EF and me

So... Education First.

Reviews seemed nice, lots of students, good after-class activities, can stay with a native family, and so on. Just what I was looking for, so I spoke with them (many calls and WhatsApp messages with Adrian, from Barcelona) and got some very good vibes. Planned the flights and stay so I could spend all of March there. But, as it tends to happen, I get anxious, and started double-guessing everything.

During these months (been planning for this trip since October) I've had many questions, so I spoke often with my "Student Supervisor" Sonia. Oftentimes days would pass by without a reply, so I was forced to call them (big red flag: email speed and quality went down as soon as they had my money). In December I receive an email saying that "from now on, Ingrid will be in charge of my experience". Sure, those things happen, and it's better for me, as she was in Madrid and not in Barcelona; I was happy about it, as Sonia was terribly slow to reply, and when she did, was with vague answers.

Days went by without replies so I kept calling the office in Madrid; "Oh, Ingrid has moved to Barcelona now". Ok, after many voicemails, I wish I had known earlier, but oh well. I nag the Catalonian office; "Oh, sorry, Ingrid is no longer in charge of students. Do you know Sonia? She's in charge of you now". Great.

I decided to investigate more, starting with the reviews. That's where it hit me.

I am such an idiot. Tell me if you see something funny with these positive reviews that were chosen randomly from the Google page:

All of them are from users with one review. Negative reviews, on the other hand, are from "Local Guides" and people with many reviews, so they feel more legit. Not saying that they do fake advertising or anything like that, but this is certainly very suspicious.

Now, I get in touch with the family that will host me. Before I talk about it, I need you to know that I'm a very chill person; I dislike crowds, noise and like to keep to myself most of the time (I decided to go to the busiest city on the planet; yes, I know). So, the hosts just had their 2nd kid (I really dislike kids and especially those crying, dirty, noisy and messy fleshbags people call "babies"), and I'll share the place with 3 other students. So much for a full immersion experience in a 100% native environment. All I pray for is being able to sleep at night, considering how paper-thin walls are in Japan and how busy my days will be.

Anyway, today I did the exam so I could be allocated in a specific class, based on my level. Horrendous experience, as everything was very advanced, and failing so many questions might put me with the other students that know very little, making me lose precious time and money over there. Really hope it's true that you can change classes if you're ahead.

So now I am studying Japanese daily, to start with the right foot, afraid that I won't be able to sleep at night, that classes will be either far too basic or incredibly difficult, in a center where most reviews are fake. All for the low-low price of several thousands euros.

Moping aside, let's try to take advantage of the experience. Been waiting all my life for this, and I want to make it work. Worst case scenario: the academy really sucks and I might need to go elsewhere to not waste a full month abroad. There are several options but GenkiJACS is the one that gives me the best vibes. Fingers crossed.

So, I think that is enough for the beginning of this blog. I foresee it will be full of ranting about the language and lots of food pics. God I love and miss ramen...

Until next time!