Day 257 - 14th of May

天気：曇り

Today was a long, but fun-filled (for the most part) day. It was cloudy, but didn’t end up raining, which was nice. So many wonderful memories were made today, and there was no shortage of tears. I’m sure there will be more to come; both memories and tears… I had my last Reading and Writing class at 9 this morning, and got my Sakubun handed in before spending the lesson revising. Straight afterwards, I went home and slept for a few hours; I was really tired for some reason. I had lunch, and then got a bit of revision in, before heading back to uni and taking my Gender and Sexuality quiz; it wasn’t too hard. After that, I was done for the day. I got back home at about 2, and then got my field report finished; so happy. Haven’t sent it off yet; probably do that tomorrow. Then I had some time to get ready for the party. I showered and shaved, and then went up to Ash and Katie’s room for a little while. Sarah and Katie were typing up subtitles for their skit, to put on YouTube; the teacher sent them the recording. Carly was curled up like a cat. Rachel and Ash arrived back at about 6, and I couldn’t help yelling at them in the front driveway from the room; it was rather disconcerting for them. Julie arrived soon after that, and I yelled a greeting at her too.

Since I had 20 minutes before the party, I decided to go straighten my hair; Carly followed. On the way down, I caught Julie and she showed us her model shots; they were so amazing. I still had just enough time to straighten my hair, and get started on my JASSO report (like the first line), before going up to the kitchen with my Milo biscuits and Tim Tams. The next hour and a half involved lots of eating, t-shirt signing, photo taking, and general craziness. First off, Jeremy and I were awarded a certificate of appreciation and a t-shirt each, for being the cleaning group leaders; thanks RAs. Then we got stuck into eating. I was really glad that Carly was allowed to come into the kitchen, because it meant that she didn’t have to wait out in the hallway to enjoy the food. Biancha made two wonderful rolls, Liz a pound cake, the RA’s these amazing mochi/anko sweets, and Okaasan, coffee jelly; admittedly that wasn’t very nice. But everything else was delicious. My biscuits were a hit too, and everyone completely forgot about the Tim Tams until about halfway through when I saw them there looking all abandoned, and let everyone know; all three packets were gone in less than a minute. After eating we all got into t-shirt signing, or in the case of a few people, notebooks.

There was even a special card to sign for Otoosan and Okaasan, which was a really nice though. Also, I was supposed to play the koto. The setting up in the kitchen part was fine, but the part where I didn’t have the music was not. For some reason, my Miyabi sheet music has ran away from me. I was getting really nervous and desperate so I ran over to seminar house 1 to see if Maarika was there; she wasn’t!!! Luckily, Rose was in so I was able to go up to the room and find the music; it was really easy to locate. Then I rushed back to the kitchen and was happy to find most people still there. Since Miyabi is meant for two koto, my performance wasn’t great (especially since I dropped the music on the last page) but I think everyone appreciated it. After that, everyone who had had shirts signed put them on, and we got some group photos. At 8:30, it was finally time to pack up, as people would be going out to Toriki afterwards for all you can eat and drink. Since I had just been, I didn’t feel the need to go again; nor did I feel like to dish out 3000円. Instead, after getting everything put away, I made a quick, quick dinner (gyudon) and went downstairs to watch Stardust with the gang; such a good movie. That finished at about 11, and then everyone toddled off to their rooms; everyone except Ash, Rachel and I. Ash felt like English muffins and tea, and Rachel just felt like tea; I just had a Milo. Then light conversation ensued…

Day 256 - 13th of May

11:17pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Well, today I feel much better about everything; for some reason, getting my oral over and done with was such a relief. I feel like I’ve jumped over the halfway point, and now I only have another half to go; it’s wonderful. Today’s weather mirrored my happy, warm feelings and I don’t even care that I didn’t get my report done; again… After getting ready, I basically spent the rest of the morning preparing for my oral exam. I typed out everything I wanted to say, and even got a little bit of a chance to memorise it; a very little chance. Getting to uni, I went straight to the third floor, and sat outside Saigo Sensei’s office, talking with Kim; we were talking about the same topic. She went in before me, and soon after it was my turn. After an initial mind blank, I stumbled my way through, but actually didn’t do that badly. I quite enjoyed talking to Sensei about it and I wish I could have had more time to say what I wanted to say. Throughout, he would ask questions or make comments, which steered me way off what I was intending to say, but it did make it feel more natural. He was really surprised when he found out I was only 19 actually; it was quite funny. Anyway, as soon as that was done, I leapt for joy on the inside, and then went with Kim and Nathan for lunch.

