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…

Day 254 - 11th of May

11:18pm　セミナーハウス

天気：雨天

Arggh!!! So close to finishing my field report it’s frustrating; definitely, definitely get it done tomorrow. In other news, Carly has arrived safe and sound, and popped in to uni today. Even though I knew it was coming, I was still surprised… Of course, the weather was crappy today; it couldn’t be a nice day for Carly. I worked on my field report until about 10:30 this morning, and then got to uni. We had our last presentation in Speaking, and then spent the rest of the lesson revising; this final exam is not going to be fun at all! After that, I went to lunch with Nathan, Jo and Kim, and we ate at the 3^rd cafeteria; I had kitsune udon, which was a nice change. Getting back to the CIE, I handed in the forms required for the refund of the seminar house deposit, and Carly snuck up on me while I was doing it. She’s dyed her hair a really nice brown, a bit similar to my natural hair colour. We soon got reacquainted, and then went to sit with Katie and Ash for a little while before class.

Religion was really short today. We just talked briefly about Christianity and ancestor worship in Japan and that was it; all gone. We also had to do a course evaluation at the end of class; we were done at least an hour early. From there, we went to the cafeteria to get ice cream; I got plum, and Carly got honeydew melon. I actually liked the melon a lot better; the plum taste was too strong. After that, we made our way but to the dorm, and then I spent the next couple of hours working on my report while Carly slept; she was seriously jet lagged. Eventually, 6:30 came around and that meant it was time for me to make dinner. I decided to make okonomiyaki since I had all the ingredients, so got to it. I made one for Carly too, but she turned it down saying she wasn’t hungry and she didn’t really like okonomiyaki anyway; oh well, saves me cooking tomorrow night. After eating, I working on my report a bit more, and then went up to clean the kitchen; about half the people came, but we got it done. Wishing everyone a good night, I went up to Rachael and Sarah’s room, to harass Carly and Rachael as they were watching FFVII: ACC; it really is pretty. Then it was time for Carly to make her way back to her hotel; at least it wasn’t raining at that point. Well, I’d better get some sleep now. I feel like I have things under control. I just have not try not to worry so much, and I’ll be fine…

Day 241 - 28th of April

8:54pm　カラオケ　－　枚方市

天気：晴れ

I’m at Karaoke with Brett, Katie, Liz, Sam, Priscilla, Chelsea, Julie, Rebecca and Rachel; we’ve been here since about 7. Today was a warm, sunny day, and even walking to the bus stop this evening was pleasant…I woke up at about 7 this morning, and made scrambled eggs for breakfast; I didn’t want to buy anymore milk for cereal since I’ll be going away tomorrow. I got to uni a little early, and took a final look at my vocab list before going into the test. Well, I think I did really well on everything except for the listening; even Saigo Sensei said it was difficult. Oh well, hopefully the other sections will bring up my mark. After that, I went to Katie and Sarah’s class to watch their skit; I couldn’t miss it for the world. I hadn’t realised until now, but their Sensei is my Sensei from last semester; Miyauchi. He remembered me, and was happy for me to stay and watch; he even gave me the slips of paper to comment on. As for their skit, it was absolute chaos in the best way possible. They basically condensed all three LOTR’s movies into 10 minutes, switching between about 10 different characters between them in fast succession; it was well done. Then they had a plethora of stuffed animals portraying the orcs, the Balrog, and Shelob; it was hilarious. I stuck around and watched the other two skits, but Katie and Sarah’s was definitely the most entertaining.

