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 247 - 4th of May

11:31pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Never thought I’d be saying this but I’ve got the air con on in here because it’s too hot; winter has definitely left us. It’s been such a warm day today, and while storm clouds were threatening this evening, it hasn’t rained at all. I’ve been working on my Japanese presentation pretty solidly all afternoon, and I’m still not finished; I’ve only got one day left now. On the plus side, I got out for a bit today to enjoy the weather… After breakfast at 10, I played KH for a while, and then got on my bike and rode down to the station. On the way, I took some photos of the abundance of azalea bushes in full bloom in front of the Komatsu plant, and also stopped at a local shrine I had rode past a few times, but never been in. It’s called 甲鉾神社 (Kouhoko Shrine), and it was small but peaceful. Going down the big hill today was great because the lights were timed perfectly so that I didn’t have to slow down for the traffic in front. Getting to the station, I parked my bike, this time in a proper park. It’s actually an automated “bike rack” (that’s the best way I could think to describe it) that charges you depending on how long you leave it there. The first 90 minutes are free, and had I known this earlier I definitely would have used it; that’s what lack of investigation gets you.

In the 90 minutes I had, I got a lot done. I went to animate and found the Hetalia character song’s sheet music book (I was so happy about that), and also got some Hetalia pins from a gatchapon. It’s funny because they weren’t there on Saturday when I went, and the machine was almost empty already; goes to show how popular it is. I had a look at the clothes on the men’s floor, but didn’t find anything I liked, so I went over to Book Off; I didn’t find anything there either. I got back with time to spare, and soon figured out how to free my bike from the clutches of the evil bike rack; just had to type in the number rack it was in into the machine nearby. Then I made my way back home; that was hot work. I decided I would buy the tickets to the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo today, since I heard they sold out fast. In order to do that, I had to go to Lawsons to use a machine that would print out a receipt that I could give to the people at the counter in exchange for the tickets; sounds complicated right. And it was, especially because it took me a while to figure out how to get the machine to do what I wanted it to do; these girls came up to help me, which was really nice of them.

Carly and I had tentatively planned to go the museum on Sunday, pretty much as soon as we get to Tokyo, but that day was sold out, so I went for the Monday. Thinking about it now, I’m actually happier with that. It means we don’t have to rush at all on Sunday; I’m sure we’ll be tired after being on the night bus for 8 hours or so. Simon was telling me about his trip to Tokyo this afternoon (he just got back), and it sounds as though he had a really great time; I’m looking forward to it. I worked on my presentation until about 7:30, and then went up to make dinner; pasta bake. I ended up making enough to last three meals however it wasn’t quite saucy enough, so I think I’m going to have to buy some more to put in it. After dinner, I was bombarded by more food; Julie was giving out cake, and Sam mochi. I also had another orange, and it wasn’t as sour this time; still really messy though. I stayed up there until about 9, and then got a bit more done on my presentation. I’m learning words like symbiosis and photosynthesis in Japanese, which is kind of cool even though I’m probably never going to use them outside this presentation; oh well. I’m mostly worried about being able to remember it all, as some of the sentences are pretty full on; I think I might get Yuji to check it over for me when I’m done. Anyway, I’d better get some sleep now; last day of holiday tomorrow…

Day 202 - 20th of March

天気：晴れ、風が吹いている
Today was so much fun, though very exhausting… I woke up at about 9:30, and got ready for the day. Since it was such a nice, sunny day, I put on some laundry, trying to be as quiet as possible; Hugo was still asleep. At around 11, I heard the reception desk bell ring, and I knew straight away that it was Ash, trying to sign her parents in; by the sounds of things, Otousan wasn’t coming. Soon after, Ash came to my room, and asked if I wanted to go to the park for a picnic; of course I did. I went out to meet her parents, and then let them know I’d catch up in a bit, since I had some washing on. Like Katie, Hugo was going to the graduation at Kansai Gaidai today. I had wanted to go, but at the same time, I wanted to go to the lake with Ash and her parents. After putting my washing out, I left on my bike, and in no time at all, caught up with them; Rachel had also joined. The walk to the park was surprisingly hot, and I found myself stripping down to just my shirt. Getting to the park and some relief from the sun, we made our way around to the northern side of the lake; I abandoned the group to take photos of flowers at one point.

