Countdown - 2+ weeks left

I was the last one to arrive at the briefing T_T There was just us three students plus the secretary (Ms. Tada, I think) and my ol'friend Adi along with two more people - one of 'em was a guy who was a scholarship student to Japan and had come back to Brunei. He had taken the same (I think) special training course which the guy student with us (Afi is is his name) and with him was another lady - I wasn't clear on what their relationship was but I didn't hear her speak much so.... Well, I'm not sure what the name of the other student is yet - the one who is going for masters.... Her name began with an 'A', that's all I remember ^_^;

It was fun, the guy (ex-s'ship student, who had graciously come all the way down from KB), talked about his experiences when he'd first gone to Japan. Arrival, maps, a little about Tokyo and all that. Very helpful. But then the other two are going to Tokyo (well, the girl will be going to Yamanashi - I haven't checked where that is yet) and I'll be the only one going to Osaka. He couldn't say much about Osaka, but he mentioned that he had a friend who stayed there all on his own, and he was okay. So he said that I should be okay too. Right? ^_^; *nervous laugh*

Well anyway, after that he and the lady with him had to go (that was 11ish-am - we started at around 10am, visas first and then the little 'talk') and then the masters student had to go as well, which meant that the only ones left were Afi, Adi, Ms. Tada and me. They pulled me aside to talk a little bit more about Osaka and handed me all these information books which were all just... really a good read. All about Japan (of course) and some back issues which were bilingual so I could start reading the Japanese texts. I mean, not that I can do that much yet, but I'm trying ^_^ and it's fun.

I got my ticket. And I had a crash course of what to do with them - I'm definitely going to write down the steps somewhere just in case I forget hehe~ 17 days left. Half of me just can't wait. The other half is still asleep~ hehe

1/ Kansai International Airport, the one I'll be going to, is situated on reclaimed land - or should I say reclaimed 'island', just a few kilometres off Osaka bay. Very isolated. Very interesting. There's only one entrace/exit road connecting that teeny island to the main island - Honshu (it's the biggest of Japan's islands).

2/ They say that I should remember one thing when I head to Osaka - that Osaka is not 'Japan'. I didn't get that (much), but it looks like it won't be long before I find out anyway. Osaka, apparently as I was told, is the place to go for 1/ good food, 2/ trade and 3/ comedy. In all Japan, only Osaka has (practically) their own 'brand' of comedy. No matter where it's presented, it's always in Kansai-dialect, always in the Osaka-n way. Ahahah. This I don't get either, but it looks like I'll find out ^_^; I will find out.

3/ Osaka is in Kansai, and they have a different dialect than the ones from Tokyo (which I presume is the closest to the standard Japanese). When we say 'arigatou' for 'thank you', they go something like 'ookishii'. (If I got that right) Very interesting. Kansai-ben vs Tokyo-ben. I wonder which one I'll end up having ^_^ although Ms. Tada assured me that they teach the standard Japanese in classrooms. But wouldn't it be cool to learn that dialect as well! WOOOT~