Day 255 - 12th of May

11:08pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Well, once again I did not get my field report completed however, I did get my sakubun rewrite done, and got started on my oral for tomorrow; so that was something. Today’s weather was better than yesterday’s, although there was a bit of a chill in the air; go away winter… After getting ready this morning, I found Carly at the front entrance. She needed internet to get in contact with her parents, so asked if she could borrow my laptop for today. I didn’t see anything wrong with it, so handed it over and then went on my way to uni; I needed to quickly get something to eat for breakfast before class. Today was in fact our last Speaking class, and after receiving the last of the review sheets, and a last few words from everyone we were done. It really was a wonderful class, and I will miss Saigo Sensei; he was a great teacher. We’ll, I’ll still be able to see him a couple more times, that next being my oral exam tomorrow. I worked on that in the break, and got most of my thoughts down. I’m talking about how I think parents should raise their kids, and I have to speak for 3-4 minutes, while sensei interjecting with questions every now and then. I’m not too worried about it, as I have a pretty good understanding of the grammar, and it’s a topic that I enjoy talking about; in English at least. I’ll just have to write down a few vocab words (we get up to 10) and I’ll be sweet.

In Reading and Writing today, we got our sakubun back, and I got exactly the same as last time; lots of little mistakes again. The rest of the class was spent finishing reading the story and grammar patterns. I went straight from there upstairs, and crashed the Monsters class (for the last time). Today, Rose and Tori were drawing Pokémon all over the board, since they would be learning about it in class today; wish I brought my camera. Far from Pokémon, today in class we talked about third genders, transsexuals, and gender identity disorder that is, after Professor Hester finally got the computer to talk to the projector. This was my last Onna to Otoko class, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Probably the most interesting thing I learnt was that, a transsexual in Japan can get their official sex changed if they are over 20, not married, have no minor children and, get this, have no reproductive organs and genitals that resemble those of the other sex. So basically, you have to go the whole way; there’s no middle ground. We ended the lesson with the course evaluation, and then I made my way back down to the lounge.

I told Carly she could meet me back at the dorms, and then went grocery shopping; I was sorely in need of supplies. Getting back, I had enough time to make lunch before Carly arrived; we sat in the lounge and talked for a while. Then I got onto my sakubun, getting it finished in about an hour. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the report, and end up altering quite a bit of it; it’s because I care too much. At 7, I went up to eat, and found out that leftover okonomiyaki doesn’t taste all that bad. We watched a quiz show on TV; the one where they have to jump rope while answering questions. I was soon back downstairs, only to go back to the kitchen once more to make Carly’s dinner; Mac and Cheese. It’s annoying that guests aren’t allowed in the kitchen but, can’t be helped. While I was working on my report, Carly was trying to get her phone to work; international roaming didn’t want to cooperate for some reason. She was on the phone with a techie for almost an hour, but she thinks it’s all good now; I hope so. Finally, 10 came around and it was time for Carly to leave. Silly girl hadn’t brought a jacket so I lent her my jumper; she did bring her slippers today though, so that’s an improvement. I’m going to get some sleep now, so I can spend plenty of time in the morning preparing for my oral. After that, I’ll have a little bit of time to study before the Religion quiz…

Day 253 - 10th of May

11:16pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天
Just been working on my field report, and I’m about halfway through; gosh I wish I didn’t procrastinate so much. On the plus side, I did yet my homework for Reading and Writing finished this afternoon, so that leaves tomorrow afternoon free to finish the report… Today, it was raining, but the usual cold that comes with the rain was absent, so it wasn’t so bad. Getting to Speaking, five presentations took place, thanks to the fact that all of them were a reasonable length. We also got the schedule for oral exams and I’m up on Thursday; not really looking forward to it. I have no idea what I’m going to talk about. After class, I went over my sakubun a couple more times, sitting with Katie in the lounge. Soon, Reading and Writing came, and I actually did really well. I remembered the entire thing, and it ended up being just over 2 pages (800 characters), which is perfect; I’m hoping the content is okay. I got out feeling relieved (another thing to tick off), and went to have some Makkas for lunch. After that I rode home in the rain, and after putting the washing away, had a big long nap; I felt pretty guilty afterwards. But, I did get my homework done, and also made a list of everything I have to do so far as tying up any loose ends with the university; there’s quite a lot. At 6:30 I went and had dinner, and then sat in the kitchen till about 8:30, talking and watching TV; and laughing of course. Getting back to my room, I was soon visited by Rachael, who came to exchange FFVII: ACC disks with me. The one she got recently with the PS3 doesn’t have subtitles, so she swapped it with the disk that she originally gave me. It doesn’t bother me at all, since I’m sure I’ll buy the regular DVD version when I get home anyway. I sat with her in the computer room for a little while, helping her a bit with her presentation for tomorrow; she’s in Saigo sensei’s other level 4 class. Finally, I came back in here, and got stuck into my report. It’s only worth 20% of my grade, so I need to stop fussing and just get it done. As I write this, Carly’s is on her way here from Tokyo by night bus, so we’ll be seeing her at uni tomorrow I’m sure. It’ll be nice to catch up, and we’ll be able to finally plan Tokyo properly…

