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 210 - 28th of March

10:11pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
Even though I spent the entire day inside, it was far from unproductive; a fitting end to the spring break… I got up at around 10, and after getting ready for the day, I tried to get in touch with the family over skype; I had to get set up in the lounge since Hugo was still sleeping. 30 minutes later, and they still hadn’t picked up; I rung them several times throughout the day, with no luck. So I ended up not talking with them at all, which is a bit of a bummer. Anyway, getting to my room, I worked on my blog until lunchtime; still had a bit to go. I sat and ate with Rachel and Ash, and we talked for a while. When I came back downstairs, I was able to talk with Carly, and we started to plan Tokyo, so I’m going to book the hostel very soon. We talked until almost 2:30, and then it was time for me to get ready for the music party. The koto was already in the lounge, but I also had to retrieve the makura and music stand; okaasan calls it a 立 (tate) which means “to stand”. She also brought out the stand for the koto (same as the ones we used during INFES), which was great cause I meant I could sit on a chair; much better than sitting in seiza on a tiled floor.

Shortly after 5, the performances started, kicking off with Tristan on guitar, which was really amazing; he used so many difficult-looking techniques. I recognised the melody he was playing, and later when I was talking to him about it, he revealed that it was an arrangement from one of Ryuichi Sakimoto’s pieces; I have some of his music. So yeah, I really enjoyed that. Then, it was my turn, and I ended up just playing Hanagoromo, and Sakara sakura at Okaasan’s request; I think everyone enjoyed it. After that, Biancha and Yuji did there Manzai skit, which was absolutely hilarious; they had obviously put a lot of time into it. The skit actually explained what manzai was in a mock classroom setting, so it was not only very funny, but educational too. Manzai is basically stand-up comedy that involves two performers – the tsukkomi and the boke. The boke is basically the idiot, who misinterprets things, forgets, and slips up a lot, and it’s the tsukkomi’s job to correct the boke, and this usually involves physical and verbal abuse. I thought Biancha and Yuji portrayed the roles really well. Biancha was looking for volunteers from the “class”, and every time it was inevitably Yuji. He was supposed to demonstrate how a tsukkomi is supposed to act, but every single time, he ended up becoming the boke; so clever.

So I thoroughly enjoyed that. Then it was time for Otousan to sing, accompanied by Tristan on guitar. He sang sukiyaki, which many of us know, and he did a really good job of it; Otousan’s so awesome. Then it was Brett’s turn on saxophone, and he played some cool jazz. Finally, it was everyone’s turn. After a bit of stuffing around, we ended up getting everyone to sing, John Denver’s “Take me home, Country Roads”. Of course, Yuji made me take the microphone, not that I minded too much; it was kinda fun. That done we had a big group photo around the koto, and then everyone began to slowly disperse. Getting back to my room, I finally got my blog completely up-to-date, and uploaded some more photos to facebook. Soon enough it was time for dinner and I made spaghetti Bolognese, using the taco sauce; turned out tasting really good. I was joined by Ash, Sarah, Rachel, and Katie, while I enjoyed a word game show on TV; I could actually understand some of the questions. Eventually it was just Ash, Rachel, and I, watching the international figure skating competition hosted in Italy; as usual, Rachel was in her happy place. We cheered for the Japanese girls, who were doing really well.

At around 9, I decided it was time to retire for the night, but ended up bumping into Rachael. She was looking for Sarah, but couldn’t find her anyway; a lot of Firefly references ensued. I came up to her room, and she told me that she had looked in Ash and Katie’s room for her, but couldn’t find her. I was then lucky enough to get two CDs off her to burn; the Yoshida Brothers’ “Prism”, and the music from Sengoku Basara, an anime. I’m listening to it now, and it’s really epic. I then went to check in Ash and Katie’s room, and found Sarah casually sitting on Katie’s futon; she told me she had hidden out on the balcony. I had come in here to collect the purikura photos from last Saturday; I got mine, and also went back down to the kitchen to give Rachel hers. Getting back to my room, I found a note and a cookie taped to the door handle; it was a little thank you from the RAs. I had a shower and washed my hair; which still really needs to be cut. Simon got his cut today, and I must say it looks very… interesting; I don’t think I’ll be getting it cut like that. Anyway, maybe I’ll get it done this week. Hugo soon returned, finding a cookie and note on the handle for him too; for lending his cords to Yuji for the music party. He was soon out the door again, leaving me alone for the second time today; he had gone out to Kyoto to watch a movie with a friend. He had also found yatsuhashi, the wonders of which I had introduced to him last week; he’s hooked, just like Diego was. Ah, classes start again tomorrow; I guess I’m looking forward to it. My time here is rapidly expiring, but I still got a lot to do…

