Curtain Call

Wednesday 23rd March - last chance to get everything ready and taken up with the tricky business of packing. I'm not sure if you've ever had to attempt to cram your life into one suitcase (with a weight limit of 20kg), dear readers. There must be some people in the world who are good at it, but I, alas, do not yet possess the knack. My belongings got distributed indiscriminately between the aforementioned case, a couple of cardboard boxes I intended to have sent on, and the treasure trove that the Community Room had become. This must be the third time I've moved out of student accommodation, and this is a common phenomenon. I think it's beautiful to see people desperately "donate" their excess to remaining flatmates; there must be a fortune to be made for whoever is the last to leave.

Back to those boxes I mentioned earlier. If you've been with me all the way from the beginning, you'll know that I'd never set foot in a post office these seven months, apart from my early disastrous attempts to receive an international money order. It may have been my final day in the country but there was still one new experience to be had. What can I say about Japanese P.O.s? Much like banks you can see a lot more of what's going on behind the counter than with their English equivalents. The place I visited was used to foreign students, too, and were lovely an patient with me, and after much discussion we got it sorted. In the main these boxes were packed with books, making them heavy enough to warrant my paying close to the same amount as a month's rent to ship them back to Albion. Needs must when the devil drives and all that.

There's only one more notable feature about this day, and that is what I ate for dinner. Leaving early meant forfeiting the marvellous buffet spread at Nanzan's end-of-term bash, so my last meal was more "Konbini Queen" than "Killer Queen." I made a simple enough fare and ate alone in my room, but it felt strangely extravagant. Looking back I suppose it summed up my time in Japan pretty well - I hadn't always been the most socially outgoing, but I had explored in my own way and discovered all kinds of new experiences. Writing as I am now, several moons after that night, I have not yet sought out or attempted to recreate anything from that final sup - inarizushi, chicken karaage, potato croquettes, onigiri, Meiji chocolate, gyoza, and many more. All quite commonplace to a resident of Japan but in England they sound rare and exotic, and their taste is but a lingering memory.

I managed to catch a few winks during the night, then had a frantic last-minute packing and tidying session to leave the room (alas, no longer my room) in a fit state. On opening the door I found that some of my remaining housemates had fixed a farewell message to the wall in the corridor, instantly warming my heart despite the chill early morning air. After penning a reply and settling up with the janitor (handing back keys, router and bedding) I hauled my suitcase out into the street and said goodbye. Goodbye to Yamazato Koryu Kaikan and those with whom I had lived, goodbye to Nanzan University and those with whom I had studied, goodbye to Japan. Yet I still remember that when my 'plane took off I thought "Goodbye for now, Japan, I'll see you again!"

There's not a lot to relate about the journey back; much of it passed in a blur anyway. But I remember eventually seeing the English countryside from above, thinking how flat and green it looked, yet full of twisty-turny roads and hedgerows and red-brick buildings, and feeling that I was really home.

And so the curtain closes on my Year Abroad in Japan and on this blog. I shan't weary you with an in-depth analysis of my feelings and experience, but it was a good year and I certainly intend to revisit the country in future. My sincerest thanks for your readership, and お元気で until we meet again!

The last picture I took in Japan. It's...?

さよなら、私の名古屋

March the 22nd, 23rd and 24th were my last days in Japan (at least this time around), but before I start on how I filled them, pray allow me to wax philosophical for just a moment. A friend of mine who left before me posted many photo's on Facebook during his last few days, claiming that the knowledge he was leaving made everything seem more significant. That sent me thinking along similar lines - I wasn't just leaving Japan, mysterious oriental island nation, nor just Nagoya, home of Atsuta shrine and birthplace of pachinko. I was leaving the place where I'd lived, laughed, cried, loved and lost; everything that had happened in the past seven months could be connected to this city. Furthermore I was reminded of the point put forward by Stephen Fry (and probably others, too) that a University is not a place, but a time - everything is always changing, so if ever I go back to Nanzan I will find it completely different from the school I attended. Although I was still set on leaving I determined to cram as much as pos. into my last days to help the memories stick.

