Day 165 - 11th of February

天気：雨天
Today was filled with a lot of “unexpected”, but everything turned out for the best… I got up pretty late, relishing the sleep in. It wasn’t until 10:30, when my stomach was hurting me that I finally went up to have some breakfast. While in the kitchen, Asami told me she was sick, and wasn’t up to coming with; a shame, but can’t be helped. Soon after, Jacinthe told me all her other plans had fallen through, and she’d like to join me; I had told her about it before. Then, after I had gotten ready (all dressed up), I decided to go to the computer room to check my email; just in case the time to get there had changed. I was shortly visited by Katie, saying that (for reasons unknown), she was going to come today; okay. So, in the end, it was just Jacinthe and I; I was grateful that I had at least one person. We left for Makino station soon after, and took the local train several stops, till we finally got to 守口市 (Moriguchishi); just before the meeting time. I had no idea where we were meeting them however, but opted for the closest exit; the west exit. We stood near a Makkas for a while, and Maarika, her friend Rose, and Natalie (a prospective new member to our club), suddenly showed up. Maarika didn’t know where we were meeting the girls either, so we wandered around like lost little lambs for a while, until we were found, and promptly united with the rest of the group, at the east exit.

We made our way over to the Moriguchi culture centre, a short walk away, and proceeded to descend the stairwell into the basement, where the washitsu (Japanese-style room) was located. Upon arrival, we took our shoes off, and joined sensei and a number of her other students. We got there at about 1:30, but the concert wasn’t due to start until 2:30; I don’t know why we just didn’t meet at 2, like we had planned in the first place. Anyway, this gave us time to go have some lunch. And guess where we went; Makkas. Well, it was just Jacinthe and I, and Mori-sempai and Natalie; the rest went to Mister Donut. Jacinthe and I tried the New York burger. It was really tasty (patty, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mustard), but I still liked the Texas burger more. We were a little rushed at the end (the time just escaped us), so we briskly made our way back, and got there just in time. The audience sat on white cushions on the tatami mats, and the performance took place on a red mat, in the adjoining room; the sliding doors had been taken out. Expecting to play shortly, I gave my video camera to Jacinthe, to get her to film for me; she was in a good position to record. It turned out though, that our club wasn’t even on the program; I personally felt a little left out.

But anyway, it was great to see all the other performances. The sensei played both the koto, and shamisen, accompanying her husband on shakuhachi, and also her students. Her youngest student, a cute little girl of 8, played hanagoromo (sensei accompanying). This annoyed me too; Maarika and I could have played with her. But no; oh well. So yeah, the “official” concert went on for about an hour, and Jacinthe managed to get it all on tape; can’t wait to watch it again. Then, disappointingly, many of the audience members left. Sensei’s son, and grandkids, and two other girls were all that remained; and Rose and Jacinthe of course. It was finally our club’s turn to perform, and the girls did such a good job; it was a shame they didn’t get the support they deserved. After they had finished their pieces, Maarika and I were up. Since my video camera was just about full, Jacinthe recorded us on her camera; she wasn’t able to get the others, but she too only had a few minutes left of recording. We played with the shakuhachi, and I was really pleased with myself; I got every note out. I feel I have mastered hanagoromo now, and am more than ready to move onto sandan, and get that really good.

So, all in all, it was a great performance. After us, we packed up the room, and got treats from the sensei, before she, and the remaining audience, left. We set up low tables on the tatami, and sat around and ate together. Pretty soon, the lights were out, and we were telling ghost stories. I didn’t really have anything to contribute, but thoroughly enjoyed listen to the stories, recited in both English, and Japanese. It wasn’t until after 7 that we finally packed up and left the building; out into the rain. Jacinthe had lost her gloves, and thought she might have left them in Makkas. So, we said our goodbyes, and made our way back over there. We didn’t find her gloves unfortunately, but I managed to break my umbrella; another unexpected. This and the fact that I didn’t have a beanie justified in my mind that taking the bus home from Hirakata would be a good idea. Jacinthe had no objections, so that’s what we did once we got back. I had cleaning duties again tonight, and made dinner (gyudon) just in time. Everyone showed up to cleaning, and we got it done in no time. Soon after, Biancha returned from the military base, laden with food; a whole suitcase full. To my sadness, she wasn’t able to find rolled oats; I will have to rethink what I’m going to cook.

Remembering Rachael, and saying that I’d watch Advent Children Complete with her, I hastily made my way down to the lounge. She was ready and rearing to go, the movie set up on her blu-ray drive in her new laptop. And oh wow, was it good; it made me fall in love with FFVII all over again. The quality was superb (it was so pretty), and there was at least 20 minutes on extra footage. This really made the difference, and the movie suddenly made so much more sense, the plot so much more solid. Denzel got a back story, Geostigma posed a real threat and was really scary, and all the fight scenes were elongated, becoming even more epic. Cloud’s character was also much improved; he was smiling more, and showed a real caring for Denzel and Marlene. And, it showed blood, and damage; scratches on Cloud’s bike for example. Little things here and there, made it seem a lot more realistic. So, apart from a few little things, like the weird time jumps, I was most impressed. I read Rachael’s review of it afterwards, admittedly very humorous thought not very professional, and that ended my day. A day full of the unexpected…

Day 58 - 27th of October

11:04pm　セミナーハウス
天気：晴れ
From cold rainy day, to warm sunny day. My exam was at 11, so a had little time in the morning. I decided to go shopping at Sanko, since it's cheap on Tuesday. So, expecting it opened at 9, I walked up there; it wasn't. It opens at 9:30; fail. So I walked back, did a bit of study, and then went back at 9:30. They were taking down an old building at the corner of the street. It had a very beautiful traditional tiled roof, and it was sad to see it destroyed; it was completely gone by the time I walked back from koto club... So anyway, went to Sanko, and got heaps of bargains; 99円 carrots, 100円 bananas, and meat for half price. I was very happy, so I'm going to try to shop on Tuesday every week. I split the beef in two portions, and marinated one for my stir fry tonight.

