Day 263 - 20th of May

11:32pm　セミナーハウス

天気：曇り

Today was a very long day; I’m exhausted. But, I picked up lots of goodies, and saw a wonderful show, so it was worth it. And, it wasn’t nearly as hot as it has been recently, although the air was damp all day… After waking up at 9, to find Hugo missing, I got ready for the day and then took the bus to the station. En route, I rearranged all my badges and pins, so now they cover most of the bag and there is a decent space between each of them; it looks much better in my opinion. I met Carly in Hirakata at 10:30, and we went over to the bank so I could close my account, and she could cash some traveller’s checks. She ended up taking longer than me, because the bank wanted to know her hotel’s address; they couldn’t find it! Eventually everything was sorted out, and we came out a whole lot richer. Taking the rapid express to Gion Shijo, we walked around for a little while, me trying to figure out Katie’s instructions. It was getting close to 12, so I was getting a little anxious. We did end up finding the street though, and were seated just after 12; a bit early but anyway. Since all the regular seats were booked out, we had to sit in the second floor balcony on cushions. We were right next to the stage, looking at it at a diagonal. Unfortunately we were on the side where the walkway wasn’t visible; it was right under us. So we couldn’t see the orchestra or some of the action. Apart from that, and the mild discomfort, it was great; certainly for the price.

Of course, Katie had ended up with front row seats (she did end up having to pay more) and we soon caught her attention as she sat down. Her two friends are visiting from Canada and after the show we got acquainted. Seeing as it was getting close to 2 by that time, we decided it was time for lunch. After meeting up with Sarah near the station, we made our way over to Sukiya; it was cheap and delicious. After eating, we slowly made our way over to the Teramachi shopping arcade, the girls stopping it shops along the way. Once at Teramachi, I took them to the second-hand kimono place, and while they were browsing, I tried to sell my kimono. Well, that didn’t turn out very well at all. Not only did they not want to buy it, they wouldn’t even except it as a donation; this made me wonder where they actually got their kimono from. I don’t know, maybe I just wasn’t negotiating properly, or maybe it’s because I’m a gaijin. It just meant I had to haul it around for the rest of the day, and believe me it’s not light. After exiting the shop, Katie and her friends went to karaoke, and Sarah, Carly and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping; separately!

Well not at first. We went over to the t-shirt printing place, and I got exactly what I wanted. I had to pay a bit extra because the expression was so long, but it was totally worth it. I now have a bright yellow shirt that says 豆腐の角に頭をぶつけて死ね (tofu no kado ni atama wo butsukete shine – “Go bash your head on the corner of a block of tofu and die”) on it!!! Extremely satisfied, I made my way over to ABC Mart, to see if I could find a pair of shoes for my brother; I couldn’t. I had left the girls at a fabric shop, and when I returned, they weren’t there. I waited around for a bit, then went back to ABC Mart; no sign of them. I walked back to the fabric store again, and they weren’t there, so I decided to just continue on; maybe I’d bump into them again. Well, I didn’t, but I went to a heap of shops, and found some really great stuff. I tried looking for some bags and found a few places, but I wasn’t entirely certain about any of them; I needed a second opinion. So, I’ll have to get them tomorrow for sure. I found another Village Vanguard (it’s also in Kuzuha Mall and has a whole lot of crazy, fun stuff in it), but didn’t end up buying anything. I also had a look around some of the small temples and shrine crammed between the shops; everything looked so lush in the rain.

I ended my shopping in a music store, hitting the jackpot on the 4^th floor; piano sheet music!!! I ended up buying four books: two Kingdom Hearts piano arrangements, the Advent Children piano solo, and Chopin; one of the pieces Austria always plays in Hetalia is Chopin’s Nocturne, so I want to learn it. I was so happy after that, but my legs were killing me. I had a lot of bags, but luckily one of the shopkeepers offered me a really big bag to put them all in; that was a huge help. I made my way back to the station, and after buying some sweets from the bakery, I decided I’d do a little more looking around before heading home; I had just enough energy left. Since Book Off was just upstairs, I browsed that for a while coming back empty-handed; oh well. On the way home, I drifted in and out of sleep; having a chair was very comfortable. I finally got home at about 8, and went straight to dinner; leftovers with rice. I stayed up there until about 9 and when Sarah came in, I asked her what happened; after they left the fabric shop they went into the 100円 shop so I must have walked straight past them. Anyway, it all turned out okay. I spent the next hour sorting stuff out, and then after saying goodnight to Carly, I went and sat down to watch the drama with the girls; this week’s episode wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the last one. Still, it was fun and a chance to practice listening. Well I’d better get some sleep since we’re going to the flea market pretty early tomorrow. And 0% chance of rain…

