Day 256 - 13th of May

11:17pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Well, today I feel much better about everything; for some reason, getting my oral over and done with was such a relief. I feel like I’ve jumped over the halfway point, and now I only have another half to go; it’s wonderful. Today’s weather mirrored my happy, warm feelings and I don’t even care that I didn’t get my report done; again… After getting ready, I basically spent the rest of the morning preparing for my oral exam. I typed out everything I wanted to say, and even got a little bit of a chance to memorise it; a very little chance. Getting to uni, I went straight to the third floor, and sat outside Saigo Sensei’s office, talking with Kim; we were talking about the same topic. She went in before me, and soon after it was my turn. After an initial mind blank, I stumbled my way through, but actually didn’t do that badly. I quite enjoyed talking to Sensei about it and I wish I could have had more time to say what I wanted to say. Throughout, he would ask questions or make comments, which steered me way off what I was intending to say, but it did make it feel more natural. He was really surprised when he found out I was only 19 actually; it was quite funny. Anyway, as soon as that was done, I leapt for joy on the inside, and then went with Kim and Nathan for lunch.

We all ate katsudon in the third cafeteria, and talked about what we would be doing when we got back home; the end is so close. Around 12:30, we went back to the CIE lounge, and I found Julie to study Religion with before the quiz. In fact, it turned out to be relatively easy, and I got it done within 15 minutes; now all I have to do is finished that report. Afterwards, I sat in the lounge for a while longer, and then made my way over to Don kihote to buy Tim Tam’s for tomorrow’s party. I also bought a packet for Rose since it was her birthday yesterday, and I’d be going to her party tonight. I met Carly on the way back to the seminar house, and after dropping our stuff off, we went to Sanko; I had to buy the ingredients for my biscuits. As soon as I got back, I got stuck into it and almost 2 hours later, I had baked 31. Already that number has decreased to 27. It was almost 5 when I was done, so I came downstairs and got started on my JASSO scholarship report. I have to talk about what I have achieved academically, and how the uni has broadened my knowledge of Japan; fun, fun, fun…

I didn’t get very far with that, as we were going out for dinner tonight; New Dehli, since Carly’s never been. We left at 5:30 and soon got there; Carly rode on the back of my bike. Finding no one there, we decided to go into uni, and soon found Sarah, Katie and Rachael in the lounge. They were waiting for Rachel to turn up. In the end she didn’t, so it was just the five of us. Dinner was absolutely wonderful as always, although sadly the service was a little soon; understandable since it was absolutely packed. After waiting 30 minutes for our lasse (only Carly got hers), we decided to just leave; that was a bit of a shame. I was already an hour late for the party, so I rushed to Seminar House 1, and got inside just in time to find Mori and Midori leaving; they had already made cake. It was sad to see them go, but I was soon enjoying the fruit (or cake), or fruit cake actually of their labours; it was amazing. Rose was stoked when I gave her the Tim Tams; she immediately ripped the packet open and distributed them. There 10 of us in the room, which was basically exactly the same as our rooms here, with little differences here and there. Us guests, stuck around until almost 10, watching funny movies on YouTube, and taking photos; it was great fun. Finally it was time to say good night, and as soon as I got back to Sem 2, I was roped into watching a drama with Julie, Chelsea, Rachel and Ash; it was actually really intense. It was only the 5^th episode, but already the plot is so complicated. Chelsea caught me up pretty well, but I kinda want to see the earlier episodes. Well, I’m going to get some sleep now…

Day 250 - 7th of May

10:12pm　カラオケ　－　牧野

天気：雨天

I’m at karaoke now. Ash, Rachel and I were bummed out about the fact that there was no free time the other day, so we decided to come again tonight! However, I haven’t been here as long as they have. I just came from 王将 (Osho – “King”), a gyoza place right next to Midori; there’s one near Hirakata station too, but we opted for this one since it is closer by bike…

