留学生's long way to Japan... no falling asleep, please!

Japan has always been my dream. It's hard to point when it all started, and when exactly I felt that Japanese is 'the one'. It might have been because of some rather old Japanese cartoons with first Italian, then Polish dubbing (that is why most Polish people are convinced that 'aiuto' is the Japanese word for 'help'; as we all know, Japanese anime characters like to shout 助けて, tasukete, A LOT). It might have been because of martial arts fascination. Or it might have been because I always wanted to study something original. And because I always loved languages and art, and kanji were just... well, not only beautiful, but also perfect for combining the two.

Anyway, what can be difficult about it? You just go to university and study, mostly losing your interest in the first 1-2 years, right? Well, it wasn't that easy. In this country of mine that I particularly dislike, Poland, not only was the major very exclusive - there were only 3 universities that offered it to average 12-15 candidates per year. That combined with 28 希望者(kiboosha, wishful people) per place and this lovely misleading information from bureaucratic university offices made me rejected so many times that I stopped to count them. But you know what? I didn't let go. I applied to a British university, where they welcomed me with their arms wide open, and am now studying in one of three best places in the world you can actually study Japanese outside Japan, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. With all my teachers being native Japanese, with all of them having a solid degree and courses in teaching, and the greatest entire year abroad in Japan scheme, believe me, I'm thanking goodness every. single. day I didn't end up in this Polish toxic 'Japanese clique' after all! (It was inevitable that I encountered some of them at some point... With one honourable exception - I've never met more pompous, self-centered and weird people in my life. I'm pretty sure it's the university that made them so convinced of their grandeur. Most of the time talking to them is just an upsetting waste of time.)

So anyway, I ended up in Kyoto for my year abroad, which I'm very happy about! I'm studying at 京都外国語大学, Kyooto Gaikokugo Daigaku, also known in short as just 京都外大, Kyooto Gaidai. I'm staying in one of the University student residences, which is really conveniently located and comfortable to live at, with a great dose of privacy and freedom. People are mostly nice too, all of them from different paths of university life and different language learning background, not to mention different home countries, so I'm really happy. This is what I wanted! And this is what I worked hard for!

So far saying that I'm enjoying it a lot is an underestimation! I'm so excited! I can't wait for the classes to start tomorrow, when I will become a real 留学生(ryuugakusei, exchange student; proper full name: 交換プログラム留学生 kookan puroguramu ryuugakusei)! 

(I will probably change my mind with the amount of homework I will be getting soon, but shhh about that for now! ;-) )

I'm in the middle of organizing my photos, but once I'm done, I will not fail to put some here :-)

Teramachi, Kyoto, Japan.