The Journey Begins: Kanazawa Daigaku @ Kindai

Assalamualaikum. OK, after weeks of procrastinating, now baru ada mood nak create new posting. Kikiki, gomen ne! While waiting for my Aztec Clay Mask to dry, sempat lah kot nak cerita sikit pasal my journey so far belajar kat Nihon ni. K jom!

Baik lah, harini genap minggu ketiga aku dekat sini. Let me try my best untuk cerita detik-detik nak datang ke sini hihi. Kita mulakan dengan cerita arrival dia dulu. 25 September, 7AM gurai aku dah sampai di Narita Airport. My flight was uncomfortable. I couldn't sleep well sebab runny nose oleh kerana AC yang strong. Aku memang jenis tak tahan sangat dengan AC ni. Jadinya bila dah sampai dekat Narita Airport tu memang penat and barai. But journey dia belum habis lagi. I still need to transit to Haneda Airport. So, bila dah sorang sorang ni aku jadi anxious af. I queued lah untuk go through immigration procedure but suddenly officers tahan aku kejap. Plus other students with Visa. Aku macam pening dah apa tengah jadi time tu. So I waited for 30 minutes baru lah officers panggil then tangkap gambar apa semua bla bla bla and ada this one time aku f*cked up sikit. Masa tu officer tanya pasal arubaito/part-time job tapi sebab kan aku ni dah barai sangat time tu, Nihongo memang terus ke laut. Officer tu tanya,

「アルバイトしたいんですか？」Ada nak buat part time job ke?

Tapi disebabkan aku tengah blur time tu, aku pergi jawab,

「ないです。」Takde. (Salah penggunaan ayat aku actually, takde yang aku sebut ni lebih merujuk kepada kewujudan sesuatu benda. Should have replied, したくないです instead which means, taknak.)

Jawab pun tak betul dah jadinya. Dah spoil satu benda kat situ sebab if aku nak buat arubaito/part-time job, aku kena isi this one borang so that diorang boleh bagi card ke dokumen apa entah untuk aku buat arubaito, in case if I wanted to lah. But time tu dah panik sangat, aku jawab je taknak. Later if aku nak arubaito ke, mendokusai sikit sebab kena gi jauh daripada Kanazawa untuk settle this stuff. So dah lepas immigration, terus rush untuk retrieve my luggages. Disebabkan transit aku ni dua airlines yang berbeza, aku kena retrieve luggages aku and check-in sekali lagi dekat Haneda Airport nanti. Aku pun pergi lah ke kaunter tiket bas and beli lah tiket harga dia dalam 3000円. Jam 0845, bas sampai and aku gerak ke Haneda Airport. Satu jam lebih je from Narita to Haneda. Sampai Haneda aku dah relax sikit tapi perut lapar gila. Aku pun jenjalan lah sekitar airport, saje nak tengok airport dia macam mana. Masa di Narita, aku takde masa nak jenjalan sebab takut leka then jadi lambat pula naik bas ke Haneda. Di Haneda Airport, airport dia agak simple dan mudah nak faham. Tak pening kepala. Ada juga usya makanan, snacks but in the end aku beli air Fanta perisa Peach je kat vending machine huhu. Next flight pula ke Komatsu Airport pada pukul 1300 so dalam 1200 tu aku dah pergi kaunter nak check-in. Selesai check-in, dalam pukul 1230 aku get ready nak boarding. Then pukul 1400, aku sampai di Komatsu Airport.

OK kat sini ada berita baik sikit nak cerita. Sebelum aku fly ke sini, aku dah contact siap siap dah dengan komuniti pelajar di Kanazawa. How? First aku tanya my UM bestfriend, Shamin sebab kebetulan kawan dia tu bekas pelajar Ambang Asuhan Jepun yang sekarang tengah belajar di Saitama Daigaku @ Saidai. Kawan kepada kawan Shamin ni pula bagi aku contact dengan kawan dia yang belajar di Kindai. Other than that, Chihiro; my Japanese friend yang pernah satu kelas and satu group assignment masa dia buat exchange program kat UM, share juga contact kawan dia yang belajar di Kindai. So sebelum datang sini, aku dah kenal dua orang pelajar Malaysia di Kanazawa. Jadinya, diorang dah ready nak tolong pick-up aku from airport and bawa ke Kindai. Alhamdulillah, aku tak perlu pergi sendiri ke Kindai by public transport. Kindai ada bagi dua pilihan sebenarnya untuk naik chartered bus, sama ada daripada Kansai Airport atau Komatsu Airport. From Kansai Airport was too expensive, and Komatsu Airport pula bertolak dalam pukul 1430 so aku risau aku tak sempat kejar. So bila sampai di Komatsu Airport, aku agak cuak sebab WiFi airport dia tak boleh diharap. Haa pulokkk dah acano aku nak contact diorang ni haa. Tapi kebetulan as soon as aku keluar je daripada airport, nampak muka diorang. Diorang pun drove me to Kindai. Ada singgah konbini sat untuk beli makanan sebab aku lapar yang amat.