We all ate katsudon in the third cafeteria, and talked about what we would be doing when we got back home; the end is so close. Around 12:30, we went back to the CIE lounge, and I found Julie to study Religion with before the quiz. In fact, it turned out to be relatively easy, and I got it done within 15 minutes; now all I have to do is finished that report. Afterwards, I sat in the lounge for a while longer, and then made my way over to Don kihote to buy Tim Tam’s for tomorrow’s party. I also bought a packet for Rose since it was her birthday yesterday, and I’d be going to her party tonight. I met Carly on the way back to the seminar house, and after dropping our stuff off, we went to Sanko; I had to buy the ingredients for my biscuits. As soon as I got back, I got stuck into it and almost 2 hours later, I had baked 31. Already that number has decreased to 27. It was almost 5 when I was done, so I came downstairs and got started on my JASSO scholarship report. I have to talk about what I have achieved academically, and how the uni has broadened my knowledge of Japan; fun, fun, fun…

I didn’t get very far with that, as we were going out for dinner tonight; New Dehli, since Carly’s never been. We left at 5:30 and soon got there; Carly rode on the back of my bike. Finding no one there, we decided to go into uni, and soon found Sarah, Katie and Rachael in the lounge. They were waiting for Rachel to turn up. In the end she didn’t, so it was just the five of us. Dinner was absolutely wonderful as always, although sadly the service was a little soon; understandable since it was absolutely packed. After waiting 30 minutes for our lasse (only Carly got hers), we decided to just leave; that was a bit of a shame. I was already an hour late for the party, so I rushed to Seminar House 1, and got inside just in time to find Mori and Midori leaving; they had already made cake. It was sad to see them go, but I was soon enjoying the fruit (or cake), or fruit cake actually of their labours; it was amazing. Rose was stoked when I gave her the Tim Tams; she immediately ripped the packet open and distributed them. There 10 of us in the room, which was basically exactly the same as our rooms here, with little differences here and there. Us guests, stuck around until almost 10, watching funny movies on YouTube, and taking photos; it was great fun. Finally it was time to say good night, and as soon as I got back to Sem 2, I was roped into watching a drama with Julie, Chelsea, Rachel and Ash; it was actually really intense. It was only the 5^th episode, but already the plot is so complicated. Chelsea caught me up pretty well, but I kinda want to see the earlier episodes. Well, I’m going to get some sleep now…

Day 237 - 24th of April

11:29pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Well, today was quite a productive day spent at home. Although it was rainy in the morning, the rest of the day turned out to be quite sunny, so I managed to get a load of washing on… Getting up at about 9:30, I got ready for the day, and after breakfast and shower, Hugo was up too. I spent most of the morning studying for my lesson test on Wednesday. I had lunch at 1, and then finally decided to get the washing on, which lead to me taking all the clothes out of my cupboard and sorting them out. Now I have two boxes packed for home, each with five long sleeved t-shirts in them, and a bunch of books and other miscellany. So that was good. I spent the rest of the afternoon studying, and researching for my Japanese presentation on the Great Barrier Reef; that was fun.

It was about 7 when I went up for dinner, and I sat with Brett, Sam and Liz while watching TV. I ended up staying up there until about 9:30, enjoying Milo and watching a really interesting quiz show that I wish I could have understood more of. Getting back to my room at about 9:30, I talked with Alex for a while as I uploaded photos to dA; I’m so excited about our trip. After a shower, I got back into Reborn; I haven’t read it for ages. I managed to get the first volume finished (finally), and now I’m about 10 pages into the 2^nd; it’s getting really good. At the same time, I tried to transfer a video for my camera to the computer; notice I said tried. Again, the program decided to be “unresponsive” and it lost everything just as it was finalising the file; so frustrating. So, I’m going to try again tomorrow I guess; I have no more patience now, and it’s about time I get some sleep…

