Two courses down, two to go; so happy!!! Well, I’ll be even happier come Wednesday evening, after I’ve handed in my Gender and Sexuality essay. After that, all I’ll have to worry about is getting home in one piece; so much less stressful. Anyway, today was another beautiful warm day, but we’re expecting rain soon…I woke up at 8, and after a quick breakfast and shower, I did a bit more study for Reading and Writing, before going to face the inevitable. It actually turned out to be not that bad at all. I read a letter from Nanny just before starting, and that gave me the extra bit of encouragement I needed. I got out of their feeling good, and shortly made my way back home. After lunch, I took a nap. I had intended to only stay in bed for half an hour, but ended up hitting the snooze button about three times, and didn’t get up until about 1:30. After that though I felt better, and got stuck into researching for my Gender and Sexuality; this consisted of me scouring my reading package for anything that related to my topic. I’m talking about marriage in Japan, and how it has changed, and continues to change; should be good.
Carly came round a bit after 2:30 and I continued my research until almost 6; she brought chocolate, chips and cookies to keep me motivated. At the request of Mori Sempai, I went into uni to play Miyabi with her and Maarika one last time; we played in front of some of the students from other clubs. We ended on a high, but it’s still sad to think that’s the last time; I’ll definitely have to pick it up again one day. Hopefully Mori, and Midori can come to our graduation on Saturday; I’d really like to see them one last time. After that, we made our way back home, and I made cup noodles for Carly, and pizza for myself; I love easy meals. After eating in the lounge, I sat with everyone in the kitchen for about half an hour, talking about anything; I don’t have many more opportunities to have these kinds of interactions so I’m making the most of what’s left. After getting back downstairs at about 8:45, I spent the next hour and a half revising for tomorrow’s Reading exam; I’m not looking forward to it at all. Unlike the exam today, which focused on 3 chapters, the exam tomorrow will be on the entire textbook; 10 chapters!!! I think I’ll be okay; I know most of the grammar and vocab. It’s just a matter of being able to get everything done in an hour and 20 minutes. Well, I’d better get some sleep now; get one more course out of the way tomorrow…
Happy Mother’s Day!!! While I didn’t get to be there for mum, at least I got to speak with her and the family over skype this morning; I did that straight after breakfast and putting some washing on. We spoke for a bit over an hour, and then I worked on my field report for a few hours. By 1, I was getting really hungry, so had to eat lunch. Since I would be going out for dinner tonight, I ate the leftover yakisoba for lunch; I also made a banana milkshake since I had so much milk. After lunch, I played KH for a bit, and then worked hard to get my sakubun finished, and it basically was by the time 5 came around. Hugo had already gone (he’s still not back), and now it was my turn. I met Maarika, Midori, Ume-chan, Ann and Rose outside Toriki (they had just come from The Ring), and Mori soon joined us. After a short wait, we were seated and after we got our drinks, Midori took charge of ordering just about everything on the menu for us; no joke. The amount of things I got to sample tonight was incredible. We stayed there from about 6:30 till 9:30 and the food kept coming, bit by bit. I got to eat chicken cartilage (weird), wing, breast, skin, and some internal body part (even weirder); all on a stick. We also got heaps of the amazing naan dish and the deep-fried camembert cheese; far out amazing!!! To finish off, I got mango sorbet for dessert; very good. Almost the entire time, we were speaking in Japanese, which was really great; I got lots of practice in. The bill turned out to be very reasonable too, considering the amount we ate. Finally, the night came to an end, and Mori and Midori made their way home by train, and ume-chan soon went his own way; that left the rest of us walking home. It was a great night, and at least I feel semi-prepared for tomorrow’s sakubun; I’ll write it all out a few more times in the morning…
Well, today was quite a productive day spent at home. Although it was rainy in the morning, the rest of the day turned out to be quite sunny, so I managed to get a load of washing on… Getting up at about 9:30, I got ready for the day, and after breakfast and shower, Hugo was up too. I spent most of the morning studying for my lesson test on Wednesday. I had lunch at 1, and then finally decided to get the washing on, which lead to me taking all the clothes out of my cupboard and sorting them out. Now I have two boxes packed for home, each with five long sleeved t-shirts in them, and a bunch of books and other miscellany. So that was good. I spent the rest of the afternoon studying, and researching for my Japanese presentation on the Great Barrier Reef; that was fun.
