Day 233 - 20th of April

11:24pm　セミナーハウス

天気：雨天

Well, although the weather has been crappy, at least it’s warming up. The sakura are almost done, the blossoms are being exchanged for fresh, green foliage; it’s come to an end so fast. Now, a plethora of other flowers have started to make their appearance; the university especially is exploding with colour from a number of azalea varieties… In Speaking this morning, Saigo Sensei showed us a really funny website about the correct and incorrect ways of looking after babies; it was great. Then, we listened to a song by Hilcrhyme called 春夏秋冬 (Shunkashuutoo – lit. “Spring Summer Autumn Winter”). Soon after it started playing, I recognised it, having heard it many times in shops; it’s a nice song though very fast Japanese. After all the fun, we covered just one grammar point, now in the final chapter of doumo; last vocab quiz tomorrow. After that, I went to lunch with Kim, Nathan, Jo, and Sarah in the 3^rd cafeteria, and we sat upstairs; I’d never been up there before and it was actually quite nice. Eventually we all got back to the CIE for our next classes; it was still raining heavily. Getting to the lounge, I spotted Rachel and Katie; they were sitting with four Japanese girls. This was the perfect opportunity for me to ask my questions about the Great Barrier Reef; two of the girls had even been to Australia. We talked together until class, and many good ideas were generated.

In religion, we talked some more about karma, merit, the two main types of Buddhism (Mahayana, and Hinayana Buddhism), and a concept called Upaya; sounds like a tasty fruit to me. Upaya (or Hoben, in Japanese) is actually a method or means, which might not make sense at the time, but helps to “push” people closer to Nirvana. Bodhisattvas (which are all around us according to Mahayana Buddhism) are the usual performers of Upaya. Bodhisattvas are beings who have gotten to Nirvana, but have decided to stick around to help out others. They are of a lower rank of Buddha, but still possess special abilities, like changing their form, and are basically here to help humans; the most prominent bodhisattvas in Japan are Kannon and Jizo. It really is quite fascinating how religions justify how everything works. Anyway, after that, I went down to the lounge with Julie, and spent the next couple of hours trying to do my Reading and Writing homework; they were questions that I would have trouble answering in English, let alone Japanese. Eventually, it came time to get ready for koto club, so I went to the student affairs office to get the key, then had a quick snack, before waiting for the others to arrive in the club room.

And I had to wait about 15 minutes until someone showed up; Maarika. We took the cleaning stuff down to the room, and waited for the others. Unfortunately, the others never showed up, so I decided we should just do the vacuuming, and that would be good enough. Then we got three koto set up (two for us, and one for the sensei), and then practiced together for a while. Sensei soon arrived, and we had a half an hour session with her; I am so glad she gave us breaks otherwise my feet would have died. We got through the first couple of pages of Miyabi (her playing the second koto, and us the first), which was very fulfilling; we have one last performance in two weeks, so we’re well on our way. At about 6:30, Mori Sempai arrived, and she got a one on one lesson for the next 30 minutes. Then they had a very long and deep conversation together about the struggle of life. It was interesting to listen to though, and I could pick up a few things; sensei speaks very fast. After she left, Midori sensei arrived, and we spent the last of the time talking, the three helping me with ideas for my Great Barrier Reef speech; we ended up getting onto politics, which is always fun. After packing up, we made our way home, and I went straight up for some dinner; yay for leftovers. I stayed in the kitchen for a little while, and then finally wrenched myself away to spend the rest of the night writing up my findings from my interviews today; glad it’s done…

Day 110 - 18th of December

11:12pm　セミナーハウス
天気：寒い
I didn’t end up getting back till 4:30 in the morning. Karaoke was so much fun. Although it was expensive, we got free refills. I was switching rooms throughout the night, and the Japanese girls were really impressed by my singing skills, xD. I ordered a caramel parfait while I was there. It was so good, with tiramisu cake, and chocolate biscuit, and cream and nuts, and strangely, frosty flakes; the same ones I eat for breakfast. I added a great texture though; it’s certainly given me a good idea of what to put in my ice cream when I get back. We had a bit of a scare at about 3. The TV suddenly shut off, and a voice came over the speaker; a fire warning! The Japanese girls understood straight away, freaked and got us to quickly move out of the room. We were in the corridor for less than a minute before they came over the speakers again saying everything was fine; what a relief. So the TV came back on, and we continued. The last song I sang was with Midori sempai. I had never heard the song before, but I screamed out the lyrics (musically of course) nevertheless; it was great.

Some of the group decided to continue on, but Midori, Saki, Justin, Niky, Mark, Sean and I left. Giving Chiharu the money, and saying our goodbyes, we took the elevator down, and out into the cold. From there we all split up; Niky took a taxi home, Midori went with her boyfriend, Sean made his way back to Kuzuha on foot (so far!!!), and Justin, Mark, and I walked back to the seminar houses. I was really appreciative of that, because they both had bikes and could have just ridden home. We talked about differences between Australia and America, ethical issues, and language; a very riveting conversation. I made a comment about wishing I had a bike, and they both offered theirs to me for free. I was so taken aback, but extremely happy, and of course accepted. I’ll be taking both; one for me, and the other to give to someone new who wants one next semester. I’ll be picking them up tomorrow.

I didn’t end up getting out of bed until 11; I still had cereal for breakfast though. Diego had already left for Kyoto with Jessica. Carly and I on the other hand, went to Kansai Gaidai to pick up my results from CEL. I was so surprised; I got 98 out of 100 for the quiz and a 92 for my report. I also got three letters from Nanny and Poppy, which was a little odd. I’m not going to open then till Christmas though. We decided to have another look at the exhibition and take some pictures this time. After that, we went into Hirakata, to cancel Carly’s account, get me some tooth paste. Getting back, we had lunch (at 4), and said our goodbyes to Amber; she left with her boyfriend. I got so much leftover food from her, and several other people. Boxes have been placed in the kitchen where people can put there unfinished containers. This has created a free for all for us who are staying over winter; my poor cupboard is already bulging. There are also boxes for clothes, books, shoes, toiletries, hangers etc. downstairs, which I will also raid at some point.

Carly and I were going to meet Jessica and Diego in Arashiyama, but we left it too late; it was already dark and freezing. And, Diego and Jessica were already leaving. We did make a quick trip to Sanko though. Since we had such a late lunch we didn’t end up eating until 9; I had yakisoba. Feels so good to have everything over and done with. Well, have to get the room inspection done on Tuesday; gotta make sure everything’s in order. I think I’m going to have a big clean up tomorrow. So many people have left already; the futon are piling up outside the elevator. Ash and I were talking about how fun it will be to share our knowledge with the people coming aboard next semester; I can’t wait. She and Katie have moved in together now since Amber’s gone; I hope they don’t get sick of each other. Anyway, it’s late and I need sleep…