Day 262 - 19th of May

9:03pm　バス停　－　片鉾中央図書館

天気：雨天

I’m standing here with Carly at the bus stop, waiting for the 9:20 bus. We’re staying at her hotel tonight, so we can get an early start tomorrow; we’re going to the geisha dances in Kyoto, and then probably doing some shopping. It’s raining, and probably will be raining again tomorrow; great way to end the semester. I’m finished, I’M FINISHED!!! I’ve been saying that sporadically since this evening. I feel… empty. I’m happy, but at the same time, the realisation that really is the end is starting to kick in… Today, I spent from 8 till 3 working on my essay, with one break for lunch. Since Hugo was sleeping, I spent most of the morning in the computer room, and then moved back into my room when he finally got up. At 3:15, I decided I had to get going, and since I had finished everything but the conclusion, I figured I could work on that after getting everything else sorted out. It actually took a surprisingly short amount of time. Basically, I had to go to the library, then the L.L. and then the CIE office, before finally going to the SHOMU-BU office for my reimbursement; yay for cash in hand. Admittedly it was a bit of running around, but there were very efficient; my bike registration has now been cancelled, and my ID card has a hole punched through the barcode.

That done, I got onto my conclusion, and ended up having to use a computer in the L.L since the computer lab on the first floor was absolutely packed. After I finished, I had to go down there anyway to print it off. I was very lucky in the fact that a computer opened up just as I arrived; thank you Kirianna. I found Carly, and after hand in my essay to the professor (and a few words of thanks), we went to check out the sumi-e and ceramics’ exhibition; since I didn’t bring mine, Carly let me use her camera. I must admit, I found the works this semester to be of a much higher standard overall, and fell in love with many…

バス

Now we’re on the bus; that was the longest 20 minutes ever… I would have bought them if they had been on sale; I was thoroughly impressed. After that, we went and got taiyaki (custard-, and caramel-filled) and I felt so stuffed afterwards; so yummy. Then we made our way back to the seminar house, briefly browsing Avail; I bought my brother a shirt. Getting back, I talked with my family over skype until about 7, and then went up to make dinner; spaghetti bolognese. Carly came in too, and we got in trouble when Yuji came in; I felt bad about that. After updating my blog, we got going; we’ve just made it to the station now…

11:13pm　セミナーハウス

Well this evening took an interesting turn. When we got to Carly’s hotel, as soon as the lady at the reception desk saw we were going to the elevator, she stopped us and said I couldn’t go to the room; since it’s a single room, only one person’s allowed. Oh well, so much for that. I made my way home on the next bus, and was thankful for Carly’s umbrella walking back to the seminar house; it was pouring. When I was getting off the bus at Hirakatashi I realised I didn’t have my keys with me, so when I arrived back and the gate was locked, I got really worried. Luckily, not five minutes later Marine and Angela returned home and let me in; I was so, so grateful. I immediately went to the kitchen to retrieve my keys; of course I had left them in the cupboard. I sat with Julie, Liz, Chelsea and Rebecca for a little while, and was interviewed by Liz about my English/Japanese experience; she’s doing it for assessment at her home university. Soon after, I came back down here, and was visited by Katie; she had just got back from a fun-filled day with her friend who’s just come from Canada. She let me know the time and place of the geisha dances tomorrow, and we’ll probably be meeting her when we get there. With that in mind, I’d better get some sleep; I’m finished…

Day 261 - 18th of May

11:13pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Well, I would have started writing this earlier, but my laptop decided to die from overheating; I almost thought I would too. Anyway, today turned out pretty well, and now I only have one more day left before I’m completely finished with uni; academically, at least… Like yesterday, after breakfast I did some last minute study, and then got to uni a bit early, and sat with Katie and Julie in the lounge. At 10, I had my exam and it actually turned out better that I expected; not that that’s saying much. But still, I feel pretty confident about it. Sensei was so nice, letting the last of us have a few more minutes; we had to move into another room. It was a long exam okay… After that was done, I went and had lunch with Jo, Nathan, Kim and two Japanese girls, one of whom had studied at their university last semester. I opted for Makkas, and was glad I got in early, because soon after the line was way out the door; the Japanese students all finish class at the same time. After lunch, I made my way home, doing a small shop on the way; just bread, milk, and an onion.

