Day 182 - 28th of February

天気：曇り

So, what did I spend the last day of the month doing? Well, not much at all really… I got up at around 8:30, and had a frugal breakfast, and decided to just stay in my pyjamas all day; strangely, Hugo wasn’t back yet. I skyped with Carly, and Alex, before talking with my family for over two hours; got to see my Nanny and Poppy! Then it was time for lunch. The TV was on in the kitchen, and in the right hand corner of the screen there was a map of Japan, with colours flashing around it’s coast; a 津波警報 (tsunami keihou – tsunami warning). There were three colours, red orange and yellow, red being the areas in the most danger, and yellow just having a general warning. Since we’re so far inland, we really have nothing to worry about. I find it quite amazing that an earthquake on the other side of the ocean (in Chile), could potentially have repercussions all the way over here in Japan. Flicking through all the channels, there was a warning on every one of them, the colours being slightly different from station to station; I wonder if a tsunami will hit?

After lunch, I spent the next couple of hours trying to get my blog up to speed; speed unfortunately, is not the word I would use for what the internet possesses here. Hugo eventually came back, and had fun ironing his clothes on the tiny little ironing standing; reminded me of Diego when he used to do it. It almost 3:30 by the time I was satisfied, and then I made my way out to fetch Simon. He had informed me of a fundraiser near Hirakata station for Haiti, and wanted to donate. We had already planned to go out this afternoon to find clothes for the gym, so at least we could look around while we were down there. Riding there was, for the most part, okay. That was until we got to the hill into downtown Hirakata, which provides no room for bikes. It was a less than enjoyable experience, as we sped down the slope, liberally applying the brakes and trying not to hit the side walk on our left (crowed with people), or the cars inches away from us on our right. Well, we both made it unscathed, and continued on to the station.

Here, there was a new dilemma; finding somewhere to park. We really didn’t want to have to pay to park our bikes, so searched for empty areas down side alleys; the problem was that there were “no parking for bikes” signs everywhere. Simon had got a warning ticket down here before, and didn’t want another. We finally found a space over by the park that I only just realised is under major renovation, if that’s the right word; we had walked past it when Simon was going to get his alien registration sorted, and I didn’t even notice. Anyway, we made our way back over there, as it was supposedly where the fundraiser was taking place. Well, when we got there we found nothing, no hint of any activity of the sort. After a little bit a searching, we decided to abandon the cause and go on our second mission; information gathered from facebook obviously doesn’t always have merit. We walked over to Saty, and went to the men’s floor, in search of some gym pants. We’ve been talking about going to the gym for a while now, and since there’s one less than a minute down the road from us that we can use for free (it belongs to the university), we don’t really have an excuse not to go.

In Saty we couldn’t find anything, that wasn’t stupidly priced, and Simon resigned himself to using some pants he already had; so now we were just looking for some for me. We tried in Kintetsu, but were out of luck; all brand name stuff. We even tried in Uniqlo, but all they had were track suits, and I wasn’t about to one of them. So, going all the way down to Hirakata station was a big waste of time; however as I was about to find out, the ride back served as excellent exercise. Yes, it was the hill again, though this time it wasn’t scary at all, just extremely exhausting; I really felt like I was going to die when I got to the top. This made me feel really out of shape, and only made my resolve to go to the gym stronger. Simon wanted to pick some stuff up for dinner, so we made our way to Fresco, Simon having a bit of a stack along the way, resulting in a broken reflector. I was well behind him, and got to witness the whole thing; it was pretty funny. In Fresco we bought a few things, and then, as a last resort we decided to go to Avail to see if they had anything. Well, we didn’t find any shorts, and the track suits were definitely a no. However, I did find a pack of two t-shirts for 300円, which is incredibly cheap. The rest of the time in there was dedicated to trying on other clothes, which proved unsuccessful, and having fun with this little Japanese boy, who was really good at speaking English. He was very excitable, and wasn’t shy at all, as he came up to us, and played hide-and-seek; I was really surprised.

We finally got back after 6. We didn’t achieve very much, but at least we had a little bit of fun, and got some exercise. Since Simon was going up to eat his 枝豆 (edamame – green soybeans) for dinner, I thought I might as well eat too. I heated up some stew, and was soon enjoying it with bread. We stayed up there for a little while, and then parted, intent on study. I tried on my new shirts, and they fit perfectly. Hugo was a little worried that they weren’t going to fit; the M size singlet he has is really tight. In Avail, when I saw the pants I had bought a while back, I thought, why not wear them; they’re pretty much sweat pants. Simon agreed when I showed him; they’re black, so they match my shirts too. Now I feel ready to go to the gym; and I spent way less than I had expected to for it. I studied until 9, and then went up to the kitchen for a snack, inevitably staying up there to sit and talk with Ash; she had just gotten back from her day with Peter at USJ. The tsunami warning was still on TV, though the threat had greatly lessened, with the most dangerous colour gone from the map. Just after 10, I went back downstairs, and did another hour of studying, before getting ready for bed; lesson test tomorrow…

Day 39 - 8th of October

9:49pm　セミナーハウス
天気：雨天、寒い
So it ended up that we every one's morning classes were cancelled due to the storm warning. It wasn't withdrawn until 8:30, so that meant that I still had my two afternoon classes. I was happy about that, cause with all the holidays we have already, we can't really afford to miss another day. The winds were really strong in the morning. When we found out that morning classes were officially cancelled, Diego went back to bed! He didn't have any classes for the rest of the day. As for me, I had to get ready for the afternoon.