You may recall that I was never too fond of Tuesday mornings, but this one fair trumped them all - a gloomy affair as I plodded toward the CJS office (newly relocated to the newly opened R Building) and filled out the forms for withdrawl from the programme. Admittedly the process was fairly quick and painless, the staff were really nice about it, and even gave me a bag with the school crest on it as a parting gift. I didn't manage to properly say goodbye to my classmates or teachers, though. My excuse was that I was too busy with all my last minute preparations, but the truth is that I was too scared. Scared of them being disappointed in me and scared to admit that I'd become closer to them than I'd first expected I would.

After confirming my withdrawl there was more to do elsewhere - the first stop being the bank to close my account. Again, it seemed so bizarre to think that I'd once spent a deal of time getting lost and navigating with map and compass just to find this building, which was now so familiar. Strange, also, after all the time I'd spent worrying about money and doing my best to live frugally, to be handed ¥340,008 in cash! The envelope containing this wad went into the inside pocket of my coat, and I wouldn't be surprised if I patted it to make sure it was still there once for every yen over the coming days!

Eventually I found a safe place to keep the money

Next was the Ward Office to cancel my Health Insurance and get a little refund for what I'd already payed up to this point. These bits of official business concluded I made my way to my favourite old haunts (taking pictures all along the route) and splashed out on some souvenirs and various things I'd seen in shops and thought of buying "sometime." This burst of retail therapy made me feel much better, and provided a bit of closure, too, for all I know. That evening I went to the supermarket, bought catfood and took away some empty cardboard boxes. I can only imagine what the staff may have thought I was up to.

Good times.

Take Your Hand And Walk Away

As the more astute of you may already have deduced, dear readers, shortly after the March 11th quake I terminated my studies and returned to England. Had the week running from the 15th to the 20th not been Spring Break I may not have come to this decision, and I will tell you for why. At first I was not worried about the possibility of another earthquake striking nearer to Nagoya - in fact, during an aftershock a few days later I calmly went to sleep while my housemates gathered downstairs and started filling up bottles of emergency water. Neither did the threat of a meltdown at Fukushima nuclear plant worry me - for every paranoid comparison to Chernobyl from a layman I seemed to have friends of friends with expert knowledge who could confirm that the situation was not even by the longest stretch of the wildest imagination as bad as it could have been. Before I continue let's spare a thought for the brave people involved in efforts to cool the reactors, who by getting so close to the highly radiated areas condemned themselves to an early grave for the sake of others.

One of the things my time in Japan has taught me is that having lots of time to oneself can be dangerous. My position may have been stalwart enough at the start of the week, but with no lessons to distract me from the many "what if"s I found myself wavering. The week is very much a blur to me; I passed it thinking hard about my options, wrapped up in melancholy and uncertainty. I had planned to attempt some travel, but I no longer felt I could do so with a clear conscience and found myself putting vast amounts into donation boxes. Eventually it was two things that sealed the deal for me. Firstly SOAS offered the option to come home and attend an alternative programme so I could still pass the year - if not for that I'd not even have considered leaving - after five years of trying to finish this degree I wasn't about to just quit.

Second was the exodus of other students, wither voluntarily or at the behest of their home universities. The first day back after the holiday was lonely indeed - our class was small to begin with, but our number was now reduced by half. I couldn't see myself having a very good time with so many of my friends gone, and from there all sorts of other arguments branched out - knock-on effect on my work, being able to reassure the folks back home, financial issues et cetera. Before I knew it I had made my decision, and my year abroad was prematurely over. I was sad, but there was an upside to the situation - Goodbye Parties!

With some people leaving Yamazato Koryu Kaikan of their own accord, others being forced to and others still graduating and moving on, there was a definite sense of fin-de-siécle in the house. We were always going to part ways, but who'd have thought it would be so soon? We celebrated for all we were worth, had a jolly good time and created a few more great memories to take away with us. One night we went to a sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt running all the way around the place, where you just take what you like when you see it and they count up your plates at the end to work out the bill. It turned into quite a competition as to who could eat the most - I was mocked for my slow 'n' steady approach at first, but soon had a respectable ten-plate-high tower. An added bonus, of course, was that conveyor belt sushi is slightly higher quality than supermarket sushi, and I was able to try a few varieties that were new to me, including the bizarre Meatball Makizushi. Om nom nom.

