Japan Student Exchange Q&A Part1

First of all, I would like to thank everybody who sent me emails with questions about my trip, thank you for reading my blog!! So many questions make me happy :3

I had to separate this into two posts so that I don't have a massively long one and bore you all to death.

Just a reminder: I'm not in Japan anymore! I came back to Canada in January.

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Q1. What academic requirements do I have to have?

This depends on the company you chose. Greenheart Travel has a requirement of a GPA of 3 but that's a system rarely used in Canada so I'm not quite sure what it actually means. My school told me it should equal to at least a C student, so as long as you're not failing school, it's fine.

Q2. How old do I have to be?

This depends on your company again but I've seen from 13 to 18. A lot of companies think that 19 would be too old to be in a high school exchange program but they usually have gap year options. 

Q3. How much pocket money do I need?

I had about 300$ per month. This might sound like a lot to some but if you think about it, you have to pay for transportation (train, bus, etc.) to school everyday (unless you walk or take the train), food which is irresistible. You have to base it on your own spending habits and add a little more to that to go out and have fun with your friends. 

Q4.  Can my parents visit while you are on exchange?

My company didn't allow my parents to visit and they had a limit of two calls (skype or telephone) max every month. My mom was really mad about this since she doesn't understand why they did that. The reason is to help you overcome homesickness since the more you talk to your friends and parents back home, you get more sad. 

Q5. How were you supported in Japan?

I had a counselor who worked for the company who met with me every month to talk about any problems I encountered. If there was anything uncomfortable (host family, host school, etc.), she's the person I should go to. She was fluent in English so it was easy to talk with her. 

Q6. Do I need to be fluent in the language? How fluent are you?

I think it's a good idea to know some of the language to survive better and to make the lives of people around easier too. In case of emergency, it's always better to speak in Japanese for people around to understand and react faster. It will make your life much easier too. 

I had six years of Japanese school training before deciding to go to the country. I'm Chinese originally so I could read the kanjis pretty well and I was lucky enough to have Japanese friends to practice with so I got around easily.

Please go to the next post for part2! 

If you have any questions I didn't cover, please comment down below or...

Email: liumanou@gmail.com

My Japanese School Uniform (Nanchatte Seifuku)

Hello!! Long time no see!
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I received a lot of emails from people asking about the Japanese school uniforms and my uniform. I was really looking forward to school uniforms too since they are known to be very flattering (at least in animes). To my big surprise, my host school didn't have a uniform... What a shock!!
A lot of girls at my school wear "Nannchatte Seifuku(なんちゃって制服)" which are "fake" school uniforms that are more fashionable and cute. This allows them to mix and match with the colours they liked and the styles that please them. Some brands that sell this kind of clothes are East Boy, Don Quijote and Body Line, the first one being more expensive than the second one. Some stores are located in shopping malls (like East Boy is in Isetan) or places where young people shop at (Shibuya, Harajuku, Akihabara, etc.).
Some people might find these clothes very expensive (a skirt at East Boy could be around 100$ while a blazer could be over 250$), if you thought about it they are expensive but most girls will wear the clothes during most days in their 3 years of high school. The girls usually have multiple pieces of clothing to mix and match and of course allow their clothes to be washed. I have three skirts, a couple of dress shirts and couple of cardigans. I personally prefer this outfit because it's simple and allow me to wear accessories if I wanted to, without being over decorated like a Xmas tree. Most girls at my school had mainly pink coloured items (pink skirt, pink dress shirt, pink cardigan, etc.) I prefer the boyish look so I usually wear a tie. I never knew how to tie a tie so I always had to ask my host dad to do it for me, when I'm in a hurry, I just wear a ribbon which is much easier to wear (just put it around your neck and you're done!)

The sailor uniform I have is more of a cosplay kind of nature but it still looks pretty legit! I love it because it's easy to wear and can be worn with a lot of cardigans with different colours. 

The next ones are two other skirts that I own, just to switch it up a bit from time to time! All the Japanese skirts end up a bit shorter on me because of my height :(

I also pair these two outfits with ribbons on days I don't have time to tie a tie! 

