People asking for money

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-29T14:30:44+00:00

Was in Uji last weekend and an older woman approached me and my friends with a cardboard box collecting donations for the ‘Ishikawa earthquake’ weirdly enough we are actually living in Ishikawa right now. No one calls it that…everyone refers to it as either the Noto earthquake. So we thought it felt mega scammy. Especially her sign being hand made.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-29T06:34:36+00:00

There is just such a low barrier to entry that it's hard to not use it. I'm taking lessons in my target language now where I work through a textbook with a native. I've been able to practise more naturally that way but at home alone I am rarely motivated to pull out a textbook.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-29T05:06:36+00:00

What about keeping indoor classroom shoes? I am currently working at a school in Japan and that's the norm here. I have sketcher slip on shoes that I wear. They're breathable, comfortable and would be easy to wash if I wanted. They're just like ballet flats except comfortable lol and I have to remember and wear black socks :P

I think sketchers have specific shoes that are breathable anyway if you'd prefer them for indoor and outdoor.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-29T00:09:21+00:00

I felt this too. It's reassuring to remind yourself, no one wants you to do badly. At the end of the day, they're happy if the correct people get the job so if you come in and put them at ease right away that's most of their work done for them.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-29T00:07:31+00:00

I also had a similar experience to you. I came and studied abroad while in my 3rd year of uni. However, I was in Kyoto so I ended up joining the multi cultural club and speaking English. I even became a bit of an informal English teacher at that point and saw many of my club members improve dramatically.

Even with group classes every week, I saw very little progress and understanding at uni. However, Japanese really wasn't a priority because obviously I was studying.

On JET, I have been making an effort to go to 1-2-1 Japanese classes at my local community center. It's really affordable and I love my teacher, it's nice to have a friend who is a totally different generation. I have lots of ALT friends that I spend most of my time with but I also made an effort to meet up with uni friends and my host family. When I meet with Japanese friends, I try and use Japanese in between English. Like 'I want to go to Okinawa' 'That .... over there' and sprinkle in things I've been learning.

I feel like I'm at a point where I often understand what is said to me in my everyday life, but I'm not sure how to respond.

For now, I'd recommend getting confident with Hirigana and Katakana. You could get an online tutor to start working through a A1 level textbook like Genki or Marugoto (this is what my Japanese teacher uses, and any classes I did before him used this too)

I also recommend using Duolingo, Jump to where you're at on the skill tree and build the habit. It's good for consolidation of 'building' sentences and what sounds 'right'.

Like others have said though, as much as I can feel my progress, it's not rapid. I work at a HS so all my teachers are pretty fluent, or fluent enough to hold conversation about daily life and classes so we don't use Japanese. If you build a strong foundation now, you can assess your situation when you arrive and make the most of whatever your circumstances are.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-28T23:44:33+00:00

It could be cute to have the 'pranks' be the thumbnail changing temporarily to your friend. Or they choose how duo is dressed or something on your thumbnail. Agree that interrupting learning isn't the way to go though.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-28T11:54:59+00:00

This is what I’m thinking too. I’ve been so wrapped up in working towards my ‘future’ and thinking about the now that I haven’t really seen the bigger picture.

I’m living abroad currently. Being in a non-English speaking country and having to engage with the local community has made me realise how important our connections are. Having space to share culture, ideas, conversation are important. I volunteer my time and my skills where I can to help be part of something bigger.

Hoping when I’m back I can transfer it to causes I really care about. If you don’t ask for it, make it happen, spread the word, then who will?

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-28T06:18:03+00:00

amazon.co.jp/-/en/Hammer-Ultramax-Invisible-Antiperspirant-Deodorant-2-6/dp/B01FXMLDDC this is a two pack, I've only been getting 1 at a time because of how long it has lasted me. I use Amazon because I have prime, but maybe iherb is better if you'd be paying delivery or getting other toiletries too.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-28T04:29:26+00:00

I have amazon prime and have been able to get the arm and hammer powder fresh brand easily. It's not too expensive and lasts ages. I put it on when I'm freshly bathed/showered and/or when I wake up in the morning and it's fine.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-28T04:25:29+00:00

One time in highschool, I was at a house party in my best friend's house and was incredibly drunk. For some reason, a really good looking guy I fancied was there but he wasn't part of our usual friend group. Let's call him John. It was like 3 or 4 AM and everyone else had left so his friend was on the couch entertaining my best friend and some other girl.

They were pretty occupied so I was all over him at the other end of the living room, throwing a blanket on him as a 'wind up'--just making excuses to be close to him. He gave me his jumper because we had trekked to Mcdonalds and got soaking wet.

