It's Been a While!
Hi all,
Blogger tells me it's been three weeks since the last blog post - which matches the three weeks of tourist guiding I've been doing! But the lack of posting has been more than made up for the collection of blog worthy material I now have, so there'll be a floodgate opening in due course with lots of content!
First of all, an update on my academics - I submitted my entrance exam application in good time, and with that learnt I had to take a TOEFL English test. A quick google on TOEFL will tell you the purpose of the exam as being a "Test of English as a Foreign Language is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities". As I am a native speaker of English (and have been for 24 years), being from an English speaking country, and having graduated from an English speaking university, with two degrees, as well as having been admitted as a lawyer (in English) in an English speaking jurisdiction, etc., etc., I was naturally curious as to whether I would have to take this test. With the typical absence of lateral thinking in the nebulous Japanese bureaucratic system, it was confirmed that indeed I would have to take the test, and so, muttering under my breath at the senselessness of it all, I paid $US250 for the privilege of telling myself that I am fluent in English. Bitterness aside, I took the test on Saturday just gone; it was as easy an experience as you would expect it to be, and I was out well before the final time came to.
I have been told the entrance exams that I applied for are to take place in late January, which take the form of an oral and written exam. However, upon telling my tutor this, some confusion arose, with him not sure that I actually had to take said exam. He did some questioning at the same office that told me of these exams, and ascertained that I do not have such an exam, instead that my admission and matriculation will be reliant on my TOEFL score and some other material. Needless to say, currently I am slightly befuzzled as to what I am doing to get into the Masters program fully, only certain that the office from which I seek answers seems wholly inadequate to deliver correct responses. Watch this space I guess!
I made a presentation to my zemi group on Friday, a case study on refugee law internationally as it pertains to those displaced by climate change and extreme weather events. Being a zemi full of non-lawyers/noone who is legally trained, the presentation was of a different style to that which they are accustomed, and there was much in the way of feedback which is useful. I am constantly in the process of distilling down my intended area of research, and this was useful to that end.
Finally, today I submitted the forms which were given to me regarding my scholarship extension. For whatever reason, the leviathan Japanese bureaucracy decides all MEXT recipients need to confirm they still intend to receive the scholarship, and that there is some progress in sight for those of us who are not yet matriculated. This process basically involved a copy paste exercise with some of the material I produced for the scholarship application last year, in addition to having a chat with my Professor about what I have been doing. Again, it seemed largely pointless, but there is sometimes no arguing with bureaucrats - especially the Japanese variety!
Finally, on Sunday last week I had the Hult Prize Competition, something for which I and my team have been preparing for since mid-October. We had a top Tokyo lawyer, a Google exec and an environmental legal scholar as judges, and were up against a dozen or so other teams. We did not make it through to the next round, (I feel an app based solution is not ambitious or exciting enough), but we did get a nice certificate with Bill Clinton's signature on! In some ways this is a good result, as the project gave me something to do while I was still finding my feet, but now that I have some more to do (perhaps not in light of today's revelation), having that off of my plate is potentially positive.
The last few weeks have been spent largely playing tourist guide, with two big events, the first of which will make it into this blog: a family friend having a free day in Tokyo.
One of our close family friends from Canada, Morgan, was in Japan for work, but had a free day at the end of the week before he flew down to New Zealand. He reached out to me to see whether I would be free to meet up with him and a colleague, Matt, and show them around Tokyo a bit, something I was very happy to do.
I met Morgan and Matt at the Haneda Airport Hotel, about half an hour train ride from Shibuya. With instructions just to showcase some of Tokyo, and perhaps avoid musuems, we headed into Shibuya for some lunch. Deciding to have some day drinking, we went to an izakaya for grilled meat skewers, edamame beans and beer - a very good Saturday lunchtime combo!
After showing them the chaos of the Shibuya crossing, and exposing them to the lights and sounds of Shibuya, we moved on to Harajuku, to see whether we could get any souvenirs for them, as well as perhaps see some Harajuku girls. The former was definitely achieved, with even me finding something, but the Harajuku girls seemed a bit absent that day.
Following this we went to Meiji Jingu shrine, which is the shrine dedicated to the spirit of the Meiji Emperor. While walking through the grounds before the temple itself, a group of young Japanese came up to us, saying they were university students who volunteer on weekends giving English tours of the place, and asked whether we wanted one. As they would be far better than I at explaining things, we took them up on it, and made our way to the shrine.
The shrine was undergoing some renovations when we were there, meaning some of the structure was behind screens, but it was no less impressive for it! While we were there, a wedding procession took place, with the bride and groom plus family being accompanied by Shinto priests through the main square into one of the private rooms.
Morgan had a go at writing an ema wish and leaving it at the Shrine wish wall, and after that the three of us made our way to Shinjuku, where Morgan knew a hotel he had stayed at previously which offered good views of the city.
Arriving at the Keio Plaza Hotel, we took the elevator to the top floor, and were promptly given a window table, from which we could see all over Shinjuku and beyond.
There we indulged in some champagne to start things off (wowza!), and then moved into beers, whiskey, and various other bits and pieces, while watching the sky darken and the city lights turn on, giving us an impressive view of it all!
Eventually the time came for Morgan and Matt to head back to the airport for their flight to New Zealand, so we made our way via the trains to Haneda, and off they went, with a promise to come catch up next time they found themselves in the Land of the Rising Sun!
It was great to catch up with Morgan for the first time in almost four years, and to meet Matt, I'm sure there will be an opportunity to catch up with them in Tokyo sometime sooner or later!
Taking a look through my photos as they have accumulated over the past few weeks, I reckon there's at least two or three more blog posts with a good amount of photo content, so keep checking and they'll be there shortly!