10:21pm　カラオケ　

Just sang; Yay, I feel good… So yeah, I went with Chelsea, Rebecca, Brett, Liz and Julie to Osho and it was amazing. Since it is a gyoza place, of course I had to get some and it was delicious ~ 餃子 (gyoza) is basically a Chinese dumpling that consists of a meat and/or vegetable filling that is wrapped in thin dough; it resembles ravioli. I also tried the チャーハン (chahan), Chinese fried rice, which was equally yummy. We got there at about a quarter to 9, so spent a good hour sitting and talking, which was great. Also great, was how cheap my meal was; I got to finish off Liz’s and Julie’s meals as well. As for the rest of my day, well… It was raining quite heavily up until about 5 or so this evening; not fun. In Reading and Writing today, we read part of the story in chapter 6, called むかし夕日の公園で (Mukashi yuuhi no koen de – “Once upon a time at the park of the setting sun”). It’s really well written, full of description, so it actually feels like we’re reading a real Japanese story.

It’s actually turning out to be really scary. This kid, who’s in a park surrounded by tall buildings at sunset (so it’s quite dark already) all alone, is thrusting his arm deep into to sandpit in the corner of the park, trying to gauge how deep it is. He’s arm is submerged up to his shoulder, and his fingers have just hit something. He can’t quite grab onto it, but what feels like women’s hair is starting to twine around his fingers… and that’s as far as we’ve gotten; so much suspense right now!!! After that, I went to my speaking class and dived straight into my presentation, and that went pretty well, although I did go overtime; we all did. And this time we really knew about it because Saigo Sensei brought in a time, and it beeped rather obnoxiously after 5 minutes; he was on the ball though, and was quick to silence it. That done, I went over to the club room and practiced Miyabi with Maarika and Mori Sempai until about 1, when I had to get to class; I ate some onigiri in the lounge before-hand.

In Gender and Sexuality, most of the lesson was taken up watching “Shinjuku Boys”, which was a documentary about Onabe, working in a club in Shijuku. Onabe are women who identify more strongly as men, and display hetero-normative masculine behaviour; the male equivalent is Okama. You could say they are transgender, and a few were taking hormone treatments; gender re-assignment surgery was illegal in Japan at the time. The doco cented around three “women”, who worked at this particular club where Onabe dress up as men (and act like men) and serve women; presumably straight women. It get’s stranger… two of them were in a relationship, one with a girl who identifies herself as straight and sees “him” as a guy, just with a penis, and the other one is with a drag queen who had had his genitals removed; that was a very interesting case. The third was more of a play “boy” (it serious didn’t take me long to refer to this person as a he), who reminded me of the guys in the host club in the other doco we watched; basically playing on women. I found the whole think fascinating. We also got our review sheet for the quiz next week, and the final take home exam criteria sheet; that was just depressing. Somehow, I’m going to squeeze everything in.

After class, I went to the club room once more, and after a bit more practice, we got set up in the club hall on the first floor, in preparation for the all the culture club presentations. This went from 5 till 6:30, and there were some great performances; I wish I had brought my video camera. Before we performed, two guys played an amazing piece on acoustic guitar and after us was the chorus club. They sang Angela Aki’s “Tegami”, which made me mega happy; it’s one of my favourite songs to sing at karaoke. It made me miss high school choir a lot though. It was nice to see that there were two international students in the club (both guys), which was great considering there were only two other guys. I would have been right there to support them, had I not joined the koto club. But then I think, “been there, done that”, and I’m glad I’m trying something new. Our performance went quite well, and I think that’s the biggest crowd I’ve performed in front of; at least 30 people. I’m really happy with the progress I’m made, and when I look back, I really have come far from my humble beginnings playing Sakura sakura. Maybe, I’ll be able to pick up the koto again someday. The event ended with the dance club, and we got to see ballroom, tango, salsa and contemporary; the cotemporary performance was definitely the best. By that time, it was 6:30 and after packing up, I had to rush home in order to make it in time for the meeting at 7; well, I didn’t have to rush that much.

