I truly recommend PayPal. Until now I only made good experiences with it. (Although I haven't used it that often)

I'm back from the Japan Tag in Düsseldorf.
Great shows and too much people.
Highlight was
and the hanabi.

I've taken some videos and pictures. I hope I can upload them during the week.

That brass band is awesome!!!

Looking forward to those uploads...

Would have loved to go there .whiteflag.

btw, gonna go to the Post office and get my package now! It arrived on friday

The Single is definitely worth the wait!!! May you listen to it 24/7...

Speaking of 24/7, 24時間プラスの夜明け前 could very well be my favourite Scandal song of all times.

I'll probably also choose AIR MAIL for my next purchase - How long did it take until it arrived and do you have to pay the custom fees at the Post Office?

I didn't have to pay custom fee since it was only one single worth around 17€ (incl. shipping fee).
As far as I know you have to pay Mehrwertsteuer for a value of goods from 22€ and above.
The order was shipped on May 20 and arrived on May 25.

At first I didn't like 24時間プラスの夜明け前, but the more I listen to it, the more I love it!

Ok thank you for the info - time to preorder the new FliP album...

Which version of the single did you get?

Special Limited A! .clap.

独りの独逸人ファンに成らなかったって何と無くホッとしたけん。（￣▽￣）=３
ＣＤに於いて取り合えず、夏休みに亘り、来日のきっかけで必ず購入。(≧▽≦)
予約なんて、輸入代などでめっちゃ高いさかい。

Übersetzung: irgendwie bereitet es mir eine Freude zu wissen dass, ich nicht der einzige Deutsche hier bin.
Bezüglich der CD jedenfalls fahre ich die Sommerfehrien nach Japan. Bei der Gelgenenheit hole ich mir sie auch. Bestellung ist mir zu teuer.

transaltion_: i am a kind of glad to see that i am not the only German fan here. Referring to the Cd , i will buy it in the summer vacation using the trigger of visiting japan. Ordering is too expensive for me.

So you finally found us!

Welcome to our german thread

I know what you mean. I was thinking about ordering more CD's, but then I decided to buy them when I'm there, too.

Welcome chouetsu

Are you self-taught or did you study Japanese?

I really envy you both for being able to go to Japan, but then again I'm not as proficient in Japanese as the two of you and I imagine that I'd have a hard time over there.

Well, in Tokyo you can get along with English very well.
People there are so friendly and always started talking to us in english. We didn't even ask for help. They asked us, if wee need help!
And the best way to learn a language, is using it IN the country!

I hope, I will get the chance to study abroad next year

That's good to know!!!

Before that I'll have to finish my bachelor's degree anyway and then I'm gonna take it from there.
A year abroad would certainly be nice - not sure whether it'd be feasible in my field of expertise - but I'll root for you!!!

Any tips for studying? I recently acquired the first げんき book and I'm slowly working through it...

Haha, thank you!

Btw, funny that you mention it. I'm writing my B.A. thesis right now about energy policies in Japan.
What do you study, and what are you writing about, if I may ask?

Hummm tips... Actually I have no tips for you as I think about it. Stamina! Study, study, study! Stupide auswendig lernen. It's sometimes frustrating how slowly I progress. Especially when I consider how long I am learning by now, but how little I understand .whiteflag. Though, I still love it! To me, it's never been so much fun to learn a language. You already got the best book to learn it

I study Biology but I'm only in the 2nd semester because I changed my major - originally I studied Life Science Engineering. Therefore I don't have to worry about my B.A. thesis yet...

The Japanese energy policies seem like an interesting topic, at least from what I know - good luck with that!!! Do you major in Japanese studies?

Thank you for the encouraging words - if my former years of study have taught me anything, it would definitely be "stupides auswendig lernen"!!!

Uhhh, biology... Too complicated for me! ^^

Thank you! Yeah, it's pretty interesting at the moment. Actually it's a core subject called "Asienwissenschaften" (asian studies) at my university. But you choose an asian language from the beginning on and have subjects like asian history. From the third semester you can focus yourself on linguistics (in that case you have to choose another asian language) or on a specific country. I'm in the 8th semester now, because I changed my focus from linguistics to Japan studies

Oh, and maybe I got a tip for you! But I don't know if your university offers such a thing. The international office at my university offers a buddy-program. If you participate, you will get an international student who will come to your university for the next semester as a buddy. Then you can do some nice activities (sometimes organized by the international office) and help him with small problems. Sometimes you can choose from which country you would like to get a buddy. If you're lucky, you get a japanese student and then you can help each other with the language doing tandem

I met several really nice japanese students in this program and I'm still very close with my buddy, although she left last August ;-( She's also the one who got the SCANDAL tickets for us! ^^ I'm really looking forward to see her and all the others again this summer!

That sounds pretty cool!!! Do you have a certain career in mind (eg. translator, correspondent...)?
I also considered studying something in this field but I wasn't sure what to do with such a degree.

Thank you very much for the buddy-program tip - I'll definitely look into that...