Setibanya di Kindai, specifically dekat dorm/ryou, aku terus disapa dengan Nihonjin untuk diorang explain pasal registration. Ryou aku ni total penghuni dia 8 orang termasuk 2 resident advisor Nihonjin. Masa ni, aku sangat barai. Pelajar Malaysia ada lah sekali dengan aku, jadi translator. Sangat helpful sebab Nihonjin ni depa tibai explain rules and regulation and whatnot in Nihongo. Punya sakit kepala aku nak faham. Dia bawa lah ke tempat pembuangan sampah sebab dekat Nihon, pengasingan sampah tu sangat penting. Ada hari hari tertentu untuk buang sampah. For instance, sampah boleh dibakar atau moeyasu gomi seperti kertas, sisa makanan tu dibuang setiap hari Khamis dan Ahad. Tapi sampah akan dikutip pukul 0800, so better dibuang malam sebelum tu, unless kau rajin nak bangun pagi pergi buang sampah lol. Yang penting setiap rumah masing masing ada empat tong sampah and kau kena asingkan sampah ikut jenis jenis tertentu. Kalau tak asing, punishable by law ye. Sangat strict, tapi for a reason! Dah selesai dengan pengenalan kat ryou ni, budak Malaysia pun tanya lah if aku nak beli any barang keperluan tak. I said yes so aku terus gerak ke rumah sewa diorang then after that pergi ke AEON yang berdekatan. Selesai ber-kaimonosuru/shopping dengan diorang ni, balik semula ke rumah sewa diorang. Diorang pun masak lah, and ada juga pelajar Malaysia lain yang datang so berkenal-kenalan lah. Seronok, rasa dialu-alukan gittchew. Tapi aku tak makan sangat sebab gastrik dah menyerang. Mana taknya, last aku makan dalam pukul 0400 kot, tu pun dalam flight, sarapan Nasi Lemak. So aku makan sikit je then dalam pukul 2100, diorang hantar lah aku balik ke ryou. Ada juga diorang bagi aku cooking utensils sebab better guna asing lah especially if ada housemates yang masak butaniku/daging babi. Takut tercampur pula nanti haa. Sampai je kat ryou aku tengok dekat living room je dah ramai orang ada, aku greet lah semua, sempat jikoshoukai sikit. Masuk je bilik, aku rasa penat ya rabbbbbbb. It was a loooooong day. Tapi tak boleh tidur lagi sebab aku kena unpack semua barang aku and pasang cadar apa semua THEN study untuk Nihongo placement test esok paginya. Selesai unpack, kemas bilik, pergi mandi and study. But  pukul 0230 gurai aku give up, terus tidur.

Esok pagi 26 September tu aku bangun awal, dalam pukul 0630 sebab bilik aku dah cerah. Di Nihon pukul 0600 tu dah cerah ye and pukul 1700 dah start gelap. Bila dah siap aku turun bawah ke living room and berkenal-kenalan dengan housemates aku, only some of them lah. This time proper punya. Lepas tu aku gerak sekali dengan diorang ke placement test. Hari yang lain selepas tu bermula lah program orientasi. One word to describe, MEMENINGKAN. In my opinion, Nihon ni kalau nak melancong, okay lah best. Tapi kalau nak menetap sementara/terus kat sini, haaa bersedia lah dengan procedures dia yang macam-macam. Even sekarang dah minggu ketiga pun ada lagi benda aku tak settle. Masa orientasi, berlambak files diorang bagi. Banyak gila kertas aku dapat tapi rasa macam lowkey justified lah sebab diorang recycle. So aku kena settle benda macam exemption from National Pension, National Health Insurance, tempah Hanko untuk official purposes (depa tak sign, depa pakai benda ni untuk stamp dekat document), and banyak lagi yang aku malas nak senaraikan. Sangat rumit, dan leceh. Tapi sekarang ni aku dah settle most of them lah. Tentang hari orientasi dia, sangat berbeza ye dibandingkan dengan di UM. No cheers cikaboom bagai tu (although I do admit that it was actually fun), disini lebih kepada Life Orientation. Banyak lecture, contohnya macam pasal security issues. Polis sendiri akan datang bagi talk. Pasal disaster issues, orang yang specialised in that field sendiri akan bagi talk. But zenbu Nihongo de lah ye, semuanya dalam Bahasa Jepun. Tapi ada lah diorang bagi documents pasal related stuff in English. Overall, it was okay. Agak senyap lah. Tapi ini perspektif aku sebagai pelajar antarabangsa, tak tahu lah pelajar tempatan punya orientasi dia macam mana.

Weather? Sejuk. Berangin. Selalu hujan. Memang betul lah ada this one video tentang Kanazawa, dia bagitahu yang kalau pergi ke Kanazawa jangan pernah lupa bawa payung sebab sini memang humid dan sejuk. Sekarang baru musim luruh/aki ye tapi waktu pagi tu suhu boleh cecah 9°C atau 10°C. Kulit sampai kering, bibir merekah. Ni baru aki, aku tak tahu lah musim sejuk/fuyu nanti macam mana. Last year je salji was exceptionally thick sampai daigaku kena tutup dua hari. Bertabah lah dear self masa fuyu nanti. Benda lain yang penting juga adalah silica gel. Kasut aku jadi lembap and bila lembap lebih senang nak berbau so I put silica gel inside untuk at least serap lah kelembapan tu. Boleh order through online, sini beli dekat Amazon je.

So macam mana life disini so far? Hmm, aku happy lah dapat masuk daigaku ni. Sebabkan daigaku ni kokuritsu/universiti awam, banyak komuniti pelajar Malaysia kat sini sebab most of them tajaan JPA and JPA usually taja pelajar ke kokuritsu. Yang aku kenal so far lepasan Institut Bahasa Teikyo, Ambang Asuhan Jepun. Ada juga kenal pelajar tahap Sarjana. Diorang sangat baik, willing to help and guide. Ada juga haritu pergi majlis doa selamat sebab ada this one rakyat Malaysia baru pindah kat sini so dia ajak lah kitorang pergi rumah dia. Baca Yasin, and dapat juga lah merasa makanan Malaysia. Satay, sambal, and all. Sense of community tu strong. In terms of kelas pula, agak busy especially kelas Nihongo. Di UM kelas Nihongo dua kali seminggu je. But here kelas aku 7 kali seminggu sebab aku diletakkan di Pre-Intermediate class, and it's an intensive class. Sangat banyak shukudai dia tapi I'll work hard for it and make sure next semester aku boleh masuk Intermediate class.

Tapi aku suka cara schedule waktu kelas disini. Waktu kelas terbahagi pada 6 periods. Lebih kurang sama macam waktu kelas masa SMK dulu. Kelas paling awal pukul 0845, paling lambat pukul 1800. 1015-1030 waktu breakfast or coffee break, lunch hour pukul 1200-1300. Sangat bagus actually sebab kau tak perlu risau bila nak makan. Unlike in Malaysia, kalau kelas kau pack nak mati tanpa gap on that day, haa terpaksa lah kau berlapar. Last semester aku macam tu lah, by the time kelas ketiga yang berturut-turut, aku dah lemau. Yang penting waktu makan tu ada lah. Sini if kelas pukul 0845 and aku tak sempat breakfast sebelum tu, aku sempat makan pukul 1015. Untuk kelas yang bermula pukul 1030 pula, kadang sempat breakfast kadang tak. If tak sempat pun, pukul 1200 boleh terus lunch. Tentang makanan, ada cafe kat sini yang sediakan makanan Halal. So tak ada masalah, but kalau boleh masak sendiri lah ye. Jimat duit sikit. Nak masak ni hmmm... aku akan cuba ye. Nak taknak kena belajar juga! Makanan from home pun banyak dah habis so, no choice. Housemates total 6 orang. From Taiwan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Japan of course. Semua satu kepala dengan aku and I'm so glad for that.

