Day 230 - 18th of April

10:08pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Although I’m feeling dead tired now, today was so much fun! I won’t keep you in suspense; we came 2^nd!!! I’m so proud of everyone for putting in so much effort, and there was such a strong sense of team spirit…I woke up at about 9 and after showering, I went up to the kitchen and ate breakfast, chatting with people as they came and went, most getting ready for today’s event. I ended up staying there till about 11, when I realised I’d have to get a wriggle on if I was going to make it there for 11:30. I bid Hugo farewell (he was going to a cultural exchange event), brushed my teeth, and then got going. Meeting Rachel outside, we were about to head off when Julie came out, saying that Rebecca and Julianne needed a lift, since they would also be competing, and they wouldn’t make in time if they walked. So, I took Julianne, and Rachel took Rebecca; that was pretty scary. It was really hard to get started, but after building up a bit of momentum it got gradually easier; it was still very wobbly going though. We only got as far as the east gates before Julianne was asked to dismount. I rode ahead to catch up with Rachel and soon we were at the courts, waiting for everything to get started. People continued to pour in, and Julie, Rachael, Katie, and Ash came as support; our unofficial cheerleaders. We eventually got going at 12, as per the timetable, and started off with the “Opening Ceremony”, before doing a few stretches; very briefly.

After that, the events stated, and we kicked off with tug-of-war. Well… we didn’t end up doing too well at all at it; we lost every game. Indeed, we are the smallest house, and we had the smallest number of competitors; all the other houses had to reduce their numbers for the event. Even when Peter came, we were no match for the other houses; there were some big guys on the other teams. Then came jump-rope, and wow did we suck at that; okay so that’s a little harsh. But still, all the teams got two tries each, to get us many people through the rope in 3 minutes as possible, and the best we did was 25; the other teams got into the 30’s. I was a little disappointed, because I was feeling pretty competitive at the time, but it really didn’t matter; we were there to have fun. After out two turns, I went with Katie and Ash to the convenience store and bought some water for me and a coke for Rachael. Getting back, it was “rest time” so many went off to get a quick bite to eat; I was feeling fine. About half an hour later (a bit after 2), the final event got underway; Super Dodge-ball!!! After the rules were explained (which actually took quite a while), we split up into two groups of 5 girls and 5 guys; since there weren’t enough of us, most of us had to double up.

The rules were basically – one Seminar House vs. another, each with a team of 10. Two people from the team are stationed on the outside of the of the opposing teams court, while the other 8 are within. There are 3 dodge-balls and a game of jankenpon (scissors-paper-rock) determines which team starts with two balls. Basically, you get sent the outside if you get hit by a ball, but you’re safe if you catch it, or you get hit above the shoulders. The person who hits you gets to go back inside their court. The people on the inside can also try to hit members of the other team; but they remain inside. The matches are 5 minutes, and the winning team is the one that either has the most people left in the middle by the end of the 5 minutes, or has sent every member of the opposing team to the outside. It was a very intense game. But guess what… we won every match! It was tournament style, so there ended up being 6 matches (7 if you include the tie-breaker we had with Seminar House 1). I ended up being in 6 out of the 7 matches, and I had such a great time. A memorable moment was when I was the last person on the inside and I managed to dodge all three balls that were coming at me in quick succession; this gave my team a chance to get other members back in. At the time, I hadn’t even realised the significance of it, but afterwards everyone congratulated me, which made me swell with pride; we had great team spirit.

Throughout the day, Rebecca (our leader), rallied us together, screamed at us, and got us to do the Seminar House pose in a big circle. I really felt a strong connection with everyone, and I think that’s what got us through; the team work and communication. There were also a few kids playing (the children of the professors’), and they were also putting a great effort in; it was especially funny seeing them in tug-of-war. Unfortunately, I can’t say that the day ran completely smooth. Our second match, against Seminar House 1, became very heated as both sides accused the other of cheating; this was the one that ended in a tie-breaker. This one guy came up to Angela (Rachel’s roommate), and threw one of the balls at her as hard as he could; so I heard. She went off crying, and oh boy did Rachel chew that guys face off; she told me she had wanted to punch him. He really did display terrible sportsmanship though. When the places were being announced, and we received trophies (they were beautiful), he went up to receive his houses place and trophy (3^rd), and showed very little enthusiasm; what a sore loser. I was actually really surprised when it was announced that we were 2^nd; I guess dodge-ball had counted for more than we’d expected. Apart from trophies, we also received gifts, which meant candy in other words. After the closing ceremony, congratulations, eating and photo-taking, we slowly made our way back to the dorm, elated.

