Bsalez wrote:

Well it can be one idea for jdrama...oops Majo no joken already made..

yeah! but i'm in college not highschool and i'm 20 not 18 or whatever and i'm no hideaki...LOL

arashinokoto wrote:

hey can you tell me a bit more..? like which school you went to? and how you mangaed to get families to take you in..? and how old were you then..? because i dream of doing what you have done and hope for more details... thanks..

yay i wanna know also!


OH BTW how do ya say "just kidding!" in japanese (and chinese if possible {in case i get shot down })

lovelessemotion wrote:

OH BTW how do ya say "just kidding!" in japanese (and chinese if possible {in case i get shot down })

japanese : joudan joudan..

mandarin : [pian ni de..]

perhaps malorum would do better at this..

Jodan Loveles kun

Kidding - Bercanda [ Indonesia ]

Arashinokoto:

I was 20 when I left for Japan the first time, and I studied at a small language school in the city of Okazaki (near Nagoya). The website for the school is www.yamasa.org which is a school affiliated with www.eurolingua.com EXCELLENT school, and EXCELLENT teachers. They have various different accomodations there as well. They have a student dorm, student apartments shared and single, and they have homevisits (which is like a homestay but its only over the weekend for like a night or two) then they have homestays as well. The homestays are really difficult to get into because there is such a high demand for it and they dont have that many families that apply to house foriegners. I was lucky and got a really good family through my school. I also just made friends with some cool people my age and they were willing to put me up for while in their house for free too. I mean if you really want to do a homestay its not that hard, alot of times they are very curious about you and want to find out more about foriegners. Ive been invited to stay in many peoples homes just by meeting them and chatting cuz everyones really nice and cool there. Hope that helps!

thanks very much malorum.. i really wanted to hear bout this.. i have been thinking about studying in japan for quite a while already and your info really helps...

So how bout da cost studying there Mal kun?

the cost of studying abroad all depends on what method you use to get there. If you go through a school like study abroad there is alot of money in scholarships available. You can definetly find alot of resources to keep you afloat while living in Japan through that route. On the other hand if your not going through a school you can always go teach english and get paid to live there. Teaching english is boring and lame, but it pays well. Then there is the issue of where you are gonna live, living in Tokyo is flat out expensive compared to living in any of the other cities in Japan.

Eating like a Japanese person also keeps costs down. If you go out and get your 300yen ramen and 240yen yoshinoya on then you wont break your bank. But if you insist on good ol Mickey D's and going to foriegn restaraunts like tony romas etc...well..... you will break your bank and not to mention miss out on how yummy Sushi and the rest of Japanese food is!

I dont really have any hard figures for you as in how much i spent, sorry. But think if prices and stuff in japan compairable to Disney world prices: as in sometimes paying 10dollars for a happy isnt out of the ordinary there.

Yep hear that alot western ppl get quite sum of money just teaching english....and I also think that ramen you mention sell on the street [I bet they have beer too ]

oh yea there are ramen places everywhere! And of course there is beer! there are beer vending machines!

hey dude we need an estimate atleast...like how much would ya guess u saved up before the first time ya went!? u said u borrowed from friends and afmily...how much $...and did ya ever pay it back!? lol (i'm 20 now....and i've only dream of japan! )

alright..... lemme see if i can break this down to what kinda lifestyle and money i dished out...

I never cooked for myself (that makes it 10x more expensive as well, i recommend cooking for yourself to keep down the costs. but this was my lifestyle and maybe you follow it too!)

so... eating out 7days a week twice a day including snacks uhmm.....

bout 10dollars a dayx7days= 70bucks... right? right. 4weeks =280bucks for the month
clubbing on the weekends twice a month thats 2000yen entrance fee and lets also include all the travel costs of riding the train from where I lived (Okazaki) to Nagoya, thats 1000yen so lets say. multiply that by two times and we got 6000yen so like 52bucks, but to keep things even lets say 50. so add 50 to that 280 and we got 330 bucks a month. ALRIGHT now lets put in other entertainment such as movies, rentals, hanging out, and chillin at the Izakaya at night in a week. 30bucks so x4 thats 120bucks! ouch! 450 a month! yikes!

x12= $5400 cha ching!

ok thats my rough expenses including food and play. Accomodation.... that can get expensive or can be cheap depending on who you stay with or where you stay. My GF's onebed room apt in the middle of Tokyo in a relatively nice area, secure and close by the station is 700 a month. Thats alot! considering she lives in an apt that resembles my CLOSET back home.

now.....Tokyo is the most expensive city sooo lets say you dont live in Tokyo and you live somewhere less expensive you might pay 350 400 okie? so lets figure this out HRRRRRRRMMMMMM...... for a $400 apt for one year 4800.....and lets add that too the 5400 and.....*drum roll please!*

$10200

hrmm.....

thats alot! But you also gotta figure you will be working or have scholarships n stuff. The scholarship im on now gives me 800 a month and i got another one that gives me 3g's for school. And since its through the school i live in a dorm which is only $120 a month and anything else is outta my pocket which leaves me lots of money for PLAY money!

these #'s are just off the top of my head and outta my ass how much you spend etc will vary GREATLY from my #'s im sure. I mean you can do bare minimum and share an apt, cook for yourself (i.e. buying groceries), not go out all the time and spend money on booze and liquor and save yourself thousands of dollars!

right well..... now you roughly know how i spent my cash!

Da tips help Arigatou na Mal kun

no no... i meat how much did ya save up b4 u went for the first time? how much $ did ya save up for ur first trip.....BAKA

Baka??!!

�o�J���āH���Ȃ̂��H�I��k����ˁI�Ԃ��E���Ă�邺!�@

hehehe

�R�I



how much did i save up huh..... hrmm... not really sure. I just went with what i had i didnt really "save up" persay i just made sure i continued with the same lifestyle i was living here, living there. I mean not much really changed as far as expenses living there from what i spent living in the states. so i cant say that i really "saved" up alot of money.

i really want to learn japanese but sadly my school doesn't teach it. i've been listening to some tapes and learning quite a bit but i thought you guys could help me since everyones taken classes. if anyone wants to help me my email adrdess is [email protected]
thanx =]

now what sane person in their right mind, would email someone with that email address and feel safe?!!??!

So yo MAl chan Kowai ne

malorum wrote:

�o�J���āH���Ȃ̂��H�I��k����ˁI�Ԃ��E���Ă�邺!�@ hehehe �R�I

OH~MAN! i dun even wanna know what that means

malorum wrote:

now what sane person in their right mind, would email someone with that email address and feel safe?!!??!

LOL ( i like this guy)

malorum wrote:

how much did i save up huh..... hrmm... not really sure. I just went with what i had i didnt really "save up" persay i just made sure i continued with the same lifestyle i was living here, living there. I mean not much really changed as far as expenses living there from what i spent living in the states. so i cant say that i really "saved" up alot of money.

ok ok...let me put it this way...'before you left for japan...the night before....HOW MUCH MONEY did ya have in ur pockets!? or in ur back account???' do ya get me now.......cuz if ya don't ... *shurgs shakes head and wives up*

Monkey_D_Luffy wrote:

i really want to learn japanese but sadly my school doesn't teach it. i've been listening to some tapes and learning quite a bit but i thought you guys could help me since everyones taken classes. if anyone wants to help me my email adrdess is [email protected] thanx =]

i feel ur pain my highschool didn't have japanese either...its only when i got to college that they had it..... if ya need help that badly just e-mail us!!....or post in the 'learn japanese board' http://jdorama.com/viewforum_8.htm hope that helps ganbatte ne