So far itu je kot yang aku nak cerita for now. At least that's what I can think of as now lah, dah procrastinate sangat sampai hilang ideas hahaha.

Second day in Kanazawa Daigaku, sangat suka lalu di
Acanthus Bridge ni ke kelas sebab view dia cantik!

Ryuugakusei intake Fall 2018.

Welcoming Party in my dorm, Sakigake.

Me at Kenrokuen Garden.

In Kanazawa Castle.

Masa majlis doa selamat the other day.

Fefeeling squad with other international students.

P/S: Aku sangat bersyukur dapat peluang untuk merasa belajar di luar negara. Keluar daripada zon selesa. Aku ingat lagi, masa umur 20. Masa tu aku betul-betul bertungkus lumus untuk apply belajar luar negara. Final year Diploma time tu. Aku research negara mana aku berminat nak sambung belajar. 3 countries caught my attention waktu tu; Japan, United Kingdom, dan Australia. I even contacted Malaysian students yang belajar di Jepun untuk tanya stuff like courses, how to sambung belajar disana and all. But waktu tu aku rasa kecewa sebab most of them are diligent students so biasanya ke Jepun ni under JPA. I wasn't smart enough untuk ditaja oleh JPA plus JPA biasanya taja students untuk aliran Sains but Sastera, rasanya tak kot. I was like tak apa lah, mungkin tiada rezeki. Other than that, I did get the offer to study BA Communication in University of Queensland, Australia and BA Business and Marketing in University of Lincoln, United Kingdom. But aku tak dapat cari biasiswa so in the end I had to decline those offers. Sedih sangat masa tu, especially bila mengenangkan penat lelah aku ulang-alik from UM to IDP Subang Jaya on my own untuk submit documents and all. But hey here I am now, in Japan. Walaupun bukan sebagai full-time student, but this is better than nothing. I feel so lucky, Alhamdulillah.

My Journey to Study in Japan

Post ini seolah-olah diari bagi aku dimana aku draft kan setiap stories, challenges that I went through while applying for the student exchange program. Have fun reading it! Mind you, it's a long one.


19 November 2017 / 4:30 AM

Hey, I can't sleep so I'm in the mood to write a new post.

But before that, let me give you a 'lil update. OK, it's been hectic these past few weeks, banyak challenges gila. First, assignments berlambak but luckily I managed to submit one by one. So dah kurang sikit beban. Presentations pun most of it dah buat. But there's still one report left, and few more presentations. Apart from that, I'm taking National Heritage Dance class, so the final assignment is we have to perform a dance that we have learned. And I am in charge of the choreographer for Zapin. Which is... such a heavy task for me because I can dance, but I can't choreograph! Plus, I'm the manager for Swadansa Kinabalu this year, so, need to focus on that as well. Dancers for female selected already, boys macam biasa lah kekurangan penari so I still need to find three or four more. Two days ago baru je participate Japanese Speech and Skit contest, which was very stressful as fuck for me. But, Alhamdulillah I got 1st place for the speech, 2nd place for the skit. OK lah tu but since I won 1st place, I need to present it again this Friday (24 November 2017) for JACTIM Award. Hahaha I was the emcee last year, this time I pula jadi penerima award hehe. This past few weeks had been so hectic that aku memang kurang tidur gila. And now I guess I'm already at the limit, so sekarang ni dah start demam hahaha, plus gastric. Went to clinic regarding gastric ni, and the Doctor said one of the reasons adalah stress. Aiyo, no wonder lah. Laptop pun buat hal lately, selalu bluescreen and tak boleh nak turn on, sumpah stress! Hopefully, I can stay strong for few more weeks, two months to be specific. Please be easy on me...

Anyway, since the application for Okayama Daigaku last semester was unsuccessful, I applied again this semester. International Student Centre called me, and gave me the offer to apply for Kanazawa Daigaku. I was so happy with the offer, except one thing... I'm gonna go there for A YEAR. Shit. That's way too long pula. But ISC also bagitahu that this one, ada scholarship. Tuition and accommodation fees will be waived, so scholarship tu hanya untuk belanja je. I asked my Head of Department (currently Dr Rohayati instead of Dr Asmadi 'cause he's on sabbatical leave) regarding this issue and she advised me to go with it. Asked my parents and they also approved of it and so I accepted the offer. But of course it's not as easy as that, right? Of course I have to prepare documents and shit. Kat sini lah serabut gila. Anyway, documents dah submit so tengok lah if dapat ke tak. Tak berharap pun actually sebab since kena reject application last semester, terus tawar hati hahaha. So yeah tengok lah macam mana... Will update more. But for now this post jadi draft je.

06 January 2018 / 12:18 AM

I'm actually in the middle of exam week and still waiting for the result. I don't think I'm going there next semester...

11 January 2018 / 4:56 AM

It's almost 5 AM and I'm taking a break from studying for my last paper, Economic Policy of Japan. Last week, En Hilmi; the officer from my faculty did ask me yang Kanazawa Daigaku ada send any updates ke tak which I replied, none. He then said, Kanazawa Daigaku told him that they will reveal the result either that week, or next week (this week lah, at the moment I'm writing this post). So masa last week tu I waited lah, tapi tak ada pun any updates. This week pun I menunggu juga, everyday tau check e-mail. Yesterday (Rabu) masa kat Dewan Peperiksaan terserempak dengan dia, and he asked me again ada tak any updates. I replied,

"Still tak ada lah En Hilmi..."