It was 5 by the time we got back. I went to my room for a little while, and then went up to the kitchen; we were going to have a party at 6! Rebecca had asked Liz if she could bake a cake for it, and with little time to prepare, she was in a bit of a fix. Chelsea, Julie, and I helped her out though, contributing hands and ingredients, and just in time, we had a cake in the oven. There were heaps of drinks and snacks, that people had kindly contributed, and at around 6:30, the pizza came that Yuji had ordered. Since Rachael and I had made plans to go to New Delhi for dinner, we didn’t have any, but that didn’t stop us from getting stuck into the sweets. We all got a bit of cake too, and it turned out amazing; such a simple recipe too. Finally, Rachael and I said our farewells, and made our way over to New Delhi. The curry was amazing, and as usual they brought us heaps of extra food; I was absolutely stuffed. We sat and talked for a while, and then eventually left for home; it was a cold walk back... I’m absolutely exhausted now, and although there was an open invitation to go to Karaoke with Rachel, Katie and Ash, I’m certainly not up for it. Hugo’s gone out to celebrate with Tristan since it’s his birthday. All I’m going to do now though is sleep…

Day 187 - 5th of March

天気：曇り

Today was a great day; a great start to the weekend... I got my morning Japanese classes over with in the morning, and then decided to go home for lunch; I also had a little nap. I got back to uni for my Gender and Sexuality class at 1:15, in which we talked about masculinity and rites of passage to manhood; a bit of cross over from last semester. After class, we picked up our tickets for Takarazuka, and also received a plot summary, which will be a great help I’m sure; and another week of uni was over! I went downstairs to meet Rachel, where she proceeded to tell me that she’d forgotten the paperwork. So, we rode back home, she got the necessary papers, and we were back out in a flash. Riding down to the station was again, quite terrifying, and I don’t think it’s worth it, especially since when we got there, the bikes already in the parking space Simon and I had found, had all received tickets. Luckily, we were in and out of the city office in about 10 minutes, and weren’t caught. Since it was only about 3:30, we decided to go on a bit of a bike ride; it was way too early to pick up dinner.

I took Rachel up to the Okami shrine on the top of the forested hill (which was no easy feat with our bikes), and the plum grove there was in full bloom; I wish I’d brought my camera. We enjoyed that for a while, and then took in the view, sitting under a gazebo for a few hours just chatting; it was really peaceful. At about 5:30, when it did start to get cold, we decided it was time to go, and made our way back towards the university, to New Delhi. Rachel, had a list of what everyone wanted, so it was pretty easy to order everything. We had to wait about 20 minutes for it to be ready, so in that time we went to Fresco, and I picked up a few goodies for tonight’s TV viewing, including some great oranges. We left our bikes at Fresco (since they were less in the way there), and got back to New Delhi a bit early. In the time we had to wait, they gave us mango laisse, and when we did finally get the food, they gave us a huge discount; at least $10 off!!! We walked back to Fresco, and promptly rode back home; we didn’t want the food getting cold.

Getting back, I immediately went upstairs to heat up my yakisoba, kinda regretting not getting New Delhi. But, I don’t think I’ll have to wait very long for my next fix. For the price, and quality (and quantity) of the food, we thinking we’re going to make New Delhi part of our Friday night tradition. As soon as I got back down with my food, we started watching Firefly, and by the end of the night, we’d watched the last 4 episodes, and the movie “Serenity”. There were of course, a few breaks, in between. I got to eat my profiteroles, and sakura-an pan, which tasted amazing; just like the ice cream. We also had a bit of an interruption when Simon came in, telling us his keys were locked in his room; his roommate was out. So, he’d found Hugo, and borrowed his keys in order to get back in here, and then had to go back out to give them back. So, he needed someone to open the gate, and side door for him. His coming in the lounge room to ask me though was completely unnecessary, as he was able to get in when someone else returned home. It was about 1:30 by the time we finished, and then Simon came in to sleep on the lounge; I talked with him for a little while, then got to bed myself. I really enjoyed the movie, and it did help to tie up most of the loose ends the series had brought up. But, although I felt closure, I really wish there was more; the series was a lot of fun, and the characters were great.

