Hi! I'm Anna. I'm a second year student at Turku Polytecnics in the line of Digital Arts, and this is my diary of the time I'll spend in Kyoto, Japan. I'll be an exchange student at Kyoto Seika University, studying story manga, from Sebtember 1st to January 22nd in 2004. There will be text entries every other day or so, and a comic strip of my experiences with the Japanese culture every now and then.

I decided to have this diary so that I'd get all the little facts concerning an exchange student period in Japan written down, and of course to record the excitement and the feelings out there. This is also made for my friends back home so that they would have some touch with how I'm doing. (If you're someone I barely know, then I feel weird with you reading this...) This diary will include personal thoughts and opinions, so keep that in mind when reading. It won't always have anything to do with Japan, either. It's not meant to hurt or insult anyone, but it's what I think and feel.

I thought long and hard whether I would make this diary in Finnish or in English, but at last came to the conclusion that I want more than a couple of my Finnish friends to be able to read this. So, if you're a Finnish speaker friend of mine, then sorry... You'll just have to bear with me ^_^;;

Some clarifications:

I will use some Japanese words in my text, but I'll try to explain them while I write. I will write Japanese people's names with the last name first, like they do in Japan, but I'll write Western names first name first. I will also use Japanese personal suffixes, when it's appropriate:
-san for normal, polite situations
-kun or plain name for closer friends
-chan for really close friends (or cute things ^_^)
-sensei for teachers
A deeper explanation of the suffixes >