Sweet Release

Rejoice, for Cal is not dead, nor yet have my interesting experiences in Japan ceased. I've just had a rather odd, strained week or so. Having a half-term holiday start on Friday and end the next Wednesday is bound to play havoc with the rhythms I'd become accustomed to, and I had a fair bit of schoolwork to keep me busy. My week off went something like this:

Friday - A trip to Osu (window shopping and thinking about X-mas presents), researching for Modern Japanese Literature essay.
Saturday - Scheduled trip to Nanzan's Seto Campus cancelled, another day of study
Sunday - Some time relaxing, more study.
Monday - Failed attempt to find Nagoya University's library and see if I could use it, more study
Tuesday - Lunch and karaoke with doormmates
Wednesday - Realisation that I'd neglected my Japanese Religions reflection paper, frantic attempt to get it done.

It all passed by in the blink of an eye. Though early on I felt I was making progress with the MJL essay, there were inevitably some admin issues to work out. For those of you who are not familiar with the School of Oriental and African Studies, it is for the most part a groovy place offering an atmosphere of acceptance, good teaching and courses that not many Universities would offer. But if you need to contact the school to work out a problem with your course, then may the gods have mercy on your soul! A substantial amount of my time this past week was spent e-mailing back and forth between the Registry, my tutor for MJL and the Faculty Office, just to attempt to confirm that I'd be re-taking the course and sending my coursework via e-mail! And even now it's not fully sorted, for according to the Registry I'm only resubmitting one out of the two assignments, and the Faculty Office haven't said a word to me since July! A lot of trouble for a half unit.

A glance at my summary will surely lead to the conclusion that Tuesday was the most interesting day of the holiday, but there are a few other points that deserve a bit of attention. Osu continues to surprise and delight me, on this occasion I saw a cat casually sitting on the counter in one shop, and tried my first bar of Japanese chocolate. I also found a shop called "Gamers," which had such a goggling array of merchandise I just drifted through it in a daze, attempting to convert the data into information. But it smelled like heaven. That is the thought that flashed into my mind as I entered. A sort of aroma of the kind of plastic in which that new books, dvds, cds and the like are wrapped. As for Saturday's trip, the cancellation of an appointment due to a typhoon is an experience in itself, though the typhoon itself seemed to miss where I am by miles and not cause much trouble at all.

I have rambled a bit; on to Tuesday! The original plan had been to go to a place called "Sweets Paradise," where they do an all-you-can-eat offer which includes a few savoury options and something in the neighborhood of fifty varieties of desserts. However, for some reason or other we ended up going to a different restaurant, not as exciting, but still all-you-can-eat and cheaper than S.P. would have been, so no complaints from me. Lots of gyoza, noodles, takoyaki, potato croquettes and tofu ice cream on offer; I ate until it hurt! Thence we wandered in search of a karaoke establishment, and happened upon a cheap one (student discount and all!) - 450 yen per person and we could stay until eight in the evening, if we were so inclined.

So, thoughts on karaoke. In the land of its creation it is quite different from the spectacle we may know in the western world, where such things as alcohol and "The X-Factor" lead people to overestimate their singing prowess and "treat" a crowded bar to their unique "interpretation" of their favourite songs. Instead, your group gets a private room (from which you can order food and drink if you are inclined), so you won't disturb any other guests. Certainly, within that room you can still end up murdering songs and embarrassing yourself, but you are among friends all doing the same, and I found that trying to get my timing right quite distracted me from how bad my singing must have been. Interestingly, at the end of each song the number of calories you had supposedly burned was displayed. So I counted it as exercise, and as revision, since we sang quite a few Japanese songs. If only we had such places in England.

Japanese Snacks Vol. 8 - Chocolate: This particular brand and variety tastes a bit like Cadbury Wildlife bars, but with a luxuries undertone (undertaste?) akin to Milk Tray.