I met up with them at an undercover area, and we sat down to enjoy our “picnic”, which consisted of grapes, Ritz, chips, bread sticks, and chocolate. We sat for a while and just talked about various things; Ash’s parents are very well travelled. At around 1, we continued our walk around the park, and came across a grove of what might have been sakura; not entirely sure. Indeed, there were many people taking advantage of the warm weather, lounging under the beautiful blossoms. It was quite windy by this point, and it was an amazing sight to see all the petals flying about; many other flowers were out too. We circumnavigated the lake, wandering through the bamboo grove, and watching the carp, before making our way out. Ash had decided that we go straight to karaoke; we would meet a few others there. So, we made our way back along the river, a route I had never taken, on to Makino; it was very pleasant, with lots to see along the way. Getting to Sanko, we stocked up on a few supplies, before continuing on to Karaoke. Rachael and Katie met us along the way, and when we got there I went around to the back to park my bike; by this point it was more of a burden than anything else.

Getting inside, I signed us in, and then we had to wait for about 30 minutes to get a room. Peter arrived just as we were about to go in; perfect timing. Since it was almost 4, we decided to get daytime free time, which goes till 7. We soon found Peter to be an amazing singer; I was equally as impressed as I was jealous. Seriously though, his singing voice sounded completely different to his normal voice, and he really knew how to get into it; he was doing funny things with the mic chord. Rachael didn’t feel comfortable singing much, but we made her sing a few, as we did Ash’s parents, finding out that Ash and her Mum have the exact same singing voice. All in all, we had a wonderful time, although I was a bit disappointed we didn’t stay that long. Peter had to leave a little early, so he missed out on doing purikura with us when we got out; we had to do it with Ash’s parents. After that, we walked back, intending to go to Sandoru in Makino for dinner. When we got to Sanko, both Rach(a)els decided to go straight home, Rachel because she was going to Tokyo tomorrow and had to eat the rest of the food in her fridge, and Rachael because she isn’t too keen on Japanese food; Rachel was kind enough to take my bike back with her.

When we got to Sandoru, we soon realised it was closed; Friday and Saturday are regular holidays! So that idea went out the window. We walked back down the street, and ended up coming to a place called Zenya; the menu looked good so we thought why not. After a short while, we were seated; the interior was really nice, and traditional. After ordering, the conversation began to flow. For a Japanese restaurant, it actually took an uncharacteristically long time for our meals to arrive. And, there was a bit of a mistake. Ash had ordered two of the same set for both her parents, and they only ended up bringing out one. When we realised this, we promptly informed the waiter, and eventually Ash’s Dad got a meal. That sorted, we all had an enjoyable dinner, and I even got to finish off Ash’s rice and her mum’s meal; so lots of variation for me! After hearing Ash being referred to as Chirstina (or Chris or Chrissie) by her parents all day (it is her name after all), I had to bring up the, “Why is your name Ash,” question; and tonight, I finally got the answer, and not from Ash. Her mum proceeded to tell as that Ash was short for Ashley, a boy’s name Christina liked and would use as part of her pen name if ever she were to publish a book. Ash herself had completely forgotten this, so it was really awesome to have the mystery behind the name finally revealed.

At around 9:30, we made our way back out into the windy night, and Ash escorted her parents back to the uni, so they could find their way back to the hotel, and Katie and I went home. I was quite tired by this time, and was very grateful to Hugo for bringing my laundry in. I spent the rest of the night chatting with Carly and Alex. Much to my surprise, I found out that Alex would in fact be in Kyoto tomorrow; the time just stuck up on me. So, after going to Nipponbashi for the parade tomorrow, I’m going to go meet up with Alex, and her Aunt and Nan, and we’re going to go to karaoke; can’t wait…

Day 176 - 22nd of February

10:17pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ、曇り

The weather is definitely warming up, the blooming plum blossoms heralding an early spring. Seriously though, even when it was cloudy and windy this afternoon, it was nowhere near as cold as it has been; I’m so happy. Anyway, what did I get up to today… well, I got up with plenty of time to spare, and still made my way to uni with 20 minutes to spare; old habits die hard. Yes it’s loud, and a bumpy ride, but it’s my bike, and I love it to death; I’ve been so deprived. Riding to uni takes no time at all, so I could walk in at my leisure from the bike parking, talking to Kim on the way; no more having to rush. We watched some really cute little video clips in Speaking today, one depicting the life of a business man, and another full of palindromes (which, as you can imagine, work really well in Japanese). I thought I’d have the tunes stuck in my head for the rest of the day, but now I can’t for the life of me remember then; oh well. After Speaking, I went down to the lounge and sat with Katie and Sarah, and got my homework done.

