Paying Bills at Convenience Stores
Published on March 11th, 2017 | by Akito
To live in a country, you need to pay for utilities for example, gas, electricity, and water. In other countries, it’s common to pay them by using a check, or online. But in Japanese society, you need to set up automated account transfer, use a credit card, or pay the bill at a store. In this article, I will talk about how to pay using the bill they send you.
Actually, it’s quite simple. All you need to do is just show the bill in convenience store and pay. You will get bills like this picture when deadline is nearing.
But be careful, the other bills will be sent to you. Some things are just meter checks and summaries of your costs – those are not your bills. In most cases, you will get two bills: the payment bill and the meter checking bill. Please remember, this is the payment one which you should show in convenience store.
(And “コンビニエンス” word means “convenience” store, so it’s easy to find it.)
I also interviewed an international student in my university. She said there is no problem in paying bills because there are a lot of convenience store around us, but she didn’t know how to pay the bills at first ,because the other bills were sent to her, so she didn’t have idea which bills should she show to convenience store.
At a glance, it seems very complicate and difficult, but it’s quite easy and simple thing. So, if you got bills like this picture, go to convenience store, and pay the bill, then, your payment will have done.
Bus to City Hall
Published on March 1st, 2017 | by Akito
People living in Asahikawa sometimes have to go to city hall. City hall is a little bit far from this campus. In addition, the route is a little bit complicated too. Furthermore, there are 2 bus stops near our campus! This article explains which bus you should take.
First I want to remind you that there is NO bus to City hall from 北門９丁目(Hokumon 9 Chome :which is the near the Gym) . There are only buses from 旭町２条１０丁目（Asahimachi 2 jo- 10 Chome :which is the near the “Birthday”, the children’s clothing store). You should take the 旭川電気軌道(Asahikawa Denkikidou), not the 道北バス(Dohoku bus). Usually, Denkikdou buses are RED, but sometimes they use a newer decorated bus. Dohoku buses are GREEN.
(Both are Asahikawa Denkikidou bus (旭川電気軌道).
This is a Dohoku bus: 
So far so good, but the No.13 bus of Denkikidou does NOT go to city hall, so you should check the bus number carefully before you ride the bus.
The bus fare from Asahimachi 2 jo-10Chome, one way fare is 190 yen, so if you have 380 yen, you can go there and come back. Or, if you have “Asaca” card and already charge the money in it, it’s easy to pay. You can buy it from vending machine in Nishi AEON or the Asahikawa Denkikidou office which is near the train station on Kaimonokouen.
This is an Asaca card: 
And, here is the time table of the bus from Asahimachi 2jo- 10Chome as of January 2017, so if you forgot the time when the bus will come, please make use of it. (But remember that they can change the time schedule).
I hope this article was useful to you and that you can make it to city hall and back! Have a safe trip! Please leave me any comments or suggestions that you have.
How to Avoid Falling in the Snow
Published on January 26th, 2017 | by Akito
The winter in Hokkaido is often very cold – especially in northern Hokkaido, but there are strong temperature fluctuations.. And these fluctuations means that the snow turns into ice. In many cases, this will be “black ice” – the sort that you cannot see. So you have to be careful when you are walking around in Hokkaido.
In this article, I want to give you some tips for walking on icy roads.
The first way not to slip and fall is to walk using umbrella like a cane. It’s easy to try this method and when it’s heavy snow, you can use umbrella. With this method, you’re killing two birds with one stone.
The second way is to walk like a penguin, this means do not lift the heels
of your foot as you walk. Instead, stamp your feet as you are moving forward. By taking small steps, you make it so that you have less of a chance of slipping and falling.
In addition, you should avoid the center of the sidewalk, because it is almost always the place with the most ice and therefore the slipperiest.
The last way to avoid falling is to make your steps straight vertically. To do so, use your foot to grab the ground tightly and you might not to slip. Normally, we walk with a diagonal step where we are pushing forward as we hit the ground. If you step diagonally on ice, you will slip to your front because your foot want to move forward.
If you are using these method, it will be harder for you to slip, but that does not mean you will never slip. So, please be careful as walk around in icy Hokkaido. If you are not paying attention, the ice will make you slip and you might be embarrassed by your fall
Reference:
http://www.mylohas.net/2016/01/051907snow_road.html
World of Tanks- my favorite online game
Published on October 20th, 2016 | by Akito
My hobby is playing video game. My favorite video game is World of Tanks. This game is free online game of Wargaming.net. , so you can play if you sign up for an account and download this game. You can play with your friends if you make a platoon. There are so many kinds of tanks, so you can find and use many tanks, picking the ones you like, and buying more powerful tanks with Experiences and Credits you earn in the game.
This game is very simple. Destroy all enemy tanks or capture enemy base, you win. Rule is simple, but game is not easy. Every game has different situation and different tanks, so we have to consider every time where is the best to go and how to protect your allies (who can be your friends).
There are 5 role of tanks: Light tank, Medium tank, Heavy tank, Tank destroyer and Artillery (SPG). Of these, I like Tank destroyer the best, because they have a very powerful gun and are good at hiding. I can shoot powerful shot from out range without be found.
(This is Nashorn Tier 6 German Tank destroyer. I like it very much! )
The challenges of studying abroad
Published on June 24th, 2016 | by Akito
I think studying abroad is challenging. While I look forward to it, I know that it will be hard – maybe the hardest thing in my life.
First, I have never been abroad, but studying English and many other things has already made me struggle. While I’m sure that studying abroad will be fun, before you get to study abroad, you must study A LOT .
In addition, when you are Japanese, you can’t use mother tongue in most others places, so you have to study another language to communicate with people at all. This is a very hard task that is necessary for people who are eager to study abroad.
Despite this, I think it is worth doing. But through it you can come in touch with foreign culture which is different from your country. Moreover, also you can exchange your opinions with people from other countries about anything, so you can learn many things from their opinions. This is the most important and good point of studying abroad I think. From these points, I claim that studying abroad is challenging.
Akito
Published on June 3rd, 2016 | by Akito