Day 185 - 3rd of March

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11:20pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Today was 雛祭り (Hina Matsuri – Girl’s Day), not that I could do much, since I was stuck at uni, but professor Hester did give out some sweets that, when wrapped, resembled dolls in all different dresses of the world; so that was something. It was also a nice sunny day today, albeit cold… Again, I forgot to turn the volume on my iPod up for my alarm, but luckily Hugo’s woke me up. I got to class in good time, and we went over transitive and intransitive verbs; always fun. In my break, I did the reading for Gender and Sexuality, and continued reading the interview write ups half the class have done for Religion; we’re going to talk about them tomorrow. I still don’t know who I should interview; maybe I’ll just talk to Yuji. Anyway, I went to my Reading and Writing class, and we started chapter 3, which meant a whole lot of new kanji; fun, fun, fun. After that, I went straight on to Gender and Sexuality, and Hester gave us the information for the Takarazuka trip this Sunday; I can’t believe how fast it’s come up. The tickets didn’t arrive during class, as Hester had anticipated, so we should be receiving them on Friday now.

I returned home, soon after class, had lunch, and then napped for a while. At around 5:30, I talked with family, and helped Ben with his story; that was fun. Soon enough, it was coming up to 7, and the Seminar House meeting. Yuji are only RA now since Asami has resigned for personal reasons (this was a shock to all of us), has started planning our next party; a Music Party. A few of us will be performing, including me on koto. I have no idea what I should do for it, but I have a few weeks to work something out; maybe I’ll just improvise. So that’s something to look forward to. Then we got into the serious stuff i.e. the state of the kitchen. Hopefully now, after a few of us spoke up about it, people will try a bit harder to keep it clean. It was almost 8 by the time the meeting finished, and after helping put the chairs back into the computer room, I went upstairs to put on some rice for dinner. Half an hour later, I was making 卵丼 (Tamagodon – Egg on rice). It’s very simple, and very tasty. I didn’t spend too long in the kitchen tonight, but had fun chatting, while Rachel put my hair up into a knot, and later French braided it; it was quite a sight.

Getting back down here, I’ve spent the rest of the night, uploading photos on facebook, and starting to learn the new kanji and vocabulary. I also read the story in this chapter. It’s actually quite good. Basically it’s about an old woodcutter with a lump on his cheek. One day, while he up in the mountains cutting wood, he gets caught in a storm, and has to take shelter in a cabin. He’s exhausted, and falls to sleep as the storm continues to rage. That night, he is awoken by many voices coming from outside the cabin. To his surprise, when he peers through the crack in the door, he sees a group of red and blue goblins, drinking, dancing, and singing around. He is scared at first, but seeing that they are having such a good time, he runs out into the middle of the circle, and starts dancing. The goblins are of course very surprised, but when they see that the old man is such a good dancer, they cheer him on. The leader praises him, and beckons him to come back again, rewarding him by taking the lump of his cheek; it doesn’t hurt at all. The old man returns home feeling much lighter, and overjoyed.

The neighbour of the woodcutter, is also an old man, and has a lump on his opposite cheek. Unlike the woodcutter though, he is a mean-spirited person, and when he hears of the old woodcutter’s tale, he is immediately jealous. So that night, the wicked neighbour, goes to the top of the mountain, and sits in the hut to wait for the goblins to arrive. When they show up, he immediately jumps out of the hut and starts dancing. Unfortunately for him, he is a terrible dancer, and the goblins are not at all impressed. The leader is so put off, he screams at him, and throws the old woodcutters lump at him. The neighbour returns home with a lump on both cheeks, and tears streaming down his face. I don’t really know what the moral of the story is, but maybe it’s something like - don’t be jealous and be happy for others’ good fortunes. Or maybe it’s more like – beware of goblins if you’re a crappy dancer! Anyway, that was really interesting, and enjoyable to read; I got a good laugh out of it. Well, I should get some sleep now; maybe do some laundry in the morning.