The End of Another Era

Another night saw us pool together the leftover food of those leaving to make a big rice-y salad-y fajita-y combination. We ate together at the table like a family, and it seemed strange to think of how much time had passed since we gathered around that table and introduced ourselves for the first time. Yet another night some of us visited an 居酒屋/Izakaya (Japanese-style pub), a place where you sit on cushions rather than chairs and press a remote-control-type-button to summon waiters and order drinks and food. What kind of food? All sorts, but the one that sticks in my memory is 鯛 (Tai - red snapper or red sea bream in English, according to Wikipedia: http://tinyurl.com/6ypatta), described as (quint/)essential Izakaya cuisine. In appearance it resembled crisps, was rubbery in texture, and as for the taste... it was fish. Very very fishlike. This fishy taste was a bit too much for the old sensitive English tastebuds, but I'm still glad I tried it!

かんぱい！

That's Just Ridiculous...ly On

On Saturday (March 12th) I slept in and after a while toddled off to Osu for a few hours. Sunday saw me conducting my routine of showering, shopping and idling very much as usual. Usual - now there's a word that is key in describing this weekend. To judge from the frantic kindly enquiries after my wellbeing from English friends and relations, the news seemed to imply that the whole of Japan had been thrown into pandemonium. Don't misunderstand me - the Sendai quake was an awful disaster, affecting, ruining and ending the lives of many, and people in the rest of the country were mindful of it. However, there was about as much indication of this destruction in Nagoya as there might be in Southampton after a hurricane in Glasgow. A river I walked past had become murky and smelly from the pits and pieces dislodged by the vibrations, a St Patrick's Day parade was cancelled, and donation boxes for quake victim relief had sprung up everywhere. Those were the only signs that anything out of the ordinary had happened. I suppose it's easy to think of "Japan" as a small country in comparison to, say, China or the USA, but in fact it's still a very big place.

Monday rolled around in time, and the mood in the first class was decidedly solemn. All I just said about it being difficult to connect what was on the news to the world around us notwithstanding, consciousness of the tragedy was still there, especially since we'd been hanging out with people from Sendai not so long ago. Although this funk hung over us like a heavy fog, we managed to have a normal sort of lesson before too long, carrying on with our lives. We even had some fun afterwards in the form of a photoshoot!

First some background explanation. Since before I arrived at Nanzan a new building had been in the process of being put together. The hard-hatted, be-overalled workers were as familiar to me as the big main gate or the fountain outside the CJS office, so it was something of a surprise to find the place ("R" Building) completed and almost ready for offices to move into. The University wanted some pictures of hip and beautiful international students in these shiny new premises for use in their next prospectus/news bulletin/whatever, and naturally we of IJ600 were happy to oblige. It was a fun experience, watching the photographers select and place everyone to make sure each photo had a reasonable distribution of colours and nationalities (e.g. not too many white people wearing black bunched together). The props used to give the pictures a "studenty" feel were also amusing; they included a dummy laptop, newspapers over a year old and textbooks thicker than my arm about subjects I'd never heard of. We also had a group picture taken, which, unbeknownst to us, would be the last time we would gather together like this...

Consequences Will Never Be The Same

Gotta get down on Friday. Sections had been rearranged, so morning lessons contained a slightly different combination of classmates. Our teacher dubbed us "S-Section," on account of her feeling a bit "special" that morning and in need of our support. The only other notable feature I can remember is that I was told I could probably be mistaken for a Japanese person from behind. But all this is beside the point; I'm sure you all know what I'm really going to talk about.

