Re: Christmas Giveaway - International Romance
#2 by Deco Bryl - Dec 21 2017
I would love to study in Japan. My best friend moved there, and I miss him dearly, but I just don't have the job skills that would qualify me for immigration. At least by becoming a student, I'd be able to stay in Japan—and be close to him—for a few years.
Another reason I want to study in Japan is so I can improve my Japanese. There's only so much I can do in an English-speaking country. My listening comprehension remains my worst skill; I can't even order food because I have no idea what restaurant employees are saying back to me. It's embarrassing. I want to immerse myself in a Japanese-speaking environment so I can learn the language more effectively. There's so much to the language I never got in textbooks, websites, or class studies.
My main motivation for being in Japan is to be close to my best friend, so doing things is a distant, secondary concern. I suppose I could go to the Ghibli Museum and the Doraemon Museum (well, okay, it's technically the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum) whenever I felt like it, which would be nice. I could make a semi-annual pilgrimage to Oarai, Ibaraki, to pay homage to "Girls und Panzer." (The pork cutlet at Cook Fan, a real-life restaurant featured in the show, is even better than it looks in the show. The unlimited rice is really nice, too.) If I worked up the courage, I could even take a trip to the place that inspired the little town in "Your Name." But even if I get bored of everything, I can always call up my best friend and hang out with him. That's better than any entertainment money can buy.
There are a few things I'm worried about, though. One, money. I have no idea whether I'd be able to pay for my living expenses or whether I'd even have enough left over for entertainment. Two, COCKROACHES. Those things are FREAKY. I hear they're not quite as bad as the Hong Kong variety, but they still look just as nasty.
If I could do something fanciful, it'd be to get really good at science so I can engineer an extremely deadly and communicable bioweapon that targets only cockroaches. I don't care if there's a chance the bioweapon could kill humans, as well. I hate cockroaches *that* much. While I was at it, I'd make another extremely deadly and communicable bioweapon that targets only silverfish, as well.
Come to think of it, there's one other thing that would worry me. It's all those mock missile attacks from North Korea. I'm pretty worried for my friends already; if I lived there, I'd have to worry for me, as well. I really hope these mock attacks won't become real.
Well...okay, there's one last reason I want to study in Japan. There's a girl I like. After she helped me get through a really bad situation, I fell in love with her. Based on my interactions with her, though, I've concluded she doesn't like me back. But hope never dies, even when you wish it would. There's a renegade part of my mind that persists in believing I can somehow win her heart over time, especially if I lived in Japan myself. But that's a fantasy that's even less realistic than developing a bioweapon against cockroaches and silverfish.
