Dreamlike welcome in typhoon

So it is a perfect time to write a blog.  5 a.m. Cicadas seem even more noisy when you feel sleepy.

Tried everything to fell asleep.

Lying on a bed. Music. Smartphone scrolling. Looking for something I was sure I lost. Planning food for tomorrow. Eating mochi. Anyway. Jet lack is much harder than two years ago. Well, at my first time in Japan I did not have any at all and fell so proud in front of all complaining people.

So here is my punishment.

Well, I am punished way too much this time.

Everything seemed to be well.

Direct flight Warsaw-Tokyo.

And I even arrived to Warsaw by plane. No time to get bored at the airport as the gap between flights was short. The size of my luggage was ok. Only two skirts under my dress. It was supposed to go smoothly.

Supposed. In theory. The plain was late because of weather and then we had to wait for the start allowance...

At least the flight was not that bad. I watched two movies and everything went quite quickly.

As you know my craze for food and vegan diet:

here is what Polish airlines served vegans. Down to up: dinner and breakfast:

So for dinner I had lentils dahl with millet. Not that bad actually considering all bad stories about LOT food. There was also a salat with dried tomatoes, olives and arugula. Dessert- just some fruits. They also added a roll with peach jam and... honey. Not that vegan but still I would forgive...

Breakfast was much worse.. Some rice with a small portion of raw vegetables. A few slices of fruits with sunflower seeds and again a roll and peach jam.... There are good jams in Japan.. Were they so afraid that I will miss it? Forgot to mention: there was honey again of course.

But it is not all story. There was also a special dessert! Chocolate bar Prince Polo! Yes, it is so vegan with whey and milk. So vegan that in fact people with regular meal sets did not receive it lol xD It made me doubt if all the rest of meal was really vegan...

Tokyo greeted me with rain...

...and typhoon. Dreamlike welcome I must say.

All these big luggages and small me in the middle of the typhoon was a great adventure. 

From Narita to Tokyo station (I recommend Keisei bus. Just 1000 yens. Cheapest one rarely used by tourists in fact). Then to Yokohama. Trains were late. The way seemed to have no end. We ask for cooperation... Sorry for delay... After all this time I could listen to these unending announcements well enough, if I even missed them actually. 

When finally arrived to the closest station I could not even use my gps properly as the wind was so strong. Looking for the way seemed like a nightmare. My umbrella was jerked here and there and my luggages were almost flying behind me. 

The most fascinating was the thought that I could just sit there and cry because there was no one who would see me missing at home. There was no one at home to call or ask for help. And this is how independence and self-reliance grow. I managed to survive it in spite of being all weak. I made it home with tears in my eyes. 

Japan showed me the power of nature in the very beginning. But here is me not that weak as I thought. And if there is something you can do to overcome your fears you should do it. If there is no way (as with jet lack) you can just survive and hope for the better. And eat mochi. Yes, especially eat mochi. Never forget about it!

On my way to become IUC student

Writing helps me to organize my own thoughts.
I make order in my life by writing either online or in my diary. I write since I remember and diaries take lots of space in my basement probably since the time I was 9. Often I do not know what I think until I take a piece of paper and try to verbalize it.
Words are never enough but our task is to try making the most of them. Find this one special word to express one special feeling. It can sound kitschy, trivial or vague but there will be this one person who will internally get it. Lately after a unique meeting I believe in the possibility of human mutual understanding in spite of all babble about lonely islands and relation walls.

Upcoming time will be extraordinary and will torn all my life apart so at least I want to try managing it by organizing memories. Call it castles on sand but know that I am not giving up.
Yes, I know that I am crazy about planing and organizing. Unending fight for the order which is then broke all of a sudden.
Anyway I do my best. No. Rather work on trying doing my best. You have to work on a simply process without being sure that in fact you could do more and your best was far below your limit.

On 21th August everything starts. Hello Japan again.

If you wonder what I am going to do there until June next year I will explain all doubts (and avoid questions). In fact thanks to this blog some people will be able to see how the life of IUC student looks like and maybe they decide to apply as well.

IUC, I said, what means Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama. Kanto. I add it because the simply though about being in Kanto, close to Tokyo, in difference to my previous stay in Osaka (Kansai) makes me all excited.

IUC is a language school for undergraduate/ graduate/ post-graduate students which is operated by different American universities but was started by Stanford University in 1961. Even now all application process goes through Stanford. Wikipedia proudly calls it top Japanese language programs in the world but mostly seems like it is top in creating American-Japanese relations.

In the beginning it was only for Americans then they opened it for Europeans and Australians. And here I am. All Polish alien among Americans as I see it now.

They offer both summer and all year courses. Most famous is this 10-months one which I am going to participate in. 10 months program changes into The Nippon Foundation Fellows Program if you are accepted to receive Nippon Foundation fellowship. This one is for graduate students who follow Japan-focused carrier in law, academia, diplomacy business.... I hope not to be the biggest alien ever in my Lolita dresses and Harajuku research..

The program is mostly about learning Japanese, getting some cultural knowledge and meeting IUC senpais, discussing your research, mastering reading academic texts in Japanese. It all ends with an oral presentation. Similar to Japan Foundation program I took part in earlier but it does not make my stress any smaller.

Seems like the stress is slowly accumulating and the amount of food with a special emphasis on the peanut butter chocolate is ridiculous. At least I hope that there is not enough time to get fat or at least on a moderate level. If still... this happens then I hope that cute staff in Japan will make me stingy with food so I will lose weight quickly.

Sunday all begins. If only fav peanut butter chocolate helps then I will continue eating it because probably there is no other way as surviving and the believe that the chosen direction is a proper one makes it worth fighting. And eating.
Sunday. Warsaw-Tokyo and Japan will greet me again. At least it has no choice. Neither have I.
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