Day 132 - 9th of January

9:10pm　セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
Another cloudy day spent inside doing practically nothing; aren’t I boring. Oh well, at least I’m saving money… I got up at 9, had breakfast and enjoyed doodling with Alex for a few hours on isribble.net; so cool. I also talked with Carly. Around 2, I was craving food again, so went up and made lunch. I chatted some more afterwards, and then had a nap, getting up at about 5. I decided to bleach my hair; that took about an hour. The difference is very subtle; my hair looks kinda orangey now. I only used half the bottle though, so I’m going to try again next week. At 6:30 I went up and had dinner. I mixed last night’s leftover meat with veggies and macaroni in a yakitori sauce; it tasted really good. I sat with Ash, while watching this horrendous show on TV, where contestants who obviously can’t sing, battle it out in front of a live audience, looking very foolish; people will do anything to get on TV. After dinner I read some more of Deltora.

Now am going to watch some Hetalia: Axis Powers. This is the anime, Alex, Ash, and many others are obsessed with. It presents an allegorical interpretation of historical events, particularly in the WWII era, and the countries are represented by anthropomorphic characters. ヘタリア (Hetalia) is a portmanteau combining へたれ (hetare - useless) and イタリア (Italia). This is to make light of Italy's apparent cowardice during World War II; thank you Wikipedia. The episodes are really short (5 mins), so I thought, what the heck, might as well take a look. I’ve watched a few episodes already, and it’s pretty interesting so far. There are only 49 episodes, so I might watch them all tonight, if the internet is kind. Tomorrow is Sunday, the beginning of a new week; a week where I will no longer be lazy…

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 41 - 10th of October

10:35pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
I ended up staying in bed until 10, when I had to force my self up to have breakfast. After breakfast I did my laundry. Then I did some work on my research project; basically just writing down my goals and what exactly I wanted to research. It's a start. Since half the day was already over, I decided to leave Kuzuha mall for another day and instead went into Hirakata. I took a leap of faith and decided to go get my hair cut. I walk in to the 美容院 (biyouin - hairdressing salon), and was immediately shown to a seat. Mum, I apologise in advance; I got it cut short. You're gonna hate me sooooo much. I'm sorry, but it feels great, they thinned it out really well, and I still have a bit of a fringe.

So after my cut, I went to get it coloured on the floor above. I love Japanese people so much. The service is so amazing, and they are always mega polite. And basically, when they asked me a question I didn't understand, I just replied with はい (yes!!!). It got me through, and I'm so happy with the colour. On the chart, it didn't look like much, but they explained I'd have to get that, unless I wanted to bleach my hair white. So yeah, I was a little worried. After putting about five towels over my neck, little plastic bags over my ears, and a gel around my hair line (that prevented the colour coming in contact with my skin - very cool), they applied the colour. It was a very long process, but very well done. By the time he'd finished applying it (for almost 20 minutes I'd guess), it only took 10 more minutes to set; they wrapped it in plastic and then covered it with a towel. Then, I got it washed out and shampooed. Through the whole process my face was covered by a towel, and he must have washed it about 5 times.

Towel covering my hair, I was lead over to the mirror to the grand unveiling. I was amazed; it's so vibrant! The highlights look great, and the rest of my hair looks really warm. I'm so happy with it, and it was surprisingly cheap. Definitely cheaper than I would have gotten in Australia. So, very satisfied I walked out, being thanked by the all the staff as I left, and went over to the shopping centre; I was on the hunt for clothes. I'd seen these jeans before and really wanted them, and now that I had the money, I got them, and a shirt to go with. It was a very fruitful day. I came back, and found Diego and Jessica in the room. Soon after, Amber came knocking and said they were ordering pizza, and asked if we wanted some; we did. We ended up getting four pieces each (it was really nice, with brie cheese on it), and I made a salad to eat too. We had a card playing night, but only played for a couple of hours, as we would be getting up early in the morning; we're going into Osaka tomorrow. I love my new hair...