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 190 - 8th of March

天気：曇り

I got a good night’s sleep, and was able to get out of bed at 7:30 this morning. This meant that I had a good hour and an half more to study for my lesson test, and it certainly payed off. I actually found this test much easier than the first one we had (even the listening was easier to understand), and was finished just after the half an hour point. I went over to the convenience store, and picked up a snack, before going back to the lounge, and hanging out with Katie, Sarah, and Cate, getting some more kanji practice in. Reading and Writing came round, and we made a start on the story in the book, and covered some more grammar patterns; all one’s we’ve come across before thankfully. After that, I was free. I did some grocery shopping, and then I went home, had a quick lunch, and talked with Rachael for a while in the computer room, before making my way out again. I was going to meet Ash in the CIE lounge, since she was going to Joshin to buy a new MP3 player. Since I had never been, I was interested in joining her; on my way back to uni, I took some photos of this beautiful tree in full bloom now (I don’t think it’s a plum blossom), in front of Komatsu.

Unfortunately, it was a bit past our meeting time (2:30) when I got there, and not finding her, I immediately went back to my bike, to see if I could be clever and catch up with her on it. Well, I didn’t see her the whole way there; I must have been too far in front. When I got to Joshin, which is basically just across from Midori, I waited there for a little while. There wasn’t much to look at in all honesty; it mirrored Midori in many respects. Still no sign of Ash, I contemplated just going home, before deciding that I might as well look around some more shops since I was out there. So, I continued up the highway (in the direction of Kappazushi and the Lake), and went in a few of the places Ash had told me about. The first was called FAN 倶楽部 (Fan kurabu – Fan club ~ this is an example of "ateji" - kanji used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words. The kanji may or may not have anything to do with the original meaning of the word, and be chosen solely for phonetic value. In this case though, the kanji roughly translate as "together, fun, place", so you could argue whether that was a meaningful interpretation or not), and I had a field day inside. It sells second-hand clothes, books, guitars, CD’s, DVD’s, records, comics, games, and trading cards. The sheer amount of stuff they had was incredible.

I slowly made my way through the maze, looking for anything of interest to me. They had a corner filled with old poker machines, and a huge section with games from the Fami-Con (a.k.a the NES). There were thousands upon thousands, of Yugioh trading cards, some baseball cards, and I even spotted some Magic cards; that brought back memories. There were rows and rows of figures from every anime imaginable, all hanging up in little plastic bags, or displayed behind glass. In a cardboard box on the floor, I spotted some Final Fantasy books (my internal homing device doing its job), and found Final Fantasy VII: Official Establishment File, in relatively good condition. I contained images and information of the characters, and I thought it was a really good find; a collector’s item. Looking on the shelf above, I found some more Final Fantasy related books (mostly walkthroughs), and decided to pick up the one for FFX-2, since it was really cheap and compact. I browsed the rest of the store for a while, having a quick look at the CDs, and bypassing the rows and rows of manga, before making my purchases; I was very satisfied. The guy even gave me a discount on the FFVII book; score.

The next place I went to looked, from the outside, looked like a regular shop, but the inside was of… devious intent. The front quarter of the store was just like any other typical DVD/comic book store, but behind the big black curtains with the 18+ logo in red was a world of naughty pleasures. Ash had told me this, so I decided to check it out just for curiosities sake, and it was indeed very enlightening. I just thought the whole concept was bizarre; why have a tiny portion of your store dedicated to non-adult goods (there was no one in that section), when clearly the whole purpose of it is to go to the adult section. It seemed almost like a façade to me; you really wouldn’t know what they were actually selling from just looking at the exterior. Anyway, I came out empty-hand, but full-minded (well…) and made my way back home. I decided to stop by Top World to see if I could find the Old El Paso Taco Kit, I’d seen some girls using at the dorm; they told me they’d found it there. And sure enough, it was there; along with all the other hot sauces. I was over the moon actually; they had Nachos sauce too. However, it was wickedly expensive, so I held out on that, and just bought one of the kits; tacos this week!

