Day 220 - 7th of April

10:51pm　セミナーハウス

天気：曇り

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 17^th), 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…

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 141 - 18th of January

10:08pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
Well today took an interesting, though not completely unfavourable, turn… I got up at 9:15, had breakfast and got ready to go out. At 10, I was ready and waiting, and after about 10 minutes, Ash showed up, followed by Katie. We waited another 10 minutes, and there still was no sign of Peter, so I went up and knocked on his door; he was still in bed. He hadn’t gotten much sleep at all, so said he’d catch up with us later; okay, all good. So, we walked to uni, so Ash and Katie could get money out, since they literally had none. The JASSO scholarship stipend was supposed to come today, but unfortunately when they checked their accounts, it was not there. We went over to the CIE, and Katie picked up a package. Since they had no money the trip was cancelled, so I bid them farewell, and went to get some groceries at Kirindo and Fresco. This was a good thing; I was planning on doing the grocery shopping after koto, but it was much nicer to get it out of the way during the warmer hours of the day.

I ended up catching up with Katie and Ash, almost home. They told me that the money wouldn’t be coming in till later this month; it had been delayed for some reason. Because of this, they both had to get out loans; I’m so glad I have enough money left over! So, this meant that I could have a nice lazy afternoon before koto practice. I made rice, and then had lunch. After that I played my DS for a while, and then went and watched the rest of Rush Hour with Alex. By the end of the movie it was time to go. I got all rugged up, and went on my way. Practice was good today. I’m slowly getting the second koto part of sandan, but it’s not easy. I really want to get it good come performance time, which isn’t too far off now. Marika’s a little worried how she’ll go, but I think she’ll be fine. We had our meeting when Chiharu arrived at about 6:30, and then got in a bit more practice for the last half an hour.

Getting back, I went up and heated up lasts night dinner with rice. Jacinthe told me she’d gotten the present for Aki that I helped pay for, so we went and presented it to her; TimTams!!! Yuji dropped a big hint that he wanted some too, but we joked he wasn’t the one that was leaving, so didn’t get any. I’ve found a few places that sell them, so I’ll have to go pick up some for myself. Right now though, I’m really enjoying the red bean buns I’ve got; had two for dessert, with milk and a mandarin. Then got back down here, showered, and got all comfy bed. I don’t think I’ll be doing anything tomorrow until koto practice. Then going to karaoke with Katie and Ash; looking forward to that! Oh yeah, Ryan came back today, just as we were leaving this morning. Hopefully he’ll be sticking around for the inspection on Friday…

Day 94 - 2nd of December

11:17pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
Just had a shower, washed my hair (it was starting to get really grotty; I hadn't washed since Saturday), and shaved, and cut my toenails. All clean and refreshed now; to much info? I felt so tired today. Hokkaido really did wipe me out. But I guess it's not just that; the stresses of exams and the end of semester are coming down hard. We had our first round of skits today; they were all so funny. After my Reading and Writing class, and lunch, Rachael and I practiced out skit for a couple of hours. We recorded it a few times, and had a good laugh at all the stuff ups. We're getting there though, and I feel ready for tomorrow. It'll be good to get it done. So afterwards, got home and had a nap. And of course, felt like crap when I woke up, just in time for the seminar house meeting at 6.

I was a little worried that Diego wasn't going to make it, but he got here just in time. The major focus of the meeting was people checking out and getting to the airport on time. I'm really glad I don't have to worry about any of that this time around. After the meeting, I went up to the kitchen and everyone was cooking. I waited to cook, and talked with Katie about my trip and other stuff. I had food coming at me from all directions; Carly's pancakes, Katie's chocolate milk, Diego's omelette (covered with the mozzarella cheese I bought him), and Jo's white chocolate mint biscuits. I almost didn't feel like any dinner afterwards. But, I made some anyway, and enjoyed it; yakisoba with pork. It was about 8:30 at that point. Spent the rest of the night practicing skit and doing homework. Now... sleep.