I had time enough to get back to my room, and talk to Hugo about the night bus. He recommended a site to me that was really comprehensive, and we found a bus from Hirakatashi to Tokyo, which is wonderful. I’m going to have a lot of luggage, and I’m not going to want to lug it too far. So, I have to book that very soon. The meeting, our last meeting, was over in about half an hour, and afterwards Yuji approached me about the farewell party a.k.a. “Academic Party” (I love Yuji so much, xD), and asked if I would make my Milo biscuits for everyone again; I guess they really were a hit. Since I would receive money to pay for the ingredients, I was more than happy to oblige. Also, I get to play the koto for it; that’ll definitely be my last time. I’m going to try and play Miyabi; I’ll have to fust the first and second koto parts so it doesn’t sound too empty. So, that’s something else to look forward to. After that, we were pretty much off, as so as everyone was ready. Since Julie didn’t have a bike, she rode on the back of mine; I was a bit wobbly at first, but soon got used to it. Suddenly, I’m feeling very tired. I’m going to have a good sleep in tomorrow, and the get my sakubun done; hopefully…

Day 231 - 18th of April

10:26pm　セミナーハウス

天気：　晴れ

I just got back from 鳥貴族 (Torikizoku), a restaurant where all the items on the menu are 280円 (well, technically 294円with the tax). As the name suggests (torikizoku means bird of nobility), chicken is the primary meat, but there are also salads, soups, and rice. But more about that later… I got up this morning at about 9:30, and had a citron, apple and banana for breakfast; I didn’t have any milk for cereal. Then, I spent until 1 doing homework, and practicing kanji. I decided I needed a bit of fresh air, so I had a bit of a ride before getting some take out from the new kebab shop just across from the east gate; Café Istanbul. I’ve been missing kebabs since I’ve been here, so I was really happy. Two international students were in there smoking a hookah, which anyone can do for the price of 800円; not for my thanks. Still, I thought that was kinda of cool; they are quite beautiful devices. I ate my doner kebab in the nearby park and wow, it was really nice; maybe a bit small for the price. After eating, I went to Avail, but didn’t end up buying anything; there were a few things I liked though.

Getting back home, I worked on my blog, and talked with family for a little bit, before getting interviewed by Hugo. He’s doing a group report for his physiology class, and has to interview both Japanese and foreign students; I hope my answers help him. Soon after that, he asked if I wanted to come out with him and Yuji to torikizoku for dinner; they would be going straight away. Since my best decisions are usually made spur of the moment (before I have time to think about them), I decided to go for it; it would be fun. And it was! We were joined by Yuki (Yuji’s friend from a university in Osaka), and Biancha met us there. We arrived at straight on 6 when it opened, and ended up staying until after 9:30; well, Biancha left a bit early. After ordering drinks (I just had water), we could order whatever we wanted, whenever; they have a buzzer system. I only ended up having 3 dishes, and they were all chicken. My favourite would have had to be the filleted chicken covered with tartar sauce. Also, after the first bowl of cabbage, all the rest are free; not that I like cabbage that much.

I got the opportunity to talk in Japanese a bit to Yuki, who wasn’t very good at English; I also translated for Hugo a bit. Yuji got considerably drunk, and this made him very tired for some reason. While the quality of the food was very high, the service was a little slow; Yuji had to wait half an hour for his last meal. Everyone else ate way more than me, but that was more because I was being cheap; I would have liked to try a bit more. I did get to try some of Biancha’s deep fried camembert cheese; gosh that was so tasty. If I go again, I’m definitely going to order it. I also got to try some of Hugo’s chicken naan bread, which reminded me of Mexican food; it was beautifully spicy. When we left, Hugo and I soon separated from Yuji and Yuki; Yuji was going to Tsutaya, and Yuki was presumably returning home. I decided I would make a quick stop to Makkas, to get a soft serve; that made me happy. Hugo and I were soon on the bus back home; unfortunately Yuji missed it. Even though it was a little long, it was a great night out and I’m glad I went; I need to do stuff like that more often. Well, uni again tomorrow, better get some sleep…

