Day 226 - 13th of April

10:57pm　セミナーハウス

天気：曇り

Today was a bit of a crazy day (just like the weather has been lately), but it produced lots of laughs and benefits… First off, I was adamant in getting my hair cut today so this morning, as soon as I got up, I rode out to find a hairdresser that was open. I rode down the main street, having a general idea of which place I wanted to go to, but not really minding; as long as the prices and facilities looked reasonable. I stopped at one place, which was just about to open for 9, but since I had a little bit of time till then, I decided to continue on. Not very much further down was “11 cut”, and I actually remember Midori Sempai mentioning the name yesterday. I decided to give this place a try, and I arrived just as it opened; I seemed to call to me. I was the second customer in there (a little boy was getting his hair cut), and after explaining what I wanted, I filled out a few things, and then was immediately sat down. I had a nice young girl as my hairdresser, and I did my best to convey what I wanted to her. The main thing was that I wanted my hair thinned out, but no length off, and I got that across fine; she was using the right kind of scissors for it, so I knew I’d got it right. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t dye my hair for me, the lady at the front saying that the product they use wouldn’t be suitable for the “Okyakusama” (The customer’s i.e. me) hair. That was okay though, because I knew if I did it myself it would work out cheaper.

After the cut was done to my satisfaction (and it really was), I was taken over to the basin; I couldn’t resist getting a wash. This turned out to be just as interesting an experience as my first at a hairdresser in Japan. After she rinsed and shampooed it once, she was like “okay, now it’s time for the shower machine”; shower machine?!! I didn’t really know what it must have looked like since my face was covered with a cloth (they like to do that here it seems), but I could feel it. Some sort of plastic hood was put over me, with towels stuffed around the sides. They were obviously to keep the water from getting everywhere during what could only be described as a spa treatment for your hair. Jets of warm water were shot at my hair from all directions, at different frequencies and sequences; it was quite bizarre. I did enjoy it though, and after it had finished the girl asked what I thought, and I just replied with “omoshiroi” (interesting or funny). After that, she had a bit of fun styling it and what not, and her product of choice was spray. It actually held my hair really well, and puffed it up a lot which looked quite cool. So, you can imagine, I walked away (well rode) very satisfied; and very hungry. I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, because I didn’t have any milk. So I did a quick shop at Fresco and Kirindo before getting back; in Kirindo I got the dye for my hair.

I ended up having breakfast a bit after 10, and it was very satisfying (I’ve been using that word a lot tonight). After that, I quickly got ready for uni, and then made my way there. I was cool and cloudy today, but it never ended up raining which was nice. I went straight up to the 4^th floor, actually a little early for class. So a waited around and talked with Nathan, soon to find Ash emerging from her Japanese class in a lilac wig and school girl outfit; she was cosplaying for her presentation today. I must say, she looked quite good, though the hair colour and style was a bit strange; I wish I had brought my camera. Anyway, today in class, we got the opportunity to talk with some of the Japanese students here at Kansai Gaidai, asking them questions that had been compiled by Saigo Sensei; we had each submitted two questions to him last week. Well, some of the questions were actually pretty deep and philosophical (including one of mine) like – when you go to shopping, do you receive plastic bags? What do you thing about plastic bags destroying nature or; what do you think about Japan’s declining population? What should the government do about it? Some of them were funny or strange like – if you got stranded on a deserted island, what would be the one thing you’d have to have or; what do you think about Japan’s pornography problem??? And then a lot of them had to do with university, study, travel, and the like.