Day 251 - 8th of May

10:35pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

I’ve just been eating skittles and biscuits in the kitchen with everyone. Liz’s boyfriend sent them to her, so she shared them out to everyone at the table; I never thought skittles and chocolate chip biscuits would go together so well. Anyway, as for the rest of my day well, I got a bit done… I ended up leaving karaoke at 2; I just got really tired all of a sudden. The girls stayed until 5, and Rachel told me tonight that they’d completely filled the last 100 songs playlist; now that’s an accomplishment. Somehow, I managed to get up at 9:30, and after breakfast I got started on my field report. After about 3 hours, I managed to get about a quarter of it done, which I’m really happy about. I’m going to try really hard not procrastinate about it, and get the rest of it done by tomorrow. The professor only grades it as a pass or a failure, so as long as I do a reasonable amount on it, I should be fine. At about 1, I went to Sanko for groceries, and bumped into Rachael while I was there. Getting back, I made lunch and then watched TV for a while, before getting back into it.

Since the video from my camera was still uploading, I played KH for a little while, and then when the video was finished I let the laptop rest for a while. This meant that I got started on my sakubun, and the fact that I got over half of it completed made me very happy. I’ve just started writing about the plot for Reborn, and while it’s proving to be difficult, I’m getting through it; have to get that finished tomorrow as well. At around 6, Hugo had guests (three lovely Japanese girls) and they sat together and tried to keep a conversation flowing; I couldn’t help but get distracted. They left at about 7, and so I went up to make dinner; yakisoba. I ended up spending the next three hours in the kitchen, watching TV and talking with Rachel, Ash, Chelsea, Julie, Liz and Jazz; it was lots of fun. I also received and envelop from Natchan, containing 2000円 that I can use to pay for ingredients for my Milo biscuits. I really don’t need very much (I’ve got most of it), so I was thinking I’m going to go to Don kihote one more time to buy Tim Tams for everyone; they won’t want to eat more biscuits then! Tomorrow is Mother’s Day, so I’m definitely going to talk with family; wish I could be there. Then, at 6 I’m going to Toriki for dinner with the koto club; it’s our farewell party…

Day 239 - 26th of April

11:20pm　セミナーハウス

天気：曇り

Well, the streak of sunny weather was broken today (never three days of sun in a row), but although it was cloudy, at least it was warm. I got up at about 8, and had vegemite on English Muffins for breakfast. I don’t know if I’ve already mentioned this but before coming here, Ash had never heard of English muffins, which I think is quite funny actually. But, it just goes to show those kind of names don’t always reflect where they’re actually made. Anyway, after getting ready, I made my way to uni and got to class on time. Today in Speaking, we finished off our final grammar pattern (ever!), and then basically spent the rest of the lesson stuffing around. Well, we sang our last song together in class, called バンザイ～好きでよかった (Banzai~suki de yokatta) by ウルフルズ (Urufuruzu – strange band name), and watched a clip from a program showing a restaurant near Otsu where they serve giant (and I mean giant) portions of food like omu-rice, gyudon, katsudon, and curry-rice. The whole class was awestruck, but at the same time our mouths were watering. And so incredibly cheap too; I really want to find it!!! So that was fun. In my break, I got my homework done, sitting with Sarah and Katie the lounge, and then worked on kanji.