Day 81 - 19th of November

11:54pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! Today was another very long, but productive day. Since it is almost at a close, I will be writing this into tomorrow, but anyway... I received a big shock this morning. Just after I went to bed, there came a knock on the door. Diego got up and opened it, and there was Aki (the other of our resident assistants) beckoning me to come out. Quickly getting my clothes on, I went out to the lounge, and was pleasantly surprised when everyone began singing happy birthday; there was even a cake. It is Yuji's birthday today also (he's 20). Both our names appeared on the cake, and we blew it out, and cut it together; it was highly amusing. Aki, and the other girls made the cake, and it tasted really good. Yuji and I both thanked every one. I felt so elated afterwards that it was hard for me to get back to sleep, but I did eventually.

Woke up to the morning at about 8 and made scrambled eggs for breakfast; since I didn't have any milk for cereal. I talked to my parents and grandparents and opened their wonderful cards. Got my history essay printed out, then went to uni. There are stalls and decorations going up everywhere in preparation for the festival. Throughout the day I received birthday wishes, and all my classes went by smoothly and enjoyably. After classes, I had to wait around for the singing booth meeting at 5 30. We all got to practice our songs one last time, and got told the schedule for Sat and Sun. Since Niky and I are in Koto club also, we're going to miss a few things, but it's fine. At the end of it, I received another surprise. Since I was the last to go practice singing, I came back to the room and the board had been covered with pictures and congratulations; I felt so overwhelmed, receiving a third "Happy Birthday" song. They even presented me with a card that everyone had written in; I feel so blessed to be around such caring people. I went grocery shopping afterwards, and managed to pick up all the ingredients I needed for my cake. Got home and found this beautiful flower arrangement with orange roses made by Carly.

Soon after dinner, Carly and I made the cake. It was a rather laborious affair; we made it from scratch. After 2 hours (including baking, in which we had to turn the dish periodically since the revolving plate in the microwave is broken) we were presented with a slightly lopsided chocolate cake. Nevertheless, it is definitely the best cake I've ever made, and one of the best I've ever tasted. And the awesome part is, there's enough batter to make another after we've finished eating this one; I am seriously happy. We made icing too, but that needed a little bit more time to set, so we just drizzled it over our slices. Wow though, it really is perfect; soft and moist, but not too sticky, and a little crispy on the outside. Anyway, all in all, today was a good day. The only drawback was the fact that I didn't speak to my little bro; I forgot. I feel really bad about it, so I'll have to see him tomorrow. Good bye birthday, hello Mr 19 year old...

Day 74 - 12th of November

10:54pm　セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
And again, it's a rush in the morning. I did wake up early, but when it came to having lunch, I decided that instead of packing it for later, I would eat it just before I left, which meant that I was eating at 10:30, when I should have been leaving. I made it to uni in time though, as I always do; bless long legs and power walking. We've started the final chapter in Genki II. Today we learnt the causitive-passive verb conjugation taberu (to eat) becomes tabesaserareru (forced to eat)!!! Yes, it's crazy and long, but it's not that hard really. We spent most of the class trying to wrap our heads around it. My other classes went smoothly. After classes, I tried to book my return flight with the travel agency on campus. While waiting in line, I spoke with some follow Aussies. That was nice, and I found myself sounding more Australian just being around them. When I did finally get to talk with the travel agent I was out of luck. It seems that, even though the ticket prices are out online, they won't be issued to the travel agency until March, so if I want tickets at this early stage, I have to book online; bummer. I'm most likely going to do that tomorrow with Dad.

So a little disgruntled, I had some McDonalds (so healthy); it was really good though. At 5, with nothing else to do, I went to the room of our meeting. Many of the booth members were already there. I talked a bit with Naomi, and then with Niky. She told me about a photo shoot she would be having next Saturday after INFES with her host sister and grandmother, to mark her host sisters 12th birthday in the New Year - one's 12th birthday is significant to the Japanese as it marks the first full rotation of the Chinese zodiac. What makes it more significant is the fact that the sister and grandmother share the same sign; the tiger. They will be dressed in Kimono. Niky said while it will be an amazing experience, she doesn't feel worthy of it; I would feel the same way. In the meeting we wrote our names down for name tags, made sure our songs were correct, and I found out that I would be singing last on both days!!! This really puts the pressure on. However, I am somewhat relieved by the fact that, because of time constraints, we'd all have to cut our songs. This is great for me; less Japanese lyrics to learn!