Yaahhhh, that's the big question everyone wants to know.... .sweat.
At first, when I still focused on linguistics, I wanted to become a translator. But now, since I found out, that I like Japan studies more.... Seriously, I have no idea! .whistle. At the moment, I'm studying Asian Studies because I like it!

Haha - I now that feeling all too well...

The way I see it, is as long as you have fun and enjoy your study new possibilities will open up and eventually you'll succeed.

You could for instance organize an European Scandal tour!!?

Or gonna be their interpreter!!! .cool.

申し訳ないです、最近バタバタさかい、中々休憩は取ってないで。
因みに、日本語なら、大幅自習で勉強したやけど成人学校で通ってるけえん。自慢する積りはないけど、わしのレーベルは尚更高そう見たいやけん。
頑固な人柄の俺は毎日少なくても２時間日本語を勉強するや。
映画や新聞は日課なので副詞は要らないのは当たり前けん。
所が、今年を以ってＮ１を挑戦したいと思うわ。
初来日を前もって、其れを合格すれば嬉しい限りや。
来年、其処で語学院で大学予習講座を参加したいと思うので、
其れ迄に精一杯、頑張りたいと思います。
所で、一番日本語で邁進する方法は先ず(die kanji lernen und behalten)
と言う二冊を勉強のを究めれば、「漢字」と言うの障害は一応なくなりました。
その分、鈍くＪＬＰＴに対応する文書との自習を進める。
その場、並行的に日本テレビを視聴とか、新聞を拝読との始めるとかとの方法は僕にとって唯一だったのです。
取りあえず、日本語の開始や進める本人の方へ根気、自粛、頑固や成功を願ってます。

übersetzung:

Ich entschuldige mich, hatte letztens viel um die Ohren so dass ich nicht zum Vorbeischauen gekommen bin.
Übrigens, bezüblich des Japanischlehrnens besuche zwar die Volkshochschule aber das meiste habe ich alleine gelernt.
Will hier jetzt nicht angeben, aber die Lehrerin sagt mir das mein Level weit über den geforderten liegt.
So hartnäckig ich auch bin , lerne ich mindestens 2 Stunden am Tag Japanisch.
Das Zeitunglesen und Fehrnsehrgucken (ohne Untertitel) gehören bei mir zu Tagesprogram.
Übrigens , habe ich vor dieses Jahr mich den N1 zu stellen.
Ich währe nämlich äußerst darüber erfreut sein , wenn ich vor meiner ersten Japanreise(überhaut ersten) diesen schon in der Tasche hätte.
Nächstes Jähr will ich mich nämlich bei einer Sprach Schule an einen uni-vorbereitungskurs teilnehmen.
Bis dahin gebe ich mir viel Mühe.
Übrigens, am schnellsten japanisch zu lernen ist meinens Erachtens (wenn man die alphabete drauf hat) wenn man mit dem Buch "die kanji lernen und behalten" anfängt und mit dem 2ten Band erweitert.
Meistert man diese、 sind Kanjis kein Problem mehr!
Hiernach solte man meines Erachtens nach nun das JLPT Materieal pauken und parallel dazu Fehrsehr schauen und auch mit dem Zeitunglesen beginnen(zb asahi).Eine solche Methode war für mich die beste .
Jedenfalls wünsche ich den japanisch Anfängern so wie denen die weiter lernen Geduld, Hartnäckigkeit, Selbstdisziplien und Erfolg.

translation:

sorry for not being online for the last time as i am actually very busy.
Btw. referring to Japanese learning i have learned the most by my self but i also attend a community college. I do not want to swagger here but , with reference on my teachers comment ,i have reached a higher level as requested.
As my character is stubborn, i learning Japanese every day for 2 hours as a minimum.
Reading newspapers or watching TV(without subs) has become a daily routine for me.
I am planing to take the N1(JLPT) as a challenge this year.
As this year it will be my first visit to Japan , i would be very happy if i pas the exam before arriving.
Until then i keep trying very hard.
Btw. i think the fastest method to master Japanese is to begin with the book (die kanji lernen und behalten)[do not know the English title] and continue with the second book.
Mastering it, you nearly do not have any problems with Kanjis any more.
Mastered it, you can begin (or continue) with learning on JLPT materials parallel to watching TV and (beginning with)reading newspapers (eg. asahi shinbun).
However it was the best method for me.
For the Beginners and who continue with learning Japanese i wish them Patience, self-discipline ,Stubbornness ,and success.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGa4ezhglZnNl2Lf8t1mSeRgq4WA6dQYm
That are not all videos I've made this day, but I can`t upload more at the moment. I had to leave my flat, they turned off the energy, the water was too close. So I also can't upload any pictures.

I hope I can do it next week.

Oh, IceT, you are affected by the flood? I really hope everything will be alright for you and wish you all the best!

not really, my flat is on the second/third floor, so I have no really damages (only the things I had to leave in the fridge), but I can't use my flat as long as there is no electricity. :D

Thank you very much for the effort!!!

My botany exercise was cancelled because we would need diving equipment to reach the meadows...
Hopefully the worst part of the flood is over and you'll soon be able to return to your flat.
Best of luck!!!