Getting back, I had a good look at my purchases, before it was time for dinner; chicken parmigiana. I noticed that Yuji had left his cookies out, and let him know as soon as I saw him. He was making them around lunch time, and let me try one; they were… interesting. I stayed up in the kitchen until just before 8, and then went down to the lounge for Hugo’s movie night. Since he has so many movies on his portable hard drive, he has decided to have a viewing night once a week; he rigged up his laptop to connect with the TV. This week we watched Leon: The Professional, a French directed movie starring Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and a very young Natalie Portman; this was her debut film. I found it really enjoyable, and moving. It finished just after 10, and had attracted a number of viewers including Simon, Yuji, and Alvaro; a success. After an orange in the kitchen, I came back down, and got my blog as up-to-date as possible, until it was time for sleep.

Day 159 - 5th of February

11:45pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
I’ve just finished watching Nightmare before Christmas, and Sleepy Hollow with Ash, Katie, Rachel, and Rachael; Tim Burton is the best! Today went well. I got up a little late, but got to uni on time for my 9 o’clock class, in which I had my Reading and Writing test. Straight after that was the Speaking test. Both went pretty well I think; glad they’re over. Then I went down to the lounge, after finding a notice of interest in my mailbox. Someone is selling textbooks cheap and my Onna to Otoko books were listed. So, I sent an email to the seller; sadly, still no reply. I actually waited in the computer lab for a while, for the reply since I was sending the message to a mobile phone; I had expected a hasty reply. Now feeling hungry, I went to lunch with Jacinthe, and had 肉じゃが丼 (nikujagadon – a meat and potato dish). It’s an interesting dish that sees the marriage of British beef stew and Japanese style cooking and ingredients; very tasty. It’s a great winter dish, and I’ll have to try cooking it some time.

After lunch, I had my Onna to Otoko class, where we discussed the definition of gender, contrasted it to the word “sex”, and brought up the issue of intersex; it was all very fascinating. And then I was done for the day. I decided to check out Avail before going home, and found a pretty cool pair of boots. I wasn’t completely convinced, so decided to wait, in hopes the price may drop; already really cheap though considering. When I got back, I found Simon and Rachael in the computer lab, and chatted with them for a while, before going up with Simon to the kitchen to get something to eat. As we were climbing the stairs, Katie was coming down and oh wow she looked great with straight hair; so different too. After eating, Simon soon left to go out with friends. I went back to my room and chatted with Alex and then family for a while, and then went up to make dinner; pizza. While it was cooking, Hugo came in, telling me he had someone to introduce. I soon become acquainted with Richard; a friend of Hugo’s who has been following my blog.

Needless to say, I was quite shocked by this; meeting someone who already knows much about me. I can’t say that it isn’t a bit creepy; hopefully he will read this and have a good laugh. He was really cool though, and even offered me a gift; sweets. I ate them straight after my pizza; thanks Richard they were very tasty. So yeah, that was cool. At this point, I was joined by Katie and Ash, and soon Rachel, and we sat and talked, while watching a program featuring Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (which I still haven’t seen), and other Ghibli works. They also showed the Ghibli museum, which I really want to go to. At about 8:30, it was movie time, and we had quite a number watch Nightmare before Christmas. That soon dissipated, after Sleepy Hollow came on; great night of viewing. Next Friday’s going to be Sweeny Todd, then another movie that Ash is dying to show us; looking forward to it. Well, better get some sleep; Beauty and the Beast tomorrow!!!

Day 128 - 5th of January

9:33pm　セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
Again, I didn’t get up until 3 this afternoon. But fear not, this vicious cycle will come to an end presently because Ryan’s left, and he won’t be returning until Sunday. Now I can get back to going to sleep at reasonable hours of the night. So what did I do today… Well, I had breakfast and lunch together (cereal and then avocado, tomato, and rice on toast), while watching art-related programs on TV. I spent the rest of the afternoon stuffing around on the computer, reading web comics and the like, until Ryan left. Then I made my first real attempt at reading Deltora Quest – the Forest of Silence in Japanese; デロトラ・クエスト‐沈黙の森. And by reading, I mean having to translate every second word. Seriously, in an hour I only got through four pages, and had to translate 96 words; thank you iPod touch! I’m not going to give up though; even if it takes me a year. I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to Japanese vocabulary, so this should help immensely.