We got circulated around 4 times, and were in pairs or groups of three; two Japanese girls (because they were all girls), to one of us. This was great because Saigo Sensei informed us that the last class only had two Japanese students come in; we were lucky I guess. We started off playing a game, and then got into conversation mode. For the most part I enjoyed it, although I was sometimes struggling for what to say next; I didn’t ask very many of the questions. I tried to keep it as natural as possible, trying to facilitate conversation flow. After class, I spent the break in the lounge with Rachel while she was reading her novel for class, trying not to distract her too much. Distraction came from elsewhere though, as Katie brought with her two Japanese girls who would be attending her university next semester; so I got another opportunity to speak Japanese. Pretty soon though, I had to leave for Religion, which was actually pretty depressing; it was about Buddhism. And basically, Buddhism teaches that life is suffering, and happiness is an illusion, and we are stuck in an endless cycle of pain and bitterness; reincarnation. The only way out is to find Nirvana, which anyone can do except, contrary to popular belief, Nirvana doesn’t mean paradise, it means extinction; we become nothingness beyond our conceptions of nothingness. Apparently, nothing is better than suffering. One good, happy thing that came out of religion though, was that we’re going to be getting a 1000円 reimbursement for going on the Tenri fieldtrip! Admittedly though, it was an interesting class, though I’m not going to apply any of it into my own life. I like Tenrikyo much better; pursuing happiness!!!

Being depressed made me hungry, so all I wanted to do was go home and eat; I joked. So, I went back home, and after lunch I did a bit of study. Before long, I had to turn around and go back to university for koto club. I was a little early, so after dropping my bag in the club room I went to photocopy 雅び (Miyabi – “elegance”), which is the new piece we got, at the convenience store; for both Maarika and I. Then I was on a mission to find the keys for the practice room. Since Midori Sempai had suggested it yesterday, I went to the CIE to see if I could find her; she was supposed to get the key out, and pass it on to me. I didn’t find Midori Sempai there, but I did find Mori Sempai, just about to get into the elevator. She let me know where to find the key, and what to say, and then she was off to class; it was up to me. So I went over to student affairs in the main administration building, and told the guy at the reception desk what I needed. It didn’t seem like he understood what I said; I used “sensoubu”, the correct name for koto club. Since that didn’t work, I reverted to using “koto kurabu”. He finally understood, and got me to fill out something before handing me the key. He gave me that look of, “Why is a foreign student doing this”… whatever!!! That done I went back to the club room to find Brittney and Natalie already inside; Natalie has a key too. Before setting up the koto, we had to clean the floor, just like old times, expect with a lot less people; Kirianna turned up about halfway through cleaning, and helped out, which was great.

The five of us (Tami-chan also joined us), then brought the koto and stands down, and got to practicing. Soon, Maarika too showed up, and she went to make copies of Kagaribi for us; so we were even. A bit after she returned, Sensei arrived. Mori and Midori Sempai weren’t here yet, so I was a little worried, but sensei was really great (and Maarika did most of the talking), so pretty soon the two of us were practicing Miyabi with her; and boy did my legs hurt after that. It was Natalie, Kirianna and Tami’s turn after that, and sensei went through the basics with them, and went through Sakura sakura. Mori and Midori Sempai, as well as Riho and Miki (another potential club entrant) joined us during this time. Sensei then went through Hanagoromo with Brittney, and part way through got me to join them; Sensei could sense Brittney was a little nervous playing alone. Sensei then proceeded to play the Shakuhachi part on the koto, which was actually really cool. Finally, it came around Midori and Mori Sempai’s turn, and they played 春の光 (Haru no Hikari – “The light of spring”), which we had never heard before; it was quite pretty. While Riho and Miki didn’t get to play (which I thought was kind of a shame), I think they got a good idea of what the club is all about; they seemed to like Sensei a lot too. After she left, Mori let us know that Sensei would be performing in concert on the 16^th of May (a Sunday) in Nipponbashi, and we could all receive tickets for free; well, the club money would pay for them. Of course I want to go; I think it’ll be spectacular. And since I don’t plan that far in advance, I’m totally free for it. Soon after that announcement, everyone but Maarika, Midori and Mori Sempai, and I left, even though we still had half an hour of practice time left; oh well.