The meeting didn't finish till 7, then I was out and about going to every super market along the way; literally. I went to Kirindo, Fresco, the 99円 shop, Top World, and bought something at every one; got some good bargains too. Finally got home at about 8:30. After buying all that food, all I had for dinner was scrambled eggs (I did use one of the tomatoes that I bought in a pack of three for 100円). I bought a knife at Top World cause I lost the original one, came home and found the exact same knife taped to my cupboard; Carly had bought it fo me. So, she's going to give it to her friend. I still have three bananas left, and they're getting old, so I'm going to make banana pancakes tomorrow. We have a blender, so I'll blend them first I think; that'll be fun! Today, I realised just how long we have left till the end of the semester; 5 weeks! I pointed this out to Deigo and made him sad. Aww... I will miss him; it's been a lot of fun. I'm really grateful that my first experience with a room mate has been such a pleasant one. This weekend I'm going to try to knock over this essay, so then I can start to work on my mini project for CEL; I'm a lot more worried about that one.

Day 67 - 5th of November

9:22pm　セミナーハウス　
天気：曇り
Woke up this morning feeling terrible. I got hardly any sleep; the cold developed and I had a mosquito buzzing around my head - at one point it flew in my nose and let me tell you, that was not pleasant. I was seriously considering not going to uni today, but after a nap this morning, I felt a little better and decided to go for it. I made a packed lunch of scrambled eggs on toast, and went on my way. It was a bit warmer with little wind today, which was very nice. Uni was... very long today. But I got through it, sneezing all the way. I returned home at about 4:30 to find Diego and a guy from Dell, fixing his laptop; the hinges had snapped and the keyboard was stuffed. To our surprise, and confusion, a huge box turned up with all the parts this morning - it seemed a little excessive. But it all turned out fine, although now Diego has extra parts that have to be picked up on Monday.

Soon after, Diego had a nap, and I worked on my Japanese presentation; almost done. We had our monthly seminar house meeting and got information about checking out procedures. I found out that even though I'm staying for the winter, I still have to check out and then check back in again. It seems a bit silly to me, but that's the way it is. I should be able to stay in the same room though, which is cool. I had a large plate of yakisoba (noodles) with heaps of vegetables; and garlic and onion of course. I really want to get rid of this cold. Hopefully this is my worst day, and I'll start recovering tomorrow. I'll get my presentation done, and then I can start gathering books from the library on Murasaki Shikibu (for my history biographical essay). I'm gonna get to sleep now. Hopefully I can get a few more hours in than last night...

Day 46 - 15th of October

9:46pm　セミナーハウス
天気：寒い
Another long Thursday... I woke up at 9, made breakfast (scrambled eggs with rice), and lunch (avocado and rice on toast, and carrots sticks). Wore my overalls for the first time today. Over all good impression; hahaha, I made a funny. Yeah I pretty much love them; they're so comfy. Anyway, got to uni and made my way up the 72 stairs (yes I counted them) to Speaking. The student teacher took the class again today. We've moved on to passive sentences. She's doing really well I think, making the classes fun. Then I went to Reading and Writing. Had a kanji and vocab quiz, read from the textbook, and got test results back. Did really well in my composition and average on the test.

Then went to CEL. I'm so excited about the field trip we're going on tomorrow. We're going to Korea town in Osaka to see the 秋祭り (Aki matsuri - autumn festival). It's gonna be amazing; I'm changing my batteries now! After History, I had an hour and half to kill before my meeting with the members of my booth for INFES. I found Diego just outside the class. He was waiting up here for Jessica's class to finish; he's so committed, xD. We ended up chilling out in one of the vacant rooms (apparently he does this every week). I took photos out the window, and Diego showed me a really great view of the campus from the guys bathroom, lol. Carly joined us in the room, and told us about the trip she was taking to 北海道 (Hokkaido - the top island of Japan). My ears immediately perked up and I enquired about it.

I am seriously considering going along!!! We'll be going the 27-29th of November (Friday to Sunday). Her friend got an amazing deal through a travel agent. It's going to end up costing about $350 round trip by plane and accommodation!!! Now we just need to figure out what we want to do when we get there. At this point, about 6-8 of us are going I think. It's going to be epic. I'll get to see snow, and probably freeze to death; so excited. I feel so lucky; through making all these friends I'm having so many great experiences. Anyway, at 5:30 went over to my meeting (it was literally across the hall). The foreign students got partnered up with Japanese students and then we had to choose two songs to sing at the festival - one for the karaoke competition on Saturday, and the other for exhibition on Sunday. These are the same days I'll be performing koto. Lol, I should so go on stage in the Kimono I'll be wearing.