After that, I went up to dinner, and felt lazy, so I just defrosted the stew; gosh it was packed with flavour. Aki and Kaoru returned from their home towns and the new RA, Hiroshi has moved in across from me. Watched TV for a little while, and then came back down here. Tomorrow I have to do laundry!!! I haven’t done it in weeks; I don’t know how I have so many clothes. I don’t know what else I want to do tomorrow; I guess I have to do grocery shopping. Classes start for the Japanese students tomorrow, and Carly told me she goes back to uni at the end of the week; so weird. I guess I have to remember it’s flipped in the northern hemisphere; they have their big break in the middle of the year; their summer. Anyway, early night tonight…

Day 103 - 11th of December

10:27pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天
It had rained in the night, and continued to rain throughout the day. Not the best weather for all the running around I had to do today though... My oral exam wasn't until 12:40, so I spent the morning preparing for it. Straight after lunch, Carly and I made our way to uni with my Christmas box, ready to send. She sat in the lounge with it, while I did my oral. I did pretty well I think. After that I went back down, and Katie kindly offered to watch the box while Carly and I went to the station to buy my shinkansen ticket and get out money. That all went well. We also went to book off, and I bought the first book in the Deltora Quest series in Japanese. I really want to try to read a book in Japanese, and a childhood favourite seems like a good place to start.

Before getting back to uni (by bus again since it was pouring), I bought some 御座候 (gozasoro - pancakes filled with white or red azuki bean paste). I liked the red paste better; very interesting. We ate that back in the lounge, and then went to the post office to send my stuff off. That proved to be quite smooth. I was really glad to get it done. Carly had class to go to at 4, and I went home and had a nap. I managed to book by accommodation in Nagoya over the Internet; I'm becoming pro at this, xD. I'm going from the 25th to the 28th; yes, I know, I'm crazy. I'll skype with my family Christmas morning, then get into Nagoya later in the afternoon, via Kyoto. Had spaghetti bolognese at about 7, and cleaned the kitchen as usual at 9 (Yuji continues to come down to our room to remind us). Yay, finally up to date with my blog; only took 2 weeks. Oh well, it's all good. Just got this paper to do for CEL, and three exams next week, then I'm done; so happy.

Day 62 - 31st of October

11:39pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Today was... very long. I woke up at about 8 this morning and started making pancakes at 9. Diego guided me through the process, and I too was producing perfectly round pancakes; I was thrilled. I decided last night that, instead of going to Hello Kitty world (which I didn't really have that much interest in), we'd go to Kuzuha Mall. At 10, we left with Carly in tow, to meet Jessica in Makino station (the guys working on the site of the recently destroyed house stopped to pose for us when we got out our cameras - Japanese people are so cool). Just one stop down and 150円 later, we were in Kuzuha. There were a lot of clothes shops; reminiscent of the Sunshine Plaza. We walked around for a while and came across a few interesting shops; one that sold no brand goods, and another that had everything for letters (stamps, paper, brushes).

After exploring the rooftop (car parks) and checking out the view, we went down for lunch on the first floor. I went for Okonomiyaki (with pork), and we all had icecream afterwards. Mine was very much Halloween themed; magical mint-night, and pumpkin! Seriously though the pumpkin was amazing. We walked around the main building a little more, then went out to another adjoining building. On the first floor there was a really cool shop called "Lush", that sold handmade soaps and cosmetics. On the third floor there was another cool shop that sold heaps of retro stuff; a lot of stuff from the West. Carly and I bought some Studio Ghibli manga. Our original plan was to go back to the dorm and then get changed for tonight, but, since it was already pretty late, we decided to go straight to Hirakata by train, but not before waffles; sweet potato! I'm finding that I'm actually starting to like a lot of foods that I never used to like before.

After arriving in Hirakata, on an extremely packed train, we went to the department store across from McDonalds, and I got a nice shirt on sale for 990円; Diego got a 500円 shirt with the Road Runner on it! Then we went to "Book Off", which sells second hand books, games, CDs and DVDs, which are (for the most part) extremely cheap and good condition. I bought a My Neighbour Totoro story book, and Kingdom Hearts novels; really cheap. I'm going to see how well I can read them. Finally, we got to The Hobbit, and Katie and Eaaf met with us soon after. We felt a little awkward not having dressed up; the owner himself was dressed in a Power Rangers suit and witches hat. Diego struck up a conversation with him since he could speak Spanish; the owner's actually been all around the world, with photos on the wall to prove it. He just opened up the restaurant in September. Okay, so here comes the weird part. We had to exchange our yen for "Hobbits" (glass tokens basically): 250円 = 1 Hobbit. The were small (snack size) plates of food put out which were one Hobbit each! Oh, and the drinks were 2. So I ended up spending 1000円 on appetisers and and a drink!!! We realised that, since it was Halloween, they wouldn't be serving the food on the menu.