It was an ordinary day. I'd been sneezing a lot due to a cold I caught the day before and was a little disappointed at how the sections had been divided up. Lunch, homework, sitting in my room during the gap between my Japanese lessons and the Japanese Culture and Art lecture. Routine. Commonplace. Everyday. Words I can still use to describe how I spent the eleventh of March, yet for others it was anything but. I found myself feeling dizzy after a sneeze - was this a very bad cold? No, the movement had nothing to do with me. Rough tides, then? I was on land. Earthquake.

Some 300 miles away in Sendai carnage was being unleashed and people were dying as this "Mega-Quake" moved Honshu east, made the Earth wobble and speed up its rotation and who knows what else. Yet in Nagoya, where the quake registered a mere 3.5 magnitude, I cringe to say that I noted the moving of the earth with nothing more than amused curiosity. Does this make me sound callous? I must stress that I was completely oblivious to the disaster. In our high-speed information age, people across the world knew about it before I did. During my lecture an announcement came on over the speaker system advising people to contact anyone they knew from the Tohoku region and warning of incoming tsunamis (only about a meter high for Nagoya). It just seemed like a natural occurrence and that everyone went about their business as usual.

That's my safe and uneventful experience of this quake. The truth is Japan is a big place and I only got to hear of the real damage done when the news told me. Lots of people lots their lives or homes or families, which is a very sad thing. I feel like all I can do is spout clichés, but I'm sure we can try to honour the memory of those who have passed on, and I'm sure that as a country Japan will get back on its feet.

Encouragement

ニュース

As the week (March 7-11) drew to its end so too did our news-based project work. This week was a good one, and important for me - mainly because it taught me about all the problems there are in Japan. Why is this a good thing? In the Western world (or at least in Britain where we're so ready to condemn ourselves) it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking of Japan as some kind of super-efficient utopia, which of course it is not (oops, spoiler!). It's a country like any other, real and flawed - in some areas it's doing well, in others there's room for improvement. Understanding this reality helps to demystify the place thus making it easier to stay here, and if I may pretend to some nobility of spirit, also gets one thinking about possible approaches to dealing with these problems.

Enough of my extolling the virtues of imperfection, on to the presentations themselves! I can't remember all the topics, but some that stand out in my memory include jury service (a bit complex, but I think it's been proposed to involve a larger number of people in it), security cameras (most people are content to sacrifice the small amount of privacy for the safety they provide, but apparently this is still something of a new idea), whether or not to have lessons on Saturdays and how English should be taught. That last one in particular made an impression on me. I haven't seen many examples over here of hilariously bad English ("Engrish," as the young people say), so I assumed Japan was getting on alright as regards proficiency in this most excellent and heroic choice of language. However, in a recent test measuring English ability in thirty Asian countries, Japan placed 29th (a few others for your information: Singapore 1st, China and Korea tied at 8th). There's as many as 8 years of compulsory English education, with plenty of reading aloud, learning vocab and translation, so where could the difficulty lie?

Well, imagine, for example, if I were to tell you that 傘売り場はどこですか(kasa uriba wa doko desu ka) means "Where is the umbrella department?" You could then say that you know the Japanese for "Where is the umbrella department?" and if anyone were to say Kasa uriba wa doko desu ka to you, you would know what they were asking. But you may not know that は marks the subject of the sentence, that the particle か changes a statement into a question, that です is a polite form non-past tense et cetera et cetera. Upscale this sort of problem to apply to a whole system of education, throw in some lack of practice communicating with native speakers and you have the current situation. Yet what has the government proposed to set this right? More hours of lessons and more vocabulary to be learned. Double-yew very much tee heich. I found this issue surprising as I've always found Japanese to be taught to foreigners very well, and would thought it would be simple enough to follow the same principles in an inverse way.

I suppose I must also mention how my own presentation went. Writing now it seems as if it passed by in a flash, but I remember being nervous of over- or under-running and stuttering and hesitating quite a bit. Perhaps I put too much faith in my powers of improvisation, maybe it would have been better if I'd written a script for my parts so I'd have had something concretely structured to fall back on. Still, no use crying over spilled milk, and others commented that it went quite well, so perhaps I'm just being paranoid. The inescapable fact of the matter is that one more piece of project work is over, roll on whatever comes next!

