Japan Trip Report

It was decided months before my summer break that I'm gonna spend my holidays in Japan. In fact before I came to europe I already wanna visit Japan.I applied monbusho scholarship last year but I forfeit since EM already accepted me. So after visa and ticket matters not forget the final exams strugling I went there to see some friends and her.
Few aspects I would like to tell about Japan. Those aspects are described below:

1. Heat and Humidity
Before I came to Japan, I thought it will be more less like europe since Japan is also in the northern hemisphere and it has 4 seasons too. So since I can survive summer in europe (at least Northern Italy and Germany) so in Japan I should be fine. It turned out that I was wrong. The temperature was hotter than Northern Italy or Germany. maybe it's the same in Southern Italy or Spain. And the humidity was also high. Maybe this is due to the distance with the pacific. The heat and humidity was quite depressing for me, made me lazy to come out.Last few weeks before I left, the temperature was quite moderate. Eventhough it was raining a lot but the temperature was much cooler which made it perfect for going out. Too bad it didn't last long since I had to leave :( So I think the best time to visit Japan is during the spring until the beginning of summer and in the end of summer until the end of autumn. A frind told me about this but I had no choice but to visit it in the middle of summer because that was the only available time I got in a year.

2. Education & Technology
Japan is famous for the technology and education quality. The education system was quite different from education system in Indonesia or in europe. In here for master study most of students, at least students that I know, must become research students before begin their real master. Before they get to Japan they must already have a professor, they called him/her sensei, to guide them during their studies in Japan. These senseis were giving them so much attention such that if his/her student didn't show up in the lab for one day they'll ask about it. They monitored their pupils very closely. This is good I think because it will help to stay focus and finish the study fast due to intense interactions.Japan is aldo one of the best country when it comes to technology. Some cool stuffs like electronics and robot are quite common. I saw a robot who can play a musical instrument made by toyota in Odaiba. Odaiba itself is an artiicial island made by compacted garbages. Quite creative idea in using garbage to create more space. The only kind of technology that disappointed me was the mobile phone technology. The reasone was my mobile phone can't cope with it so I couldn't use my mobile phone during my stay. Their mobile technology is more suitable in writing kanjis and other japansese alphabets like katakana and hiragana.

3. Life & Politeness
Life in Japan is relatively easier than in europe. First of all most of the prices are cheaper. The only things that I think was considered quite more expensive was the transportation. In europeans big cities it takes around 50-60 euros a month for transportation while in tokyo it can take up to 120 euros a month for transportation. Twice the price in europe. Second thing that made life easier in Japan is the train system. Japan has sophisticated train network. Going from one place to another is much more convinient and cheaper by train. Many people use it to commute everyday to their work or school. Third one is the kombini or convenient stores that open 24 hour/day and vending machines that available every 10 meters.
The politeness of Japanese was also quite high. The train officer bowed to the train passengers. when he pass the wagon. Although I don't understand Japanese language in details but in daily life most of the saying in trains, buses, stations and stores were saying with high politeness. At least it was quite polite for me.

4. Spirit & Hardwork.
These two can be seen in the stores and restaurants where the employees are speaking loudly offering their products. It can be considered noisy because they speak quite loudly and repeated very often. The Japanese works hard it can be seen that the stores open everyday and they go to work very early and go back to their home at late night. Even students do the same thing.

OK. That's all the report for Japan. Now I'min Ronneby, Sweden ready for next semester.