Day 225 - 12th of April

10:55pm　セミナーハウス

天気：　雨天

Well, just for fun, it decided to pour with rain all day today; and heavy rain at that. This meant that by the end of the day, my jeans and jacket were quite wet; they’re hanging up to dry now. I’m just hoping the weather improves by tomorrow. I really wanted to get my hair cut today, but the relentless downpour completely put me off. Anyway, another Monday… I finally rolled out of the futon at 9, and hurriedly got ready for the day. I managed to get to class just in time, racing on my bike through the rain, icy drops pelting my face; okay, so I’m being a little dramatic. The test today went pretty well, although there was one sentence that I wasn’t happy about at all; I couldn’t think of the grammar pattern to use. Jo revealed to me later that I was a passive sentence; I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Oh well, I’ll still get part marks for it. The listening part was okay; not the easiest, nor the hardest I’ve had. And I remembered all the vocab words; that part seems to be the least of my problems now. I finished in a little over 30 minutes, and then went down to the lounge, and spent the next 1 and a half just chilling with Rachel, Sarah, and Katie; and Rachael when she came. I did do some kanji practice, and some readings for Gender and Sexuality, so I was at least semi productive.

In Reading and Writing, we started chapter 5, which contains a whole bunch of crazy kanji; it’s going to be fun learning them. After class, I went home (the rain even heavier now), and had lunch before basically crashing for the next 2 hours on my futon; I guess today decided to be a lazy day. Sooner then I wanted it was time to return to uni. Koto club started up again, at the regular time of 4:30. This was the first day for freshmen (and what a lovely day for them… not), so the uni was absolutely packed; especially all the food venues. I dropped my bag in the club room, and then went to the convenience store to get a quick snack. Getting back (snack already devoured), I was just about get started reading Hitman Reborn when guess who arrived; Brittney. She hadn’t been for weeks, so I was quite surprised. Also, considering that Midori and Mori Sempai, and Maarika all have classes until 6 (which is a real shame), so I wasn’t expecting anyone to turn up for a while. Another unexpected arrival was Riho; I think we met once before. She’s a second year student, and seems really nice, though a little reserved; well, I guess that can be expected from a Japanese girl.

So, I thought it would be a good time to set up downstairs in the practice room. Brittney and I both took down koto, but unfortunately when we got there, and I tried the key… it didn’t work; I guess that would make sense. So back up to the club room we went; I felt a pretty bad. We still got a bit of practice in though. Riho practiced sakura, and Brittney Hanagoromo. Soon, Brittney left, and was replaced by Natalie; she helped Riho a lot with Sakura, which was really great. At about 5:30, Kirianna also arrived, although she didn’t stay for very long; and Natalie and Riho were soon to follow. So, then it was just me again. I decided I would have a crack at Kagaribi, so I tuned it and got stuck into it; so difficult. Maarika arrived a bit after 6, and just sat as I played around. When Mori Sempai arrived we could finally get set up downstairs. She was so happy when I told her so many people had showed up today; she had been worried about the fate of koto club. Soon after getting set up, we had another unexpected visitor; Tami-chan. She’s from Puerto Rico, and was Maarika’s roommate during orientation week. Midori arrived soon after, and we all ended up chatting for a good while; a bit too long, as I really wanted to practice.

Today, Maarika and I got started on a new piece, which I can’t remember the name of, but nevertheless it was quite fun, and very challenging; it’s one of the pieces the girls have played before. I’ll get a photocopy of it tomorrow, along with Kagaribi; with the time I have left, I don’t think I’ll be able to get good at that one. Anyway, since it’s a duet, I immediately decided to take second koto; it seems to be a fact that the second part is always harder. Midori helped us a lot, so we had a general idea of what to expect from it. I’m looking forward to the sensei coming tomorrow, and hopefully she approves of us playing these pieces; last time she saw us, we were still on Hanagoromo. So enthralled in practice, we ended up finishing a little late; not that I had to be anywhere. After packing up, and saying goodbye, I rode in the rain for the last time today, and got home around 8. I went straight up to the kitchen, and made gyudon for dinner, catching Katie as she made her way out; she’s just received her certificate, and a generous sum of money for the article she wrote for a competition earlier in this semester. Ash and Rachel we also leaving, so I spent a little while talking with Julie, eating white chocolate and drinking Milo; great combination. At about 9, I went back downstairs, had a shower and then got settled in bed; I guess I felt I deserved a bit of a break. I’ve spent most of the night just playing bejewelled and uploading photos on dA. Well, hopefully the weather’s improved tomorrow, so that I may be a little more productive…