Excuse the quality of these pictures, I don't know what the matter with my camera is -.-

I hope you enjoyed the video and this post, don't hesitate by any means to contact me!! :D

Email: liumanou@gmail.com

Tumblr: superasianminnie

Youtube: Manou Liu

I also got instagram! follow me at migoko2

Christmas Party at my Japanese High School!

This post is so late but I thought it's better late than nothing right?

Last December, my Japanese high school had a Christmas Concert organised by the Pop Music club and it was amazing! Our school has so many wonderful bands and talented people. Again, a lot of fun and the dance club I was in performed four performances! I was on the Crayon Pop team so we did the "oh-so-hot" BarBarBar. The special thing is that group had three boys and two girls (me and Miia), our main goal was to be funny ;)
The other group did Vixx's song which I don't know the name of and finally the boys got together to perform their original work 'Legal High'. They are specialized in locking and breaking so it was very cool! We also had a group dance with a total of 10 members. I think the song was called Crash?
I'm so happy I was part of this club full of talented yet kind people. I love and miss them so much!
Also we made our own Santa costumes so don't judge!

Rehearsals Crayon Pop group!

Vixx team!

The show menu

Enjoying live concerts

"Bababababababababa~"

Speaking as the MC >_<

The handsome boys team!

Crash

If you want to contact me for anything please comment here or

Email: liumanou@gmail.com

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Youtube: Manou Liu

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BIGBANG Japan Dome Tour 2013 haul

Hey guys!
I know this is really delayed but here is my haul for all the goods I got at the BIGBANG Concert.
I figured it would be better to put it in a video since writing about them would be too long and not everybody likes to read so a video would be easier. The video is long too so hopefully it doesn't annoy you :p
You can check out all the goods that were available here--> BIGBANG Goods
To check out my blog post about the concert please click here -->BIGBANG Blog post

Video:
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There were a lot of people that day and a lot of the goods were gone so if you want something that would be popular, then you better get there earlier!! Things like penlights and small goods such as pins and rings should sell out less quickly. Also, I forgot to mention, I got an earring and ear-cuff set too! they are really pretty.

If you want to contact me for anything please comment here or

Email: liumanou@gmail.com

Tumblr: superasianminnie

Youtube: Manou Liu

About my experience in Japan (Program, school, host family, etc.)

I received a lot of emails recently asking about my experience in Japan. I'm so so SO happy to hear from my readers and please keep emailing me :p

There are a few questions that come around pretty often in the emails so I figured a lot of people had the same questions. Therefore, I will try to cover as much as I can in this post. If I forgot something or you want more details, please contact me by the email address down below or comment down here!

Program and application

The program that helped me go to Japan is called Greenheart Travel (CCI) which you can check out by clicking here-->Greenheart Travel

They are a company based in Chicago I believe and they have programs for destinations around the world. As in my application for this program, I just found them online and sent them an email. They replied to me fairly quickly and I just bombarded them with emails full of questions. The representative from the company was very patient in answering my questions and she was such a sweet person. She helped me complete my application forms and contacted the organization in Japan (JFIE). We mainly communicated through emails, I just sent her my applications by email once I filled them up and it was just very easy overall. They do require that you have two years of Japanese learning I think (?) I'm not sure. If you have any further questions about them, you should definitely contact them! They have a rather strict set of rules though so make sure you check that out before signing anything!

I find it's really important to look at various programs and do a lot of research before deciding on one program that really suits you. I emailed three different programs and I decided to go with the one that I'm most comfortable with. 

Before going to Japan (language, packing, preparation)

I went to Japanese school every Saturday for four years before deciding that I was ready to go on an exchange trip. My goal was to evaluate my Japanese level and to improve it by speaking to native speakers. The Japanese level of exchange students vary so it's not such a big deal, but I think in order to enjoy your stay even more it's better to be able to communicate and understand people around you. It will be easier for you to make friends too!!

Packing... I hate packing... I'm so bad at packing you can't imagine! I didn't have any sort of plan when I was packing so my suitcase ended up with a lot of useless things, which is always the case. So I can't really say anything about it but bring the minimum of clothes and stuff that you know you will buy in Japan!! You will be living for months there so you will definitely buy things anyway.

