Hi Nitsan! I’m glad you’re learning some Japanese before your trip. I think it will help you have a much better time!

I recommend:
-Nara for the Tōdai-ji, deer, and peaceful atmosphere.
-Osaka for the iconic shopping streets, good food, and refreshing chaos.
-Koyasan for the Buddhist temples you can spend the night at and enormous, reverent graveyards.
-Tokyo for the . . . everything. It is so big.
-Kyoto’s Kinkaku-ji is a must see. What a surreal experience!

I hope you have a good time! 日本語を頑張れ！

I did a short study abroad in high school with a program called YFU. It’s super great if you’re in high school and is a fun way to get a better understanding of another culture in a short period (7 weeks or so). http://www.yfu.org/

I made a friend from Australia who is studying in the Nagoya area (where I live) right now. She’s a university student, and her Australian school is sisters schools with this Japanese one, thus the exchange. So if you’re choosing colleges, look for one with a sweet deal like this.

And, of course, there are tons of language schools across Japan! A short Google search should reveal a ton!

Cashiers. They still boggle me with their Japanese.

「ポイント　カード　は　いい　です　か。」

If that’s supposed to mean “Are point cards good?” the answer would be a resounding “Yes! I got a flavored water for free yesterday because I use one!”

But I have the feeling this is more of a “Wait, you don’t have a point card for our store? Are you a crazy person? You come here at least once a week. Are you sure you don’t have one? You could earn a Doraemon clock or something…” to which the answer would be, “Hey, as awesome as point cards are, I only have a T-card because the teacher I replaced passed it on to me. I have no idea where to get these things.”

So yeah. Cashiers. Are we even speaking the same language? (No, we aren’t.)

I’m watching a J-Drama called “Tiger and Dragon,” and a few sporadic episodes of “Avatar: the Last Airbender.” That show always puts a smile on my face.

Sweet, what are you studying specifically?

Two months ago I running on the high of living in a foreign country by myself, but now, looking back, I wasn’t doing ANYTHING with my free time. Now I study my Anki flashcards every morning before work and every night after, and usually study a lesson or kanji besides that.

Obviously, the greatest achievement for me has being learning to value my spare time and use it in constructive ways, but I love being able to use what I’ve learned here in my daily life. When a kacho came out to visit out school two days ago, we spoke in Japanese. It might not seem like much, but I was really pleased when she put me at the Japanese equivalent of our second level beginner class. In two months I’ve done what takes some English students four to eight months to do!

That all sounds super prideful, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without TextFugu. When I came across Koichi’s Rosetta Stone video, it was two days before I was a member for life. Thanks for making me a motivated self learner!

I finished Season One tonight–it only took me a month and a day!