For that remaining time, the girls tried like crazy to get me to be able to do this particular type of strumming action on the koto, that is part of Miyabi; I just couldn’t do it. I was a little jealous that Maarika had gotten the hang of it so fast, but hopefully with a bit of practice I’ll be able to do it; just have to think positive. We ended up going a little overtime, which freaked Mori Sempai out to no end. After we packed up, she was so worried about getting the room key back in time, that she didn’t even lock the practice room first; this resulted in Mori Sempai having to chase after her. All I could do was laugh; Maarika on the other hand was up in the Spanish club room eating an ice cream. Everything turned out fine though, and I ended up riding back with Mori Sempai, after I caught up with her that is; she rides so fast! It was a bit past 8 when I got back, and I just heated up my leftover stew for dinner; always handy when getting back late. At 9, it was cleaning time for Katie and Ash, and Rachel and I helped out also; I had no problem taking the role of leader and letting others know what they should do. While washing up a bit of horseplay occurred, after I made a rather brash comment about staring at certain parts of Ash. Katie decided to take it upon herself to “defend” Ash’s dignity and chased me around the kitchen prodding me in the sides, which of course elicited rather loud cries from me; it was quite hilarious.

It continued when I referred to Ash as “sir” (she’s asked me to call her that before), and she proceeded to call me a “prized plonker” as I said good night to everyone; it was the most British thing she’d said in a while, and it made me so happy. Another bout of prodding ensued in the hall, just as Katie and Sarah were about to get into the elevator; I don’t know what got into Katie. My night of fun wasn’t quite over yet though; it was time to colour my hair! After getting everything ready, and got straight to it and the whole process ended up taking about an hour. However, I was extremely happy with the result; I’m a red head again!!! This red is really nice and subtle though, and covers my roots really well; although I did miss a few spots. I am now very satisfied (there I go again) with my hair, and won’t have to do anything else to it until after I return to Australia. I spent the rest of the night just listening to music, and studying a bit for my vocab quiz in Reading and Writing tomorrow. Also tomorrow, is the practice for the inter-Seminar House sports festival we’re having on Saturday; it’s going to be heaps of fun, as long as everyone shows up. Wow, this was a really long blog post for a weekday…

Day 148 - 25th of January

11:26pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天
I’m in the computer room again, since Hugo’s already in bed; fair enough since he’s has to get up early for orientation stuff. Hopefully it’s like this for the rest of the semester; it’ll be nice to get to sleep at a decent hour. Jamie’s out and about, so won’t be coming back here tonight; gates are already locked… Well today was the complete opposite of yesterday in terms of weather; cold and wet. I didn’t get out until around 3, when I went into uni for koto club; I spent the morning lazing about, and doing a bit of study. When I got to uni, I started out be handing all my forms in, which all went smoothly. Then I went to the club room to find Marika; she has her own key since she’s always in there. I decided, with her consent (she was studying for her jump test on tomorrow), to practice for a while. I got through hanagoromo and almost all of sandan before Midori and Mori Sempai arrived.

Midori sempai made chocolate, and we all had a good sampling, until it was all gone; this happened during the meeting. The meeting was short, and Chi sempai basically summarised what would be happening for the concert (who would be playing what), and when and where we’d be meeting; Moriguchi station at 2. I’m kinda disappointed that Marika and I will only be playing hanagoromo, but i guess we’re not ready for sandan. After the meeting, there was much talk about English slang, particularly swear words. I always find it so funny when the Japanese use our swear words, when they really don’t understand the impact of them. They are just so blasé and the girls especially will have a little giggle while dropping the F bomb. Anyway, I found out that making the “Huh” sound in Japanese is really offensive; that was interesting.

I got bored of practicing the first koto part of sandan, so soon switched over to the second part. Mori spurred me on by saying I might be able to play it at a later concert since the sensei wouldn’t be there; now I’m more determined than ever! Since today was the last day of term for the Japanese (they’ll be going on spring break), we had a short photo session, which was really nice. Midori sempai is studying for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), so we had a “frenzy” pose; one of the words she has to know. Seriously though, some of the English words she has to memorise are unbelievably stupid; words that we never use in common day language anymore. Anyway, since it is spring break that unfortunately means no more koto practice again until March.

However, I’ll still be able to practice here, as I did shortly after I got back from uni. I walked back with Jacinthe, and a few others, and just as I got in, Simon arrived. I soon met him, and he seems like a really nice guy; hopefully we’ll be able to hang out. He said it was so weird coming from really hot Australia to this; I can’t imagine! So yeah, we chatted for a while, and then I went up to have dinner (cup noodles), and brought it down to the lounge to sit with Katie and Ash and a guy from Denmark with an amazing name that I’m not even going to try to spell. We talked for a little while, and Shizuka (who helped organise the INFES) joined the conversation. Then, Okaasan came in, and as soon as she spotted me she started talking about koto.