My partner's name is Naomi (yes, it's a Japanese name too). She's really nice. We had a list of songs to choose from for the karaoke competition, and for the second day we could choose a favourite Japanese or English song to sing. The fist song I've forgotten the name of (it was in Kanji) and I didn't write it down; silly me. The second song I'm going to be singing though will be Angela Aki's cover of Kiss from a Rose, a) cause I love Angela Aki and b) cause I've sang Kiss from a Rose heaps!!! So yeah, should be interesting. We're going to meet up next Wednesday, and go to Karaoke in Hirakata to practice. After the meeting I did a little bit of grocery shopping at "Kirindo" (the shop that just opened). Found 6 slices of bread for 88円. I have only once found a decent sized loaf of bread; most of the time bread is packed in lots of 5-6 slices; and it's usually really thick.

Anyway, got home, cooked dinner (spaghetti bolognese), and watched this really funny Japanese game show. Basically it was the contestants' aim to get three outof five random people in the audience to laugh within a minute, in a number of different scenarios. Presumably, they were all comedians amateur or otherwise. This one woman came in the room screaming a got everyone to laugh within 5 seconds. That kind of thing always seems to work cause people don't expect it. So, apart from tomorrow night, I don't think I'll be going anywhere on the weekend, partly because I want to save money, but mostly because mid-term exams start next week and I found out that I have three on the same day; Speaking, CEL, and History on the Thursday!!! Really looking forward to that one, not! Better get ready for bed now, night...

Day 43 - 12th of October

9:27pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
Lazy day today; for the most part. I woke up at 10:30, had pancakes for breakfast; I'm going to get fat eating them I know. Stuffed around on the computer, ate lunch and stuffed around on the computer some more. Even though it's a holiday for us (体育の日 - tai-iku no hi - health and sports day), the Japanese students still had uni, so I assumed that koto club would still be on; I was right. I got there and it ended up being just four of us foreign students; the Japanese girls filtered in as time past. We did a lot of practice, and every so often I'd have to get to stretch my legs. At about 6:30 we had a meeting, about what we'd be doing at INFES. Apparently, we'll be playing there for two of the three days, and we'll also be selling treats. After the festival, we're going to go out for dinner and karaoke after; so excited! So yeah, practiced some more and then went home. Made dinner; stir fry again (enough for two meals). And now I've got some reading and study to do, so I'll finish now...

Day 39 - 7th of Ocotber

10:36pm　セミナーハウス
天気：暴風
A 暴風警報 (boufu keihou - storm warning) has been officially issued for the Osaka area, with typhoon #18 at our door-step. If the warning continues, we may not have to go to university at all tomorrow, depending on how long it lasts. It's raging out there at the moment, but I feel completely safe and unaffected in my room.;it's still really nice a warm in here too. We've been told to stay inside, so I've been basically studying, and doing homework that might not even have to be handed in, but anyway...

Today was damp and cold outside, yet warm a cosy inside; jumper on, jumper off, jumper on... I only have two classes on Wednesdays though so I got to come home at 1, eat lunch, and then have a nap. At six, we had our monthly seminar house 2 meeting. Overall we've been doing well. We've just been told to put a bit more time and effort into keeping things clean. Otousan and Okaasan are happy with us though, xD. As soon as the meeting was over everyone rushed to the kitchen to make dinner. I heated up my left over rice, and ate that, before cooking scrambled eggs. I don't want to miss classes tomorrow, it just means a lot of catching up, or missing out on something completely. If the warning is withdrawn by 7am tomorrow, it should be fine. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen. The full force of it is supposed to by over us at 6am tomorrow. Well, we'll just wait and see what happens.