"Three little pups from school are we..."

運 Vs 努力

Dear Readers, have you ever had a day, morning or even an hour when all goes right? Things click into place and you start to "fire on all cylinders" and feel really good about yourself? Tuesday 8th March was just such a day for me. In that seemingly vague, improvised way of structuring lessons that I don't think I'll ever get used to, we were given three hours to research, ponder and discuss the idea of 運(un) Vs. 努(doryoku): in other words, which has more influence on our lives - luck or effort?

At first we were invited to recall a few of our own experiences and consider which could be attributed to luck (good or bad) or effort (sufficient or lacking). We then read an article about how people had answered to a similar question in a certain survey, along with some case studies - a fellow falling in love and marrying someone he met on a train as an example of luck and someone who filled in a ridiculous amount of competition entries to win a car as the scion of effort. Having warmed up to the theme in this way, the last task before the break in between sessions was to compose an argument in favour of one view or the other. For a moment I considered playing Devil's Advocate and write in favour of luck, but in the end came down on effort's side of the fence.

I was fairly happy with my composition; if I remember aright my main points were that we humans can't control luck (so why worry about it?), that the right amount of effort can overcome bad luck, and that concentrating on luck creates opportunity to abandon responsibility for one's actions. The next step was dividing the class according to their alliance, then each person read out their argument, and we had challenges and discussion after each one. This was the part which had me feeling so good - in general, to churn out the essays quickly, one writes in more plain Japanese, but to show proper respect speaks in polite form. Somehow I managed to make the changes really well on the spot; it felt a bit like reading from a script - the structure and words were already there, but an element of improvisation regarding to say them.

So, a fairly stimulating day intellectually, plus a decent amount of success, and some social interaction after class (that person will probably never realise how much our casual conversation of barely a few minutes meant to me) all added up to make me feel on top o' the world! I'm sure everyone needs a day like this every now and then to keep them afloat.

Japanese Snacks Vol. 12 - Honey Lemon Fanta. Smokey, robust but sweet taste which makes one think of honey despite it not being at all viscous.

Nyūsu You Can Yūsu

Ain't no rest for the wicked. Barely had our class's kaigo endeavors concluded and e-mails of gratitude sent off, than we were plunged into the next incarnation of project work. This time we divided into pairs and were tasked with presenting on an item of news, with a view to searching for information in Japanese, rather than finding it in English then translating it. Thus m'classmate and I set about scouring news sites in the pursuit of understanding why some people want sale and advertising of alcohol in Japan to be restricted.

For its lenient attitude toward alcohol Japan is described by some as 酔っ払い天国(yopparai tengoku) - The Drunkard's Heaven. There's never any shortage of shops, bars or vending machines that stock drinks, therefore drunken people are everywhere! Or rather, anywhere. Some say that the hootch is a part of Japanese culture - it's always consumed at celebrations and festivals, it's the average businessman's preferred method of relieving stress and there's even a phenomenon cropping up lately called ママ飲み(mama nomi) where ladies get together for a drink during the day. Adverts target men and women alike and generally promote the idea that drinking is fun, cool and competitive. The argument against restrictions is not that problems connected with drinking do not exist, but rather that regulation and moderation should not be enforced by law. Let the advertisers, retailers and consumers work together to create a more responsible environment, the "Against" team cry, then let each individual, thus armed with knowledge of the risks, decide how to drink.

This is the gist of what our research revealed, but simply understanding an issue does not a presentation make, so we arranged to meet up and spend a bit of time tweaking and structuring what we might talk about. Timetable differences meant the only day we could both manage was Saturday (5th March), forcing me to set foot on campus during the weekend for the first time since coming to Japan. I was determined to still get my weekly fix of wandering, however, so I rose early and strode off in the direction of Sakae, which as usual did not fail to supply a diverting spectacle or two. In addition to some kind of safety awareness event at Oasis (complete with a bouncy inflatable crocodile - if that doesn't say "Safety" I don't know what does!), a fair-sized crowd had gathered in the park to see something special. Recently a movie called Gantz (based on the manga of the same name) and there was a promotion going on with people queuing up to get pictures with props from the film, which looked as though they'd made the transition from page to RL quite well. Alas, I had not the time to queue or wait to see if anything else happened, and hot-footed it back to Nanzan.