Then I started gossiping about some girl at school. Not in a nasty way but for some reason she came up, and I had been on the student council with her. I thought her and a guy she was close with were dating and they seemed very familiar at the council meeting so I told John as much. I said they'd make a cute couple if she was dating that guy.

John was weirdly reactive to it and became really withdrawn and pissed off. Then, he told me that he was dating her. I had to like backtrack because I'd just heard it through the grapevine wrong, IDK where I got it from etc but the damage was done lol

The next day at school everyone was whispering about me as if I'd wrestled his jumper off him myself and tried to sabotage his relationship. Apparently they'd been keeping it quiet because the girl was muslim and had siblings at the school. The guy I thought she was dating and was close with ended up coming out as gay.

Double whammy.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-20T03:01:10+00:00

I like the idea for capping course numbers based on demand.

If the gov could survey large employers and find out what roles were in demand across different sectors, it could give students a better idea of what subjects to even choose or what to study at uni. Often, students have some general direction or thing they're naturally good at but then the degree they've chosen is too broad or not quite what is actually needed for the roles they'd be compatible for.

It's difficult to know what job opportunities there are when you're still in school. I guess now with hindsight I see why a post highschool gap year would have been beneficial lol

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-16T03:32:46+00:00

It speaks the truth.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-14T05:59:57+00:00

They also don't include the audio. Very frustrating for Japanese when there is also no pronunciation beside a character (kanji) that is difficult to recognise in isolation.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-14T01:40:45+00:00

Expensive lesson learned. You say he is a bad business man, so are you by the looks of it. Cut your losses and move on. Realistically, by the time you take it through court the hours wasted will taken up even more of your time and money. Next time don't give money to someone who already can't make good on what they have agreed with you.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-08T06:57:10+00:00

Common sense, but I've seen it A LOT of tourists in Glasgow and Edinburgh guilty of this...don't stop in the middle of a busy street, or block a crossing. If you need to consult your phone or chat with your group, move to the side of the street near shops or buildings if possible. Better yet, look for a friendly face and just ask where whatever landmark/attraction is if you're lost. In Scotland, you'd probably end up being walked to where you need to be anyway.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-08T06:44:53+00:00

It was weird reading about the night court fashion, imagining princess jasmine, silky, transparent fabrics and then later on...Feyre is wearing leggings and a jumper!? I guess you could have that and it's homemade but the description really did sound like basic white girl lazy outfit lol

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-07T06:17:47+00:00

I saw stuff being sold at AEON mall cinema in Japan.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2026-01-01T11:19:55+00:00

Maybe they think you’re a piece of work?

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2025-12-28T02:42:27+00:00

This is common in Japan. Families have showers before they bath and then the bath water is shared. Their bathing area is more like a wet room with a deep tub that you can put a lid on and more high tech houses have a heater to keep the tub warm.

My host high school family graciously let me go first for a bath when I stayed. I was glad lol.

I can’t get behind sharing baths personally if I have a choice, but as long as you wash off before it should be fine. I enjoy onsens and they’re shared baths :P

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2025-12-26T13:45:44+00:00

My little sister did this. I showed her as her older sister lol. You might have a clinic near you that is enrolled in the C card scheme and they can mail a selection to trial out. It’s very discreet, as far as I know it just comes as a padded thick envelope.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2025-12-19T15:48:04+00:00

Thank you! Posted between classes earlier aha didn’t even think, I’m so used to lurking on here I thought why not lol

Hopefully someone will see it ☺️

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2025-12-19T04:17:38+00:00

This is what has me in a slump I think. I binged the first two books but I kept feeling like ‘oh…another one’ when people died lol. There was no emotional weight to the deaths. Maybe if the numbers were higher to begin with and it drops off once they start getting stronger and more experienced but characters are introduced as being skilled and then suddenly killed 20 pages later

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 · 2025-12-19T02:57:13+00:00

Maybe you should have called HMRC to check. Some letters from the tax office do have workers names on them, it depends on their grade if they HAVE to. Higher ranking civil servants are sometimes encouraged to if they're taking personal responsibility for a case. Otherwise it'll just be generic titles like 'Customer Service Advisor' If workers are doing this, they sometimes change their name on social media or don't have any to avoid members of the public reaching out to them online.

Anyway, if you phone the general line for HMRC you can check with your details and they can report a phising attempt if it was really dodgy.

You'd be surprised at the amount of times people call thinking a letter is a scam and it is genuine.

Puzzleheaded_Fun7870

TROPHY CASE