I did some research about my host school before leaving Canada which isn't really preparation, it's just curiosity *tehepero*

I didn't do a lot of preparation except for buying gifts for my host family and some souvenirs for my classmates. 

School (making friends, school life, classes, clubs)

My host school had a rather close system to the North American high schools. We had no uniforms but most girls still wear "Nanchatte Seifuku" which is a fashion looking like school uniforms but actually not. Those clothes can get really expensive too! 

I had a home room class every morning with the same people but I was free to choose my classes. I chose a lot of physical education classes, as I've mentioned in my older posts. I do have some classes with my home room class, such as one of me gym class, chemistry, Japanese, etc.. Obviously, I'm most familiar and close with my home room classmates. However, I'm a rather outgoing person so I talked to a lot of people in my other classes too. Especially in phys. ed., it's easy to become friends with team mates. It also helps to join lots of clubs, it makes you meet lots of new people and new friends. I met a lot of people in sports clubs! 

School life at my school was pretty relaxed. I felt like most didn't care about their marks THAT much so even during exam period they were still pretty relaxed. I know other schools may be different though so don't take my word for it. People at my school were very outgoing too towards exchange students. 

Host Family

I think JFIE does a great job with finding host families in general. Mine was such a great family, I've mentioned in a lot of posts. I've heard about other students having problems with their families since it is a very different culture and life style. My family was very open about things so we got along really well. Getting along with your family is very important because you're going to be staying with them for months. It's always nice to have gifts and souvenirs when you first get to your host family and for Christmas, birthdays, mothers' day, fathers' day, etc.. It doesn't have to be super luxurious but something that shows you've put thought into. Of course, communication is key in most situations. Even if your Japanese isn't the best, still try to talk with your family and don't be afraid of asking questions because that's how you learn!

My advices

My advice is just to try new things because this is a once in a life time experience! If you hold yourself back, you will most likely be regretting it afterwards. It's always better to think "WOW! I can't believe I did that!" than "Ugh! Why didn't I do that!". Try your best to learn Japanese while you're there because that's just going to bring you so much closer to people around you! Finally, don't think that you're special and should be treated otherwise because you're a foreigner. This makes your distance with people enlarge and some might even not like you because of your attitude.



If you want to contact me for anything please comment here or

Email: liumanou@gmail.com

Tumblr: superasianminnie

Youtube: Manou Liu

Back home in Canada! Thank you to everyone...

As the title suggests, I'm back in Canada! My exchange trip has officially ended on January 11th which is of course very very sad.

I would love to thank Greenheart Travel (CCI), the company I went through from North America to make this awesome experience happen for me! The staffs are really nice and easy going. And of course, the Japanese group JFIE, who took care of me during five months, from my arrival to Narita airport in August to the moment when I walked into the security section on five days ago. Thank you guys so much!!

Host Family

My host family, Nagashima family, is the best I can ask for. I love them! They were like my second family. At first, of course I felt really nervous because it's someone else's house and you know, it takes time to adapt. However, I soon realised how great they were after the first hour I spoke with my host mother. She's just such a sweet person with a big heart and she was funny so I loved talking to her! ^.^
My host father is very hard working so he's always away on business trips. Despite that, he still tries to deepen our family bond by taking me to different places.
Finally, my cute little host brother... He's just such a sweet heart! I fell in love with him at first sight, he's a bit short and a bit skinnier than other kids his age. When we first met, he was too timid to make eye contact with me so he kept on glancing at me every three seconds haha!
Writing about them still brings tears to my eyes even now. I miss them and I definitely hope I can see them again!

School

My host school is Kanagawa Sougou Sangyou High School (神奈川総合産業高校) or as most of us call it, LiSA. Everybody was so welcoming and I felt so lucky to be a student at this school. My classmates were so nice and funny people I feel lonely even on weekends from not seeing their smiles and hearing their jokes. They were ALL my best friends!! I could laugh with them, I could tease them and I could be myself with them. I can't be like this to everyone in Canada, even though it's my home. Everybody in the clubs I joined were amazing too. Some of them I just cannot forget because I had so much fun with them.
The teachers were all very kind too. They were very patient despite the fact that I brought a lot of trouble along with me. I had different teachers for almost every class but all of them were such wonderful people and they gave me the energy to try and understand everything in class. The teachers in the clubs I joined were so great! I love everybody at my school, no matter how they thought of me.