And I can see his expression macam shocked je. Then I said lagi,

"Takpe lah, saya tunggu lah mungkin Khamis atau Jumaat kot..."

To which he replied,

"InsyaAllah akan ada tu..."

My friends yang akan pergi ke Waseda Daigaku, Chonnnam Daehakyo, semua dah prepare dah.  Tsukuba Daigaku belum tanya pula... nanti kena tanya ni apa cerita. Yang ke Chonnam dah settle visa. Waseda, tengah settle documents sikit then boleh proceed to visa. But mine, satu apa pun tak ada updates. Tak pe lah harini (Khamis) and esok (Jumaat) je lah penentu whether I'll be going to Japan or not. If tak pergi then tak apa lah. And I won't apply anymore for exchange program sebab if dua kali apply tapi tak dapat, maybe it's not meant for me kot. Plus, lambat sangat dah tu kalau nak pergi masa Tahun Ketiga. So yeah...

15 January 2018 / 10:51 AM

So, last week memang tak ada e-mail langsung daripada Kanazawa Daigaku. I texted En Hilmi,

"Saya still tak dapat update daripada Kanazawa. Means saya tak pergi lah ni eh?"

To which he replied,

"Eh jangan macam tu. Kena tunggu jawapan."

Then dia hantar screenshot conversation dia with this one person, maybe yang in charge untuk application lah, he asked ada update ke tak from Kanazawa Daigaku. Then that person kata masih tak ada, and dia akan e-mail that university untuk minta update. I'll be waiting then, but nak kata harapan untuk dapat pergi tu dalam, 30% je rasa...

Cuti semester pun dah start, hari ni first day cuti. Masa last paper haritu, my classmates yang akan ke Chonnam, Waseda, and the rest semua duk wish "All the best in Japan!". Hahaha, padahal tak confirm lagi. Aku pun cakap lah, "Itu pun kalau pergi hahaha." Entah lah. Tengok je lah macam mana. Sekarang ni dua benda risau; risau kan result exam, dengan result application, aiyo.

30 January 2018 / 11:30 PM

En Hilmi WhatsApped me just now, dia kata Kanazawa Daigaku ada contact him. But they asked one thing, regarding my Japanese. They minta clarification yang betul ke masa aku apply tu, aku letak Japanese aku as Poor. I said yes lah. Sebab tak tahu Poor in terms of apa. Masa tu aku fikir macam, oh my Japanese ni masih lagi level elementary so that equals to poor lah. Eventhough so far walaupun selalu dapat A dalam Bahasa Jepun, tapi personally I'm still limited dalam pertuturan. So kalau nak have a conversation in Japanese, masih lagi tak fluent, which is why I think my Japanese masih poor. I have no problem in reading Japanese though, aside from Kanji lah. Kanji masih lagi merangkak. The thing is, course bahasa dekat Jabatan Pengajian Asia Timur ni semuanya bukan advance punya level. By advance tu I mean yang advance gila once you dah graduate terus Japanese you tu dah macam native, no. Dia paling kurang pun intermediate punya level je, which I think equals to level N3 lah. UNLESS, you ada inisiatif sendiri belajar Japanese betul betul and tak 100% rely on class je, then yes your Japanese maybe boleh jadi advance level.

Sebab, kelas bahasa only twice a week, 2 jam per class. Of course tak cukup kan? Compared to Fakulti Bahasa & Linguistik, diorang memang betul betul study bahasa, so I bet everyday kelas bahasa. Or even Ambang Asuhan Jepun, yang tu lagi lah. I ada ask bekas student there (now dah study kat Jepun dah, for about 1 year already) and dia kata kelas Bahasa Jepun diorang dari 8 AM-6 PM everyday for first semester. Untuk semester berikutnya, diorang dah start study the subjects in Japanese. See, that's why I kinda compared myself punya Japanese with them, and I think mine is still at Poor lagi. Anyway, En Hilmi said,

"Laa... diorang belum buat keputusan lagi. Saya bagitahu mungkin you tersilap tanda. Diorang kata kena bawa masuk mesyuarat balik untuk second evaluation sebab dia ingat Bahasa Jepun awak lemah."

I fucked up. By this time, I feel like my chance to go there is decreasing. I kind of feel like nak lost hope dah. I'm stressed. Entah lah, whatever happens, happens. Though I don't know if I can deal with the result later on, if betul kena reject. For sure lah I'll be so fucking sad. Lagi lagi bila tengok my other friends semua pergi exchange and leave me alone here. That would give a huge impact on me. Sudah lah... aku nak tidur. Esok ada latihan Feseni lagi. Yes, aku balik kolej dah since 28 Januari sebab ada perkampungan Feseni. Esok pagi (31 Januari) pula result peperiksaan Semester 3 akan keluar. I hope I'll get good grades...

8 February 2018 / 02:02 PM

Things are getting more complicated now. Semester baru dah pun start, and now nak masuk hari keempat. Sekarang tengah tunggu laundry so while waiting for that saje nak update this post. Result Semester 3 dah dapat dah. Agak kecewa but then I already expected my result memang akan jatuh sebab last semester was semester jahiliah lol. Semester lepas memang tak serious langsung. So as a result of that my CGPA jatuh 0.1, which is quite bad. Anyway, I still haven't got any updates from Kanazawa Daigaku yet and this is stressing the shit out of me, seriously. Sekarang aku memang masuk kelas, tapi tak register yet. Aku tak boleh daftar kursus sebab En Hilmi tak bagi. Actually, agak risau sebab benda ni sangat tak pasti, and sangat gamble. I only have until 19 February untuk daftar kursus. Kanazawa Daigaku ni masalahnya bagi result lambat sangat, and I don't have much time to wait tahu tak? What if (mohon simpang lah) I waited sampai lah 19 February dah lepas, then turns out tak dapat? Tak ke mampus aku nak daftar kursus macam mana sebab dah tutup?

I'm becoming more and more pissed. Even bila datang kelas pun, my friends, sensei pun tanya,

"Faiz, bila fly ke Jepun?"

And my answer would always be,

"Emmm tak pasti lagi lah. Masih menunggu confirmation lagi..."