Again, I was literally dragged by her to get up and play. Katie and Ash were about to head up, but seeing the opportunity to hear me play (since they haven’t yet), they stuck around. Okaasan wanted to play too, but wasn’t feeling up to it; some pain in her legs. So it was me playing Sakura sakura again. I did get to practice sandan (first part) too though, so that was good. I should be able to get loads more practice in before the concert, and for that I am very grateful. After my “concert”, I went up with Ash and Katie, and received a back massage from Katie. It hurt a lot, but was really great; she’s slowly getting the knots out of my back. She told me to drink plenty of water, since all the toxins would be coming out, so she knows her stuff. With that, I left the room and had a snack (bun, milk, and banana), before going back down. Don’t know what I’ll be doing tomorrow, but at least be going out for dinner…

Day135 - 12th of January

10:17pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天
Ryan’s finally back! He got here at 10 this morning; I hopped out of bed to let him in since he left his key at his girlfriend’s house. I didn’t mind getting up; it was getting late in the day anyway, and I had had a good night’s sleep. Since I didn’t have any milk, I went to Sanko to pick some up; and of course bought some other things. I got back and had breakfast, and then went downstairs, and took my laptop out into the lounge, since Ryan had gone to sleep. Following that, I spent the next few hours updating my blog and listening to music. It was a long and detailed entry, and it wasn’t finished till 3:30. I went up and had lunch, having put on rice over 30 minutes prior. I enjoyed my lunch, and then went out again at 4; to uni.

I got an email from Chiharu sempai (now our new club president), informing me that club practice would be starting up again; since Japanese students were already back in school. Of course I wanted to go; so excited about playing again. It was nice to see everyone again too. All of the Japanese students are still there; graduation isn’t until March. As for the international students, it’s just Marika and I; everyone else left, and Brittney won’t be back from America until late this month. So unless new people join, I’ll be the only male, which is kinda cool, xD. Anyway, we got straight back into it. Marika and I are now practicing sandan furiously, in preparation for a concert coming up in February; we’ll be performing hanagoromo too. I’ve decided to give the second koto part a shot; it’s a lot more difficult. I’ll still be practicing the first part with sensei though, so I figure if I just can’t get the second part good enough in time, I’ll have the first part to fall back on.

We had a meeting at about quarter past 6; to discuss dates for club practices since this time of year can be trick with the Japanese, and international student’s spring breaks falling at different times. Many of the girls are going doing study overseas programs, like Midori sempai, who will be doing another short program in Australia; she’d done one over the break. Another will be studying in Italy for a year. So that, and the fact that at least 2 girls are graduating, means that our club is going to diminish in numbers quite dramatically. I wonder if many international students will join. After practice, I went to the CIE to check my mail, and got another letter from Nanny and Poppy; probably should send another bout of postcards shortly. I then went to Kirindo to pick up a few more things; namely cereal and bread. Got back and had dinner (yakisoba), and then helped cleaning the kitchen; felt good. I’ll just be stuffing around on the computer for the rest of the night, and possibly playing DS…

Day 85 - 23rd of November

11:11pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
From slow start, to an enjoyable evening... I finished off the rest of my pancakes this morning, and cooked the rest of the cake batter, smothering it with icing after it had cooked and cooled down. I decided that I'd have to give karaoke a miss so I could study, so I let Midori sempai know; I'm a little disappointed I didn't go, but study's more important. I did however, still go out to dinner with them. After study and not study (watching Wall-E), I met the club at the station in front of Kiddy Land; Niky was the only other person who hadn't gone to karaoke. It was about 5:20 and after sorting out the finances, we walked a short distance to the place which can be summarised as this: 1,980円, two hours, all you can eat, one catch; you have to finish everything you order or you pay a fee!