Getting back, I got the laundry in and started to get that put away. Carly soon arried, and then we got into some serious packing. Well, to tell the truth, Carly did all the packing while I worked on my essay; she’s a really good packer. It was a good thing she left me her space bags too; they worked a treat. After getting everything I wouldn’t be wearing packed, I weighed the suitcase, and it came to just under 15kgs, which is absolutely wonderful. I’ll fit 5 more kilos of stuff into that, and then buy another small suitcase if need be; I’m pretty sure there will be a need. I’m also going to buy a new carry-on bag since my other one broke; before I even got on the plane to get here! While I wasn’t working on my essay I helped out, getting things sorted, and starting to chuck things out; it’s all going well. As for my essay, I’ve still got a while to go, but I have tomorrow to finish it; I got all the research done this afternoon.

For dinner, I had gyudon (again), and made Carly her Mac and Cheese. Then spent about an hour more on my essay, before finding out that enrolment for USC started yesterday; thank you Alex!!! So I got straight onto that, and had almost completed it when Yuji came by, and went through the inspection procedures with Hugo and I; we went to the kitchen, and to his room. About half an hour later, we were finally done and I got straight back to enrolling. I now have three courses, and will be going to uni on Tuesdays and Thursdays; so much easier than here. It just means I can find a job, and have plenty of days to work; yay for money. Mind you, from this point onwards, all the courses I’ll be taking will be either business or politics; no more Japanese. Still, I think I’m going to sit in on the Japanese classes whenever I can; otherwise I’ll lose everything. I’m really glad I got that sorted out though; and not a minute too soon. If I had found out much later, I probably wouldn’t have had very much choice at all; first come, first serve system. Tomorrow, I’m going to get my essay finished, and then go into uni to get everything sorted out; I hope…

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 255 - 12th of May

11:08pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Well, once again I did not get my field report completed however, I did get my sakubun rewrite done, and got started on my oral for tomorrow; so that was something. Today’s weather was better than yesterday’s, although there was a bit of a chill in the air; go away winter… After getting ready this morning, I found Carly at the front entrance. She needed internet to get in contact with her parents, so asked if she could borrow my laptop for today. I didn’t see anything wrong with it, so handed it over and then went on my way to uni; I needed to quickly get something to eat for breakfast before class. Today was in fact our last Speaking class, and after receiving the last of the review sheets, and a last few words from everyone we were done. It really was a wonderful class, and I will miss Saigo Sensei; he was a great teacher. We’ll, I’ll still be able to see him a couple more times, that next being my oral exam tomorrow. I worked on that in the break, and got most of my thoughts down. I’m talking about how I think parents should raise their kids, and I have to speak for 3-4 minutes, while sensei interjecting with questions every now and then. I’m not too worried about it, as I have a pretty good understanding of the grammar, and it’s a topic that I enjoy talking about; in English at least. I’ll just have to write down a few vocab words (we get up to 10) and I’ll be sweet.

In Reading and Writing today, we got our sakubun back, and I got exactly the same as last time; lots of little mistakes again. The rest of the class was spent finishing reading the story and grammar patterns. I went straight from there upstairs, and crashed the Monsters class (for the last time). Today, Rose and Tori were drawing Pokémon all over the board, since they would be learning about it in class today; wish I brought my camera. Far from Pokémon, today in class we talked about third genders, transsexuals, and gender identity disorder that is, after Professor Hester finally got the computer to talk to the projector. This was my last Onna to Otoko class, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Probably the most interesting thing I learnt was that, a transsexual in Japan can get their official sex changed if they are over 20, not married, have no minor children and, get this, have no reproductive organs and genitals that resemble those of the other sex. So basically, you have to go the whole way; there’s no middle ground. We ended the lesson with the course evaluation, and then I made my way back down to the lounge.

I told Carly she could meet me back at the dorms, and then went grocery shopping; I was sorely in need of supplies. Getting back, I had enough time to make lunch before Carly arrived; we sat in the lounge and talked for a while. Then I got onto my sakubun, getting it finished in about an hour. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the report, and end up altering quite a bit of it; it’s because I care too much. At 7, I went up to eat, and found out that leftover okonomiyaki doesn’t taste all that bad. We watched a quiz show on TV; the one where they have to jump rope while answering questions. I was soon back downstairs, only to go back to the kitchen once more to make Carly’s dinner; Mac and Cheese. It’s annoying that guests aren’t allowed in the kitchen but, can’t be helped. While I was working on my report, Carly was trying to get her phone to work; international roaming didn’t want to cooperate for some reason. She was on the phone with a techie for almost an hour, but she thinks it’s all good now; I hope so. Finally, 10 came around and it was time for Carly to leave. Silly girl hadn’t brought a jacket so I lent her my jumper; she did bring her slippers today though, so that’s an improvement. I’m going to get some sleep now, so I can spend plenty of time in the morning preparing for my oral. After that, I’ll have a little bit of time to study before the Religion quiz…