A University campus on a weekend feels like a bit of a ghost town, and I find myself assuming that anyone I see in such a time and place must either have an important appointment to keep or be an especially earnest student. Or perhaps has bad timing, like myself. M'col and I managed to hammer things out here and there - what was to go on each slide of our presentation, who would cover each point and in which order. We decided not to write a script and leave the exact details as a matter of personal consideration, and parted ways feeling optimistic.

The only other notable feature of this weekend is that I bought my first CD in Japan. It's Drum & Bass, which isn't usually my style, but I think I can be excused as the tracks are all remixes of music from games.

介護

The week starting 28th February was mainly occupied by plunging into the world of 介護 (kaigo - care work), centring around an afternoon spent volunteering at a day centre (I think that's the term I want, not "Old Folks' Home" as they weren't in residence there) in the company of folks of advanced years. Why? The previous week we'd been introduced to articles and reading materials about the Koureika (see previous entries) phenomenon, as well as Japan's welfare system, or lack thereof in some cases, but more on that later. In any case, I suppose this volunteer activity can be seen as a way of supplementing this knowledge with a bit of real-life experience. It's also been one of those lovely unique experiences with which study abroad is supposedly littered.

On Monday we were divided into groups and briefed on how to get to our assigned day centre and the proposed schedule. Tuesday we got off, supposedly for mental preparation or some such. Then finally Wednesday dawned - the real thing! I'd been a little nervous at first, as I always am when meeting new people, but I was able to rationalise away most of my fears - after all, I'd be there with classmates and hopefully we could cover for each other if there were moments of hesitation or misunderstanding. I also knew I'd have something to say just at first, for we'd each prepared a little presentation about our countries, so even as I walked to the centre with my classmates I was rehearsing explanations of scones, Stonehenge and London lifestyle in my head.

All in all I think it went rather well. The folks were all gathered together in one room, so waiting to meet them felt like being backstage before a show. We came on, did self-introductions, then launched into presentations, in the order Vietnam, China, England and Hawaii. It was quite interesting to see which aspects of their countries everyone chose to play up and which pictures they used, though I'm very relieved that Hawaii was the finalé. With its gorgeous scenery and popularity as a holiday destination for retired persons, it would have been a difficult act to follow.

After the presentations a visitor not affiliated with us led a Yoga session. Now, I've done a bit o' Yoga in my time... by which I mean I've watched videos and noticed my mother doing it, so I have a fairly clear idea of how it should look. This version had obviously been adapted so that even people whose bodies were in a state of ill repair could participate, for it was entirely conducted from the sitting position. By which I mean while sat on chairs, not 正座(seiza), the traditional formal way of sitting. Some stretching of limbs and deep breathing later we moved on to the final section of the day - a casual chat and a cup of tea!

This was a lot more fun than I had expected – no dodgy ancient dialects or distrust of foreigners for one thing, and I found I wasn’t strapped for conversation subjects, either. The folks were quite eager to hear what I could tell them about England, and to tell me their own experiences, for some of them had visited or had children living abroad. It turns out sometimes you can be interesting just by being foreign. I mean, being yourself. Moreover, an ice-breaking question that often comes up in Japan is “What is your hobby?” and recently I’ve found that answering “Collecting hats” opens up all kinds of avenues of conversation.

Before long it was time for everyone to head back to their respective abodes. Even at the best of times talking to new people is one of my major weak points, especially if they’re considerably younger or older than me. But I think this visit has helped dispel some of the fears connected with such situations – after all, if I can chat to folk in Japanese, doing so in English should be a breeze!