Day 184 - 2nd of March

11:00pm　セミナーハウス

天気：曇り

Finally got back from the kitchen; another night of chatting, cleaning, and eating… I woke up with Hugo already gone this morning, and gave in to the temptation of laying in bed for just that little bit longer; meaning another half an hour. When I did finally get up, I promptly got ready, and then revised my vocab for today’s quiz; that turned out to be okay. After class, I went for lunch with Jo, Kim, and Nathan; Liz and Sarah joined us. After eating my katsudon, I decided to try the 桜 (Sakura – cherry blossom) flavoured ice cream they were selling in the cafeteria; along with a plethora of others. It was actually really nice, and I wondered what they made it with; was it just artificial flavours, or did they actually use a part of the flower? Soon enough, it was time again for class, and Religion today was, as usual very informative. Today the professor introduced us to some of the new religions of Japan, including Happy Science, and a number of branch offs from Buddhism. Some were scary, others just plain inane; yay for rhyming words. But they all had one thing in common; pretty buildings. Seriously, I want to go to some of these new religions headquarters; one of them even owns a museum. I actually recognised one of the religion’s buildings ~ 真光 (Mahikari – lit. “true light) ~ from Alex’s blog, since she had been to it in Takayama, Gifu; I thought that was rather cool.

After class, I made my way home, to find that it was once again linen changing day, so I busied myself vacuuming, and making my bed. Then I got my homework done, before Simon returned, and asked if it’d checked out the gym yet; this morning I talked to some people in my Speaking class and found out how to get in. I said I hadn’t, so we went together. Turns out, the gate to get in is actually on the other side; this means walking all the way around the block, and past Seminar House 1. I thought it was a bit ridiculous. But, more ridiculous was us trying to get inside. We ended up walking all the way around the building, before realising that the entrance was right across from the gate. And then we couldn’t even go in! Reading the sign behind the glass, we found out that we needed a second pair of clean shoes to wear inside the gym; now that’s really ridiculous. So, that was that… I needed to get groceries, so I went to Sanko with Simon in tow.

As soon as I put my groceries away, we were out again, riding to Midori. Simon was hoping to buy an electric razor, but after seeing the prices, and not really knowing what would be best for him, he abandoned the idea, and decided to just by some better razors; the cheap ones he’s been buying have been cutting his face. I didn’t feel like it was a waste of time for me, as I got to play on the piano for a while; Simon knew I would. It was getting dark, and the clouds were looking nasty as we rode back, back it didn’t end up raining. As soon as I parked my bike at home, Rachael came out the front door, going to New Delhi for dinner; it took little persuasion for me to join her. So I was off again, on foot this time, to meet up with Sarah at uni, before going on to New Delhi. Tonight, I ordered the mushroom and cheese curry, and with it came that ever-astounding Naan bread, a soup, a laisse, and ice cream for dessert; amazing value for money. And I absolutely loved the curry! This time, it was just the right amount of food, and I left feeling very satisfied, and not at all bloated like last time.

The walk back was dry, and after dropping my stuff in my room, I was soon chatting away in the kitchen. Three hours later (after talking about kanji, spring break plans, and novelty condom stores in Kobe among other things), the girls all dispersed, and I remained to help Biancha with her 銅鑼焼き (Dorayaki – it’s very similar to gozasoro ~ two pancake patties wrapped around red bean paste). We took turns whipping cream, which was not an easy task; how I wished for an electric beater. There ended up being way too much cream, so we shared the rest, making me feel a little sick; I feel fine now though. The cream was part of the filling, along with the bean paste; a new innovation to the recipe. Biancha wasn’t happy with the shape of the pancakes, and while they were indeed not very pretty looking I couldn’t care less; they tasted amazing. I stayed in the kitchen a bit longer, to help clean the piles of dishes that had collected in the sinks; somehow they were still here even after the cleaning group had been through! Anyway, Yuji came up, and got the people in the kitchen to help out; I was grateful for that. Our monthly seminar house meeting is tomorrow, and I’ll be sure to bring up the kitchen problem then; I’m sure I’ll have plenty of support. Well, better get some sleep…