Day 248 - 5th of May

9:12pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Finally got my presentation finished!!! It feels like the last three days have all merged together, and I’ve been working on my presentation continuously. Tomorrow, classes resume and the final, nauseating drop on the rollercoaster ride that has been my time in Japan is upon me; I don’t know if I’m ready to take the plunge. I have just over 20 days left here, and it feels like nothing; all of a sudden, I’ve got too much to do. I’ve written everything I have to do down (as far as assignments and exams are concerned), and I think I can get it all done satisfactorily. As for all the other stuff well, I’ll just have to squeeze it in where ever I can. Tomorrow, I am definitely going to get my two packed boxes sent off, and get one more, larger box to stuff things in. Anyway, that’s tomorrow. Today it was kid’s day, not that I got to enjoy it since I was inside all day… I got up at 9, and after breakfast and shower, I worked on my presentation for two hours, then played KH, then worked on it some more. I had lunch a bit after 2, and then worked on my presentation until 6:30, finally getting the script finished; great day right.

I printed it off, and found Yuji in the kitchen, and he was generous enough to check it over for me; that was such a big help. He told me my way of writing was very easy to follow, and he only fixed or changed a few things; I was very happy with myself. I then had dinner, and after dishing out the pasta bake from last night, I put the rest in the freezer; hopefully it’ll be okay. I sat and talked with Katie and Sarah for a little while (the end was on all of our minds), and then came back down here to fix up the script and power point presentation. Happy with all that, I read it over a few times, and timed it. Well, it turns out that it’s about 9 minutes long, and it’s only supposed to be 5; whoops. In a way it gives me a lot of stake just in case I forget some sentences, which I’m sure I will. The only memo we’re allowed to have has to be written on the designated piece of yellow paper that has 10 lines; one sentence per line. The problem is, ever though I’ve written really small, most of my sentences don’t fit on line. But, it is a memo after all, so I guess that’s good enough. I’ll have a few hours in the morning to memorise it, and then I’ll be performing at 12. Even if it doesn’t go that well, I’ll be glad to get it out of the way tomorrow; means I can move onto the next task. Well, I’m going to have and early night tonight. Hugo’s returning in the morning…

Day 143 - 20th of January

9:55pm　セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
Well, I’m still connected to the internet. Supposedly, our laptops are supposed to be disconnected from the network today; that was the “gentle reminder” from CIE, lol. This is in preparation for next semester, and I also have to go in next week (orientation) to re-register my laptop; such a pain. Oh well, has to be done. So, today… well, we ended up getting home at about 4:30 in the morning; it was epic! Surprisingly, though not so surprisingly, Ryan wasn’t back yet. So I showered, and then hit the futon. I managed to get up at 11. I washed my hair, put on a load of washing, and then went up to the kitchen and made pancakes. I was so happy; they all turned out perfect. The trick is really, really low heat; I actually turned off the gas completely a couple of times so it wouldn’t get too hot. I happily munched away at them, saving some for tomorrows breakfast.

I got back down, and took the washing out, and then a bit later, I had a nice long chat with family, during which I opened up the box of Tambyln’s shoes, to check them out; so cool!!! Got Devo's address, so I should get them mailed off by the end of the week. At about 4:30, I had a snack, and then started clearing out my kitchen box. Since we won’t have a kitchen key for orientation week, we have to move all our food to our rooms. The fridge, but we have to make sure we put everything in there in a bag too, otherwise it’ll be chucked out. We also get our gate key taken away, so curfew of 10; how bothersome. Well, I got all the food moved, so I’m happy about that; I’ll be cleaning the fridge tomorrow. I watched the rest of Hetalia; as much as I could watch. There are 52 episodes, but the last two haven’t popped up on the internet yet, so I wait in eagerness.