Soon enough, it was time for Reading and Writing. Although the class is intense, I really feel my reading is improving a lot, and more and more kanji are becoming recognisable; it’s great. Where ever I see a kanji I don’t know, or one I do know in a new compound, I’m always eager to look it up (with my trusty iPod dictionary), and that’s helping a lot too. After Reading and Writing, I rode home, and made Milo pancakes for lunch. I haven’t had pancakes in ages, so it was a nice change. Soon after, I was out again, making my way to Midori. On Saturday when I went there, I accidently bought another Nintendo DS case; I can’t believe I didn’t notice it! So yeah, feeling stupid, I decided I had to go back to try and return it. When I got to Midori, I went into Llife first, and found some sauce for my dinner tonight. After I bought the Doritos at Don Quijote, I knew I had to make Nachos, and since I got out the mince from the freezer, I thought I’d give it a shot tonight.

I couldn’t find anything resembling taco sauce, so I settled for a pasta sauce; I always like to improvise. I then went across to the pharmacy, and bought a refill for my soap. It’s unbelievable, but that one, 500ml bottle of soap has lasted me all this time! I love the slogan on the bottle – “Please feel good smell with your whole heart”. I was worried I’d have to get rid of it, so when I found the refill, I was really happy. I’ve been using the aloe vera extract all this time, so I decided I’d try the orange extract; hopefully it makes me smell yummy. Anyway, after that I went upstairs and was at first hesitant to approach the register. As far as I can tell, Japan is a notoriously difficult place to get a refund on goods. I bumped into Jeremy (he was looking for a new pair of earphones), and told him of my mistake, and he figured the odds of getting my money back weren’t promising. Still, I was determined, and, sucking it up, I approached the register…

I didn’t have to say much before the woman realised what I wanted. And… it was all good! After a bit of number crunching, she had a new receipt printed out, and all I had to do was sign, and I had my money back; I was very grateful. Well, that was certainly easier than I thought it would be; maybe because I got onto it straight away. Elated, I went to tell Jeremy, and then celebrated by playing the piano. Well, I had actually intended on playing it anyway; I even brought some sheet music to practice! Jeremy left me there, and a played for a while. Finally tiring of it, I left Midori, and made my way over to Kirindo, to pick up some basics. Then I was on a mission to find everything I needed for Nachos. I went over to Fresco to get an avocado (they’re the cheapest there), and then rode to Top World. I was able to find sour cream (really cheap since it was almost expired), and a small bag of red kidney beans. I also found that sparkling chocolate drink; since it was so cheap I decided I’d give it a go.

Satisfied with all my purchases, I went home groceries in my basket, and bag on my shoulder; it wasn’t so bad. It was about 4:15 when I got home, and after unpacking my groceries, I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and playing Plants vs. Zombies; those dolphin-riding zombies are so fast in the water!!! I had a nap at 6, and by 6:30 I was so hungry I had to make food. And believe me when I say I was very happy with the result; it looked great, and tasted even better. I’ve even got a bit left over, which I think I’ll eat tomorrow for lunch. The only thing I wish I had had was some proper sauce, but Sarah told me they had some at Top World; I’ll have to look harder next time. After cleaning up, and watching the ice skating for a while, I went downstairs to find Simon, and his Japanese friends watching Batman Forever, dubbed in Japanese. I hadn’t seen the movie in years, and it was actually quite hilarious to watch; more because of how bad it was. Still, I kept me entertained, and we all had a good laugh. After the movie was finished, it was time for all the guests to leave (it was almost 10), and for the rest of us to get some homework done. Hugo returned from dinner, a little after I got settled down. Well, better do a bit of revision for tomorrow’s quiz…

Day175 - 21st of February

11:35pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
Today was such a nice, sunny day. Perfect weather for climbing a mountain; and that’s just what I did… I got up at 8:15, and readied myself to be out of the seminar house by 9. Well I actually took a little longer, but still managed to make it to Makino station before 9:30; yay for bike. I got on the local train, which took a little over 30 minutes to get to Fushimi Inari; I played Harvest Moon on the way. Getting off at the station, I met with the others (a disappointingly small number), and we set out for the shrine; after waiting for the next train, which no one else got off. I tried my hardest to stay close to the professor for the field trip, to gain as much information as possible; and it was very interesting. Even though we took the same path I’d been on before (it is after all the main route), many things along the way seemed much more meaningful. There was a stone, where you have a question in your head and, if the stone is heavier then you though it was when you lift it, the answer is no, but if it is lighter, then it’s a yes; I got a no.