Day 21 - 19th of September

10:33pm　セミナーハウス
天気：暑い
Diego left Tokyo this morning at about 8:30. He's going to have such I great time! I sent him on his way then readied myself for the day (yay for rhyme). I washed all my clothes (pretty much), including my new ones. Had breakfast, the last of the cereal, and started to prepare for the open campus day tomorrow, where I'll be introducing USC to a bunch of high school students. I got a power point presentation from Liani, that effectively showcases the uni. I've also decided to make another slide show to showcase the area, the Sunshine Coast, using a number of photos I've taken. I want the students to know exactly where we are, so I have to make a lasting impression.

At 12:30, I made my way to Gaidai for the INFES (International Festival) meeting. Student run; gosh, they are so unorganised. Eventually we all got put into the booth we wanted; I chose singing, not really knowing what to expect. The other booths were, World (introduce your country), Dancing, Food, and Fashion Parade (where you show off your countries traditional clothing). Singing seemed the best option for me, since I hadn't brought anything Aussie with me. Anyway, we all got ushered into a lecture room, and introduced to our respective Japanese booth members. We then past the time by answering true or false, to a too easy quiz, while eating junk food; the prize was junk food also.

After that we went outside, able to choose between two activities; basketball, or jump rope. We chose jump rope!!! Oh my gosh, I almost died, lolz. Seriously though, it's very physical, especially when I decided it would be a good idea to do tuck jumps like we do in Karate. Well, I didn't really decide that, it just kinda worked out that way; Karate training really paid off. We tried adamantly to get everyone jumping at once; there were about 7 of us. We managed to achieve that a couple of times. Lol, some of the girls were in high heels, and they still managed to do it. Well, a few of them did take the shoes off. After that, we were absolutely stuffed. One of the guys in our group inquired as to what we'd actually be doing at the festival. I had assumed that we'd all be singing a Japanese song together. I was wrong. Turns out that each of us has to choose a Japanese song to sing; solo. But get this, the Japanese students are just there to help; it's just us international students that will be singing.

So yeah, now I have to think of a Japanese song to sing. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. Mostly though, this is going to be a lot of fun, and I'm not going to worry about it right now. The festival's not until 21st of November (I think). Anyway, I walked back home with Bianca, who told me all about her wild night last night, clubbing with a bunch of other people from the seminar houses. Unfortunately, now that she's spent the money on that, she has no money left to do anything else this weekend; it's a shame.

It's a bit weird being here alone now. Nice change though, I suppose. I managed to get my PC@LL homework done. Basically I had to dictate sentences out of the textbook. Sensei presumably marks us on our speaking ability and pronunciation; I did okay I guess. Sometimes I left a bit too much of a pause, but I wasn't about to go and record the whole thing again. I'm glad that's out of the way; one less thing to worry about when I come back on Wednesday. Man, I've been so hungry. After my dinner of noddles in broth, and salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and carrot at 6:30, I was still hungry later on. I ended up eating two mochi and three slices of toast with blueberry jam. It's okay though, 'cause I kinda have to finish off the bread before I leave, otherwise it'll just end up being moldy when I get back. Got just enough food for tomorrow and Monday lunch, so I'm totally fine.

Day 8 - 6th of September

3:55pm　　セミナーハウス
天気：　蒸し暑い
It's been a pretty lazy day today. We are now officially checked in to our rooms. New set of keys; for the side gate (YAY for no curfew), our room, and our kitchen cupboard. We also got new bed linen; which is changed every ten days. At the meeting at 10, we were told just why we have to pack away our futon every morning; if we don't do it then we'll find at the end of semester, the tatami beneath it will have had turned green with mold. We also got told that we'd be assigned kitchen duties. The sorting of rubbish was again explained to us, and it's starting to sink in.

4:48pm　セミナーハウス
Deigo is just folding his shirts after ironing them. Lol, earlier today he spilt the water out of the iron onto the tatami floor. He's been having a bit of bad luck today, joking that it's because he drank from all three streams of the otowa no taki; this supposedly brings misfortune. I bought my weeks worth of shopping today. Not so bad for about $35. This doesn't cover my lunch though. But still, I'm happy. Gotta save as much money as I can on food and transport so I have more money for the fun stuff.

