Moving On…

Posted on 29. Jul, 2006 @ 12:43 am by in About Views: 813

From the poll that is currently running, it seems that you would like to know more about Japanese Society, see more Japan Pictures, and well… see some hot Japanese girls. I can deliver on the first two, but there are already plenty of hot Japanese girl sites, so I’m going to leave that category to the pros. Hope you don’t mind.
The map below shows where all of you (all 100+ a day of you) visitors are from, pretty cool! There seem to be a curiously high number of visitors from Singapore… Who are you guys? Image Courtesy of Google Analytics.

Back to the poll results… I thought I had the pictures part covered! What more do you want to see?? I’m surprised the interest in Japanese language is so low, 残念 (zannen). I know some key readers tend to enjoy the language tidbits though, so I’ll try to mix them in with the topics of society an pictures in general. Two birds with one stone!

For the past four years I have been working in Japan at an IT job I got at the Boston Career Forum immediately after graduating from university in the States. The Career Forum is a weekend suit-wearing, resume-passing extravaganza that most bilingual English-Japanese speakers in the US will be familiar with.
From September I’ll be studying Japanese (again), at this advanced Japanese program in Yokohama called IUC. This is an ultra-intense (or so they say) language program, after which I should know more Japanese than will ever be necessary for any practical purpose.

After IUC, I don’t know what I’m going to do really. The program is only 10 months long, so I have about half that time to figure it out I guess. The Monbusho scholarship to study at a Japanese graduate school is always an option… I am interested in International Development, and also China recently, so maybe I’ll try to get in with JICA or some other Japanese development organization. Or maybe I’ll go back to school in the US? Who knows?

Anyway, during August I’m going to be in Thailand and Cambodia, slacking like I have never slacked before. I have enough material about Japan that JapanNewbie won’t sleep while I’m gone. No worries there.

After I return, I will be moving to Yokohama in Sept, so you’ll likely see a reduction in the number of Takoyaki or otherwise Kansai posts… But an overall increase in the quality of content on this site since I’ll have more free time as a student.

We’ll see what happens! Hope it’s entertaining!
- Harvey

  • http://www.risingsunofnihon.com/ RisingSunOfNihon

    thats interesting, singapore… hmm I wunder what there doing too. ofcource high on people from U.S. and also people from europe. I heard there are lot of Japanese in Brazil and I found that odd as well. no english and nothing similar to japanese… and its really fare from it.

  • Samantha

    hey! I’m one of your readers from Singapore.. I just stumbled upon your site while researching about Japan.. And I’ve been unable to keep myself away from your site ever since :D

    Your passion about Japanese has even made me sign up for Japanese lessons! :) Keep rocking.. and good luck in whatever you do! I’ll be reading. Heh. I like reading about you and your life. =)

  • http://greggman.com gman

    Dude! I’m so jealous. How did you swing that?

  • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

    Hey Samantha! Cool! The Singapore reader!
    (a singapore reader)

    Actually I spent a month in Singapore about 4 yrs ago, I loved it! Singapore is a cool place. A little small in area… but very cool! Lots of diversity, good food, nice people! Ah, I even blogged on that little adventure…

    That reminds me, that Chilli Crab was great!

    http://www.japannewbie.com/2002/09/17/singapore-im-back/

    Glad you decided to study Japanese! It’s great fun! I know lots of people in Singapore are of Chinese decent, are you? Can you already speak Chiense? If so the characters would help you out with the Japanese big time.

    Good luck!

  • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

    Gman!

    I was planning to go straight to China, but while looking for funding I randomly came across IUC. Then, I found a scholarship for it… applied… and got it. I really didn’t expect to…

    So, here I go!

    Please feed me while I’m in Yokohama.

  • Craig

    Well I vote Japan pics I’m just saying I like that. I don’t mean that the number you have is insufficient. Sorry for the confusion.

  • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

    Craig no confusion at all! I’ll keep the pics coming!

  • http://dr3amsm1th.livejournal.com/ Amiya

    Singaporean!

    You write interesting stuff with good advice, very inspiring to make me want to sign up onto the JET programme.

  • Clive

    Hi, one of your Brisbane readers here.

    Your site is an excellent source of fun, culture, food and language tips that are hard to find elsewhere. Please keep it up!

    My missus and I went to Japan for 15 days last February (Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo – phew) and fell in love with the country and people. Japan is easily one of the friendliest and wackiest countries we’ve ever been to. It’s SO easy to get around and see things and the food… . We were barely there for more than a fortnight but we both feel strangely homesick.

    Before we went, we did a crash course on the language and somehow managed to make ourselves understood. We’re going to go back next year for longer and spread our wings a bit more so we are still learning. Your site is fantastic for lots of stuff that you can’t find in dry old texts and also for the pics and stories that feed the memories….

    Your enthusiasm and tips on language have been an
    awesome help. Ta again for the great site, tips and gossip.

    cheers

  • http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey

    Clive!

    I hate to say it, but I had to double check a map to be sure where Brisbane was.

    Hey, do many Australians come to Japan just for a casual vacation like you did? Needless to say, from the US it’s not exactly a common destination for a short trip. Is it eaiser/cheaper from Australia because it’s closer?

    Clive if you ever do another Asia trip, let me recommend Singapore or Taiwan… Hey Korea is nice too. Good food, great people, not so tough to get around either.

    I’m really glad you’re liking the site! It gives me energy to keep going.

    - Harvey

  • http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey

    Amiya! I checked your site, you should do JET! It’s great fun, and pays great!

  • Clive

    LOL

    Just don’t pronounce it like all other Yanks and you’ll sound like you’ve been here before.
    Normal yank sez “Briz Bane”, a local sez “Brizbin”
    Of course, just Brissie or Brisvegas are also good…

    A lot of Brissy folk seem to have set up shop blogging in Japan. I think more Aussies are making the trip on a non-study basis, especially for skiing or to see sites like Kyoto. Then again, it’s still an 8-10 hour flight so it will never rival Bali or Vietnam.

    We also had the excuse to visit the missus’ brother for a few days as he was studying in Japan at the time.

    P.S.
    I forgot to mention that your eatery reviews and maps are GOLD. We soon learnt to look up above ground level and also down alleys to find great eating places but we missed a lot. Your posts are another great tip so thanks again.

  • Roger

    If you redo the interest poll with just the main items you might consider writing about (minus hot Japanese girls, etc), language might do better. Consider it a runoff election.
    Roger

  • Samantha

    Wow you came to Singapore, that’s awesome! Being a small country it’s easy to get around but ah.. it has its negative bits as well! :D

    Pepper crab is better tasting! :D Trust me.

    Yes, I am Chinese! I’m glad that I could recognise the Kanji characters. Thank goodness for Chinese! :D

  • Mike

    Hey! I didn’t realize you were working in IT. What comapny, if I may ask? It wouldn’t happen to be Asahi-net by any chance….?

  • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

    Nope! Not Asahi-net.

    Contact me via the form “Talk2Me” and we can discuss that in private if you really wanna know.

    I’m in total student mode now though. Quizes and Tests!

    Every single day… :-(

  • Pingback: Hilton solomon sex video.

JapanNewbie
    Twitter Feed

Welcome to JapanNewbie.com! My goal is to get you excited about Japan and the Japanese language. Love it! This blog has been around for more than five years now, so be sure to dig into the archives and use the search. You never know what you might find!

Recent Comments:




  • Photos on flickr