食べ放題 (tabehodai) means all you can eat, and it was certainly true to its word. As it was a yakiniku place, there was a lot of meat. Basically, you had a grill in the centre of the table, and you cooked the meat on it at your leisure, which they serve to you raw; it's a great idea. The service was amazing. Like Saizeriya, you have a buzzer when you want to order something, so you can stuff yourself without even getting up; ingenious. You could order anything that was on the two pages under 1,980円. The first page was all meat, and the second was rice and soups, salads, and of course, soft serve ice cream for dessert. There was 14 of us over two tables; it was a lot of fun. After dinner, we went to a nearby arcade place and had a purikura session. Some how we managed to fit 13 faces (Brittney left) into the screen, albeit barely. We also had a few tries of the Taiko drum bashing arcade game, and then went our separate ways home; well, Mark, Justin and I caught the bus back to the dorms. Very content now, and ready for sleep...

Day 55 - 24th of October

9:14pm　セミナーハウス

天気：寒い、曇り

Today was a lot of fun. In the morning, I made pancakes for the first time; Diego usually does it for me. They turned out to be a bit of a disaster, but Diego gave me some tips, so I'll do better next time; seriously though his turn out so perfect and round. They tasted fine though (I added banana), although one hadn't cooked all the way through and was a bit soggy; that wasn't so nice. Oh well, live and learn. After cooking (which always takes way too long), we walked to Midori (Carly, Diego and I). I found a firewire cable for my camcorder, so now I can dump the movies onto my laptop and reuse the tapes. Deigo got himself a new mouse, and Carly just got some batteries for her toothbrush - she was going to buy an electronic dictionary but they were too expensive.

There was a soccer match on this morning, between seminar house 2 and 3 that Eddy, in our house, had organised; Bianca and Stephanie were cooking up a storm this morning to feed the hungry mop afterwards. I got there just as they finished; they were playing at the uni fields. I felt a little bad about not showing up sooner to cheer our team on. Unfortunately they lost, 13 to nil; Seminar House three had an unfair advantage with most of the guys actually expecienced in soccer. I hung around for a little while, and then left for the CIE lounge, to wait for 12:30. I met with another girl from koto club, Maarika from Estonia. We walked over to the library and met with a bunch of Japanese students. It turns out a number of clubs were going to the BBQ, and Maarika and I were the only international students. We caught the bus Yamada Lake, and then walk a while to a part of the park I hadn't been to before. It was amazing; wide open space. People had tents set up, and were playing sports in the grass; a true rarity in Japan.

There was a huge blue tarp set up for us; which we never actually used to sit on. And on it... sooooo much food; too much food in fact. I basically spent the next couple of hours eating on and off: Beef, chicken, pork, fish, mochi, noodles, cabbage, sweet potato, peppers, onions, eggplant, mushrooms, apples, bananas... and they all went on the barbeque in no particular order; it was a free-for-all. I was so full by the end of it, and I even got to take home some chestnuts; Diego suggests that we grill them. I was a lot of fun; I didn't practice my Japanese enough though. I don't know, I just seem to choke and revert back to English; gotta try harder. Even from the park, the main administration building of Kansai Gaidai is clearly visible. It seriously is the tallest building around.

We finished at around 4:30, then I walked home and this time I didn't get lost; the sunset was beautiful. I ate leftovers and bread for dinner, and then an apple. Tonight was basically a repeat of last night, just without the Potter Puppet Pals. Amber's gone now, but Carly's still here. We've all been trying to study for our exams next week. I won't be doing too much study tomorrow though; going to a rice festival at Fushimi Inari in Kyoto; I'm so excited. Lol, I burnt off some of my finger hairs in the barbeque today; there were 5 set up and we basically had chopsticks and a plastic plate, and went for it. I hope we do something like that again; it was great. Anyway, I shall be off now, Carly's going to draw a still-life of me; if I can stay still that is!

Day 30 - 28th of September

11:10pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天
Today was actually quite cool for a change. It's supposed to rain for the rest of the week. We got our bank cards today, so come October 6th, I'll be able to access my JASSO scholarship money. After my culture and everyday life in Japan class finished at 2:20, I had some time to kill before koto club at 4:30. I bought my third notebook, some food, and went to the library for the first time; it's pretty big. I found this really great book on Kansai dialect, and am slowly making my way through it.