Then semua bagi reaction terkejut. No shit, semester baru dah start and masih tak dapat lagi offer letter. Kau rasa? All my friends dah confirmed akan pergi exchange this semester. Chonnam akan fly on 28 February, Waseda pula 19 March, Tsukuba tak tanya pula tapi offer letter dah dapat. I'm the only one je yang masih menunggu keputusan. God, I'm so stressed out right now. I'm sick of waiting already.

14 February 2018 / 03:57 AM

The end.

I waited for nothing. After all the things that I have done, akhirnya ia tak membuahkan apa-apa hasil. Sangat sedih. Sangat down. I'm so mad too. Betul lah apa si Kam Yee dan Nisa warned tentang application ke Kanazawa ni. I heard many stories dah regarding this, tak tahu pula boleh jadi dekat aku. Before this, it was them yang dapat offer ni. Kam Yee sampai spent hundreds but in the end, senyap je. Then she applied again for an exchange program ke Okayama. Yang ni sekali dengan aku, but tak dapat juga. After apply buat kali ketiga, baru lah dia dapat ke Waseda. Nisa pun sama juga, dapat slot ke Kanazawa but in the end tak dapat, tapi selepas dia merayu dekat fakulti, dapat lah dia pergi ke Tsukuba.

Aku down sebab ini kali kedua aku apply, tapi tak dapat apa-apa. Hanya melabur duit je. Sejujurnya aku sedih. Sedih sebab benda ni sampai mengganggu aku. Dia buat aku stress. Acne breakout makin teruk sebab kan hal ni juga lah. Tapi nak buat macam mana, tak ada rezeki. Tipu lah kalau aku kata aku tak envy tengok kawan kawan aku yang lain semua dapat merasa pergi exchange program. Memang envy sangat sebab aku apply sama dengan diorang tapi aku tak dapat. Unless lah aku memang tak ada impian nak pergi exchange program, then of course lah aku tak kisah dapat ke tak dapat. Ni dah usaha macam macam, tapi? Tapi satu apa pun tak dapat. Memang, memang, memang sedih.

Selepas menunggu lama gila nak mampus, I decided to contact Kanazawa Daigaku. I e-mailed them tanya pasal application status. They said,

"We stopped accepting applications for Spring semester. We are now accepting applications for Fall semester until February 28. We received your application for the program A, C, and D. Could you pick one program you would like to apply?"

And I told them I wanted Program A. Sebab dia ada different programs, and I won't go into details about those other programs, malas. So after tengok betul betul, Program A start buka application October 2017, due date application dia pula February 2018, and by April 2018 baru diorang umum result. Basically, I'm not going to Japan this semester (Semester 4), but next semester (Semester 5 'til Semester 6). Itu pun kalau dapat. Sudah lah, kalau dah dua kali tak dapat, memang it is not meant for me. Aku dah penat berharap. Tidur sampai mimpi macam macam sebab risaukan benda ni.

Aku sangat bengang. Sebab bila aku refer kat ISC, dia pass kat fakulti. Tanya fakulti, macam tak endah je nak layan. Dah e-mail Kanazawa Daigaku, suruh refer orang lain pula. Rasa sakit hati sangat. Aku buat apa yang disuruh okay, dan ini yang aku dapat. Sudah lah. I accept my fate, takpe lah mungkin tak ada rezeki nak belajar di negara orang. I'm tired. Subjects semua dah register, ok now I shall focus on my Feseni, and make sure kena bounce back from bullshit semua ni. Kena naikkan semula CGPA aku yang dah jatuhkan last semester. Come on, Faiz!

That's all from me.

xx

24 February 2018 / 10:02 PM

I guess there's still hope?

Memang sedih sangat sangat, lepas dapat tahu this semester tak pergi exchange. But now I'm trying to... slowly accept this. Memang masa baru mula je Semester 4 ni, aku huru-hara gila. Fikirkan exchange program, fikirkan Feseni, kelas banyak tak datang (except kelas Bahasa Jepun) sebab masa tu dah confident akan pergi exchange this semester. But, after dah dapat tahu tak pergi exchange this semester, aku terus jatuh. Sedih, tak ada motivation, dan sebagainya. Ambil masa juga untuk aku bangkitkan diri. Now here I am, slightly better. OK, subjek aku dah daftar, kelas pun dah datang cuma agak blur sikit lah sebab missed the classes masa Week 1 and Week 2. Plus, Feseni pun nak bertanding dah ni pada 12 & 13 Mac.

Anyway, ISC ada sent me an e-mail suruh aku isi Sijil Kelakuan Baik dekat Kementerian Luar Negeri. Did that, and sijil tu dah boleh collect dah now dekat Wisma Putra, and it's gonna cost me RM20. I also met Dr Asmadi regarding this issue. Apparently aku masih berpeluang untuk pergi exchange cuma masalah besar dia ialah aku kena pergi masa Tahun Ketiga or Semester 5 dan Semester 6. Kat sini bahaya sikit sebab waktu ni semua student dah start busy dengan thesis. By Semester 7 dah start intern, kalau thesis tak ada masalah. Aku tanya Dr Asmadi apa akan jadi kalau aku pergi masa Tahun Ketiga, Dr Asmadi cakap aku memang kena extend selama 2 semester. Kiranya pengajian aku daripada 7 semester jadi 9 semester which equals to extend setahun lah. Kenapa? Sebab, bila aku dah balik daripada exchange, aku tak boleh terus pergi intern, sebab thesis aku tak siap lagi. Student kena siap thesis dulu, baru boleh intern. Batch aku pula, intern dia selama 1 semester. Ni berbeza dengan senpai aku yang pernah pergi exhange ke Kanazawa Daigaku. In her case, dia cuma extend 1 semester je. Dia ada pergi intern semasa semester khas (during semester break), then lagi satu semester untuk dia buat thesis dan ambil mana mana kelas yang dia belum ambil so in the end dia sempat graduate dengan batch dia. Batch aku sistem dah lain.

