Tokyo or Barcelona...help?

[weidna]

hey guys, i'm looking for a little guidance from like-minded superfuturians who enjoy taking in all aspects of foreign culture but just as much enjoy having a good time...

my university offers a bunch of 3 week winter abroad sessions and i've narrowed by search down to two locations...one being in tokyo and the other barcelona (as the thread title would suggest).

i'd love to hear your thoughts on this as soon as possible, considering the application deadlines are approaching fast and i'm at a stand still. i feel like with the little bit of spanish i know along with the more western family and home cultural standards of spain, it might be a little easier living with a host family in spain compared to the wildly different behavioral expectations in an east asian family's home. not to mention i don't know a lick of japanese.

[so-so]

If you don't speak Japanese don't go to Japan for exchange I'd say. Everyone i've known who can't get by on their own has had a very... shallow experience... just hanging out with fellow countrymen in a foreign land.

[horriblyjollyjinx]

hey guys, i'm looking for a little guidance from like-minded superfuturians who enjoy taking in all aspects of foreign culture but just as much enjoy having a good time...

my university offers a bunch of 3 week winter abroad sessions and i've narrowed by search down to two locations...one being in tokyo and the other barcelona (as the thread title would suggest).

i'd love to hear your thoughts on this as soon as possible, considering the application deadlines are approaching fast and i'm at a stand still. i feel like with the little bit of spanish i know along with the more western family and home cultural standards of spain, it might be a little easier living with a host family in spain compared to the wildly different behavioral expectations in an east asian family's home. not to mention i don't know a lick of japanese.

yeah choose the country that's most comfortable and the most like home. why not go to wisconsin

[azn8oi]

who the hell goes on 3 week study abroad trips? weak and pointless at best.

that being said, if you still decide to go, I think you can get more out of barcelona. i've never been to tokyo, but I would guess that it's not very manageable, especially when you will probably have 5 days of classes a week. i personally loved barcelona as a city, and you can get a great feeling from it after only just 3 days. The longer, the better of course.

You knowing spanish won't help too much because everything is in catalunyan.

En la verdad, la gente puede hablar Castellano (la lengua que el mundo piensa es la verdadera 'español') pero no les gustan hablar Castellano. Todas las cosas en la ciudad, por ejemplo los restaurantes, los menús, las muestras en las calles-- todos son escritos por la lengua Catalunya.

en barcelona los bancos se llaman "las caixas".

be ready for stuff like that.

[horriblyjollyjinx]

I've been doing tokyo english-only for two weeks, no prob at all. who the hell wants to go to southern europe.

[outline]

barca and tokyo? are you being serious mate? )

[weidna]

who the hell goes on 3 week study abroad trips? weak and pointless at best.

that being said, if you still decide to go, I think you can get more out of barcelona. i've never been to tokyo, but I would guess that it's not very manageable, especially when you will probably have 5 days of classes a week. i personally loved barcelona as a city, and you can get a great feeling from it after only just 3 days. The longer, the better of course.

You knowing spanish won't help too much because everything is in catalunyan.

En la verdad, la gente puede hablar Castellano (la lengua que el mundo piensa es la verdadera 'español') pero no les gustan hablar Castellano. Todas las cosas en la ciudad, por ejemplo los restaurantes, los menús, las muestras en las calles-- todos son escritos por la lengua Catalunya.

en barcelona los bancos se llaman "las caixas".

be ready for stuff like that.

you have a point. i studied in mexico for a few weeks this past summer and did pretty well communicating with strangers. i realize their dialects, so to speak, of spanish are quite different and i should start using my "th"s if i decide to go that route. i still think i'd be a little more head-started immersed in their language as opposed to being in tokyo.

yeah, it's three weeks. not ideal but its better than nothing. would you rather sit on your culo at home for the three weeks before school starts after christmas and new years are already done with?

i'm beginning to lean a little more towards heading to spain...i've got a lot of friends that are going and i agree with most of your opinions about going somewhere a little more home-like. japan is my number one future place to go but i feel like i should be spending at least a month there to allow myself time to see everything and become somewhat adjusted.

barca and tokyo? are you being serious mate? )

yeah, they are probably the top two cities in the world on my "to visit" list. so naturally they are going to be my top two options here.