Hisashiburi~

Hey guys ^_^

I know, I know, I've been MIA for quite some time, but I'll make it up to you by translating all my Dutch blog entries about my journey to Japan. I was actually planning on doing simultaneous posts on my Dutch blog, my English LiveJournal and this blog, but I kinda failed at that ^_^;

Just so you won't get confused with the date-thingy; the next 10 posts or so will be translations of my Dutch entries and I'll be using the date on those for my entries here.

Hopefully you will all still enjoy my stories even though I'm no longer in Japan.

~Marlies / マーリス

Preparations v2

Hi guys! Hope you had a great New Year, I sure did ^w^ I spent the evening with two friends who live in the same town as I do, and together we baked cupcakes, watched Bunraku (which was an interesting movie) and played Tekken on the PS2. And of course we watched the fireworks (and while doing so nearly got hit by a piece of firework that some idiots didn't secure enough -_-).

After New Year life pretty much continued as usual, I went to school, made some exams (and passed them) and right now I'm sitting at home doing pretty much nothing XD School ended 2 weeks ago and now I'm counting down to the 28th of March, the day I'm leaving for Japan. Today I had to hand in 3 more forms, one for an insurance for injuries and stuff while in Japan, one about my travel plan and one for the housing plan. I'm guessing that as soon as these forms have been received by Shinshuu University that I'll get the application form for my visa. According to my teacher we are already allowed into Japan by the Japanese Immigration Office, but I still need proof of that for the Japanese Embassy where I'll be applying for the visa.

On Tuesday I also booked a hostel where me and a classmate that is also going will be staying until we can move into our apartment. After a bit of searching we decided to stay at the Asakusa Smile hostel. It's easy to get to from Narita airport (where we'll land) and there are quite a few interesting cultural sights close by. On the site you can also find a video showing how to walk from Honjo Azumabashi Station to the hostel XD Today I found out that another classmate is also staying at the exact same hostel, and the last classmate who is going is staying at a host family in Tokyo :D So beware everyone in Tokyo, from March 29 'til April 1 four crazy Dutch girls will be on the loose :P

Until next post, またね！

~Marlies / マーリス

100 Followers Nail Polish Giveaway

I'm entering another nail polish giveaway ^^ unfortunately I didn't win the last one that I entered, but I'm going to keep trying my luck.

This time I'm entering Both Hands Polished's 100 follower giveaway. First of all gratz to Both Hands Polished for getting 100 followers :D She is giving away 1 bottle of Essie's Shine Of The Times, 1 bottle of Glitter Gal's 3D Holographic Black Sparkle & 1 crystal nail file!

If you want to enter as well, click on her blog on the left side of this entry or follow the link: http://bothhandspolished.blogspot.com/2012/02/both-hands-polished-100-follower.html

To everyone who has entered so far; good luck ^^

Nail Polish Giveaway

I found another awesome nail polish giveaway that I'm entering. It is open internationally and everyone can enter! If you are interested in entering as well, follow this link: http://www.dandy-nails.com/2012/01/china-glaze-prismatic-giveaway.html

I only just discovered her blog, but I'm going to enjoy following her updates ^^

~Marlies / マーリス

Living Space

First of all I want to wish you all a merry Christmas :) And while I'm at it, happy new year (since my next post will probably be next year XD).

I'm happy to tell you that I finally have news about what kind of apartment I'm going to live in during my stay in Japan :D Last week we got quite a few emails about a few different kinds of apartments and single person rooms. Eventually it was decided on three 3 person apartments in the same building. In total there are nine persons from my year going to Matsumoto, of which three persons are classmates and good friends of mine. Unfortunately we had to split up since it's a three person apartment and we're 4 people in total. But one of them offered to go with two people from the other class, so it's all settled ^_^

Of course the people from the real estate agency sent us quite a few photos of the apartment, so I'm going to share them with you :)

This is the entrance.

The bathroom.

One of the 3 bedrooms in traditional Japanese style, with futons (which will be there when we move in) <3

I'm really looking forward to it <3 Just three more months and then I'll be leaving. My flight leaves on March 28 and the return flight is on August 25, which also means I'm going to celebrate my 22nd birthday in Japan ^w^

But before I'm leaving for Japan I first have to make my last exams of this semester, which will start one week after the Christmas vacations. After that I don't have any classes anymore, but I do have my part time job at the supermarket until the end of February (I'm definitely going to need a lot of money while in Japan, considering all that I want to buy XD). The countdown has begun!

Well, this is it for now, see you next time :3

~Marlies / マーリス

Preparations

As the months progress my study trip to Japan is getting closer and closer. Last Sunday I finally received the forms I have to fill in (and let others fill in) by email. I need to fill in a motivation form (why did you choose for Shinshu University?, what do you wish to learn? etc), and a general information form with all my data and stuff. Next to that I need to have a doctor fill in a Certificate of Health, get a statement from the bank to prove I have enough money, get a statement of enrollment from my current university and make a copy of my passport.

All of the above forms have to be handed in by the 24th of November so that my teacher can send them to Shinshu University, where I'll be studying. So far everything is going well, my Certificate of Health is almost complete (just waiting for the blood test results to come in), the statement from my bank is on its way and tomorrow I can pick up the statement of enrollment at school ^^ After that I can fill in the motivation form and the general info form and Ill be done way before the deadline :3

You know, I sometimes still can't believe I'm going to Japan for 5 months. But by filling in all these forms it does get more real, and I hope I can post photo's of my apartment in Matsumoto soon :D At the moment it's not really sure what kind of room I get in Japan, my teacher is still searching for available apartments in the area around the school. He is trying to get us 2DK (= 2 bedrooms, dining, kitchen) apartments, because we have to share the apartment with another person. But it will probably become a 1DK for the reason that 2DK apartments are very popular and the ones close to the university mostly unavailable. But as soon as I know more (around the end of November hopefully) I'll let you guys know ^w^

Since I'm supposed to be studying Marketing Communication for my exam tomorrow is this where I end it for now (^_^;) Wish me luck!

 勉強はだめ。。。T_T

~Marlies / マーリス

Colored Lenses

A while ago I ordered my first pair of colored lenses at eyecandylens.com. But I always forgot to take pictures of me wearing them and now that I received my second pair in the mail on Friday I finally took the time and made some :)

This photo is of both the pairs I own at the moment in their box (you get one for free for every pair of lenses you order). The pair on top is my newest pair called Dolly Eye Cat Eyes Smoky Pearl Grey and the one on the bottom is the first pair I ordered called Angel Violet.

They are both very comfortable to wear, although I'm quite used to lenses, since I wear hard lenses every day. So I'm not sure how these would feel to people who have never worn lenses before.

On this photo I'm wearing the Cat Eyes. When I first got them I was a little disappointed since I was hoping they would be a bit more grey. But because my own eyes are blue they blend really well to create a very natural look. They make my eyes a lot prettier and I can probably even wear them to work (I work part-time at a supermarket as a cashier).

On this one I'm wearing the Angel Violet lenses. They are a bit more purple in brighter light, but I had to make do with the lamp light on my room since it's already dark outside. They make my eyes look like they came directly from an anime, which I really like ^_^

All I can say is that I've fallen in love with colored lenses and eyecandylens.com is a awesome site. They're not too expensive, have regular discount offers (usually related to holidays and such, I ordered the Cat Eyes with a 10% discount because they were moving the head office somewhere else) and the shipment is also good (and free :D).

The next lenses on my wishlist are Sunflower Green and Candy Magic Big Size Red which I'm probably going to order around Christmas (I hope they'll have another discount around that time XD)

That was all for this time, until next post :3

~Marlies / マーリス