On Thursday we had a lesson that involved speaking to some Japanese students, but it didn't seem as nerve-jarring as such things usually are. At some point we were talking about onomatopoeia, and how it's different in different countries (e.g. cats in England say "Meow," cats in Japan say "Nya"), for some time the classroom was full of varied animal noises. Wonder what anyone passing by would have thought? I was tempted to say "In my country, chickens go 'Bwark, buk, Baharratan!" Also, I went to the IT helpdesk as I had been unable to log on to the online resources... it turned out all I needed to do was use a lower-case rather than capital letter in my username.
During the day I usually buy lunch from a supermarket down the road called "Valor." Up until recently I'd confined myself to the bakery, where all items are 98 yen (including tax), but now I've started getting things from the main part of the shop as well. They do some really delicious potato croquettes, and occasionally have tasty stuff reduced, so perhaps I'm eating a bit more varied than before. And, to my joy, they reduced the price of their cheapest bread to 78 yen, meaning I no longer have to try to walk to Aratamabashi every Sunday to save money. (Update: It turned out this was a special offer only on for one day)
Due to my Japanese Religions lecture being cancelled, the scheduled events of Friday ended far earlier than expected. I spent most of it reading - for the Modern Japanese Literature essay I mentioned before. It's quite fun re-acquainting myself with the writers of the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries and recalling what sort of movements their work represented. I really have a craving to read Edogawa Ranpo's "The Red Chamber" and "The Traveller with the Pasted Rag Picture" again, though - neither of which are included in the two anthologies I currently have checked out.
Since Nagoya is a port city, I thought that while I'm here I should go and look out to sea at least once. It was a fair old trek there, but I managed it, despite a few wrong turnings. The port area looks quite pleasant; I may go back sometime and check out some of the touristy attractions. Today I was happy enough to just take in the scenery and stare at the water. I was treated to the somewhat bizarre sight of fish leaping in and out of the water at the quayside - I knew the oceans were being overfished, but if the fish are that enthusiastic... The sea air gave me a craving for fish and chips. Perhaps one day.
