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 244 - 1st of May

10:10am　バス停　－　保険所前

天気：晴れ

It’s another beautiful, sunny day in Hikone and we’re sitting here outside the hotel, waiting for the next bus; we’ve just checked-out. The first order of business today is to find an ATM that will accept my debit card, as the one in Laswons did not; we’re going to take the bus in to the station. After that, I don’t know…

12:18pm　米原駅

We’re in Maibara station, waiting for the train to 南彦根 (South Hikone). We decided to come here to Maibara, and then found out there really was nothing here; oh well. So we’re going to the mall in South Hikone and hopefully that’s okay… I was able to find an ATM that would take my card; it was in a post office. I’ll have to remember that for next time, even though there probably won’t be a next time; my last JASSO instalment should be coming in soon. After getting the money out, we had a look around a nearby department store, and I had to buy a ひこにゃん ("Hikonyan" - the cities samurai-cat mascot) plushie becuase he is absolutely adorable ~ he is modeled off the Daimyo (lord) "Ii Naokatsu", who ordered Hikone castle's construction in 1603. Coming out of the store, we noticed there was a protest going on in the street; I didn't get a chance to read what the banners said, but I think it was something to do with money. We took a few more pics of Hikone, and then were off to Maibara. As soon as we got out of the station, we realised that there really wasn't much to do here; the map confirmed that. So, after a bit of deliberation, we decided that it would be best if we went to the mall; it was my original plan after all...

5:19pm　新快速

I’m on the special rapid express, back to Kyoto. It’s been a long, tiring day and while I had fun, I’d glad to be going back home… After getting to South Hikone, we made our way over to “Viva City”, the mall, which was just outside the station. As soon as we got in, I had to find something to eat, and right there was a bakery; the bread was so cheap, and so yummy, and one of them was shaped like Ponyo. Just inside the main entrance, they had a heap of stalls set up, like those you would see at festivals, with balloons, balls, and of course 金魚すくい (kingyo sukui – “goldfish scooping”). After eating, we browsed many of the shops on the first floor, and I bought a Totoro pencil case, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days on DS; both were on sale. I also wanted to buy some boots, because the store was having a really great sale, but there weren’t any I like enough to pay for even at the discount. On the second floor, I found some nice plaid shirts that were all half price, so I bought two; one green, and one maroon. Looking around at the other guys shops, everything was so expensive. We did find this shirt that read, “Underground f**k department” on the front; and no the other letters weren’t stared. We eventually came to an arcade zone, which included karaoke, bowling, purikura and even a cinema. While the karaoke was much too expensive, we had to do the purikura; it’s mandatory. It was actually really intense, as the time between photo-taking became increasingly shorter and we would have to get ready for the next picture really quickly, changing from a lower, to upper camera sometimes; got some great photos though. After the rakugaki and printing them out, we had a bit of a situation.

Alex had dropped her phone somewhere in there, and couldn’t find it; we searched around and under the machine for about 10 minutes. Not having any luck there, we decided to go and ask the people at the counter, who immediately got onto it. Within minutes, we had a lady taking as down to the information centre on the first floor and there it was! I think that’s incredible that in the space of five minutes, someone has picked up the phone, and taken it downstairs to hand it in; Alex was certainly very relieved. After all the excitement, we had a well deserved ice cream from Baskin and Robins. I tried two of the new flavours, Peach Melba, and Coconut Grove; both were amazing. And the fact that, during Golden Week double scoops are 31% off, made it even sweeter. Our last stop for the day was Toys ‘R’ us, just to have a look; it was in a building on its own adjacent to the mall. I really wanted some Lego (which is a lot cheaper over here) but restrained myself, knowing that I wouldn’t want to ship it home. After that, we made our way back to the station, and I decided to take the train to Maibara with Alex, since I would be able to catch the special repaid from there; only local trains stopped at South Hikone. Getting to Maibara, the train to Kyoto was already in the station, so are farewell was cut short as I had to run down the stairs to make in on just as they were closing the doors; the last time with Alex in Japan was over! I’m about halfway to Kyoto now, so I’m going to get some rest…