It was about 7 when I went up for dinner, and I sat with Brett, Sam and Liz while watching TV. I ended up staying up there until about 9:30, enjoying Milo and watching a really interesting quiz show that I wish I could have understood more of. Getting back to my room at about 9:30, I talked with Alex for a while as I uploaded photos to dA; I’m so excited about our trip. After a shower, I got back into Reborn; I haven’t read it for ages. I managed to get the first volume finished (finally), and now I’m about 10 pages into the 2nd; it’s getting really good. At the same time, I tried to transfer a video for my camera to the computer; notice I said tried. Again, the program decided to be “unresponsive” and it lost everything just as it was finalising the file; so frustrating. So, I’m going to try again tomorrow I guess; I have no more patience now, and it’s about time I get some sleep…
Professor Hester told us that in Japan, a recent expression has come about, which goes along the lines of, “In spring, there are never three days of sun in a row”. I scoffed at this in class, but true enough, after two beautiful, sunny days, the weather has indeed turned sour; it was windy, cloudy and cold. At least, it didn’t rain… I got up a bit before 9, and put some washing on, before getting ready for uni; of course I choose the day when it’s cloudy. After putting it out, I studied my vocab for today’s quiz, and then made my way to class. I ended up being a little late, I don’t know how that happened, but quickly sat down and got the quiz done in no time; studying the vocab right before class seems to work well for me. After class, I went down and found Rachael, so I gave her the box of the biscuits I baked, and wished her a happy birthday. After that, I decided to go home to have lunch now, since I was so hungry; also I would be doing koto practice after classes. So, I rode back, had lunch, and then basically had to turn around again; I don’t mind at all with my bike. In Reading and Writing, we finished off the dialogue (which proved to be exceptionally challenging, even for the teacher), and then had to answer a whole bunch of questions about it. After that, I went straight upstairs and stalked the Monsters class, before going to Gender and Sexuality.
In today’s class we looked at motherhood and fatherhood in Japan. Of particular interest, is the phenomenon of 熟年離婚 (jukunen rikon – “retirement divorce”), in Japan. Basically, many women in Japan don’t want to have to look after their husbands after they’ve retired. The women have already devoted much of their life playing an active role in raising their children, the man, “supporting” his family by being the breadwinner, away from home. So really, it’s not until they’ve actually retired, that men spend a lot of time at home. So, understandably, many women can’t cope with the re-entry of the husband into the household. This realisation made me feel extremely sad for the way that Japanese society works. Of course there are many happy, lasting marriages, and more men are trying to play a more active role in childrearing, but still. I can’t imagine how intense living the “model” Japanese life must be, especially when the constraints of society and work are so compelling. The professor showed us the first episode of a drama called jukunen rikon that provided models for exactly what I’ve just described; it was very moving. I’d really like to see the rest of the series actually.
After class, I met up with Maarika and we went to the room we would be performing in tomorrow (2207), to practice. Getting there, we found Mori Sempai and Midori Sempai moving desks, and promptly helped them out. Kirianna and Natalie were also there, furiously practicing hanagoromo; they were doing really, really well considering the amount of time they’ve had. We beautified the board, and munch on sweet potato snacks, and got some serious practice in too. The tea club joined us, and began to set up their stuff; they’d be serving tea and snacks to visitors while we played. Maarika and I will be playing from 11-12 tomorrow, for what is basically a festival for the incoming students to Kansai Gaidai; I can’t wait. I ended up leaving at around 5:30. Kirianna, Mori and Midori had already gone their own ways, but Natalie and Maarika decided to stay and practice a while longer. I rode home with Peter, and he further confirmed the instability of spring weather in Japan, recalling a conversation he had with one of his Japanese friends; they said it wouldn’t stay constantly warm until late May!