I finished my project proposal for Culture and Everyday life, which I'm going to abbreviate to CEL from now on okay, cause I'm too lazy to type the whole thing, xD. I went up to the kitchen and ate a pear, while looking at the destruction the typhoon had caused on the news. It was not until about 15 minutes before hand, that I realised my class was due to start at 1; the typhoon really put me off! So I rushed to uni and made it just in time; you can actually get there quite fast if you put the effort in. We watched a video for the first 10 minutes, about a preschool in Japan. It was really interesting to see the difference in how the children are managed in Japan, compared to Western preschools. Japan has a very different set of values and beliefs. To be honest, I kinda like their style. For instance, this one kid had been playing up all day, and instead of disciplining him/punishing him, the teacher just let the other children sort out the problem. This would teach the other kids how to deal with these sorts of situations.

History class was equally enjoyable. We have now entered the Heian period (9th century). We now see a slow shift away from China as a "big brother" figure, and Japan begins to come into it's own, eventually breaking all ties with China by the end of the century. After driving the indigenous Emishi (likely ancestors of the Ainu) of the north out of Honshu, the capital now had widespread control over the main island. Through this campaign, the military style was changed from the Chinese standing-army style, to a more focused group style with a general at its head. This lead to the rise of the Shogun... The hand outs we got today were crazy. The family trees are really complicated, cause most of the Emperors had many wives, and of course, incest occured frequently. Basically though, during this century, one tribe stood out among the rest; the Fujiwara tribe.

By marrying into the imperial family, and maintaining several ties, they become a very powerful and influential family within the capital. The first child Emperor is appointed at just 8 years old; Seiwa. This leads to the need for a regent (who weilds power in the Emperor's name), and Yoshifusa of the Fujiwara family, grandfather of Seiwa takes the position. Over the course of the century, the Fujiwara family strives to stay strong, while stamping out any competition. Next time we move into Heian literature, and I've picked up the book "The Gossamer Years" to read, which should be really interesting. So after class, I got some more money, bought the book, and had a late lunch in the cafeteria. Then went to do some grocery shopping.

That was fun! I ended up going to no less than four different stores. I went to this new store that just opened, and got some bargains. Then I went to Fresco, and picked up some more stuff. Then I went to the 99円 store to get some orange juice. I walked all the way back to the seminar house, bags in hands; it was great for my muscles. I got back and put the stuff away, then realised that I didn't have any carrots. So I walked to Sanko and picked some up, along with a bunch of other stuff; it was cheap okay! Got back (again), and talked with Mum before making dinner. I had stir fry with udon noodles. It was really nice. I'm getting good at this cooking thing, :D. Still, I want to try more. Anyway that's about all I have to say, my homework's up to date, and I'm sorting out things to do on the weekend. Hopefully going to Kuzuha mall and getting my hair cut! Yay!!!

Day 39 - 7th of Ocotber

10:36pm　セミナーハウス
天気：暴風
A 暴風警報 (boufu keihou - storm warning) has been officially issued for the Osaka area, with typhoon #18 at our door-step. If the warning continues, we may not have to go to university at all tomorrow, depending on how long it lasts. It's raging out there at the moment, but I feel completely safe and unaffected in my room.;it's still really nice a warm in here too. We've been told to stay inside, so I've been basically studying, and doing homework that might not even have to be handed in, but anyway...

Today was damp and cold outside, yet warm a cosy inside; jumper on, jumper off, jumper on... I only have two classes on Wednesdays though so I got to come home at 1, eat lunch, and then have a nap. At six, we had our monthly seminar house 2 meeting. Overall we've been doing well. We've just been told to put a bit more time and effort into keeping things clean. Otousan and Okaasan are happy with us though, xD. As soon as the meeting was over everyone rushed to the kitchen to make dinner. I heated up my left over rice, and ate that, before cooking scrambled eggs. I don't want to miss classes tomorrow, it just means a lot of catching up, or missing out on something completely. If the warning is withdrawn by 7am tomorrow, it should be fine. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen. The full force of it is supposed to by over us at 6am tomorrow. Well, we'll just wait and see what happens.