And later on, there was a “coughing shrine” – basically a manifestation of Inari that deals with peoples coughs. This is interesting because the onomatopoeia for both coughing and the cry of the fox is “kon kon”, and Inari is most often portrayed as a fox; Japan loves its puns. This particular shrine even received mail, from people who either want their coughing cured, or in thanks. Nearby, we got to see a woman practicing waterfall purification; the water must’ve been freezing. Inari is a really amazing god actually. Undoubtedly the most personalised, it has so many different manifestations. I got some film, and of course took plenty of photos; sometimes falling behind a bit. Another interesting shrine, right at the bottom of the mountain, was the one to pacify executed animals i.e. the ones we kill to eat. We finished up around 1, and I decided to make my way straight home, not seeing much point in going to the flea market. All in all, it was a good field trip. Fushimi Inari is a beautiful place to visit; I think I might go back one more time during cherry blossom season.

Getting back to Makino, I bought some bread at Mini Stop, and then went over to where I parked my bike. When I found it wasn’t there, I freaked out and though, “My bike’s been taken away, and it’s only the second day I’ve had it!” Luckily, I soon located it, propped up in a nearby gutter; phew, I was so relieved! The ride back was very pleasant, although my legs did hurt a bit; oh well, it is good exercise. I made some lunch (avocado which corn chips on top), and watched TV for a while. There was a really cool quiz show on, where the contestant had to answer a question while doing jump rope. They had to get 6 people on without stuffing up; that would have been incredibly tiring. Japanese game shows are so active; and we wonder why they’re all so skinny. After that, I slept for a few hours, having developed a headache; probably all the exercise was too much for me, how sad. I got up at about 5:30, and cleaned up the room, and sorted my shelves and desk out; looks much better now.

I had dinner a little after 7:30 (heated up butaman and rice), and caught up with Rachel, who had been to the flea market; she didn’t end up getting any kimono though. We sat with Alvaro and Tristan (my next door neighbours), and talked about heaps of stuff. Simon came in a bit later, back from his exciting day at USJ. Since he didn’t have any dinner, he asked if he could have some bread and some vegemite, and how could I possibly refuse a fellow Aussie vegemite? We got Rachael to try some, and she hated it; the look on her face was priceless. Later, when everyone else had gone, Simon put on some rice, and we talked for a few more hours, and he told me about how Australia is making genetically modified lamb with a chocolate taste, I an attempt to increase exports to Japan. I don’t know if this is true, but that’s absolutely crazy; who would want to eat chocolate-tasting lamb!? Speaking of chocolate tasting things, Jeremy found “sparkling chocolate” at Top World, a soft drink; I want to try some… I finally got back down here at 10, and did some kanji practice for a little over an hour. I guess it’s time for bed now, uni tomorrow, and Hugo should be back in the afternoon.

Day 174 - 20th of February

天気：曇り
I finally have a new bike, and the best part about it is that I got it for free… I woke up at about 10 this morning, and talked with Simon, who showed his eagerness in getting all the bike registration stuff done this morning; he had Otousan on his back because he’s only allowed to have one bike. So, as soon as I got ready, we made our way over to the bike shop just past Sanko, where he had first purchased the bike. I insisted we walk, since the handle bars on the bike were very loose. Getting there, the old man who runs the store got everything in order for putting the bike in my name. There are actually four stickers you need on your bike – one for the police (a crime prevention sticker), one with your name and address on it, one to register with the university so you can park there, and one so you can park at the seminar house! The bike shop guy proceeded to take off the crime prevention sticker (he had to use a blow torch to get it off), and the address sticker, replacing them with mine. Then I got him to fix my handle bars; a few quick turns with an Allen key and it was sweet. Now I could legally ride the bike, and I did so in earnest, to the university with Simon.

