Day 259 - 16th of May

10:46pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Feeling very tired now; today was fun, but draining. At least it was a nice, sunny day; maybe a little too warm. I was so worried we weren’t going to make it the concert today, but everything turned out fine, eventually… I got up at 9 (a little late), and hurriedly readied myself for the day. I let Maarika know I’d meet her at seminar house 1 at 10, so went over there and waited; and waited. I waited until about 10 past, and then decided to just go; I was already keeping Carly waiting. I went to the bus stop, and found that the bus wouldn’t be coming for the next 10 minutes. I got so anxious just standing there that I walked to the next stop, and still had to wait. I didn’t end up getting down to the station until about a quarter to 11; Carly was still waiting patiently bless her. So now all we had to do was get to Nipponbashi; easy enough right? Well, stupid me lead us to the wrong station; we talked with Maureen and Tori, who were going to Eigamura, for a little while. It wasn’t until we got on the train and started moving did I realise we were going in the wrong direction; towards Kyoto. So, we had to get off at Kuzuha, and wait for the next express to take us back the other way; the waiting nearly killed me. We got on the train at about 10 past 11 and, knowing the concert started at 12, I was freaking out.

We took the limited express to Kitahama, and then rushed over to the Sakai-suji subway line. There was finally a bit of luck when we managed to get to the platform just as the train was coming in. We had less than 10 minutes left, but thankfully Nipponbashi was only three stations down. As soon as we got off the train we rushed toward exit 7, emerging into the sunlight to find that the theatre ~ the 国立文楽劇場 (kokuritsu bunraku gekijou – National Japanese Puppet Theatre ~ was just up the road; we had made it just in time. We were soon seated in a beautiful theatre, delicate lanterns lining the walls, and huge curtain in front of us, adorned with pine trees and water. We had come in just after the MC had started talking, so didn’t miss any of the music. The next 3 hours (yes, it was a lot longer than I had expected), were filled with some of the most beautiful music I had ever heard; I was blown away. The orchestra (if that is the right term for it) played 8 pieces, splitting up into various groups for each. It took me a while, but during the first piece I finally noticed Sensei in a sky blue kimono playing the shamisen; she looked so calm and confident. In fact, almost everyone looked to be at absolute peace, and I was transfixed watching each section move in almost perfect unison; the graceful and precise movements reflected the magnificence of the music.

Most of the pieces included both shamisen and koto sections, as well as a solo shakuhachi. One included the 琵琶 (biwa – Japanese lute), and a few included the 17-stringed koto; it’s deep notes resounding. If I had a chance to play koto again, I would love to give the 17-string a go; I’ve always had a thing for bass instruments. They presented a wonderful balance of traditional and contemporary pieces, which I was very pleased about; it really showed off the versatility of the instruments. I actually found myself drawn more towards the contemporary pieces. Of course, the traditional pieces were all amazing, stepped in the aesthetics of Japan, but the contemporary pieces really touched my soul. One piece in particular, called 硝子の星座 (garasu no seiza – “Constellation of glass”) sent shivers down my spine; I was completely swept up in it. I desperately want to hear it again now, as it was just breathtaking; maybe I’ll be able to find it somewhere one day. The last piece played almost had a Middle Eastern flair to it, which again showed off the diverse range of music these instruments can perform; it certainly helps when they can all be tuned to whatever you want. I was thoroughly impressed, and hope I get the opportunity to see something of such a standard again one day.

Upon exiting, we bumped into Maarika; I was glad she had made it. She never got my message, so actually came over to Seminar House 2 to find me; I had already left by that time. Oh well, it all worked out. We found Sensei in the lobby, and congratulated her when she came rushing over to thank us. Then, feeling very hungry, we went in search of a convenience store, and soon found a Family Mart; I got an onigiri and a yummy strawberry donut thing. We made our way back to Makino, this time not in a rush, and then walked home from there; stopping at Sanko on the way; I got some cheap bananas. I was so surprised to find that it was already 5 by the time we were home; the whole day had gone. Still, I managed to get about 4 hours study in; Carly helped by quizzing me on kanji and vocabulary. We had a break for dinner in between, and sat in the lounge reading in the newspaper that they had found that modern man’s genome contains traces of Neanderthal DNA; it was quite fascinating. After that, more study and then donuts, and then Carly left. I’d better get some sleep now. My exam is at 10, but I want to try to get up early to study a bit more. I’m really glad I got to go out today, but it has put a bit of a strain on things…

Day 127 - 4th of January

3:47pm　準急
天気：晴れ
On the sub-express to Kuzuha; going to do some shopping. I didn’t get up till 2:40, because I was up till 4 talking to Alex. Wouldn’t you know it; the first night in a while my roommate's away and I still get to sleep really late; oh well. I’m here…

5:21pm　準急
And back to Makino I go. I’m disappointed that I didn’t buy any clothes; there just wasn’t anything I really liked. But I did get a Studio Ghibli CD, and dye for my hair; it’s so unbelievably cheap here! I’m going to colour it tonight. Here…

10:36pm　セミナーハウス
It’s pouring down with rain; I can hear the thunder and see the lightning through my closed windows. This is the first real storm I’ve had since I’ve been here; I wonder if we’ll have a black out. I seriously didn’t know what I was hearing at first, but then I finally realised it was indeed a storm. Glad I’m not out in it; Ryan is though. He left while I was having dinner; I don’t know where he is. I finally got home, after stopping at the Keihan shop and Shimamura, picking up everything I could think of I would need to dye my hair. I got everything set up (even stole a chair from the computer room), and got stuck into it. And yes, it’s red again. There really isn’t that much change. I’m really happy with my effort though; I covered up the roots really well. I’m going to put some highlights into it soon; that should be fun.

