hello everybody! My name is Maria Inoue, I am 23 years old and I come from Argentina. I arrived here in August 2005 on a scholarship to study Japanese, and I am staying till mid January 2006.
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There are two reasons of why I came here to study. The first one, is because my grandparents from my mother side are Japanese. My grandmother was born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, and my grandfather in Mito, Ibaraki. Then, they moved to Argentina, where they continued their lives till now. That is why I am so lucky to have this opportunity to study here. The other reason is because I love learning different languages. In fact, in Argentina I am studying in the university German Translation. I also want to become a Japanese interpreter, but now that is quite difficult, so I have to study more.
At the moment, I am living in Mito, Ibaraki, which I like very much. Here I have the possibility of learning this difficult language full of kanji, meeting people from many countries, and visiting a lot of wonderful places. Although my grandparents are Japanese and I am in touch with this oriental life style since I was a little girl, living here gives me the chance to know better this fascinating culture. I find it quite interesting because there are a lot of differences between this country and the one I come from; for example the way to say hello, to eat, to think. There also differences in Japan, for example it is amazing to see a cosmopolitan city like Tōkyō and a city in the countryside. There are lots of contrasting things.
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I am studying Japanese in an institute for foreigners called "Mito Kokusai Nihongo Gakko". The teachers are nice and they make me study really hard. At the morning, I attend Japanese classes, and at the afternoon kanji classes. On one hand, comparing the Japanese grammar with other grammars is not so difficult. But on the other hand, it turns really hard when I have to study kanji. The first kanji I learnt were easy, but little by little they turn more and more difficult. They can be read in so many ways, and they can also be mixed with other kanji. They can make the easy Japanese grammar difficult. Nevertheless, learning them is very interesting, because they look like a puzzle, and when I can understand them I fell really well.
As I said before, I like meeting new people very much, and in this institute I have the opportunity to know persons from Korea, China, Sri Lanka, Philippines and other countries. I really made good friends, who also show me different ways of thinking or acting. Moreover, they show me the way they live back in their countries, and although we are all the same, every country has its life style, and that makes the world super interesting. But sometimes, when we want to express our feelings, it turns really hard to explain them, because the culture is different or our Japanese or English are not so good to make ourselves understand, and that can be quite frustrating.
Living in Japan has its advantages and disadvantages. To begin with the disadvantages, I can say that Japan is a very expensive country. Luckily, there are lots of 100 yen shops, that they can make some thing really cheap. But most things, like food, clothes, traveling, paying the bills or eating outside can cost a lot of money. Yet, it is a very convenient country with lots of facilities, and many people are sweet. The streets are clean and the landscape is nice. One can also find beautiful temples that represent the Japanese culture.
I like living here and I am spending a very nice time. I wish I can stay longer and learn more about this fascinating country. But I am happy because I am really squeezing this scholarship and learning a lot