After that, I had a little bit of time to revise for the vocab quiz in Reading and Writing. Well, it wasn’t my best, but it wasn’t terrible either; last one too. We spent the rest of the lesson going over the grammar points. Then we had to complete the course evaluation for the class; I took this one to the office too. After that, it was time for Gender and Sexuality. Today we talked about the gay identity in Japan, before looking at a representation of lesbians in Japan with the animation, “Plicachan”. It was a clever, funny, and cute film, but also brought up serious issues about the way lesbians are viewed in Japan; it was really very interesting. And that was that, I was home-free; well, after picking up some bread for lunch. After lunch, I talked with my family for a good two hours, and then I got my blog up to date, before making dinner; it was about 6:30 by then. I had to hurry up, since we would be going to karaoke by bus at 7:50. I made, and then wolfed down a huge okonomiyaki, and then showered and dressed. Hugo is leaving for Tokyo tonight, so I wished him a good trip, and then went to meet the others… I don’t know how late I’m going to stay tonight, since I’ve got to get going for Hikone in the morning; I’ll see how I go…

Day 240 - 27th of April

10:46pm　セミナーハウス

天気：雨天、風が吹いて

I’ll be back in Australia a month from today!!! My feelings are still very mixed; just like the weather apparently. It was an awfully windy, rainy day today; not much fun at all. Thankfully though, it wasn’t raining on my way to, or from uni; very lucky… In Speaking today, we reviewed for the lesson test, before having to fill out a course evaluation sheet; I was designated to collect, and hand them to the office. Saigo sensei was such a fun teacher, and I think everyone in the class appreciated him as much as I did; we joked that we should all write in the comments to give him a raise. In the hour break, I sat with Julie and studied. Then we went onto Religion class, and today we talked about Pure Land Buddhism, which is one of the less appealing forms of Buddhism; as far as researchers are concerned. It has many similarities to Christianity, but many differences also. Probably one of the most controversial, and the reason why it’s unpopular, is the notion that anyone can go to Pure Land, and eventually reach Nirvana, just by saying the 念仏 (Nebutsu), or prayer that invokes the spirit of 阿弥陀 (Amida); the central Buddha of this form of Buddhism. And the evil man is more likely to make it because he will not rely on self-power, he will not have the ego or pride of a good man, so he’ll really mean it when the time comes. Also, when you get to the Pure Land, you’re a man; there are no women. And further, you must say the nenbutsu to reach the Pure Land. This means that if a baby dies, it can’t go there, since it can’t speak; kinda sad. Anyway, I won’t go on any more about that.

After religion, I spent the next few hours studying, and talking with Chelsea and Julie. Finally, it was time for koto, and after picking up the key, I made my way over. It was basically a repeat of yesterday, with Mori and Midori Sempai coming later; no one else showed up. Maarika and I have vastly improved at Miyabi, and I feel pretty confident about performing, with Mori Sempai on second koto, on Friday; it’s going to be fun. Getting home, I didn’t know what I wanted to cook, since it was already late, and I want to get a bit more study in. So I ended up just heating up some stew. I stayed in the kitchen till a bit after 9, and then came back down here, intent on study; I got a little distracted. Rachael contacted me, saying she’d bought a PS3, and not just any PS3, but a Cloud black PS3; she beckoned me to come and see it. I obliged, since I did really want to see it and I wasn’t disappointed; it was so cool. It came with a trail version of FFXIII and the Blu-ray version of FF:AC Complete. So, seeing as she now had two copies of FF:AC Complete on Blu-ray, she decided to give me her other one; this made me very happy!!! I’m going to have to get her something now to pay her back; that was really nice of her. Then, she showed me something else that made me even happier. She had bought Cloud’s outfit!!! So, of course I had to try it on. Soon, I had her and Katie (she came in with Sarah to practice their skit), getting me dressed in it; so my straps, and belts, and buttons. It didn’t come with the sweater, which was a bit of a shame, but it still looked epic. I had to run downstairs and show it off to everyone in the lounge; they were watching Beauty and the Beast. Reluctantly, I eventually parted with it; now I’m on a quest to find one for myself. After all the excitement, I basically just spent the rest of the evening going over vocab and grammar; I’m feeling good about the test…