It was after 8 by the time I had dinner; rice and chicken. Mosters Inc. was on TV so I enjoyed watching that; it was in English and I was surprised there were no subtitles. A girl said she could actually change it to Japanese on the TV and I wondered how that was possible; the end credits were in Japanese though, so that made me think. I tried the daidai orange after dinner, and wow, it was bitter!!! When I got back to the room, Ryan was gone, so I busied myself sorting out my laundry, while listening to my new Ghibli CD; it’s got some really good remixes on it. I really hope it’s not still raining tomorrow; my laundry is way overdue. I don’t have any plans for tomorrow; I don’t know whether or not I went to go out yet. I think the storms moving away; I haven’t heard thunder in a while. It’s still raining hard though. Time for bed… I think.

Day 80 - 18th of November

11:28pm　セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
Yay, just finished my history essay; finally!!! Today was a much nicer day; the sun even decided to come out for a little while. I got up a bit late this morning, so had to rush to get my homework done, but got to class just on time. Second to last grammar pattern in Speaking today; "Until...". In Reading and Writing, we're up to the second last chapter of Kanji; not long left now. After class I made my way back home. On the basketball courts, elementary kids were practicing marching band. That they could perform such a feat simply astounds me. It goes to show just how much pressure is put on Japanese people from such a young age. I guess in many aspects it pays off.

The dog that ripped my jeans hates me now. As soon as it saw me it instantly knew who I was and reared up and growled. I feel really bad about that now; I hope I haven't caused it any undue stress. I got home and put some rice home, then got my homework done for tomorrow. Had lunch (rice, and left over chicken from last night) then worked on my essay solidly until Diego got back at about 6 15. We went up and made dinner at 6 30. I decided to make yakisoba with the beef strips I had; really yummy. Then I had three donuts for dessert; what a fatty I am! At about 8:30 I continued to work solidly on my essay, and now I have finally got it finished; such a good feeling. I'll be turning 19 in less than 30 minutes, and while I'm tempted to stay up till midnight, I think it would be best if I went to bed now. Deigo's already been asleep for over an hour. Good night world, see you again when I'm 19...

Day 79 - 17th of November

11:34pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天
Another miserable, rainy day. It was also a very long day. I didn't need to go shopping this morning, since I'd gone on Sunday, so I relaxed a bit, had lunch, then went out into the rain. After speaking, I went to McDonalds and got the new McFlurry (strawberry short cake). I know, I'm crazy eating ice cream in the winter, but it was so nice. I did a bit more research for my history essay, then went to class. I found myself falling asleep. It wasn't that it wasn't interesting, it was just that the room was so nice and warm. I hung out with Amber and Carly a bit after class, then went to koto. We didn't get that much practice in, since we had a big meeting at the beginning about our party after the INFES. We had a short session with the sensei, and then the last 1 and a half was the girls practicing; they need it more than us, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Sakura, sakura really isn't a very hard piece. I'm looking forward to practicing new things afterwards.

After koto Sean, Mark, Justin and I went with Saki sempai to Kuzuha mall to buy our zouri (scandals) and tabi (socks) for our kimono. We were supposed to go yesterday, but since that we inconvenient for me, and everyone else didn't mind going today... well yeah, it all worked out fine. So off we went, through the freezing cold to 御殿山駅 (Gotenyama station). Two stops down and at Kuzuha mall, we met sempai's mum; she's very cool. As soon as we got there, she made Mark carry her heavy shopping bag; it was so funny. We went to one shop that sold tabi-like socks, but they all had stupid designs on them; we wanted plain ones. So we went up to the kimono shop on the 3rd floor; the women who came with sempai's mum to help us with our kimono the other week works there. Luckily, they had zouri and tabi in our sizes, but they were pretty expensive. We also had to buy ties for our kimono. Justin and Mark opted to just buy the zouri and ties, while Sean and I bought tabi also (white). It was after 9 at this point and the rest of the shops had closed, so we hurried back down to the first floor.

We parted with sempai and her mum, and went into the grocery store. I didn't want anything in particular; it was all very expensive. But I did find a small glass dish, which I'm very happy about. I'm going to make a cake for my birthday in it; yay!!! Hungry and tired, I made my way home, picking up a bag of Mister Donut donuts on the way; they were cheap okay. Caught the train back to Makino and walked home. My ears were hurting from the cold by the end of it; stupid me for not bringing my beanie. I was 10 when I got home, and after answering some questions for Deigo I made chicken parmigiana for dinner, and had a heated up donut for dessert. So, I didn't get down here till 11, and now I just want to go to bed. I can do my Japanese homework tomorrow morning, and tomorrow afternoon is for history essay...

