What are you looking forward to?

[mario_meissner]

As a way to entertain ourselves until the results come, I thought it would be interesting to share our interests and motivation for going to Japan. What are you looking forward to doing if you get selected?

[mario_meissner]

I will start by adding a few:
- Going to big book shops and spending hours on end browsing all the stands: manga, light novels, etc.
- Experiencing the cyberpunk feel of Tokyo. Randomly walking across streets, finding rare corners.
- Doing day trips with friends. I love how, no matter where you go, s gonna be beautiful and interesting to visit. Especially the smaller towns and villages are very charming.

[MK16]

I like all your ideas and also some additional things I'd like to o
- try many kinds of new food
- visit a ryokan and an onsen
- see a few shrines and typical local architecture

[hidesagred97]

Well, I will copy some of your ideas and add a few:
- Try a lot of food.
- Visit an/ a lot of onsen
- Random walk around Tokyo
- Meet native Japanese people and learn their world view.
- Creating a blog-

[mario_meissner]

Oh yes, onsens are something I'm gonna frequent.

And I'll definitely blog about my experience as well! Looking forward to having next year's applicants reading my blog :3

[AsiaBergamini94]

I've already been to Japan and I loved everything, that's why I want to go there so badly! But when I came back there were few things I couldn't try, more like "lifestyle" things, that you don't get to experience if you're just sightsseing.

Besides the things you guys said i will add a few:
- Grocery shopping: this might seem a boring thing to do, but I love cooking(could you tell I'm italian? ), trying different recipies and using a new set of ingredients would be a thrilling experience for me. Also, they have so many different type of snacks and sweets that i couldn't resist!
- Do a motorcycle tour of nearest prefectures: I have a motorcycle at home (my love, a kawasaki ER-6n) and I love going out for weekends and just drive, explore new areas and parks. <3 If I get selected, as soon as I recive the notification, I'm in line for the international driver license
Last, but not least
- Learn Japanese!! I tried so many times but I really struggle with katakana and hiragana... Seeing those char everyday might help in learning them, maybe? (then I'll be able to read mangas without looking online for traductions )

[mario_meissner]

- Learning Japanese is definitely a good point as well. I've been studying for 5 years now. I hope I can practice a lot there and finally become fluent!
- @AsiaBergamini94 Do you plan to take your bike to Japan? Or rent one there? I've never ridden a motorbike, but it sure sounds like an awesome plan. The Japanese countryside is stunning. I might get a good bicycle and do some longer trips as well.

[AsiaBergamini94]

- @AsiaBergamini94 Do you plan to take your bike to Japan? Or rent one there? I've never ridden a motorbike, but it sure sounds like an awesome plan. The Japanese countryside is stunning. I might get a good bicycle and do some longer trips as well.

Definetly rent there! Taking my bike would be extremely expensive and also it would be very impractical, for example where would I store it?
Renting is Definetly my only option!

I like riding a bicycle too, but with a motorcycle I feel more free to go wherever I whnat, where as with the bycle you can't just travel long distances... It's more of a city type of vehicle of me

[ArthurK6]

- Do a motorcycle tour of nearest prefectures: I have a motorcycle at home (my love, a kawasaki ER-6n) and I love going out for weekends and just drive, explore new areas and parks. <3 If I get selected, as soon as I recive the notification, I'm in line for the international driver license

This. I haven't thought about this before, but it could be amazing there! I've been riding motorcycles since I was a kid (now I have a Yamaha Fzs600)
Also, I would like to meet and get to know Japanese people. Both their culture and language are pretty distant to me.
There are a lot of little things, like going out to bars, experiencing their night life, sightseeing. Ah, also I will definitely try out as much food as I possibly can

[mario_meissner]

I'm a bit scared of using a motorbike, never rode one, I don't think its my cup of tea. However, the idea of being able to explore Japan quickly and easily on two wheels seems very attractive to me. Maybe I rent an e-bike or something

[AsiaBergamini94]

This. I haven't thought about this before, but it could be amazing there! I've been riding motorcycles since I was a kid (now I have a Yamaha Fzs600)

I promise, if we both get selected we have to do a tour together!
Also, when I bought my motorcycle I considered buying a Yamaha as well, but the kawasaki ER signature orange color won my heart ♥ it was no match for the standard Yamaha colors

[ArthurK6]

Ahh, I'm a Yamaha guy
So motorcycle tour it is!

[mario_meissner]

One more thing I'm really looking forward to, now that I remember, is to participate in meetups and events in Tokyo and surroundings. There's tons of different meetups for every topic you can imagine (given the size of the city, it's to be expected). Personally, there are some ML related groups that I would love to join. Also, important speakers frequently visit and give related talks and stuff, so it's a great opportunity for me. I come from a very small city so I always missed this kind of thing.

[MK16]

One thing I forgot and what I came to like on my last Erasmus is hiking There should be some of opportunity for that too.

[Paweł]

Ahh, I'm a Yamaha guy
So motorcycle tour it is!

I'm also a Yamaha guy. Since it's obligatory to have at least 24 years old (and a lot of money) for motorcycle driving licence, I have just yamaha yzf r125. My dream bike's R6 If you'll do a tour I'm in as a passegner
@MK16 I will definitely join you. I love Polish and maybe even more the Slovakian part of Tatra mountains.

[Metuci]

Lots of hiking! There must be an opportunity to go the mountains on weekends. So I will totally join you two. During holidays it might be possible to travel abroad too, perhaps. Also, going to a live Kpop concert would be interesting

[ArthurK6]

I'm also a Yamaha guy. Since it's obligatory to have at least 24 years old (and a lot of money) for motorcycle driving licence, I have just yamaha yzf r125. My dream bike's R6 If you'll do a tour I'm in as a passegner

Here you can get unrestricted motorcycle licence (A category) if you have restricted category license for at least 2 years (A2, which is for <35kW bikes, can get it when you are 18). So, you get unrestricted license at 20 years old . But , if you don't get A2 before, you gotta be at least 24 for A cat. licence.
I also like R6 and R1, but I'm pretty tall, so they are not really comfortable for me. That's why I stick to street/naked bikes