10:49pm　セミナーハウス

It feels so good to finally be in bed; I’m so exhausted. After getting back to Hirakata, I decided to take a quick look in animate, and picked up a few things. Then I caught the bus home, and was soon in the kitchen making dinner. I got to catch up with Julie, Ash and Rachel, while eating my gyudon. At 9, since no one else but Rebecca had shown up, with decided to help clean the kitchen; I didn’t really mind. After that, a group gathered in the lounge to watch Princess Mononoke, and while I love the movie, I wasn’t too fussed; I’ve seen it many times. Instead, I took a shower and then started to get everything sorted out. I think tomorrow will simply be a catch-up/blog day, and I’ll have to do some washing and buy groceries too. Wow, this is my last month in Japan; I’m still having a blast…

Day 236 - 23rd of April

天気：曇り

While threatening clouds dominated the sky throughout the day, it never did actually rain; it was still cold and windy though… Waking up this morning, I got ready, and then had a little bit more time to study for my test; not that I really needed it. I rode to uni with Rachel, and then got to class with plenty of time to spare. The test turned out to be pretty easy; I remembered all the kanji and grammar patterns. That done, I went to Speaking, and we spent half the lesson going over the pick-up lines people had come up with yesterday; some of them were quite funny. We quickly went over the grammar patterns (which again were from level 3), before watching an animated short in Japanese; it was interesting, to say the least. After that, I was free to go home for a little while. After picking up some groceries, I had lunch, and then did some reading. Getting back to uni, I met with Ash and Katie, who were on their way to USJ this afternoon; making the most of their season passes. I was soon in Gender and Sexuality, and after short discussion about host and hostess clubs, we went onto our final topic; sexuality and gender minorities. Today, we discussed homosexuality. It was interesting to contemplate homosexual as a sexual activity, and homosexual as an identity, because they are different things. There are many examples of what is called “institutionalised homosexuality”, activities or behaviours that do not reflect sexual preferences or lifestyle, but are simply parts of the norms of the institution or society.

Throughout Japanese history, there have been numerous examples of age-structured practices of men-loving-men, from Buddhist institutions to the warrior class. These acts were done in order to strengthen the relationship between priest and acolyte, subordinate and commander. Kabuki and the urban class also have a long tradition of homosexual practices. During the Edo period, homosexuality was banned for just 8 years, and the fact that no other effort has been made since to restrict male/male sex indicates that Japan doesn’t have an elaborate, punitive view of certain sexual acts, unlike other countries where religious beliefs come into play. Another interesting thing to note is the shift between homosexuality as behaviour to homosexual as a person (the medical model), which brought about new terminology in Japan. The word 同性愛 (douseiai – lit. “same sex love”) came about in the early 20^th century, when the occurrence of female/female sex was identified in many girl’s boarding schools; before this, there had been no context for putting men and women in the same category. The funny thing is, the word for heterosexuality 異性愛 (iseiai – lit. “unusual sex love”) was derived from the homosexual term. And that was me done for the day; the weekend upon us once more.

Getting back home, I tried to do my homework but failed, and a look at my Alice in Wonderland ticket stub, lead to a chain reaction that resulted in me having a huge chuck-out. I went through all my draws and tidied them, got rid of all the bits of paper, magazines, flyers and the like that I really didn’t need, dusted my shelves and started getting the books and merchandise I had collected boxed up, and then vacuumed the floor; it was quite invigorating actually. It about two hours, but I was really happy that I was able to start getting things sorted out for going home; I probably threw away about 10kgs worth of paper and plastic. Of course, I kept the important things, like the pamphlets and tickets from places I’ve been, and some nice wrapping paper; I can handle lugging that home. Afterwards, I managed to get my homework done, and then I went up to make dinner; it was about 6:30, and the kitchen was empty. I was well into cooking my chicken pasta dish before Rachel and Sarah arrived. Sitting down, we ate while watching Doraemon on TV, and at about 7:30, Julie came in asking if we were still up for watching ゲド戦記 (Gedo senki – i.e. Tales from Earthsea), directed by Goro Miyazaki; son of Studio Ghibli’s Hayou Miyazaki. While I hadn’t particularly liked it the first time I’d seen it, I was willing to give it another go, so Julie, Rachel, Chelsea and I all went up to Julie’s room and squished up on her futon, in front of the laptop.