We went straight to the student affairs office in the main administration building, to get a coupon out of a machine, to take to the CIE so I could register my bike with the uni. Getting there, I had to get a photo copy of the paper I got from the bike shop, and fill out a form, presenting that with the coupon; oh Japan, you and your bureaucracy. Anyway, that was all fine, and I eventually got the sticker for my bike; now I could park at the uni. We rode back in the direction of home, deciding to check out Avail. We spent a little while in there, and Simon found something he like (I didn’t), but was in a bit of a rush to get home, so he decided to think on it. He left before me, since he was meeting someone at 11:30. I was in no rush, but ended up leaving not long after him, not really fussed. I ended up meeting him out the front of the seminar house, and he asked me to let Otousan know the switching of hands had taken place, and he no longer had two bikes. I had to talk to Otousan anyway, to get the final sticker I needed; gotta stick ‘em all. So that was that; I was a bona fide bike owner.

I went back to my room, and got talking to Carly. She’s planning to come back to Japan for a two week holiday, with a really good deal on the plane fare. She’s going to come around the end of May, and looks forward to seeing everyone again, and buying heaps more kimonos at Toji; crazy girl. At around two I had lunch, explaining to yet another person what that green stuff was on my toast; I never get tired of that. I really have been enjoying my avocado and rice on toast for lunch; it’s so good. Back in my room, I did some more chatting, getting my blog updated, before changing the futon linen and vacuuming the floor. After that I was a bit restless, so decided to test out my new bike. I had heard of a great discount store called ドン・キホーテ (Don Kihote – Don Quijote ~ I don’t know the significance of the name. It’s a chain almost exclusive to Japan, with a few stores in Hawaii), past Midori on Highway 1. By foot, it would’ve taken over an hour to get there, but now that I had my bike, it would be totally doable, so I went for it. I’ve pushed the limits of how far I’m willing to walk; now I have to push the limits of how far I’m to bike.

Everything just feels physically closer when you have a bike, and I managed to get there with 30 minutes, the penguin mascot and bright colours making it stand out. I parked out back, and entered. It was absolutely packed, floor to ceiling, of stuff; incredibly dense too. It had two storeys, and I casually browsed, not really finding anything of interest; it was after all, a junk shop. My face did light up however when I finally stumbled upon the imported junk foods section, and found Tim Tams and Doritos. And wow the Tim Tams were way cheaper than they had been on Rokkosan; I guess that makes sense. I didn’t get too carried away though, mindful of having only a small basket at the front of the bike. I picked up a few other things, and went to pay. Don Quijote is duty-free for short term residents if they show there passport, and if they spent at least 10,000円 (over $100 dollars in the store); that was definitely not happening. Happy with what I got, I made my way back along the highway, wanting to check out a few more stores I had spotted on the way. I went to a video-game/DVD place (forgotten the name of it), and got chatting with a random Japanese guy for a little while. After browsing for a little while, I left and went in a nearby second-hand clothes shop; a rarity in Japan indeed. Finding nothing I liked, I made my way back to Midori, past car dealers, restaurants, and Sega world. Of course, as soon as I got there, I couldn’t resist going to play one of the electric pianos on display.

After that, I went and browsed the games, and picked up Final Fantasy Tactics A2, and Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for the DS, along with a case and screen protectors (with Jack Skellington stickers). I finally got back home at 7:30; I was a little surprised at how long I’d been out. The group were just about ready to watch some more Firefly, so I quickly made scrambled eggs, and took it downstairs. At 9, Rachael had kitchen cleaning duty, and I went up to help; I had to wash my dishes anyway. Biancha, seeing that I was help called me 豪い (erai – admirable), and Yuji went on to explain that erai is used when someone does something even though they don’t have to; there’s probably a good English word for that. It’s also really cool because that word uses the kanji 豪, which stands for Australia; so I was honoured. Getting back downstairs, we continued our viewing and had watched 4 episodes by about 11:30; only 6 more to go. Sleepy, and knowing I’d have to get up early the next day, I went to bed soon after…

Day 173 - 19th of February

天気：曇り

9 o’clock classes are not fun at all, especially when you have a vocab quiz. I managed to get to uni on time though, with the help of my alarm. The quiz was in Reading and Writing, and it went okay, then we spent the rest of the lesson going over old grammar points, just with a lot of new kanji in the mix this time. I went straight from that to a lesson test in Speaking; such a relief when it was over. After that I went down to the lounge, and sat with Rachel, Rachael, and Sarah, watching the live streaming of the ice skating on Rachel’s laptop. Since it was Sarah’s birthday, Rachel had decided to take her to New Delhi (an Indian restaurant) for lunch, and pay for her meal. I hadn’t eaten there, but had heard many good things about it, so asked if I could join; Simon come along too. Rachel decided to stay and watch her ice skating; she’s really into it. So off we went; it’s just outside the main gate. And wow, what a spread! Simon had to quickly go and sort out his insurance so we didn’t end up ordering until he came back, and then the food just kept on coming.