So we left, and went to Saizeriya; YAY!!! I got a vegetable and mushroom pizza, a drink (with refill), and garlic bread for just 500円; so much better value. After eating Katie and Eaaf left, and Diego, Jess, Carly and I went to Karaoke. It was fun, but pretty expensive for 2 hours; we decided that the one in Makino was much better, and had a better variety of songs. So with croaky throat, and sore feet, we said goodbye to Jess at the station; it was about 10:30). We met up with Peter (whom we incidentally saw at the Hobbit - he was covered in blood and tattered clothing - a zombie apparently). and came back to the dorm on the bus. Unpacking my stuff, I knew for sure I'd lost my keys; I realised when I was at the station before we got on the bus. In the morning I'll have to tell Otousan. The lock will have to be changed and the money will come out of my insurance deposit. So today, Halloween day, certainly had it's ups and downs. Now, I just want to go to sleep...

Day 39 - 8th of October

9:49pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天、寒い
So it ended up that we every one's morning classes were cancelled due to the storm warning. It wasn't withdrawn until 8:30, so that meant that I still had my two afternoon classes. I was happy about that, cause with all the holidays we have already, we can't really afford to miss another day. The winds were really strong in the morning. When we found out that morning classes were officially cancelled, Diego went back to bed! He didn't have any classes for the rest of the day. As for me, I had to get ready for the afternoon.

I finished my project proposal for Culture and Everyday life, which I'm going to abbreviate to CEL from now on okay, cause I'm too lazy to type the whole thing, xD. I went up to the kitchen and ate a pear, while looking at the destruction the typhoon had caused on the news. It was not until about 15 minutes before hand, that I realised my class was due to start at 1; the typhoon really put me off! So I rushed to uni and made it just in time; you can actually get there quite fast if you put the effort in. We watched a video for the first 10 minutes, about a preschool in Japan. It was really interesting to see the difference in how the children are managed in Japan, compared to Western preschools. Japan has a very different set of values and beliefs. To be honest, I kinda like their style. For instance, this one kid had been playing up all day, and instead of disciplining him/punishing him, the teacher just let the other children sort out the problem. This would teach the other kids how to deal with these sorts of situations.

History class was equally enjoyable. We have now entered the Heian period (9th century). We now see a slow shift away from China as a "big brother" figure, and Japan begins to come into it's own, eventually breaking all ties with China by the end of the century. After driving the indigenous Emishi (likely ancestors of the Ainu) of the north out of Honshu, the capital now had widespread control over the main island. Through this campaign, the military style was changed from the Chinese standing-army style, to a more focused group style with a general at its head. This lead to the rise of the Shogun... The hand outs we got today were crazy. The family trees are really complicated, cause most of the Emperors had many wives, and of course, incest occured frequently. Basically though, during this century, one tribe stood out among the rest; the Fujiwara tribe.

By marrying into the imperial family, and maintaining several ties, they become a very powerful and influential family within the capital. The first child Emperor is appointed at just 8 years old; Seiwa. This leads to the need for a regent (who weilds power in the Emperor's name), and Yoshifusa of the Fujiwara family, grandfather of Seiwa takes the position. Over the course of the century, the Fujiwara family strives to stay strong, while stamping out any competition. Next time we move into Heian literature, and I've picked up the book "The Gossamer Years" to read, which should be really interesting. So after class, I got some more money, bought the book, and had a late lunch in the cafeteria. Then went to do some grocery shopping.

That was fun! I ended up going to no less than four different stores. I went to this new store that just opened, and got some bargains. Then I went to Fresco, and picked up some more stuff. Then I went to the 99円 store to get some orange juice. I walked all the way back to the seminar house, bags in hands; it was great for my muscles. I got back and put the stuff away, then realised that I didn't have any carrots. So I walked to Sanko and picked some up, along with a bunch of other stuff; it was cheap okay! Got back (again), and talked with Mum before making dinner. I had stir fry with udon noodles. It was really nice. I'm getting good at this cooking thing, :D. Still, I want to try more. Anyway that's about all I have to say, my homework's up to date, and I'm sorting out things to do on the weekend. Hopefully going to Kuzuha mall and getting my hair cut! Yay!!!