It seems as though the weather’s finally cleared up; darn, I’ve probably just gone and jinxed it now. Anyway, while it was a nice day, I spent most of it couped up indoors, working relentlessly (somewhat) on my essay for Gender and Sexuality. I’m over the halfway point so I’m happy; that’s what I wanted to achieve by tonight… This morning, I got up around 9, and had some vegemite on toast for breakfast; I finally took the two slices of bread that Simon owed me. Then I studied for my Gender and Sexuality quiz, while simultaneously looking of more quotes to use in my essay; killing two birds with one stone. Finally, when it was time to get to uni, I rugged up despite the sunny weather; it’s still a bit nippy. In Reading and Writing class we got our sakubun back and there was unfortunately quite a bit of red; so many little mistakes. So now, as part of assessment, we have to rewrite it and correct the errors to gain up to an extra 10 points; something to look forward to over spring break. After Reading and Writing, I went straight up to Gender and Sexuality, and waited around until class started. The quiz turned out to be (as expected), quite easy, and there were even some questions on there I remembered from last semester in Cultural and Everyday Life; cross-over much. Well, it’s good for me I guess.
I think I finished in about 30 minutes, and upon turning it in, I got the refund from the Takarazuka trip; score. Then I made my way to my bike, and went to do some grocery shopping at Kirindo and Fresco. Getting back home, I had lunch, and watched some more sumo on TV. While I thought it would be fun to go see a tournament in person, I actually think it would get a bit boring after a while; I'm happy to just watch it on TV. After lunch, I got stuck into the essay, having little breaks periodically. I went up for dinner at around 7, and had my defrosted stew. Spongebob Squarepants was on the TV, the Japanese dub kind of failing; it was funny to watch though. I was very good tonight, and excused myself from the conversation at a sensible time, to get back to my essay. I really wish I didn’t procrastinate so much, but I think I’m getting through it at a good pace; I should, no, I will get it done by tomorrow night. Tomorrow at 11, I have my mid-term exam for Speaking, which I studied for over the weekend, and I can study some more for in the morning; I think I’ll be fine. Three days down, two to go; it feels good to be past the halfway mark… Oh and Happy St. Patricks Day!!!
Well, the nice weather certainly didn’t last; it’s been cloudy all day. It just started raining this afternoon… I woke up early, so I could spend some more time memorising my sakubun, and got to school just before 10; I talked with Rachael on the way. Checking my mail, I got yet another card from Nanny and Poppy; i feel loved. Today, we all had to pick up our new ID cards, so Rachael and I went straight there. They’re kind of plain, and the crappy picture of me is even bigger; I really preferred the other ones. Oh well, can’t be helped. I went to Speaking, and we spent the whole class revising for the exam; we actually got out 30 minutes early. So, I had plenty more time to memorise my sakubun, and I went in feeling really good. Apart from a few kanji (ones that I didn’t have to know anyway), I got the whole thing done perfectly. After that, I went to Avail because I thought some shopping would make me feel better (not that I was feeling bad), but didn’t end up finding anything I liked. So I soon returned home.
After lunch, and watching a bit of sumo on TV while talking to Adam, I got ready to go to the gym. When Simon got back at 3, we made our way over, and after signing in and changing shoes, we got started. I really enjoyed the session, and it was helpful watching others using the equipment; I tried out a few new things. Simon ended up getting bored, which was a shame, but says he’s going to stick with it; we shall see. Regardless of what he decides, I know I’m going to continue with it; I felt really good afterwards. Getting back home, I made a solid start on my Gender and Sexuality essay, spending a bit over two hours scanning the textbook for any useful information or quotes; it was pretty interesting actually. I’m going to talk about how gender norms and attitudes are constructed in Japan through language, institutions such as schools, religion, and marketing; should be good. I was feeling very hungry by about 6, but decided to put on some rice to eat with my dinner (leftovers), so had to wait another half an hour.
It was almost 7 by the time I got round to eating, but that only made the food taste even better. I found the anime channel, and started watching Tamagochi’s; who would have thought they’d make an animated TV show out of those little guys. I remember having them when I was little, and I know that Alex still has them now, so she would have loved to have seen this. The rest of the group filtered in, and we talked for a while, before they filtered out again. I stayed behind a bit longer, talking with Yuji and Julie, and then Hugo and Simon, and then finally went back to my room. There, I started memorising my script for my speaking exam tomorrow. I’m trying not to stress about it too much; I want it to be natural. At around 10, Biancha came knocking at our door, and beckoned my out to the lounge. She had made a cake for Hugo since it’s his Birthday tomorrow. So, we gathered together a few people and had a little, early celebration for him; the cake was amazing. Eventually I got back to my room, and finished off getting the script in order; I’m happy with it now. Well, I should probably get some sleep now; one day down, four more to go…
9 o’clock classes are not fun at all, especially when you have a vocab quiz. I managed to get to uni on time though, with the help of my alarm. The quiz was in Reading and Writing, and it went okay, then we spent the rest of the lesson going over old grammar points, just with a lot of new kanji in the mix this time. I went straight from that to a lesson test in Speaking; such a relief when it was over. After that I went down to the lounge, and sat with Rachel, Rachael, and Sarah, watching the live streaming of the ice skating on Rachel’s laptop. Since it was Sarah’s birthday, Rachel had decided to take her to New Delhi (an Indian restaurant) for lunch, and pay for her meal. I hadn’t eaten there, but had heard many good things about it, so asked if I could join; Simon come along too. Rachel decided to stay and watch her ice skating; she’s really into it. So off we went; it’s just outside the main gate. And wow, what a spread! Simon had to quickly go and sort out his insurance so we didn’t end up ordering until he came back, and then the food just kept on coming.