To start off, we all got a soup, and then they brought out our main meals. Simon and I both got the “B Lunch” which consisted of a salad (with some deep-fried eggplant), a huge piece of Naan (it was literally falling off the sides of the plate), a curry (we could chose from two, and the level of spice), saffron rice, this other really spicy thing, and a mango lassi (mango yoghurt drink). And then they brought out another type of bread with coconut inside; and this was all for 700円. Far out, I was so full afterwards; I had to ask to take out the coconut bread because I just couldn’t eat it at the time. It was really good though, but maybe a bit too spicy for me; next time I’ll choose a lower level spice. Rachael had to leave early, to get to her class in time for a test, and Simon was supposed to go to class too (but didn’t because he wanted to enjoy his food), so when we left Simon rushed off, Sarah went to 7/11, and I went to the post office to send some postcards.

Getting back to uni, I sat down with Ash, and we were soon joined by Rachael, and shortly after, Rachel and Katie. After playing some Plants vs. Zombies, and watching some more Olympics, I had to get to class. We signed up for the Takarazuka trip today, and talked about gendered language in Japanese. The professor brought in some native speakers, to demonstrate different aspects of how language can be made more masculine, or more feminine; really interesting. Then we watched a short clip on the making of the 土俵 (Dohyo – the ring where the sumo match takes place). The professor told us that next month the sumo tournament would be held in Osaka, and I think it would be a great opportunity to go and see a match; so that’s something. After class, I walked home, on the way talking with Sydney, before she was given a lift with Maureen on her bike; I’ll be able to do that for people soon. Getting back, I got my blog up-to-date and soon enough it was time for dinner. Somehow I was still hungry enough to eat my leftover yakisoba.

I sat with the group (as they shall be called for now, since I couldn’t be bothered writing all their names), and Rachael showed me some awesome goodies she’d found at Animate today; a Final Fantasy AC novel complete and postcard book. I am so jealous. Then she proceeded to tell me about all her story ideas that she hasn’t gotten round to writing yet; I got cake as a reward for listening. I wish she would, so I could read them. Katie bought Sarah a slice of cake, and we wished her a happy birthday, before getting ready to go downstairs for our Friday night viewing session. When I got down to the lounge, I found Yuji watching a DVD; he asked if it was okay if we waited another 30 minutes. So in the mean time, I went back to my room, and saw Hugo off; weekend in Tokyo, lucky guy. Then I sat in the computer room with Simon and Rachael. When he was finished, Yuji joined us, and I asked him again about the A/C; for some reason the filter warning light wasn’t turning off, even after I cleaned it. So, we went to Otousan, and he knew the solution straight away; the reset button on the controller. It was as easy as that. Thanking Yuji, I roused the troops (went up to the kitchen and told them it was time), and then we all gathered in the lounge with all our treats. I ate my coconut bread; it was really tasty.

It was about 9:30 by that time, and for the next 3 hours we watched 4 episodes of a really cool Sci-fi/Western series (weird mix right) called firefly. The story is set in 2517. The Earth has been drained of all its resources, forcing mankind to emigrate to a new star system. The only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, have fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two cultures as well. The plot revolves around a captain and his crew who make a living on the outskirts of the society, as part of the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of the system. The special effects are pretty good, and as a result of the cultural fusion, Mandarin Chinese is spoken often (usually when they are swearing), and there are kanji all over the place. There aren’t any aliens, which is a nice change, just a really scary cannibalistic group of nomadic humans called Reavers. The only thing I really don’t like about it is the country western music, especially in the opening credits. When everyone started singing, it was sickening; Rachel had the same sentiment. Actually, Rachel and Katie had also never seen this before. Sadly though, the series was axed after the 14 episode; so a lot was left in the air. Luckily, after a huge push by the fan base, they made a movie, which I’m told explains most things. And that was the end of my night; I was very tired.