Dr Asmadi recommend aku untuk sacrifice setahun sebab dia nak bila aku pergi sana nanti, balik sini je dah boleh cakap Bahasa Jepun dengan fluent, ペラペラ lah gittchew. Tak lah fluent macam native, but fluent enough to carry a conversation in Japanese. Dia kata, tak ada guna kalau aku graduate awal tapi skill bahasa aku masih lemah. Aku setuju dengan apa dia cakap tu sebab skill bahasa aku ni lah yang nak bagi aku laku masa cari kerja nanti. Walaupun aku kena extend setahun, which means that aku akan graduate dengan junior 1 tahun daripada aku, Dr Asmadi nak aku siapkan thesis dekat Jepun supaya balik sini dah boleh relax. Dia pun sanggup nak guide aku secara online. Kiranya aku siapkan thesis kat sana terlebih dahulu, then bila balik Malaysia boleh terus submit. Nanti dah masuk Semester 7 dan Semester 8, aku cuma perlu register subjek thesis je. Tapi thesis dah siap, so aku boleh dah relax time tu, just focus pergi kelas je. Kat Jepun nanti pun, boleh dapat lebih banyak information secara direct. So by now aku dah kena start fikir tentang tajuk thesis aku.

Aku juga ada buat backup plan yang lain. Which is plan untuk pergi intern di Jepun. Semalam aku ada pergi seminar by Pasona Company dekat Fakulti Bahasa & Linguistik. Pasona ni, a company yang recruit pekerja from developing countries untuk bekerja di SME companies in Japan. Yang bagusnya tentang company ni, diorang akan fully sponsor internship kat sana for 3 months (or more) dan diorang akan berikan daily stipend of 4000¥. Semua ni under Japan government so it's definitely not a scam. In case aku tak dapat pergi exchange, aku kena usaha untuk dapat pergi intern di Jepun. If masa intern, aku tunjuk great performance, diorang akan terus hire untuk jadi permanent employee. But, persaingan memang sangat sengit. Tak ramai yang dipilih, of course, benda macam ni bukan mudah but still, it's worth giving it a try.

I think that's all for now. For now aku kena tunggu bulan April untuk tahu result sama ada aku pergi exchange atau tidak. Bye.

21 March 2018 / 02:52 AM

To my classmates,

Ying Ying, Audrey, Vivien who flew to Korea (Chonnam Daehakyo) already; Azwar, and Kam Yee who flew to Japan (Waseda Daigaku) two days ago; and Ainul who will fly to Japan (Tsukuba Daigaku) soon, I wish you guys all the best. Have a lot of fun studying abroad! 楽しんでねぇ！Gotta admit that I quite envy seeing you guys have the chance to study abroad. The result from Kanazawa Daigaku will come out next month, I'll be waiting. This will determine whether I'm going to Japan or not.

OK now Feseni dah habis. Aku sangat lega. Boleh focus kat study terus. 24 March ni start dah mid-sem break pastu ada lagi another seven weeks before exam. Tak lama dah weh...

29 March 2018 / 09:47 PM

Forgot to update, last Monday (26 March) I went to Putrajaya untuk collect Sijil Kelakuan Baik or Certificate of Good Conduct. ISC told me to apply for that sebab nak stay luar negara for more than 6 months. Hopefully ni one step closer to study in Japan, InsyaAllah.

04 April 2018 / 01:41 AM

Took a nap around 12 am for about half an hour, so right now I'm feeling a little bit fresh tapi agak lapar. Lepas ni nak study a little bit then sambung tidur balik. It's e-Learning Week now so no need to attend class sebab all classes conducted online. Anyway, it's April already! The result will come out this month. I'm nervous but also excited. I'm hoping for the best. Just please, let me know the good news. Please. Ya Allah...

13 April 2018 / 10:28 PM

It's been two weeks and I'm still waiting for the result. Two weeks more. If still there's no e-mail from them then for sure lah I'm not going to Japan for the next two semesters. Anyway, I went to Nikkei Asian Recruiting Forum in Tokyo seminar at Fakulti Bahasa & Linguistik this morning. Kalau previously I went to seminar by Pasona untuk internship (and possibility untuk work in Japan), this time dia bukan internship but for lifetime employment. Well in general companies in Japan memang tak fire employees pun, the employees yang usually quit if ada masalah. Eventhough the company tak fire kau, but their treatment akan jadi makin cold towards you if still no improvement after making bad performance/mistakes. So bila employees dah kena psycho macam tu, dia sendiri akan rasa pressure then quit.

OK ok dah melalut pula. Beza seminar ni, yang ni company Japan yang besar punya. Pasona haritu more to SMEs, yang Nikkei ni more to companies yang besar like Nikkei itself, Yamaha, Mitsubishi, Panasonic etc. Nikkei ni, if chosen, dia akan hantar student pergi one-week orientation program in Japan. Pastu akan ada interview terus kat sana at the end of the program. If passed, then terus kerja in Japan. Right now I'm just trying to maximize my chances untuk work in Japan haha. That's all for now, next update I will reveal lah dapat ke tak offer ke Kanazawa Daigaku. Bye.

22 April 2018 / 04:45 AM

Third week, still no confirmation from them. I WhatsApped En Hilmi two days ago regarding this issue. He seemed clueless about it which made me worry lah. But he said, ISC will inform me about this around June. JUNE? ARE YOU FOR REAL? So I sent him the screenshot yang Kanazawa e-mailed me back in February which they said,

"Program A will begin on October 1st, 2018. We will inform you (your University) the selection result in April."

Then En Hilmi said that dia akan forward this to ISC. At this time, I don't wanna do much dah. I'm tired. It gets to the point yang aku rasa macam, sudah lah. I know I won't be accepted, just tell me already so that I can move on and don't have to think about this anymore. I just wanna be done with this, focus on my study in Malaysia and work (in Japan if ada rezeki). It's tiring you know. Penantian tu satu penyeksaan. The uncertainty, I can't deal with it.

I was doing my assignment petang semalam at the faculty and I stumbled upon my Japanese friend, Junnosuke or Jun. After sembang sikit then he asked me,

"So Faiz, have you got the confirmation from Kanazawa yet?"

