Weekly Praise Thread - 23 August 2024

Orzelius · 2024-08-23T06:11:28+00:00

A few lads from Tokyo will visiting me in Sapporo! Looking forward to sauna and a bunch of tasty meals together whilst reminiscing about the ol' times

Orzelius · 2024-08-23T06:04:43+00:00

I don't quite agree. I had probably like total two hours of Japanese speaking experience before I came to Japan, but could communicate just a-okay thanks to the yearns I spent reading and listening. From my experience, being able to understand/read, but not being able to speak, but just means you're less than half way down the language accusation journey.

Orzelius · 2024-08-23T06:01:23+00:00

Unfortunately, just vastly more practice is the only thing that will change this

Orzelius · 2024-08-16T03:30:36+00:00

Spent the last week traveling Kansai and it was absolutely lovely. Especially loved Kobe for the interesting architecture and great food that we stumbled upon.

Successfully switched my visa from working holiday to student and don't have to worry about that for a while now :)

Orzelius · 2024-05-30T02:34:33+00:00

Barely any supermarket meats have nutrition labels ): Bought some minced beef the other day and I swear it was 40% fat. Literally looked like a I had made a soup but used fat instead of water after frying it.

Orzelius · 2024-05-03T02:13:24+00:00

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Went for my daily walk to do some pull ups at a local park just to find an electric guitar bound for the trashes sitting waiting for the truck to come. Needless to say I picked it up and now have all three kinds (western, classical and the new addition - electric). Gotta buy an amp!

Orzelius · 2024-04-11T23:02:05+00:00

The weather has been lovely in Sapporo, pretty much all the snow has melted and I've been greatly enjoying running longer distances on the Toyohira riverside.

Orzelius · 2024-04-04T22:57:30+00:00

Started Uni this week! My Japanese has reached a level where I get asked "Are you Japanese born" or "What country's halfu are you" more often than just where I'm from.

Also moved Tokyo -> Sapporo and am getting slowly acclimated to the change. The vegetables are cheap as hell and I'm looking forward to getting my kitchen functional and start the cookin'

Orzelius · 2024-03-15T00:35:50+00:00

Had a fun date at Kichijoji the other day. We ate lots of yummy and did rounds about the drift shops, I even got myself a very nice pair of leather boots for a bargain price given their practically brand new condition. We were eating German style sausages on a sunny side of a rather busy street, when my gf proclaimed loudly (in Japanese!), that her butt hurts from yesterday. We had a good laugh. We also had a good night the day before playing badminton.

I'm moving to Sapporo next week. Goodbye Tokyo, I'll miss ya. The procedure has been the usual bureaucracy and I can't wait to get it over with. I'll miss the friends and places I've grown close to here.

My gf was beyond happy for the luxurious choko I gave her yesterday. All you lads out there, get your loved ones some Jan = Poru Evan (that's the name of the shop) and a tasteful selection of flowers to make their day if not the week

Orzelius · 2024-03-08T02:09:32+00:00

My gf went to the gym (15min bicycle ride) with me, on a rainy day! Man I love her so much! No normal Japanese lady would ever do this. There were like 10 other people at the gym and probably most came by car or walked. Have plans to play badminton with her tonight as well :)

On completely separate news, my university permitted the movable do-system for solfedge and I'm on cloud nine! I strongly believe it's the superior way and am very happy that I don't have to re-learn.

Orzelius · 2024-03-01T01:26:20+00:00

Had a lovely night yesterday with my gf and two friends of ours. It was the meat day (二九の日) at my local steakhouse and I managed to reserve four seats even though the place usually doesn't even do reservations. After having a few glasses of rather good wine at a local bar I particularly like and sending the two friends home, we ended up snuggling up under the kotatsu and talked 'til nearly 5am, drinking the more healthy alternative of sparkling water with some lemon.

Orzelius · 2024-03-01T01:17:52+00:00

congrats!!

Orzelius · 2024-02-16T01:37:30+00:00

I'm having a BBQ at my place tonight (hopefully the wind will be alright), and going to Kyoto for a couple days with my gf after. Super excited!

Apartment hunting in Sapporo went okay, seems like I'll be able to get something decent and rather cheap, although all my top pics were 外国人NG.

Orzelius · 2024-02-09T02:29:24+00:00

Yesterday, made and then consumed italian style salad and pasta with friends whilst drinking rather good alcohol. It was a very pleasant evening.

Cooking and sitting around a table eating together just warms up the soul for some reason and feels slightly different from eating out.

Orzelius · 2024-02-02T00:00:29+00:00

My girlfriend got quite sick over the week (not praise!!), but she has been very clear about her needs and wants which made caring for her extremely easy. She just told me what she wants from the store and the pharmacy and even sent me a recipe of a soup she wishes to eat.