I went up to make dinner at about 8. I actually used one of the Continental packets; carbonara pasta and sauce. I fried strips of chicken, carrots, and green capsicum (kindly donated by Jeremy), and mixed that in with the pasta, and it turned out great. I was a little afraid the sauce wasn’t going to thicken, but it turned out fine; successful meal. I helped clean the kitchen, and then enjoyed my dessert of mandarin, red bean bun, and milk. Ryan’s still not back, and I’m a little concerned; I just hope he shows up for the inspection. Well, tomorrow I will be going to the Toji flea market (the big one), with Ash and Katie at about 10. Then later on I’ll be cleaning; be so happy when I get back into the semester and regularity. I think I’ll play my DS for a while now…

Day 109 - 17th of December

天気：寒い
Today went from slow to exciting. Since I had my History exam, I spent the morning studying. I also got some of my laundry done; finally. I had to do some hand washing and the freezing water was not a pleasant experience at all. After lunch, I had a shower just to warm myself up. Oh, and I found out that we have clothes lines on the second floor. I can’t believe I never realised this till now but, I was looking out the window on the 4th floor and I saw them. Not that I’m going to use them, but still; really cool. Got my History exam done; I feel okay about it but it wasn’t great. Essay writing just isn’t my thing. Got out at about 4, and that ended all my exams, and university for this semester; wow! I went over to the post office to send off the last of my Christmas cards. I met Jo there, and we walked back into the uni. At first I thought I was just seeing things, but then I realised it was actually snowing; not much, but it was! It did so for a couple of minutes; small flakes. The clouds were so far away, but the wind was indeed very strong. And the cold; it feels like Hokkaido cold now.

I said goodbye to Jo and met Christina. She had to take her books back to the library, which she thought was going to be a problem since her card was now void; they’d punched a hole in the magnetic strip. It turned out fine though. Then we went to get her 10,000円 deposit back at the Shombu office. Finally I took a picture with her and we said our farewells; another one gone. I got back to the dorm, got my laundry in and hung it up. Carly joined me shortly after, and helped me pick out clothes for tonight. I decided to wear a shirt and vest, so I put my huge Hokkaido jacket over the top. We walked to university, to meet the group at the front gate. It snowed again for a bit as we were approaching. Since we arrived a little early, we decided to check out the ceramics and sumi-e exhibition on the second floor of the CIE building. It showcased the students’ works in these courses; there were some amazing items.

We went out to the front gate, and stood out in the cold waiting for the remainder of the group to arrive. Mark was last, coming on his bike, and he let us know that Justin would be coming shortly, and would meet us at the restaurant. After a short walk, we made it to “Ages Café”. Inside was so nice and warm, and the décor was so cool. It was like stepping into someone’s house. There were lounges and dining tables, and parts sectioned off. The walls were warm bright colours, or had colourful paintings or photos on them; it had a great feel., We took up the back corner of the room. At first we thought they were serving us gin, but it was just water in a gin bottle; clever. The menu had been pre ordered, and while the service was a bit slow, the food was delicious. We started off with a salad, and moved through pizza (two types), garlic bread, potato wedges (sooooo good), two types of pasta, ravioli and sausage, and rice; such a great blend of food and flavours. There were three large plates of each course, so we shared everything. Since we ate at a gradual pace, I felt very content by the end of it; not bloated or sick at all, which could have happened. This also gave us plenty of time for pictures, present giving, and conversation.

Midori sempai joined us near the end, and got to enjoy the last of the food. We must have been there for over two hours. Finally, after people had had their tea or coffee (I stuck with water), we left for karaoke. Some people had to leave, so there ended up being 11 of us in Karaoke (we were joined by a Japanese guy from the Spanish club, whose name escapes me). The place was pretty expensive, so Midori and Saki sempai went to check out if Ring (the other karaoke place in the station) had any rooms available. It was completely booked out, with foreign students, as we had feared; today would have been the last day of exams for many. So, we waited around for free time to start at 11:30, in the mean time booking two rooms. Carly had to leave, because she had a paper due the next morning; silly girl. While we were waiting, I spotted Eddy and Sonia emerging from one of the rooms, looking very alive. They left with a big group of international students. I was ready for a long, hard karaoke session…