I told him, tak dapat lagi and I don't really wanna think too much about it anymore. I'm ready with the possibilities of them not accepting me. Then dia bagitahu yang kawan dia, from Fakulti Bahasa dan Lingustik (majoring in Japanese language) dah dapat confirmation dah from Kanazawa Daigaku. Masa tu terkejut kejap. Satu, eh I won't go there alone lah kiranya! I thought I was the only student in UM yang akan ke Kanazawa. Luckily ada orang lain juga. Dua, SHE GOT THE CONFIRMATION ALREADY? Then I guess it's clear lah my application tak accepted sebab I think Kanazawa Daigaku akan sponsor few students je. Jun told me lagi, yang kawan dia tu apply with her twins. Kembar dia lagi sorang still menunggu confirmation from Kanazawa. If kembar dia tu sama major, then... tahu tahu je lah siapa yang accepted. Of course lah them since their Japanese is good compared to mine. I think Kanazawa akan prioritise them instead of me.

Anyway, even my junior pun siap dapat dah confirmation from their university untuk pergi exchange. Me? Haha, I've been waiting since last semester lagi. God, I'm really, really, extremely tired with this already. So yeah, just hurry up with the result lah so I can forget this thing. I'm exhausted. It's affecting me, mentally. Until then, bye.

07 May 2018 / 01:44 AM

Applied for Okayama Daigaku early last year, in the end tak dapat. But I didn't give up. I applied again for Kanazawa Daigaku, late last year. I also rejected offers from Sejong Daehakyo, and Chonnam Daehakyo because I want to follow my dream of studying in Japan. Went through a lot of stress, sampai caused me acne breakouts yang until now pun still tak heal lagi.

Now, I can finally say... Alhamdulillah. Yes. ALHAMDULILLAH. I got accepted! With full scholarship too! Bila April passed by, I was like memang putus harapan lah. But last Thursday (3 May) En Hilmi WhatsApped me. He told me that I got accepted. I was in Japanese Language class during that time so perasaan masa tu memang mixed sangat. I felt somewhat tak excited but I can say for sure lah rasa lega nak mampus. Cuma agak upset sikit sebab this university tak stay true to their schedule. Kata in April nak bagi offer? Tapi 2 May baru inform. But it's okay, janji accepted juga lah kan hihi!

Thank you for this opportunity, Kindai!

Honestly, up until now still tak rasa macam excited teruk. Rasa macam biasa je. Masa dapat offer sambung study in UM lagi excited kot compared to this one haha I don't know why. But I believe, masa tengah buat preparation nanti akan datang kot rasa excited and nervous tu. Sekarang ni tak prepare apa apa lagi kot but nanti nak pergi office jabatan untuk settle kan this issue, macam kena buat surat lah bla bla bla. I also approached the other UM student yang join this program, thanks to Jun. If I'm not mistaken, kiranya me and her je lah yang akan pergi ke Kanazawa Daigaku nanti. Not sure if fly together ke tak, but kalau boleh nak lah macam tu, easier. Takut lah fly sorang, nervous hahaha. Alright, I'm not gonna post this 'post' just yet. I'll update more about the progress later ok! For now I can relax, say Alhamdulillah because Allah granted my wish.

OK lah, it's Week 13 now, and next week adalah minggu terakhir for this semester then I'll have my first paper on 31st of May. Eeeekk, gotta focus on my exams dulu! Nihongo pun dah kena start level up kot untuk prepare placement test kat sana nanti haha.

Later!

xx

16 August 2018 / 06:40 PM
Wow! Lama tak update. Bersarang ter0xx hahahaha. Actually banyak updates tau tapi aku terlampau lah malas haha. Cuti semester dah nak habis baru lah ada rasa rajin lmao. Biar aku cerita sikit tentang apa je aku buat cuti semester ni. Firstly, dalam awal bulan July ada lah dapat panggilan untuk buat show tarian sempena Hari Raya dekat Selayang. Show untuk open house. Not bad lah, dapat lah RM200 setiap seorang. Habis dengan show, ada juga cari kerja part-time but banyak yang tak nak terima, sebab tempoh kerja too short. Upset juga lah tak dapat nak cari extra pocket money. Dan sampai sekarang aku bergoyang kaki je lah di rumah.

OK ok, tak ada lah goyang kaki je, ada juga sentuh sikit sikit Nihongo, sebab sana nanti ada placement test kan. Serabut juga lah cuti semester ni, kena ulang alik UM untuk settlekan macam macam. Yang penting tiket penerbangan aku dah book; aku akan fly on 24th September 2018 pada pukul 11.30PM. About a month from now. Pakaian winter pun dah shop sikit sikit. Actually tadi baru singgah UM sebab nak ambil Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) so that I can proceed dengan Visa. Sebelum gerak UM tadi, ada lah call ISC untuk tanya ada document atas nama aku dah sampai tak. Diorang kata ada, so I went to UM lah. Bila tengok, nama tu Faiq bukannya Faiz. Adoi. Diorang salah dengar, buat penat je. Ingat boleh lah nak settle Visa cepat cepat.

Pergi juga ke fakulti untuk deal dengan hal macam PTPTN (pause kejap pinjaman masa pergi exchange nanti), penarikan diri (buat sementara) selama dua semester daripada UM. Pasal tarik diri ni, ada problem sikit. Aku dapat surat ke rumah, dia kata dia luluskan penarikan diri aku tapi hanya untuk satu semester je, bukan dua. Semester 2 2018/2019 aku dah kena lapor diri, kalau tak status pelajar UM diluputkan. I was like, "What????!!!!" That's why I went to faculty untuk solve the issue. Rupanya Seksyen Kemasukan dan Rekod (SKR) cuai. Fakulti kata, tunggu SKR hantar surat yang baru. Nanti aku kena datang UM lagi untuk ambil CoE... haih.