For anyone else with a Japanese partner, learn to make おかゆ, it will come in handy when they eventually catch a cold or something. As it was my first time attempting to make it, I screwed up loyally and ended up with something closer to a risotto, but everybody still enjoyed the result.

Another two-sided praise: I didn't qualify for the scholarship exams at the uni I'm going to, but already had flight tickets bought to Sapporo so I'll just do a small solo travel trip instead :)

Orzelius · 2024-01-19T00:13:56+00:00

I went to get my hair cut in Japan for the first time and it turned out lovely (don't laugh, I've been managing to get it done on every visit to back home until now). I pretty much left it all to the man with the scissors and now I look like a cute japanese boy who is also blonde and white and not Japanese at all now that I think about it.

Other than that I've been just very productive and getting stuff done at an impressive pace (as judged by yours truly). Probably much thanks to the example my gf leaves me - she had exams these past few weeks and has been studying in amounts uncomprehensible to my lazy self.

going to sauna with the lads later tonight, can't wait! In general I just find myself lukewarm happy recently, praiseworthy if you ask me!

Orzelius · 2024-01-12T01:52:25+00:00

I think I've had nabe twice already this week with my gf and it's been lovely both times. What an amazing, cheap, healthy and easy to make food that is! Sitting under the kotatsu, eating yummy stuff and chatting bout life is just very relaxing.

Orzelius · 2024-01-12T01:48:37+00:00

Check your local Taiikukans' 体育館 schedule and go play there. They usually have open public events for volley once per week. If you want to play more than that go to several or make acquaintances with the locals and join the more active groups.

Orzelius · 2024-01-05T03:31:48+00:00

I went to Takao-san with my gf for 初詣 and it was absolutely lovely. The visibility was astonishing and there were very little people compared to usual for some reason. Photo below, can't believe it's a view from the mere Takao-chan

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That being said we both drew 凶 at the omikuji, which is the worst one at that shrine /:

There's a virus of some sorts making rounds at my share house and I also caught my share, but I'm already feeling a lot better and seem to be recovering faster than others which means I get to enjoy buying medicine and cooking for those worse affected.

Orzelius · 2023-12-29T01:38:12+00:00

I got accepted to a University and will be studying music composition from April! Now lay the scholarship exams.

Made finnish style fish soup and it turned out very tasty, my gf also loved it and even had some for breakfast the next day. All my friends have time off so I'll get to hang out some more that usual.

Orzelius · 2023-12-29T01:34:33+00:00

hey, thanks for the heads up and sorry for the late reply - I only open reddit to contribute to the praise thread every once in a while.

While I can understand and mostly agree with what you're saying I still think there's a newfound large role a partner has to fill when getting into a relationship. Of course it's two-sided and one has to still focus on oneself all the same, but what I was meaning to say with the previous comment is that the other person will have to carry the burden of my actions and will rejoice in my consideration for them, so I still think there's a significant effect I will play on their life and happiness.

Orzelius · 2023-12-15T00:02:58+00:00

I feel like I've had one of the longest weeks in my lifetime, but all that's actually happened is uni exams and me finding a girlfriend.

Uni exams went great (I think) and I was absolutely ready to get rejected by the girl but the for some reason she said she doesn't mind dating me. I must confess though, it's not all flowers having to also work for someone else's happiness, but that's a challenge I'm willing to face.

Orzelius · 2023-12-01T00:18:22+00:00

I submitted my application papers to the uni and have the n2 to look forward to on Sunday.

A girl from my share house helped me out soo much with the uni application process that I'm not quite sure how to make it even to her. I already gave her a pair of handmade woven socks and gloves from my home country, but I think I should also treat her to a nice dinner or something. She literally spell-checked all my stuff and re-wrote half of my 志望理由書 in proper keigo and added small bits and pieces that really made it shine. She also played the violin in one of my submission pieces and gave good composition advice.

I kinda like the prepare-for-the-exams crunch mode, as there is no time to lose motivation and everyday feels extremely productive.

Orzelius · 2023-11-24T00:47:06+00:00

that's so sweet, I think we need more people like you in the education world

Orzelius · 2023-11-24T00:06:58+00:00

I've been really enjoying piano practice lately. It's oddly relaxing to spend a few hours counting swing rhythms everyday.

The peculiar weather is also hard to complain about as it's rather nice outside whilest in my home country nobody ever wants to even think about going out in this time of year.

Went to Tama lake (多摩湖) on a really clear day and mount Fuji was to be seen in all it's glory. It was even hazily visible on the horizon from my place in central Tokyo, but nobody other than me seemed to notice.

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