Day 78 - 16th of November

10:09pm　セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
Well at least it stopped raining; but it was still so cold. Carly said it was 12 today, and expected to be 7 tomorrow!!! I guess I have to get used to it; Hokkaido in less than two weeks. Speaking of two things, I got two separate letters from Nanny and Poppy today. Well... one's a letter, and the other's a card, which I'm not going to look at till my birthday. Speaking of birthday's, it was Carly's today; turned 20. But more on that later. We've just finished our presentations in Japanese speaking, and now we're already going on to preparing a skit. I'm working with a girl in my class who I can't remember the name of, since we all refer to each other by our last names in class; kinda annoying. Anyway, the scenario is this: She's the single Mum who's at work all the time, and I'm the only child who is lonely and has become obsessed with video games and the like as a result. She's going to get up me for not doing more around the house, then I'm going get up her for never being there and so on. That's what we've got so far, and we're going to try to make it as funny and enjoyable as possible.

After class I went with Jo (who incidentally won a shirt for having the best presentation in the class today) to Floresta for our usual study session. I ordered a cinnamon donut today, which was very tasty indeed. Study was particularly important today since we had a lesson test for reading and writing. It actually wasn't that bad; I felt very confident about it. After that was CEL; we talked about urban life in Japan, how cities are structured in terms of levels of organisation, and touched on religion. I was starving afterwards, so had lunch, and wrote Carly a poem for her birthday. We were supposed to be going out tonight in a group to karaoke, so I left Koto a bit early. When I got back though, Carly said it wasn't happening cause she didn't feel up to it, and a lot of people were busy studying. We had a little celebration in the kitchen though; that was fun. Hopefully we can go out and do something on my birthday. Bleh, another cold day tomorrow...

Day 38 - 6th of October

10:40　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天
I've been checking my pocket all day just to make sure that my phone's is still there, reassuring myself that I actually have it back. I think I'm going to be paranoid about it for a while now; I guess it's a good thing. Getting it back went off without a hitch... After a bit of searching, Jo(anna) and I finally found the police station in Hirakata. We waked there after getting our alien registration cards, which also went very smoothly; got in there and they gave it straight to us. The police station was actually quite large; a few stories tall. All I had to do though was tell the lady at the information desk that I'd lost my phone, and she past me onto another guy. I waited a little while then... I saw my phone in his hand!!! It was a miracle I just had to sign a form and then it was returned to me. Sooo happy; I'm charging it now.

So yeah, after that we went to a stationary store, then walked back to uni, but not before stopping at "Floresta", a nearby donut shop. We studied a bit, then got to class. We've had a student-teacher come into our class for the past couple of weeks. She's been mainly observing, and marking our quizzes. She got to take the class for a little while last week; I think she did really well considering. She was being filmed too! After class we went to get lunch in the cafeteria. The food is so good and so cheap. I ended up getting an ice cream too. I was amazing; tasted like tiramisu. They have so many flavours of soft serve ice cream here in Japan and you find it everywhere, it's crazy.

Jo and I had history, and then we parted ways. I went to get out the money I needed to pay for my koto picks, on my new bank card. Yay, I have lots of money now!!! Of course, I'm going to be very responsible with it, xD. So I went to koto, and again we cleaned the floors before sensei arrived. Today, we got to be instructed by the sensei in groups. I was in the first group, and a little nervous admittedly. She is really awesome though; so patient and really good at explaining. She speaks entirely in Japanese, but even though I may not understand everything she says, she is very good at conveying information through her actions. I did understand some of what she said though, which definitely helped.

She began by explaining the correct posture while playing the koto, and the correct techniques for strumming with the middle finger, and the thumb. We then went through Sakura sakura, very slowly, pausing periodically so she could point out how to play certain parts, and correcting mistakes. There was a lot to think about. She wrapped up the session with a recap on the major points. As I attempted to get up, I realised I couldn't feel my legs; at all!!! We must have been sitting in seiza for almost 20 minutes, without moving at all. I was the most amazing feeling to be honest. It was as if my legs were no longer connected to my body. I managed to stand, and it was like walking in huge, thick plaster casts. Every one else in the group was affected too. Sensei realised this, and the preceding sessions were noticeably shorter.

My feet are still aching a bit now. It's good for me though, and I know my body will get used to it; it's all part of the discipline found in all aspects of Japanese life. After the Japanese girls practiced, we got our picks fitted for our fingers, and payed for. I'm so happy to have them now; I'm going to find a cool little case to keep them in. We got some chocolate, and then were sent on our way; it was already 8. Got back and made dinner. Well... I had cup noodles. This one was udon with fried tofu. Then I got a massage from Margo; it was excellent. Too bad she didn't do my feet too, lolz. Today was a very good day I think. I'm on a high at the moment and I intend to stay there as long as possible. As I don't have any cereal I'm hopefully going to have pancakes tomorrow for breakfast. That's if Deigo will make them. We shared a packet he bought, so I've bought this one to return the favour. He's really good at making them though, so I want him to do it again :D...