Day 239 - 26th of April

11:20pm　セミナーハウス

天気：曇り

Well, the streak of sunny weather was broken today (never three days of sun in a row), but although it was cloudy, at least it was warm. I got up at about 8, and had vegemite on English Muffins for breakfast. I don’t know if I’ve already mentioned this but before coming here, Ash had never heard of English muffins, which I think is quite funny actually. But, it just goes to show those kind of names don’t always reflect where they’re actually made. Anyway, after getting ready, I made my way to uni and got to class on time. Today in Speaking, we finished off our final grammar pattern (ever!), and then basically spent the rest of the lesson stuffing around. Well, we sang our last song together in class, called バンザイ～好きでよかった (Banzai~suki de yokatta) by ウルフルズ (Urufuruzu – strange band name), and watched a clip from a program showing a restaurant near Otsu where they serve giant (and I mean giant) portions of food like omu-rice, gyudon, katsudon, and curry-rice. The whole class was awestruck, but at the same time our mouths were watering. And so incredibly cheap too; I really want to find it!!! So that was fun. In my break, I got my homework done, sitting with Sarah and Katie the lounge, and then worked on kanji.

We started on the final lesson in Reading and Writing class today, and also got the instructions for our second and final sakubun. This time, we have to write about one of our favourite books. Since I haven’t actually read a book in ages, and Sensei said that manga is okay too, I think I’m going to write about Reborn. I know I haven’t read very much yet, but I can talk about what I’ve liked so far, how it has shaped my perception of Shonen manga (manga for boys), how I’ve found reading it (reasonably easygoing for the most part), and what I thinks going to happen next; I think that’ll be fine. After class, I bumped into Maarika in the corridor, and she told me that most people wouldn’t be turning up for practice till 6 this evening. So, she suggested that I post a note on the door letting everyone know that practice wouldn’t start till then; I wasn’t going to go in at 4:30, if I could get other stuff done instead. So, I did that and then made my way home. After lunch, I worked on my presentations some more, trying to make sentences that included the grammar patterns we’ve learned. 5:30 came around faster than I would have liked, and then it was time to go. Since it had gotten colder, I rugged up a bit, and then made my way back.

It ended up being just Maarika, Mori and Midori Sempai, and me practicing this evening. I went to pick up the key, and then Maarika and I got everything set up, and after a bit of practice the other two showed up. It was quite productive though, the two girls helping us through Miyabi by playing along; we went through it several times. I have resigned to playing the first koto part (leaving the solo to Maarkia), as the second part is just too burdensome for the time we have to master it; the performance is next Friday. Still, I felt really accomplished playing with the sempai; we all worked together really well. Mori also gave us our tickets for Sensei’s koto performance, and they were nice enough to pay for one for Carly too; I was so grateful. We also planned some get together parties (karaoke and the like), which will be coming up soon; really looking forward to them. Pack up ran very smoothly today, except for one thing. The straps on the new bag Mori Sempai had got to carry the makura and stands, to replace the old one that had a hole in it, broke. I heard her scream, and the subsequent crash of things hitting the floor, and quickly rushed up the stairwell to help out; everything was fine. Luckily she had another bag, and hopefully this one will be a little bit more durable; I guess we shouldn’t put so much in them either.

I rode home with Maarika, and as we were nearing the seminar houses, we met up with Rachael; I slowed down, and talked with her the rest of the way. Getting home, I dropped my stuff off, and then went upstairs to the kitchen, sitting with Ash and Rachel watching TV for a while before cooking dinner; gyudon. I stayed up there until about 9, and then got into a bit of study, helping Hugo a bit with his homework too. Julie was kind enough to lend me her battery charger, so that’s all under control now. I think I’m going to transfer another video across, just so I have two blank tapes ready for golden week; I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot. Apart from going to Hikone with Alex, I’m going to try to get in a few day trips; Katie and Sarah have some really interesting days planned. It’s coming up to crunch time once more, and I’ve got a lot to think about, and a lot to do. I’m really looking forward to this holiday, but at the same time I’m hoping that I won’t be stressing about everything I have to do; if I manage my time effectively, I think I’ll be fine. Well, I’m going to get some sleep now…