10:55pm セミナーハウス
天気： 雨天
Well, just for fun, it decided to pour with rain all day today; and heavy rain at that. This meant that by the end of the day, my jeans and jacket were quite wet; they’re hanging up to dry now. I’m just hoping the weather improves by tomorrow. I really wanted to get my hair cut today, but the relentless downpour completely put me off. Anyway, another Monday… I finally rolled out of the futon at 9, and hurriedly got ready for the day. I managed to get to class just in time, racing on my bike through the rain, icy drops pelting my face; okay, so I’m being a little dramatic. The test today went pretty well, although there was one sentence that I wasn’t happy about at all; I couldn’t think of the grammar pattern to use. Jo revealed to me later that I was a passive sentence; I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Oh well, I’ll still get part marks for it. The listening part was okay; not the easiest, nor the hardest I’ve had. And I remembered all the vocab words; that part seems to be the least of my problems now. I finished in a little over 30 minutes, and then went down to the lounge, and spent the next 1 and a half just chilling with Rachel, Sarah, and Katie; and Rachael when she came. I did do some kanji practice, and some readings for Gender and Sexuality, so I was at least semi productive.
In Reading and Writing, we started chapter 5, which contains a whole bunch of crazy kanji; it’s going to be fun learning them. After class, I went home (the rain even heavier now), and had lunch before basically crashing for the next 2 hours on my futon; I guess today decided to be a lazy day. Sooner then I wanted it was time to return to uni. Koto club started up again, at the regular time of 4:30. This was the first day for freshmen (and what a lovely day for them… not), so the uni was absolutely packed; especially all the food venues. I dropped my bag in the club room, and then went to the convenience store to get a quick snack. Getting back (snack already devoured), I was just about get started reading Hitman Reborn when guess who arrived; Brittney. She hadn’t been for weeks, so I was quite surprised. Also, considering that Midori and Mori Sempai, and Maarika all have classes until 6 (which is a real shame), so I wasn’t expecting anyone to turn up for a while. Another unexpected arrival was Riho; I think we met once before. She’s a second year student, and seems really nice, though a little reserved; well, I guess that can be expected from a Japanese girl.
So, I thought it would be a good time to set up downstairs in the practice room. Brittney and I both took down koto, but unfortunately when we got there, and I tried the key… it didn’t work; I guess that would make sense. So back up to the club room we went; I felt a pretty bad. We still got a bit of practice in though. Riho practiced sakura, and Brittney Hanagoromo. Soon, Brittney left, and was replaced by Natalie; she helped Riho a lot with Sakura, which was really great. At about 5:30, Kirianna also arrived, although she didn’t stay for very long; and Natalie and Riho were soon to follow. So, then it was just me again. I decided I would have a crack at Kagaribi, so I tuned it and got stuck into it; so difficult. Maarika arrived a bit after 6, and just sat as I played around. When Mori Sempai arrived we could finally get set up downstairs. She was so happy when I told her so many people had showed up today; she had been worried about the fate of koto club. Soon after getting set up, we had another unexpected visitor; Tami-chan. She’s from Puerto Rico, and was Maarika’s roommate during orientation week. Midori arrived soon after, and we all ended up chatting for a good while; a bit too long, as I really wanted to practice.
Today, Maarika and I got started on a new piece, which I can’t remember the name of, but nevertheless it was quite fun, and very challenging; it’s one of the pieces the girls have played before. I’ll get a photocopy of it tomorrow, along with Kagaribi; with the time I have left, I don’t think I’ll be able to get good at that one. Anyway, since it’s a duet, I immediately decided to take second koto; it seems to be a fact that the second part is always harder. Midori helped us a lot, so we had a general idea of what to expect from it. I’m looking forward to the sensei coming tomorrow, and hopefully she approves of us playing these pieces; last time she saw us, we were still on Hanagoromo. So enthralled in practice, we ended up finishing a little late; not that I had to be anywhere. After packing up, and saying goodbye, I rode in the rain for the last time today, and got home around 8. I went straight up to the kitchen, and made gyudon for dinner, catching Katie as she made her way out; she’s just received her certificate, and a generous sum of money for the article she wrote for a competition earlier in this semester. Ash and Rachel we also leaving, so I spent a little while talking with Julie, eating white chocolate and drinking Milo; great combination. At about 9, I went back downstairs, had a shower and then got settled in bed; I guess I felt I deserved a bit of a break. I’ve spent most of the night just playing bejewelled and uploading photos on dA. Well, hopefully the weather’s improved tomorrow, so that I may be a little more productive…