Honestly, I enjoyed the movie a lot more this time around and I think it might have had something to do with the fact that we watched it in Japanese; poor dubbing can see the downfall of any good movie. However, in comparison to other Ghibli films, it’s definitely not up there for me. This was the first time I’d seen it in Japanese, and something that confused me was the use of a female voice actor for the main antagonist, Lord Cob. In the English version, the character (which is male, although I suppose it is a little ambiguous) had a creepy man’s voice, but in the Japanese version, it was a clearly a women’s persona; not a womanly-man. So that was a little strange, especially considering it had been produced in Japanese first. After the movie, we lounged around for a little while and then, since Chelsea was hungry, we decided to go to Fresco to pick up some food; it was already past 10:30 at night. In the hallway, I bumped into Katie and she had candy canes to give us. Going to her room, I asked the two about their day at USJ, and they said they had a wonderful time, and got a chance to go on the new ride, which was amazing; I kinda wish I’d gone. Then I received the candy canes from Katie (which were left over from Christmas), and a Hetalia pin from Ash; I have to go collect more now! I went to the kitchen, and handed a bunch of the candy canes out, and then got rugged up for our outing. We ended up riding to Fresco, and I couldn’t help buying an ice cream while I was there; everyone else was. Chelsea got some gyoza and fresh yakitori so she was very satisfied when we returned home to eat. It was about 11:30 when we gathered together once more, but in the kitchen this time, since Jazz was going to bed. To end the night, we ended up watching Aladdin, and I enjoyed watching Rachel mouthing the script throughout the entire movie; it’s clearly her favourite Disney movie…

Day 231 - 18th of April

10:26pm　セミナーハウス

天気：　晴れ

I just got back from 鳥貴族 (Torikizoku), a restaurant where all the items on the menu are 280円 (well, technically 294円with the tax). As the name suggests (torikizoku means bird of nobility), chicken is the primary meat, but there are also salads, soups, and rice. But more about that later… I got up this morning at about 9:30, and had a citron, apple and banana for breakfast; I didn’t have any milk for cereal. Then, I spent until 1 doing homework, and practicing kanji. I decided I needed a bit of fresh air, so I had a bit of a ride before getting some take out from the new kebab shop just across from the east gate; Café Istanbul. I’ve been missing kebabs since I’ve been here, so I was really happy. Two international students were in there smoking a hookah, which anyone can do for the price of 800円; not for my thanks. Still, I thought that was kinda of cool; they are quite beautiful devices. I ate my doner kebab in the nearby park and wow, it was really nice; maybe a bit small for the price. After eating, I went to Avail, but didn’t end up buying anything; there were a few things I liked though.

Getting back home, I worked on my blog, and talked with family for a little bit, before getting interviewed by Hugo. He’s doing a group report for his physiology class, and has to interview both Japanese and foreign students; I hope my answers help him. Soon after that, he asked if I wanted to come out with him and Yuji to torikizoku for dinner; they would be going straight away. Since my best decisions are usually made spur of the moment (before I have time to think about them), I decided to go for it; it would be fun. And it was! We were joined by Yuki (Yuji’s friend from a university in Osaka), and Biancha met us there. We arrived at straight on 6 when it opened, and ended up staying until after 9:30; well, Biancha left a bit early. After ordering drinks (I just had water), we could order whatever we wanted, whenever; they have a buzzer system. I only ended up having 3 dishes, and they were all chicken. My favourite would have had to be the filleted chicken covered with tartar sauce. Also, after the first bowl of cabbage, all the rest are free; not that I like cabbage that much.

I got the opportunity to talk in Japanese a bit to Yuki, who wasn’t very good at English; I also translated for Hugo a bit. Yuji got considerably drunk, and this made him very tired for some reason. While the quality of the food was very high, the service was a little slow; Yuji had to wait half an hour for his last meal. Everyone else ate way more than me, but that was more because I was being cheap; I would have liked to try a bit more. I did get to try some of Biancha’s deep fried camembert cheese; gosh that was so tasty. If I go again, I’m definitely going to order it. I also got to try some of Hugo’s chicken naan bread, which reminded me of Mexican food; it was beautifully spicy. When we left, Hugo and I soon separated from Yuji and Yuki; Yuji was going to Tsutaya, and Yuki was presumably returning home. I decided I would make a quick stop to Makkas, to get a soft serve; that made me happy. Hugo and I were soon on the bus back home; unfortunately Yuji missed it. Even though it was a little long, it was a great night out and I’m glad I went; I need to do stuff like that more often. Well, uni again tomorrow, better get some sleep…