I was feeling lazy, so I bused it to uni; it gave me a little extra time to study. I did okay in the exam. Forgot a few words, and freaked out when there wasn't much time left, but got it all done. I also got my proposal back for CEL and I got a 19/20. I was very happy about that; just have to tweak a few questions and then I'm ready to interview people. Lolz, it was so awesome. In history, we got popcorn! The professor got a popcorn popper as a present, so he shared out a big bag; I got it three times. We're now entering Japan's feudal era. Koto club was really good. We got to practice with the Sensei for a good while, and my feet didn't hurt too badly. The shakuhachi player played Sakura sakura along with us; it was beautiful. We also get to sing it; I'm lovin it. Then we went through the first page of hanagoromo. I'm starting to feel really confident with it. We got to go home earlier, about 7, which was nice. So yeah, had dinner, hang out with people, and then uploaded some pics on facebook. So happy my exams are over, it's a good feeling.

Day 31 - 29th of September

10:18pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天
Still no luck in finding my phone. I went down to the station at about 9:30 this morning, and talked with a women at the Keihan bus line office. All I got from her was a number to call, for the bus depot. I was going to get Dan to help me call up, but he didn't show this afternoon... I walked back to the uni, and stopped at the police station. I was able to get across to them all the information. They didn't have any phones, but now they're notified that mines missing at least. I was happy that I could communicate with them well enough to get all the facts across. After that I went to the post office and got the postcards sent.

After speaking class, Joanna and I walked over to the cafeteria to get some lunch, and on the way a Japanese girl came up to me and asked me where I was from. Mayaka was her name, and she was looking for a speaking partner; of course I already have one. Joanna took charge of the conversation and asked her if she'd like to eat with us; she accepted. We all had katsudon; it's sooooo yummy. Pork, egg, and rice. We talked for a while after lunch and then made our way over to the CIE lounge to study some more before the map quiz. Upon entering, Mayako suddenly decided she should go. She seemed a bit lost and disheartened. I have her email address though, so I'll try to stay in contact with her. She teaches English at a primary school in Kyoto 4 times a week.

In the lounge, I saw Seimu and went to talk with him. I told him about joining the koto club and so he introduced me to a girl at another table who had played the koto for some years. After a short while, he left me with her, and 3 other girls; he had to study. Unfortunately they started asking me some embarrassing questions about what I thought about Japanese girls, what I like about them etc. I found myself in a very sticky situation, all because I said I didn't have a girlfriend. In history, I explained my predicament to Joanna and Kelly, and Kelly told me that as soon as he got here, whenever someone asked him if he had a girlfriend, he straight out told them he did; after that they left him alone! Lol, I should probably try that. The map quiz turned out to be easy enough; it's just a matter of just how exact we have to be in marking the location.

After class I spent a bit of time with Christina. She's joined the break dance club, and also wants to join ballroom dancing; good luck to her. I left her at the vending machines and made my way over to the washitsu. Our first task was to clean the tatami floors, for the arrival of the sensei; I wasn't all that surprised about this. It wasn't so bad. One of us vacuumed, I helped scrub the floor with a few others, and the rest began to bring down the koto from the 3rd floor. One koto in particular was very beautiful. It was of a dark wood that had a pattern of circles radiating out from the middle; like tree rings.

After cleaning and setting up, we had to take turns using the koto again, as there weren't enough tsume. Unfortunately the ones I had didn't fit properly, so after a short practice I surrendered them to another student. I'll have to start learning every one's names! Charlie and I talked, and listened to one of the Japanese girls practicing. At about 6, the sensei arrived. Before the practice session, we all bowed and ushered onegai shimasu (again reminiscent of Karate). As we didn't all have tsume, for this session, the international students watched, while sensei instructed and played along with the girls. Oh my gosh, sitting in seiza for over an hour is not fun!!! It's something I'm going to have to get used to if I'm serious about this though. The pain goes away as soon as you stand up, and I felt fine afterwards; it's just the during part that sucks!

Part way through, a man came in and practiced on his Shakuhachi with the koto! ~ the Shakuhachi is a bamboo flute~. The sound it makes (very airy) stirs the soul. He was obviously a very experienced player. His breath control was very good, and you could tell he put a lot of spirit into it. The sensei also sang, as did one of the other girls, in a very Japanese way. I don't really know how to describe it. It employs a lot of vibrato and melisma; basically a lot of pitch changing on one syllable. Watching there hand movements and technique was great. I don't know how far I will progress in a year, but I hope I can at least master the basics. The music was definitely worth having to sit in seiza for so long.

After the class, sensei presented us with deep fried sweet potato (焼き芋 - yaki-imo). It was actually really nice, and I don't even like sweet potato that much. We'll be getting our own tsume next week, which I'm really happy about. We'll all be able to practice properly then. So, we packed up and went our separate ways for the evening. It's pouring with rain now, but I was lucky to walk home in the dry. I was going to cook spaghetti bolognese, before I realised that I hadn't left the mince to defrost. So I'll cook it tomorrow. Instead, I decided to be lazy, and have noodles. As it's my group's week on kitchen cleaning duties, I made it even easier on myself by only having to wash my chopsticks. I think that, since I have koto on Mondays and Tuesdays, I'll make them my easy food nights, cause it's not very fun having to come back and cook at 8:30 after having a big day.