Day 207 - 25th of March

10:37pm　セミナーハウス

天気：雨天

Well, the rain has finally eased off, though it’s still pretty cold. I put off grocery shopping for yet another day, but it’s getting to the point that I have to go; tomorrow for sure… Today was another late start; I didn’t get up till 11:30. I finished off the biscuits Nanny sent me for breakfast (they were just too good to last), and then got stuck into rewriting my sakubun for error correction. I got about a quarter of the way through, before Hugo told me he was going to watch “Pretty Woman” on his laptop. Since I’d never seen it, I thought why not; turned out to be a really good movie. About halfway through Rachael knocked on the door and asked if I wanted to go down to Hirakatashi, and I told her I would after the movie. True to my word, as soon as the movie finished, I went up to her room to collect her, and we were soon making our way into Hirakata by bus; it was still raining at this point.

Getting to the station, we first found an ATM for Rachael, and then went into the nearby Tsutaya; Rachael was looking for the Yoshida Brothers CDs. After a while of searching, and no luck, we asked at the counter and were promptly shown where they were; in the 演歌 (enka – traditional Japanese music) section. I decided I wanted to start reading manga, and asked Rachael what she would recommend. She came up with 家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN! (katei kyoushi hittoman ribon – lit. “Home tutor hitman reborn), which she’s already told me quite a lot about; she’s been reading the scanlations online. The plot revolves around the life of a young boy named Tsunayoshi Sawada, who finds out that he is the next in line to become the boss of the most powerful Mafia organization, the Vongola Family. As such, the Vongola's most powerful hitman, a gun-toting infant named Reborn, is sent to tutor "Tsuna" on how to become a respectable boss; sounds cool right.

So I purchased volume 1, hopeful that I’ll get some time to be able to read it. I have made a bit of a start on it already, and so far it’s been pretty easy going; there are words here and there that I don’t know. It’s definitely a lot easier than Deltora Quest, so hopefully I can get through it relatively quickly. Anyway, after Tsutaya, we went to Makkas for lunch, and then went into the Saty building to Animate. As usual, I couldn’t help buying a few things, although I wasn’t nearly as bad as Rachael. After that, we had a quick look around Book Off, and then made our way back home; it was an enjoyable afternoon out. Rachael wanted to have a go playing the koto, and since I needed to practice anyway, after we got back, I asked Okaasan if I could borrow the koto (of course she let me), and we set it up in the lounge. It took me ages, but eventually I got it in tune, and then Okaasan brought in some of her sheet music. She let me play it for a while, and then wanted to give it a go herself.

After a while of struggling through it, Okaasan resigned and went to have dinner, leaving Rachael and I to play. I wanted to tune it for Requiem for a Dream, and this turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. In the end it was futile, and I decided that it really wasn’t suited for the koto; so now I’m back to square one. I’m actually feeling a bit out of practice to be honest; I haven’t really played for over a month. I seriously don’t know what I want to play for Sunday anymore; maybe I’ll just wing it. After putting the koto back, I went around the corner to the Okonomiyaki place, and had dinner with Simon, who isn’t feeling too good at the moment; he’s a bit sick. He did enjoy the meal though, as did I. I had モダーン焼き (Modern yaki), which is basically okonomiyaki with soba noodles on the inside; really nice. It was almost 9 when we got back, and I got stuck into my sakubun as soon as I got settled; I also got stuck into a toblerone bar mum sent me! With that out of the way, all I have to do now is interview someone for Religion class; I’ll come up with some questions tomorrow. Also tomorrow, I’m hopefully going with the gang to a geisha dance in Kyoto; hopefully the weather will have improved…