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 169 - 15th of February

天気：雨天
Well today was certainly much more mundane than yesterday. And, it was raining; though that wasn’t particularly unpleasant… I got ready for uni, and fixed up a few things for my speech, before picking up an umbrella with a Seminar House 2 sticker on it (since I haven’t bought a new one yet), before making my way out into the rain. I made it to class just after the bell rang, and was shortly asked to present; that’s when I hit a snag. I asked to use the computer, and sensei gave me a perplexed look, not understanding my intentions. I told him I wanted to use the projector, because I had a power point presentation, and then he explained that it wasn’t necessary. I insisted on it, but he said he wanted us to just speak, with nothing else. He then asked if I’d like to do it tomorrow instead and, although downtrodden I was ready to present today, so I did it. I managed to get through it okay, tweaking it in some places where I would have otherwise had visual aid. I think the class was interested enough, though I’m sure they would have appreciated it more with the photos; oh well I was happy enough with it. I was asked a few questions, and people were surprised when I told them that we had kangaroos living on campus (always a great selling point), so that was good.

I got through the rest of the class, and then went down to the lounge to find Simon. I talked with him, and got my homework done before going to my Reading and Writing class; that was rather uneventful. Straight after class, I made my way back home, the rain still coming down heavily; I was excited about lunch. Almost at the dorms, I noticed an Austria key chain (from Hetalia), neglected on the side of the road. I walked past it, but then couldn't help myself from going back to retrieve it. i put him on the shelf with the others, then went straight to the kitchen. My avocado had finally ripened, and I had some English muffins to put it on; it was so good! I got talking with a guy from Adelaide named Adam. I knew straight away he was Australian by the way he was dressed; no self respecting American would be caught dead in skinny jeans, xD. On TV, was a Black and White Audrey Hepburn Movie, called Sabrina; I found out the title later. I ended up watching all of it; it was quite good actually. Then I went back downstairs and napped. At around 5:30, for no apparent reason (I think I was going up to the kitchen), I went out of my room and had to do a double take when I saw who was on TV; Jacinthe!!!

Jacinthe was on a Japanese game show; along with 4 other international students from Kansai Gaidai. Her roommate Julie (who is coincidentally a friend of Amber), was in the lounge watching it, and I made my way in, beckoning Simon and Tomo. All I kept thinking, and saying, was wow she looks good on TV, and If that was me I’d be pooing myself; for want of a better phrase. All the students did really well (most of them I knew), and they all looked so calm and cool. The basic premise of the show was celebrities answering questions concerning Vancouver and the Olympics, with the students holding up possible answers and asserting why their answer was correct. They were on for about 30 minutes, and then the news came on; gosh it was just so surreal. We all kept on expecting Jacinthe to come around the corner, although that would’ve been impossible since it was broadcast live. I do remember Jacinthe mentioning this to me last week, but I had forgotten, so I was really glad that I did get to see it; so lucky. We watched the TV for a little while longer, and then Tomo and Simon went out to get some sushi.

I on the other hand went up to the kitchen to have dinner; leftovers. I sat with Julie, watching TV (again), and we were soon joined by Katie and Rachel, Jeremy, and later Ash.. Rachel was acting really weird (well not that weird for me), and we wondered what had brought this on; sleep deprivation? Jacinthe returned, and we all congratulated her with applause and kind words. She sat down with us, and told us all about the lead up, saying she was more nervous in the practice run. Simon came in and asked her how she’d gotten the opportunity, and she told us her Japanese teacher had requested people from his classes, chiefly Canadians; there was also an Australian and an American. Simon also let me know he was buying a new bike, and asked if I wanted his old one; for free, why not. I offered up the last of my Milo biscuits (after heating them up), and vowed to make them again; they were really good With Rachel continuing to act strange, Katie was in hysterics, and when we all retired for the night, she was still laughing in the hallway, and up the elevator, escorted by Ash. As for me, I spent the rest of the night trying desperately to get my blog updated. Jacinthe came in and gave me a Canada pin, which I preceded to put on my bag, and then got chatting with Hugo for a while. He wasn’t having much fun at all with all his Japanese homework, and came to me for help a few times; I was more than happy to. I got the rest of my homework done, and then it was time for bed…