I'm not very good at expressing myself in these kinds of situations but I just want to say Thank you to everyone! I had a blast in Japan!!

Japanese

無事にカナダにつきましたー！！今回の留学は1月11日にて終了しました。

アメリカの団体Greenheart Travel CCIと日本の団体JFIEに感謝の気持ちを伝えたいです。お陰様で、こんなに素晴らしい体験が出来ました。本当にありがとうございました！！

ホストファミリーの長島家にもすごく感謝しています。本当の家族みたいに優しくしてくれてありがとうございました。最初はすごく緊張していましたが、お母さんと話してすぐこの家でよかったと思いました。お母さんは優しくて、寛大な心を持っています。一緒に話すのが大好きです。

お父さんはいつも仕事で忙しかったけど、それでも家族の絆を深めるために休日にいろんな所に連れていてくれるのです。

あとはかわいい弟です！出会った瞬間に一目惚れしちゃいました(笑)。同い年の子よりちょっと背が小さくて細い子です。初めてあった時はアイコンタクトするのが恥ずかしかったので、私のことをちらちら見っていました。

今でも長島家を思い出すとすごく寂しい気持ちになります。

五ヶ月間こんな面倒くさい私を受け入れてくれてありがとうございました！

最後は神奈川総合産業高校（LiSA）のみんなにありがとうございました！

みんなが親切にしてくれたから、すぐ仲良くなれました。クラスのみんなが大好きで、週末でも寂しくなるくらいだったです(笑)。一緒に笑って、ふざけて、そして私が一方的にケンカを売ることが全部素敵な思い出になります。部活のみんなもとても熱心で、最高の5ヶ月間でした。

先生たちも良い人ばかりで、たくさんお迷惑かけまして申し訳ないです。

これからもどんな未来が待ってっているとしても、みんなとLiSAのことを忘れません！

LiSAのみんなが大好きです！！また会いたいです！

私はこういう感情を表現するのがあまり得意じゃないですけど、ただありがとうって言いたいだけです。

ありがとうございました！

I still have some posts that I'm working on about my experience so this won't exactly be the last post about Japan but once those posts are up, I don't know what to do with this blog but I WILL keep this going!! 

If you want to contact me for anything please comment here or

Email: liumanou@gmail.com

Tumblr: superasianminnie

Youtube: Manou Liu

Illumination at Yomiuri Land (よみうりランド)

Watch my Vlog about this day (along with my trip to Shizuoka)!! Please don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!!!


I went to a theme park called Yomiuri Land and Tokyo Tower with my friend Natsuki after I got back from Shizuoka. Our main goal was to watch the illuminations going on everywhere around the city and the theme park had one too. With the night pass, you can ride on any rides you wish and look at the illuminations when it gets dark.

We rode the Ferris Wheel in the park and the view was breathtaking once on top. It costs 600 yen but it was definitely worth it!

Sky Tree and Tokyo Tower from the Ferris Wheel

It was so pretty I got really excited. A lot of couples were there since it has an area designated to couples. In the area, all the lights were pink and blue, with a "lake" in the middle of the place and hearts floating on the water. The second part of the area had white lights, giving out a feeling of being in the middle of piles of snow. It has a giant water fountain with water shows on certain times.

 The locks were meant to seal the lovely sweet relationship between the lovers.

In our case, it  sealed our friendship!

After leaving the park, we went to Tokyo Tower to see the night view of the city. It was amazing! Everybody tend to go to the newly built Sky Tree nowadays but I prefer Tokyo Tower for some reason. We could see Odaiba with its wonderfully colourful lights shining in the dark. 

Rainbow bridge and Odaiba

A road in the same shape as Tokyo Tower, right in front of it.

So my trip to Japan is almost over and I'm going to post my last blogpost about my Japan exchange trip soon. I'm really depressed right now actually :(

If you want to contact me for anything please comment here or

Email: liumanou@gmail.com

Tumblr: superasianminnie

Youtube: Manou Liu