First day of classes tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be able to start getting into a routine. Of course, I'll still have to go out and have fun every now and then. So not much to say today, it's been a lazy one. Father's day in Australia today. Got to talk with my family over Skype after failing to get the video to work on MSN messenger. Oh well, it's all good now. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Day 4 - 2nd of September

10:53 pm　セミナーハウス
天気：蒸し暑い
Wow, where do I begin. Today was really long, but lots of fun. It started off with a meeting in Multimedia hall. That was pretty straightforward. Diego, Georg and I decided to try find the City Office to complete our alien registration. After getting directions and a map from the CIE, we decided to go on foot. This wasn't such a good idea. It was very humid and we actually ended up getting lost. We misjudged the distance and took a wrong turn; ended up in a suburban area. I asked an old lady for directions but unfortunately I couldn't understand her Japanese. She was so kind though. She actually went back into her house to get someone who could speak English, and then we were on our way. Never got to thank her. We got to the railway line, and decided that we weren't going to make it back in time for the meeting at 1:20 if we tried to go to City Hall. This was Georg and Diego's second attempt to get there , so they were a little frustrated.

We ended up going to McDonalds for lunch (whoops had it again). I had a teriyaki burger, and white grape juice; it was really nice. In the corner of the shop they had wireless internet for the Nintendo DS. Also, the counter was accessible from both the street and a clothes shop on the inside of the depart store which I though was really cool. So anyway, we ended up walking all the way back to the Uni, and we actually made it in time for the session; I think it was because we power walked. This session introduced faculty members, which was good, and then the next one was seminar house info. Oh my gosh, recycling in Japan is crazy. In this area, there are 5 different categories for recycling (PET plastic, plastic, glass, burnable and raw garbage, and cans). It can get very complex sorting the rubbish. And, you have to clean it too. As I was to learn later, Siemu researched trash sorting and found that one area had 46 categories!!!! He also told me that Nagoya (his home town) has 7 categories. I think, you know, 5 or 6 categories isn't so bad. It's a good system.

So yeah I met with Seimu after taking lots of photos of the beautiful garden and pond on campus. We were sitting in the CIE lounge when we saw a whole lotta people getting white sheets of paper from their mail box. It turned out to be the student's homestay information. Christiana came in with her friend Christa. She got a family of 6, with a mum, dad, grandma, and three kids around her age (20). We decided to ditch the session on health (STD's) as it was not "required". Christina and Christa needed to pick up their new phones, so Seimu and I tagged along. They had to go from the convenience store to 7-11 and back again. Finally, they got everything sorted, although they weren' t too happy with the phones in the end.

We went to sit down in the auditorium, watching some Japanese students do break dancing; they were busting out some pretty cool moves. We talked to some other people and a guy from New York came to sit with us. His name's Andrew. Anyway, we all decided to go out for dinner. Andrew suggested okonomiyaki (savoury pancake). Coolies; I love okonomiyaki. So we all walked back to the street, near the seminar houses, along side the park. We found this little place that served (among other things) okonomiyaki and takoyaki (fried octopus dumplings). There were already a number of international students there, and we luckily scored the last table! I ordered ika (squid), the girls buta (pork), Seimu ebi (shrimp), and Andrew mixed okonomiyaki. And we also got a serving of takoyaki. The okonomiyaki was really nice, but I didn't like the squid so much (tried it though). The takoyaki (which it'd never tried before either) was sooooo yummy. I has a very interesting, mushy texture. And, we got free water with refills. The okonomiyaki was only 500円, and for 8 takoyaki it was 300円. Sooo cheap and sooo yummy!!!

After that we went to the park to chill and said good bye to Seimu for the night. It was so nice to see that little kids could be running around at night and be safe. Awww, there was a little Akita puppy called Maro, with little bee wings attached to a harness. So cute, I want one!!! Oh yeah, there are a lot of stray cats around; it's a big problem in Japan. We stayed out till about 10:00, talking bout lotsa stuff. Andrew, 19, seems really nice. He's broken a bone in his hand and it's in a cast that's falling apart. He has to go to the doctor to check it out. He's made up a ridiculous story about how he broke it. He tells everyone he broke it trying to save orphans from a fire, being attacked be a grizzly bear in the process. After walking back to their seminar house (using our quarter inside voice, as Japanese houses have no insulation and there have been complaints), I went back to mine. Lolz, Ghost Busters was on TV, subbed. While watching the last half an hour, I ate some of this really nice cake that tasted like a pancake with maple syrup on it. So cool!!! Anyway it's late now (past 12) so I'm finished for the night....