Banyak juga aku berbalas e-mail dengan Kanazawa Daigaku. Ada lah diorang bagi update tentang dormitory, minggu orientasi, flight information, student's health care etc. Tak lama dah ni nak fly, so excited yet nervous. xx

28 August 2018 / 02:04 AM
OK bila buka Instagram, batch yang exchange ke Korea dah start update Stories diorang dengan ketibaan di airport lah, check-in dormitory lah, berjalan-jalan dengan geng lah and semua tu buat aku makin nervous. Next week, my juniors or kouhaitachi pula akan start fly ke Japan. A 'lil update sikit ok tentang junbi or preparation aku ni. Sekarang ni masih menunggu CoE daripada Jepun which means aku masih tak buat Visa lagi ni dan ianya agak merisaukan ye sebab kurang daripada 4 minggu je aku nak fly. For me, I feel like itu agak suntuk dah tu. Barang winter rasa cukup dah kot beli. Mostly beli bundle je. Nak beli yang baru daripada Universal Traveller memang tidak mampu lah uolls! I shopped at Jalan Jalan Japan (area Shamelin Mall), Sasuke (Kg. Pandan Indah), and yang paling puas hati sekali dekat Bandoru (Shah Alam). Bandoru pula, kebetulan ada buat sale besar-besaran yang baru je start 24 August lepas sampai 2 September ni. Harga baju yang beratus, boleh dapat kat situ berpuluh je. Even cheaper than Sasuke honestly. Muffler dekat Sasuke aku beli RM15, dekat Bandoru RM5. The heck??? Kualiti serupa baru ok which is why aku sangaaaat lah berpuas hati. I bought this one winter jacket yang ada bulu-bulu tu, haa kalau baru agaknya beratus kot but I bought if for RM70. OK ok ok shameless plug di situ pula ye, maaf saya bukan duta untuk setiap kedai ni ye ihiks.

Anyway, surat penarikan diri yang baru dah sampai di rumah, few days ago. Diorang mohon maaf atas kesulitan whatsoever lah. Sekarang tinggal nak settlekan Visa, brush up sikit Nihongo aku yang dah karat lagi reput ni, and beli barang keperluan macam MAKANAN, toiletries etc. Duit pun kena convert juga ni. After I'm done with all of these, I'm pretty much ready to go. Ready to go lah ye, bukan ready to adapt once I arrived in Japan later on. So for the time being, sebab kan rasa nervous (but excited), aku tengok tengok lah video airport punya persekitaran macam mana, daigaku punya tempat macam mana sebab aku ke sana seorang kot! Kalau ada geng at least boleh lah teamwork untuk jalan jalan kat sana. Tapi ni tak, aku seorang je so memang kena be prepared mentally and physically and pengetahuan-ly, gittchew.

15 September 2018 / 05:50 PM
Alright, I'm typing this while listening to Gorillaz's The Now Now album. WOW. Pejam celik pejam celik, 9 hari je lagi aku nak fly??? What??? I'm getting more and more nervous everyday. So, 12/9 haritu pergi UM kejap sebab nak ambil Certificate of Eligibility supaya aku boleh proceed untuk buat visa. Pergi UM pun bukannya ambil CoE then terus blah. Sempat lah jumpa classmates kejap. Sembang sambil makan sekali. Sempat juga aku masuk kelas Dr Asmadi (Ekonomi Politik Jepun) saje menyibuk kejap hahaha. Habis kelas tu ada lah sembang dengan sensei. Then I bid farewell to my classmates sebab rasanya lepas ni tak ada nak visit UM dah kot, for a while lah. Bila fikir balik, haritu lah last time aku tengok muka some of them, especially yang tak pergi exchange or repeat paper langsung. Sebab habis je aku exchange diorang dah intern, aku pun sama. Then habis intern diorang tunggu convo pula, while aku pula kena sambung sama ada 2 semester atau 1 semester + semester khas/short sem.

OK masa 12/9 haritu ingat nak buat visa terus tapi aku macam mehhhh lepak jap lah dekat UM. Weather pun tak berapa nice, hujan and lembap sangat. The more humid, the more I sweat and aku dah rasa tak selesa dah masa tu. Fikir nak balik and mandi je. So habis lepak dekat UM terus balik rumah. Esok tu 13/9 baru proceed dengan buat visa. I went to Embassy of Japan dekat KL. Sebelum masuk kena isi borang. Then dapat tag ada number then baru boleh masuk. Masa masuk, phone aku guard tu ambil, bag dia scan, badan aku pun sama. Macam dekat airport lah. Then dah masuk, aku proceed lah ke counter. Masa dekat counter, staff tu kata aku tak ada salinan CoE. Hah pulok dah... Dia bagi balik documents aku. Aku pun keluar lah daripada Embassy tu pergi kedai berdekatan cari mana boleh photostat. Ada lah this Vietnamese restaurant (Embassy of Japan bersebelahan je dengan Embassy of Vietnam), so aku photostat di situ. It costed me RM1 sehelai, black and white tau. 高すぎ！Mahal sungguh! Then nak masuk Embassy kena repeat step sama. Aiyo, kabut semacam aku time tu. Documents dah cukup baru lah staff tu accept. Passport, CoE aku dia ambil and suruh datang balik petang esok untuk ambil passport yang dah lengkap dengan visa. Esok tu 14/9 aku datang collect. Then settle!

Now dah settle dah in terms of documents nak travel ke sana. Tinggal nak prepare barang untuk bawa ke sana je. You know food, cash, and other barang keperluan. Ya Allah seminggu je lagi ok ok ok ganbare!

10 October 2018 / 07:35 PM (UTC +9)
Jeng jeng jeng! Haa nampak tak time zone dah tukar tu. Yep, I have safely arrived in Japan, well, it's been three weeks now here. HAHAHA sorry I have been very busy, only now baru ada masa nak post. OK, aku cerita sikit je tentang on the day aku fly tu. First three weeks kat sini aku cerita on another post. So masa 24th September tu after waktu Maghrib terus gerak KLIA. Masa kat sana, my friends from UM datang lah visit untuk send me off. Mak and Abah balik awal dulu sebab maybe nak bagi laluan untuk aku lepak dengan kawan kawan kot. Tepat 10.30 pm aku terus ready boarding and said goodbye to my friends.

Thanks Mak and Abah sebab hantar Faiz pergi Jepun lagi.

From left: Thanks to Hani, Ainul, Darren, Shamin, Zaini,
Ghani, Hadi, and Iman for sending me off!