I made my way over to the room early; I guess I was anxious. I was surprised by the number of international students thinking about joining. By the end of it, the guys outnumbered the girls, 5 to 4!!! There were also 6 Japanese girls, already part of the club. We had some forms to fill out, and I have to submit my form, along with photo, and 2000円 to them tomorrow. Practice is only from 4:30 to 7:30, Monday and Tuesday so that's not so bad. We are playing sakura as a group for the international festival. I watched to Japanese girls practice for a while, as there weren't enough 爪 (tsume - picks) for everyone to practice; they were amazing. They split into pairs, one playing the melody, and the other harmony/counter melody. There was a lot of call and response. It was surprised that could keep their own time, when three or four different songs were being practiced at once.

Tomorrow I'm going to the post office, police station, and bus depot. I've got my map quiz for history at 2:30. I'm feeling pretty confident. Margo quizzed Joanna and I tonight; we raced to see who could point to the location first. It's only 10 locations out of 66 that we have to identify; I'll be fine. Amazingly, I don't have homework for Japanese. I'm glad to be doing koto, and I've made a start on my project. I'm splitting it into three parts: the history and evolution of the koto; the music of the koto and; the koto in modern Japan. I want to develop some sort of hypothesis, but I'm not sure how to phrase it just yet. Well, here's hoping I can find my phone tomorrow!

Day 9 - 7th of September

2:50pm　関西外大

天気：　蒸し暑い；曇り

Here I am, talking with Georg, eating an icecream after presenting my gift to the Dean of the CIE, Hajime Yamamoto!!! I went into the CIE office and met with Yuka, whom I had talked to yesterday about the university's open campus day. When I unwrapped the frame, I realised that the stand had broken off the back :O!!! She took me into the Dean's office, and after a short exchange, some praise (he said it looked professional xD) and a hand shake I left. Hopefully they will be able to hang it up somehow. I'm really happy that they appreciated it.

5:39pm　セミナーハウス

Back at the seminar house after a hot, but interesting day. After washing my whites, and having blueberry jam on toast for lunch (the consistency of the jam is really runny; no preservatives YAY), I went the "short-cut" way to uni, through a residential area. It's so nice to see the traditional, tiled-roof houses. As I walked by the open gates, I caught glimpses of beautifully manicured gardens. There is also a shrine with a park; swings and slide. They are doing construstion on it at the moment.

After buying a notebook, I had my first class at 1pm: Culture and Everyday Life in Japan. It's a social science course, and since I've never studies social science, it should be very interesting. There are 3 other Australian's in the class; two from the same uni in Brisbane. Lol, I'm really noticing that I have no accent. It's good though. We have already been informed of two festivals coming up; one is an official field trip!!! I'm really looking forward to this xD.

So after class finished at 2:20 (long classes), I went downstairs to the CIE lounge to the club meeting. It was packed and they didn't have all the clubs there; no koto. So yeah, that reminds me, I'm going to send them an email. So I went to present my gift, then talked to Diego and Jessica, before seeing them off to class. I walked back home (lol I'm already referring to it as home), stopping at the grocery stores and 99円 store for supplies. YAY, I'm having scrambled eggs tonight. I also had to buy a drying-up cloth.

Yesterday, the Resident Assistants (Japanese students staying at the dorms and helping out), cleverly devised a rooster for us. To me, it seems a little extreme. It comprises of a group system, in which each group has a different job or activity, which is rotated each week. I'm in group D, and this week is "study". The other activities are, cleaning the kitchen, "having a good time", 銭湯 (public bath), and sleeping LOL. I don't know how strictly it will be enforced, but I guess it seems reasonable enough (except for the sleeping one). Anyway, Diego's back now, and I'm going to make ma dinner...

7:29pm

Yay, I made scrambled eggs. It was really nice xD. Made some for Diego too. He payed me back by washing the dishes, lolz. And I still have enough ingredients to make another serving tomorrow. The bread here, is really thick, but it's yummy. I'm full after just two slices. Anyway, I have my first Japanese classes tomorrow. A girl from my dorm, Joanna, is in the same classes, so that's one person I know, xD. I'm sure I'll know lots of other people there. Then again, there are quite a number of different classes and levels of competency.