Day 220 - 7th of April

10:51pm　セミナーハウス

天気：曇り

Professor Hester told us that in Japan, a recent expression has come about, which goes along the lines of, “In spring, there are never three days of sun in a row”. I scoffed at this in class, but true enough, after two beautiful, sunny days, the weather has indeed turned sour; it was windy, cloudy and cold. At least, it didn’t rain… I got up a bit before 9, and put some washing on, before getting ready for uni; of course I choose the day when it’s cloudy. After putting it out, I studied my vocab for today’s quiz, and then made my way to class. I ended up being a little late, I don’t know how that happened, but quickly sat down and got the quiz done in no time; studying the vocab right before class seems to work well for me. After class, I went down and found Rachael, so I gave her the box of the biscuits I baked, and wished her a happy birthday. After that, I decided to go home to have lunch now, since I was so hungry; also I would be doing koto practice after classes. So, I rode back, had lunch, and then basically had to turn around again; I don’t mind at all with my bike. In Reading and Writing, we finished off the dialogue (which proved to be exceptionally challenging, even for the teacher), and then had to answer a whole bunch of questions about it. After that, I went straight upstairs and stalked the Monsters class, before going to Gender and Sexuality.

In today’s class we looked at motherhood and fatherhood in Japan. Of particular interest, is the phenomenon of 熟年離婚 (jukunen rikon – “retirement divorce”), in Japan. Basically, many women in Japan don’t want to have to look after their husbands after they’ve retired. The women have already devoted much of their life playing an active role in raising their children, the man, “supporting” his family by being the breadwinner, away from home. So really, it’s not until they’ve actually retired, that men spend a lot of time at home. So, understandably, many women can’t cope with the re-entry of the husband into the household. This realisation made me feel extremely sad for the way that Japanese society works. Of course there are many happy, lasting marriages, and more men are trying to play a more active role in childrearing, but still. I can’t imagine how intense living the “model” Japanese life must be, especially when the constraints of society and work are so compelling. The professor showed us the first episode of a drama called jukunen rikon that provided models for exactly what I’ve just described; it was very moving. I’d really like to see the rest of the series actually.

After class, I met up with Maarika and we went to the room we would be performing in tomorrow (2207), to practice. Getting there, we found Mori Sempai and Midori Sempai moving desks, and promptly helped them out. Kirianna and Natalie were also there, furiously practicing hanagoromo; they were doing really, really well considering the amount of time they’ve had. We beautified the board, and munch on sweet potato snacks, and got some serious practice in too. The tea club joined us, and began to set up their stuff; they’d be serving tea and snacks to visitors while we played. Maarika and I will be playing from 11-12 tomorrow, for what is basically a festival for the incoming students to Kansai Gaidai; I can’t wait. I ended up leaving at around 5:30. Kirianna, Mori and Midori had already gone their own ways, but Natalie and Maarika decided to stay and practice a while longer. I rode home with Peter, and he further confirmed the instability of spring weather in Japan, recalling a conversation he had with one of his Japanese friends; they said it wouldn’t stay constantly warm until late May!

Getting back, I got started on my homework, and soon enough it was time for the seminar house meeting. This was my second last meeting, and I remember it from last semester. We went over checking out procedures and all that again, but this time it was different because I’d have to actually do it! Actually, technically everyone has to checkout since the seminar houses are closed during the summer holidays; they have to find alternative housing. That’s why I’m so glad I came last semester; I made the right decision. Natchan also let us know of an upcoming event that would see the seminar houses unite in friendly competition; sports festival. It’s next Saturday (the 17^th), and there will be a number of events. I really wanted to participate, so I signed up after the meeting; it’s going to be so much fun. I was then dragged upstairs to Ash and Katie’s room, to sign a card for Rachael’s birthday, and look at Ash’s “shinies” i.e. her purchases. All of us then went down to the kitchen, and presented Rachael with gifts and the card and proceeded to sing happy birthday to her; she had already got it from her Japanese class today, so was quite embarrassed by this point. After that, I got to cooking yakisoba, which turned out great; the ingredients were all so fresh. I gave out the last of my Milo biscuits, and everyone appreciated them, but not as much as I did; I must have eaten about 15. I stayed up in the kitchen till about 9, and then came back down here, and worked on my Reading and Writing homework some more. Well, better get some sleep now…