To start off, we all got a soup, and then they brought out our main meals. Simon and I both got the “B Lunch” which consisted of a salad (with some deep-fried eggplant), a huge piece of Naan (it was literally falling off the sides of the plate), a curry (we could chose from two, and the level of spice), saffron rice, this other really spicy thing, and a mango lassi (mango yoghurt drink). And then they brought out another type of bread with coconut inside; and this was all for 700円. Far out, I was so full afterwards; I had to ask to take out the coconut bread because I just couldn’t eat it at the time. It was really good though, but maybe a bit too spicy for me; next time I’ll choose a lower level spice. Rachael had to leave early, to get to her class in time for a test, and Simon was supposed to go to class too (but didn’t because he wanted to enjoy his food), so when we left Simon rushed off, Sarah went to 7/11, and I went to the post office to send some postcards.
Getting back to uni, I sat down with Ash, and we were soon joined by Rachael, and shortly after, Rachel and Katie. After playing some Plants vs. Zombies, and watching some more Olympics, I had to get to class. We signed up for the Takarazuka trip today, and talked about gendered language in Japanese. The professor brought in some native speakers, to demonstrate different aspects of how language can be made more masculine, or more feminine; really interesting. Then we watched a short clip on the making of the 土俵 (Dohyo – the ring where the sumo match takes place). The professor told us that next month the sumo tournament would be held in Osaka, and I think it would be a great opportunity to go and see a match; so that’s something. After class, I walked home, on the way talking with Sydney, before she was given a lift with Maureen on her bike; I’ll be able to do that for people soon. Getting back, I got my blog up-to-date and soon enough it was time for dinner. Somehow I was still hungry enough to eat my leftover yakisoba.
I sat with the group (as they shall be called for now, since I couldn’t be bothered writing all their names), and Rachael showed me some awesome goodies she’d found at Animate today; a Final Fantasy AC novel complete and postcard book. I am so jealous. Then she proceeded to tell me about all her story ideas that she hasn’t gotten round to writing yet; I got cake as a reward for listening. I wish she would, so I could read them. Katie bought Sarah a slice of cake, and we wished her a happy birthday, before getting ready to go downstairs for our Friday night viewing session. When I got down to the lounge, I found Yuji watching a DVD; he asked if it was okay if we waited another 30 minutes. So in the mean time, I went back to my room, and saw Hugo off; weekend in Tokyo, lucky guy. Then I sat in the computer room with Simon and Rachael. When he was finished, Yuji joined us, and I asked him again about the A/C; for some reason the filter warning light wasn’t turning off, even after I cleaned it. So, we went to Otousan, and he knew the solution straight away; the reset button on the controller. It was as easy as that. Thanking Yuji, I roused the troops (went up to the kitchen and told them it was time), and then we all gathered in the lounge with all our treats. I ate my coconut bread; it was really tasty.
It was about 9:30 by that time, and for the next 3 hours we watched 4 episodes of a really cool Sci-fi/Western series (weird mix right) called firefly. The story is set in 2517. The Earth has been drained of all its resources, forcing mankind to emigrate to a new star system. The only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, have fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two cultures as well. The plot revolves around a captain and his crewwho make a living on the outskirts of the society, as part of the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of the system. The special effects are pretty good, and as a result of the cultural fusion, Mandarin Chinese is spoken often (usually when they are swearing), and there are kanji all over the place. There aren’t any aliens, which is a nice change, just a really scary cannibalistic group of nomadic humans called Reavers. The only thing I really don’t like about it is the country western music, especially in the opening credits. When everyone started singing, it was sickening; Rachel had the same sentiment. Actually, Rachel and Katie had also never seen this before. Sadly though, the series was axed after the 14 episode; so a lot was left in the air. Luckily, after a huge push by the fan base, they made a movie, which I’m told explains most things. And that was the end of my night; I was very tired.
11:15pm セミナーハウス 天気：曇り Ryan’s gone again; he left just after I woke up at about 12. So here I am alone again. It’s kinda cool actually. I just had my workout session, and was dancing around the room in my undies to the music on my laptop; too much information – I thought so. Anyway, couldn’t have done it if I wasn’t alone. Today was both lazy and productive… I went about cleaning the room, vacuuming, and sorting out my shelfs for much of the afternoon, with a lunch break in between at 4. It was sheet changing day again, so I had to do that too. My shelves are very slowly filling up with books and paraphernalia; can’t wait to get some more stuff. I watched a bit of the sumo on TV during lunch, and it was really interesting to watch the rituals that take place before the matches even begin. There’s like a sumo version of kata; looks really cool.
After I was satisfied with how the room was, I alternated between my DS and computer until dinner at 8; made gyudon. Getting back down, I listened to the new music I’ve just downloaded from iTunes, while trying to beat the high score on Facebook’s Bejewelled 2 Blitz. Unsuccessful, I got up and had my workout session, which was a lot of fun. Now I’m just backing up all my photos and music onto my portable hard drive. After that, I’m going to have a shower, and then settle down and watch some Hetalia. Tomorrow, I want to send some postcards, go to animate in Hirakata, and do some sightseeing. I think I’m going to go to Yodo, on the Kyoto end of the Keihan line. There seems to be heaps of stuff to see there, as far as I can tell every time I go past; the number of signs in the station… just wait and see what happens.