Til next time,
Troy/Toroi
Blogger tells me it's been three weeks since the last blog post - which matches the three weeks of tourist guiding I've been doing! But the lack of posting has been more than made up for the collection of blog worthy material I now have, so there'll be a floodgate opening in due course with lots of content!
First of all, an update on my academics - I submitted my entrance exam application in good time, and with that learnt I had to take a TOEFL English test. A quick google on TOEFL will tell you the purpose of the exam as being a "Test of English as a Foreign Language is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities". As I am a native speaker of English (and have been for 24 years), being from an English speaking country, and having graduated from an English speaking university, with two degrees, as well as having been admitted as a lawyer (in English) in an English speaking jurisdiction, etc., etc., I was naturally curious as to whether I would have to take this test. With the typical absence of lateral thinking in the nebulous Japanese bureaucratic system, it was confirmed that indeed I would have to take the test, and so, muttering under my breath at the senselessness of it all, I paid $US250 for the privilege of telling myself that I am fluent in English. Bitterness aside, I took the test on Saturday just gone; it was as easy an experience as you would expect it to be, and I was out well before the final time came to.
I have been told the entrance exams that I applied for are to take place in late January, which take the form of an oral and written exam. However, upon telling my tutor this, some confusion arose, with him not sure that I actually had to take said exam. He did some questioning at the same office that told me of these exams, and ascertained that I do not have such an exam, instead that my admission and matriculation will be reliant on my TOEFL score and some other material. Needless to say, currently I am slightly befuzzled as to what I am doing to get into the Masters program fully, only certain that the office from which I seek answers seems wholly inadequate to deliver correct responses. Watch this space I guess!
I made a presentation to my zemi group on Friday, a case study on refugee law internationally as it pertains to those displaced by climate change and extreme weather events. Being a zemi full of non-lawyers/noone who is legally trained, the presentation was of a different style to that which they are accustomed, and there was much in the way of feedback which is useful. I am constantly in the process of distilling down my intended area of research, and this was useful to that end.
Finally, today I submitted the forms which were given to me regarding my scholarship extension. For whatever reason, the leviathan Japanese bureaucracy decides all MEXT recipients need to confirm they still intend to receive the scholarship, and that there is some progress in sight for those of us who are not yet matriculated. This process basically involved a copy paste exercise with some of the material I produced for the scholarship application last year, in addition to having a chat with my Professor about what I have been doing. Again, it seemed largely pointless, but there is sometimes no arguing with bureaucrats - especially the Japanese variety!
Finally, on Sunday last week I had the Hult Prize Competition, something for which I and my team have been preparing for since mid-October. We had a top Tokyo lawyer, a Google exec and an environmental legal scholar as judges, and were up against a dozen or so other teams. We did not make it through to the next round, (I feel an app based solution is not ambitious or exciting enough), but we did get a nice certificate with Bill Clinton's signature on! In some ways this is a good result, as the project gave me something to do while I was still finding my feet, but now that I have some more to do (perhaps not in light of today's revelation), having that off of my plate is potentially positive.
The last few weeks have been spent largely playing tourist guide, with two big events, the first of which will make it into this blog: a family friend having a free day in Tokyo.
One of our close family friends from Canada, Morgan, was in Japan for work, but had a free day at the end of the week before he flew down to New Zealand. He reached out to me to see whether I would be free to meet up with him and a colleague, Matt, and show them around Tokyo a bit, something I was very happy to do.
I met Morgan and Matt at the Haneda Airport Hotel, about half an hour train ride from Shibuya. With instructions just to showcase some of Tokyo, and perhaps avoid musuems, we headed into Shibuya for some lunch. Deciding to have some day drinking, we went to an izakaya for grilled meat skewers, edamame beans and beer - a very good Saturday lunchtime combo!
After showing them the chaos of the Shibuya crossing, and exposing them to the lights and sounds of Shibuya, we moved on to Harajuku, to see whether we could get any souvenirs for them, as well as perhaps see some Harajuku girls. The former was definitely achieved, with even me finding something, but the Harajuku girls seemed a bit absent that day.
Following this we went to Meiji Jingu shrine, which is the shrine dedicated to the spirit of the Meiji Emperor. While walking through the grounds before the temple itself, a group of young Japanese came up to us, saying they were university students who volunteer on weekends giving English tours of the place, and asked whether we wanted one. As they would be far better than I at explaining things, we took them up on it, and made our way to the shrine.
 |
| In front of the sake offerings from each Japanese prefecture |
 |
| Morgan having a go at ablutions before entering the shrine |
The shrine was undergoing some renovations when we were there, meaning some of the structure was behind screens, but it was no less impressive for it! While we were there, a wedding procession took place, with the bride and groom plus family being accompanied by Shinto priests through the main square into one of the private rooms.
Morgan had a go at writing an ema wish and leaving it at the Shrine wish wall, and after that the three of us made our way to Shinjuku, where Morgan knew a hotel he had stayed at previously which offered good views of the city.
Arriving at the Keio Plaza Hotel, we took the elevator to the top floor, and were promptly given a window table, from which we could see all over Shinjuku and beyond.
 |
| An interesting example of architecture with a curved building, and the Keio Plaza in the background |
There we indulged in some champagne to start things off (wowza!), and then moved into beers, whiskey, and various other bits and pieces, while watching the sky darken and the city lights turn on, giving us an impressive view of it all!
 |
| Morgan and I, high above the hustle and bustle of Tokyo |
It was great to catch up with Morgan for the first time in almost four years, and to meet Matt, I'm sure there will be an opportunity to catch up with them in Tokyo sometime sooner or later!
Taking a look through my photos as they have accumulated over the past few weeks, I reckon there's at least two or three more blog posts with a good amount of photo content, so keep checking and they'll be there shortly!
Til next time,
Troy/Toroi
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