We started on the final lesson in Reading and Writing class today, and also got the instructions for our second and final sakubun. This time, we have to write about one of our favourite books. Since I haven’t actually read a book in ages, and Sensei said that manga is okay too, I think I’m going to write about Reborn. I know I haven’t read very much yet, but I can talk about what I’ve liked so far, how it has shaped my perception of Shonen manga (manga for boys), how I’ve found reading it (reasonably easygoing for the most part), and what I thinks going to happen next; I think that’ll be fine. After class, I bumped into Maarika in the corridor, and she told me that most people wouldn’t be turning up for practice till 6 this evening. So, she suggested that I post a note on the door letting everyone know that practice wouldn’t start till then; I wasn’t going to go in at 4:30, if I could get other stuff done instead. So, I did that and then made my way home. After lunch, I worked on my presentations some more, trying to make sentences that included the grammar patterns we’ve learned. 5:30 came around faster than I would have liked, and then it was time to go. Since it had gotten colder, I rugged up a bit, and then made my way back.

It ended up being just Maarika, Mori and Midori Sempai, and me practicing this evening. I went to pick up the key, and then Maarika and I got everything set up, and after a bit of practice the other two showed up. It was quite productive though, the two girls helping us through Miyabi by playing along; we went through it several times. I have resigned to playing the first koto part (leaving the solo to Maarkia), as the second part is just too burdensome for the time we have to master it; the performance is next Friday. Still, I felt really accomplished playing with the sempai; we all worked together really well. Mori also gave us our tickets for Sensei’s koto performance, and they were nice enough to pay for one for Carly too; I was so grateful. We also planned some get together parties (karaoke and the like), which will be coming up soon; really looking forward to them. Pack up ran very smoothly today, except for one thing. The straps on the new bag Mori Sempai had got to carry the makura and stands, to replace the old one that had a hole in it, broke. I heard her scream, and the subsequent crash of things hitting the floor, and quickly rushed up the stairwell to help out; everything was fine. Luckily she had another bag, and hopefully this one will be a little bit more durable; I guess we shouldn’t put so much in them either.

I rode home with Maarika, and as we were nearing the seminar houses, we met up with Rachael; I slowed down, and talked with her the rest of the way. Getting home, I dropped my stuff off, and then went upstairs to the kitchen, sitting with Ash and Rachel watching TV for a while before cooking dinner; gyudon. I stayed up there until about 9, and then got into a bit of study, helping Hugo a bit with his homework too. Julie was kind enough to lend me her battery charger, so that’s all under control now. I think I’m going to transfer another video across, just so I have two blank tapes ready for golden week; I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot. Apart from going to Hikone with Alex, I’m going to try to get in a few day trips; Katie and Sarah have some really interesting days planned. It’s coming up to crunch time once more, and I’ve got a lot to think about, and a lot to do. I’m really looking forward to this holiday, but at the same time I’m hoping that I won’t be stressing about everything I have to do; if I manage my time effectively, I think I’ll be fine. Well, I’m going to get some sleep now…

Day 237 - 24th of April

11:29pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Well, today was quite a productive day spent at home. Although it was rainy in the morning, the rest of the day turned out to be quite sunny, so I managed to get a load of washing on… Getting up at about 9:30, I got ready for the day, and after breakfast and shower, Hugo was up too. I spent most of the morning studying for my lesson test on Wednesday. I had lunch at 1, and then finally decided to get the washing on, which lead to me taking all the clothes out of my cupboard and sorting them out. Now I have two boxes packed for home, each with five long sleeved t-shirts in them, and a bunch of books and other miscellany. So that was good. I spent the rest of the afternoon studying, and researching for my Japanese presentation on the Great Barrier Reef; that was fun.

It was about 7 when I went up for dinner, and I sat with Brett, Sam and Liz while watching TV. I ended up staying up there until about 9:30, enjoying Milo and watching a really interesting quiz show that I wish I could have understood more of. Getting back to my room at about 9:30, I talked with Alex for a while as I uploaded photos to dA; I’m so excited about our trip. After a shower, I got back into Reborn; I haven’t read it for ages. I managed to get the first volume finished (finally), and now I’m about 10 pages into the 2^nd; it’s getting really good. At the same time, I tried to transfer a video for my camera to the computer; notice I said tried. Again, the program decided to be “unresponsive” and it lost everything just as it was finalising the file; so frustrating. So, I’m going to try again tomorrow I guess; I have no more patience now, and it’s about time I get some sleep…

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…