Robins Japan

I did it, I was back at my language school in Tokyo. It just took me 3 years to do so. I had some extra holiday cause of changing my job, so it was my chance to come back. This time only two weeks. I was actually nervous cause I studied Japanese mainly by myself in the last years and didn't know which class I would fit. Beforehand I did an online test which already pointed out my weaknesses: grammar... At the first day at school I did another test plus an interview to check my level. So my vocabulary were good, my kanji knowledge, my listening and talking but my grammar pretty much sucked. I had the choice to enter two different levels. I chose the higher one and got additional homework to match up with my classmates. But even the higher Level was much lower what I studied in my current book. But it was good. Through the test I found out I cheated my way around many grammar rules and in the class I finally understood some important points. Apparently I was not the only one in

So this year I'm in Tokyo in December and will return shortly before Christmas to Germany. First I thought, here I will feel less of a Christmas spirit then at home. I was soo wrong. So while in Germany we have of course the Christmas markets and much dekorations outside, the Japanese seem to enjoy the decorating even more. Nearly everywhere I go there is Christmas dekoration, the staff has Christmas accessories, there are special Christmas offers, special Christmas food and some places have really beautiful illuminations. Ah and don't forget that you will hear mainly Christmas songs in the cafés or departments. In some places there are even Christmas markets. But i haven't yet time to visit one due to of a busy schedule (I'm studying Japanese at a school this trip) and a cold. But my Christmas spirit feeling here is quite higher than I expected. We will not stay for actual Christmas here. While the decoration here is really good, the Celebration is different. Fo

So I was in Vienna recently and it was a really nice trip. Vienna has many things to offer for tourists like castles, churches, driving horse buggies, a good train connection and food. Every time in Germany I am a little bit disappointed about trains here, just cause I know how good it can be in Japan. In Vienna they have that nice airport train called the City Airport Train (CAT). The CAT drives within 15 min from the Airport to the City and its clean and convenient . But the best feature was the city check-in which some airlines offer.So you can check in your luggage before even arrive the airport! So the train feels a little bit like Japanese service. What else feels like japan? Some restaurants! For some reasons in Vienna are Japanese restaurants who over more than just sushi. In Germany are of course also some restaurants in Düsseldorf where you can get more than sushi but still its sometimes quite limited. In Vienna we tried some restaurants and where surpri

So today i was in the yamanote line while rush hour. That reminded me why i prefer a Japanese rush hour full train over a German full one. I say rush hour full because i think most Germans can't know how full a train in Japan can be. It's if never experienced hard to imagine. So here are my two short descriptions of German full and Japanese rush hour full trains. Germany : In Germany a full train is no fun. People are stressed. And they are not used to full which makes them expose their stress to the outside. Then u have the loud people who doesn't help at all in that situation. On the top of that if you want to go out, no one moves. So if possible long before your station comes you have to push yourself to the exit. Ah and by the way if you are to nice, the chance is high that people will ignore you and you are stuck. So sometimes even if you are friendly you have to be harsh then. Otherwise next station, next chance. Its not your station? Bad luck. If you made it

I don't know how i survived so long without trying an onsen. It is one of the things that is recommended to most tourists. Probably it has something to do that i don't like to be naked in public so much. But finally i did it. We were in an onsen which was combined with a pool. So there where three main areas. One for men, one for women and the pool area which was mixed and where you had to wear swimming clothes. But lets start from the beginning. Before reaching the cashier we already had to put off our shoes and put them in an locker. At the counter we got informed about the rules, like no tattoos are allowed at that place. We got two towels (one big, one small) and a simple yukata. Then we separated. My wife to the woman area and i to the mens for changing. First i had trouble to find my locker. I got a wrist band with a number and the locker with that number i could open then. I was surprised that there were only a public change room. But apparently it seems to be no

Finally im back in Japan. This time the waiting seemed to be pretty long. On the other hand the time moves very fast. It's complicated. This time my travel involves a little challenge, couse my stomach is no good. So my usual enjoyment like tasting funny food doesn't make it this trip. Also this time we flew not directly but with a connection flight over Helsinki. It worked pretty smoothly. I hope on the way home it will be also like this. Luckily we just arrived at the Sakura Season (cherry blossom) in Tokyo. Here it is a big thing. There are daily news about where is the Sakura and when. When the blossom starts there are many festivals and people gathering in the parks for picnicking at taking pictures. Besides that there are many special products for that season like Sakura chocolate etc. So its a very nice season to come to Japan. The weather is also neither hot nor cold and i can enjoy it without the need to eat :D  

A late happy new year for you all or 明けましておめでとう(akemashite omedetou)!  The new year has started and i decided to change the name of my blog. Since "idontfindafreename" is not so easy to remember and it says actually nothing about the content.  So now i welcome you to "Robins Japan".   The last post is already a while ago and sadly the next, probably, will also take some time. But around eastern you can look forwoard to some brand new japan related stuff! In the meantime if you feel bored, i have a special gift for all my german readers. You can play my Tokyo Story Text Adventure game about a fiction travel in japan. Due to time and that its only made by me, it runs only on android systems. If i find time and motivation im thinking about making an english translation as well. So long, またね!