Getting back, I got started on my homework, and soon enough it was time for the seminar house meeting. This was my second last meeting, and I remember it from last semester. We went over checking out procedures and all that again, but this time it was different because I’d have to actually do it! Actually, technically everyone has to checkout since the seminar houses are closed during the summer holidays; they have to find alternative housing. That’s why I’m so glad I came last semester; I made the right decision. Natchan also let us know of an upcoming event that would see the seminar houses unite in friendly competition; sports festival. It’s next Saturday (the 17th), and there will be a number of events. I really wanted to participate, so I signed up after the meeting; it’s going to be so much fun. I was then dragged upstairs to Ash and Katie’s room, to sign a card for Rachael’s birthday, and look at Ash’s “shinies” i.e. her purchases. All of us then went down to the kitchen, and presented Rachael with gifts and the card and proceeded to sing happy birthday to her; she had already got it from her Japanese class today, so was quite embarrassed by this point. After that, I got to cooking yakisoba, which turned out great; the ingredients were all so fresh. I gave out the last of my Milo biscuits, and everyone appreciated them, but not as much as I did; I must have eaten about 15. I stayed up in the kitchen till about 9, and then came back down here, and worked on my Reading and Writing homework some more. Well, better get some sleep now…
Well, spring breaks over now, and once again, it’s time to get back into the routine that is university. Today’s weather was far for routine however. It went from sunny, to rain, to sunny, to sheet, to cloudy, to snow, back to sunny, rainy, and finally cloudy. The only thing that remained regular was the cold; I want warm weather already!!! Anyway, today was pretty lax; didn’t exactly get dropped into the deep end… going to uni this morning, I realised I hadn’t ridden my bike for over a week; I missed it. I got to Speaking just in time, and after Saigo sensei explained what our next presentation would entail, we basically spent the rest of the lesson talking about spring break. And, we also got our mid-term exams back; I was happy enough with my grade. In the hour break, I got productive writing out postcards, after buying a new pen from the convenience store. I sat with Sarah, Katie, and Rachel in the lounge, and only ended up getting two finished, since one was in Japanese; I realised that I could fit a lot more in when I wrote in Japanese.
In Reading and Writing, We also talked about our spring breaks, and then did a bit of kanji revision, before finally getting our results back from mid-terms; also pretty happy with my grades. To end the lesson, we watched La Maison en Petits Cubes, or つみきのいえ (Tsumiki no ie – “the house of small cubes). It’s a Japanese animated short film that won an academy award in 2008; I remember reading about it in Japanese back at USC. It was cool to finally be able to see it, and it was a very moving, beautiful short; only went for 12 minutes. After class, I went back down the lounge and sat with Sarah, finishing my postcards. That done, I rode to the post office and sent them on their way, and then went grocery shopping; oh, and did I mention it was also very windy today. Getting back home, I unpacked my groceries and then had lunch. Last week Rachel let me try some of the fried squid (kind of like calamari) she had bought from Fresco, so when I saw it today, I decided to get some; had it on rice for lunch.
After that, I put some washing on, and then read some more of Reborn. Half an hour later, I put the washing out, and then went to the gym. I felt good getting back into it, and I spent a good hour there. Getting back, I was able to get in contact with dad over skype, except his microphone wasn’t working, so I could only see him and try to read his lips; not really, he just typed. So, hopefully I’ll be talking with mum tomorrow, to find out what happened on Sunday. After that, I did my reading for Relgion, and then had a nap, getting up when Hugo returned at about 6:20. I uploaded some more photos to facebook, and then went up to make dinner. I used the rest of the fried squid in the yakisoba, and it turned out really well; I also had to use the rest of the lettuce, since it was getting old. At 8, a bunch of us went down to the lounge to watch “The Prince of Egypt” to celebrate Passover, since Rebecca, Brett, and Simon are Jewish; although Simon didn’t end up watching the movie. Yuji and Natchan were also among the viewers, and I think it would have been pretty interesting and informative for them. It was so funny – Natchan fell off her chair, and Yuji promptly piped up with “Moses, save me”; best call ever!!! Since I hadn’t seen the movie in ages, I really enjoyed; the music and songs are so beautiful. Well, guess it’s time for bed now; more uni in the morning…