Regrettably I must end this entry on a pensive note, for it occurs to me that there must be a fair few people like the ones I met who aren’t as well provided for. In Japan there’s an attitude that it should be the family’s responsibility to take care of the elderly. Sounds good from a cultural point of view, but the pressure it puts on people and the assumption that everyone will have a complete family unit makes it a tad impractical as a governmental policy. Still, if articles dealing with issues like this are being reprinted in textbooks, it may be that things are changing. Let’s hope so.

Train Station And Beyond!

When the weekend rolled around I decided to spend Saturday (Feb 26) exploring Nagoya station and the surrounding area. Sounds a strange choice at first, I know, but after the presentations given during the project work I got to thinking it might be an interesting place to check out. On top of that I thought it would be prudent to acquaint myself with the station in case I want to do some travelling at a later date. Nagoya station is very wide, and surrounded by large buildings and shops so trendy I felt like I would devalue their goods simply by hanging around outside their doors. Nonetheless, this cutting edge fashion and towering offices of who-knows-what made me a little nostalgic for London and I found myself a little homesick. My solution? Walk it off!

This next leg of the journey requires a bit of background information. The main reason I'd never explored the station before is that in my first term I was too insufferably stingy to pay for a trip on the underground, since it's a bit far even for me to walk. Even in these scholarship-funded latter days, when I think nothing of buying a single ticket, I still like to walk and found myself navigating toward Sakae for a look at some of the shops more familiar to me. Whether I was planning to walk all the way home afterwards the world may never know, for I came by a discarded all-day travel ticket, which I used to get to Osu (for there was something I wished to buy not in stock in the Jump Shop) and thence homeward, bringing the adventure to a satisfactory conclusion.

The other highlight of the weekend was my monthly meet-up with Chihiro and Takahiro, my great guides to Japanese culture and restaurants! This time around they introduced me to 焼肉(Yakiniku), at a place very nearby - just down the road from my dorm and situated next to a small lake, creating a rather pleasing effect. I'd never ventured inside before, but often noticed it... in fact, you can barely miss the place as it's covered in flourescant red signage.

So what is this mysterious cuisine in the shining establishment (where disposable aprons replace napkins) I speak of? It involves cooking meat over a charcoal fire, so the nearest English equivalent would be barbeque, though there are quite a few differences. Immediately obvious is the fact that it's done inside and that there are restaurants that specialise in it. I feel this could never be the case in Britain, as I doubt people could be trusted not to burn the place down or give themselves food poisoning. There's also a difference in the kind of meat that's used - rather than burgers, chicken wings et cetera yakiniku uses thinly sliced portions, which of course cook faster and may even be of better quality (balanced by some which are taken from intestines and other such places Western people wouldn't usually deign to try eating). It tasted amazingly indulgent and tender, and we passed the time as always with pleasant conversation and sharing of cultural knowledge and experience. In spite of the difficulties I've already mentioned, I feel that if it were at all possible I would like England to experience Yakiniku, even if it were only through one specialist restaurant somewhere in London...

少子高齢社会

I'm glad to have got that Kabuki business out of the way. I'm glad I went to watch it, and I'm glad I wrote up my opinions and impressions properly, but the entry was fast becoming one of those things you put off more and more until just looking at it is enough to make you want to give up. One of the casualties of this situation is that the next few entries will be written with the use of notes and hazy memories rather than fresh impressions. Never mind.

To give a general summary of the week starting Monday the 21st, much of it was spent studying a phenomenon called Shoushikoureika. I can best explain this by explaining how it's spelled: 少(few), 子(children), 高(high), 齢(age) and 化 (change). In other words Japan is currently experiencing higher life expectancy, not a problem in itself, but quite tricky when combined with the low birth rate, all adding up to insufficient strapping young population to take care of those in their twilight years.

To be completly honest I can't remember too many of the details of these lessons, for I was cultivating the faculty of sleeping in for a little bit too long, hurridley doing some of the work due before leaving the house, then making lots of comments during class in the hopes of creating the impression that I knew what was going on. I do at least remember that the problem has to do with the "Baby Boom" to repopulate Japan after the war on one end, and social change meaning more women tend to work rather than be housewives and younger people in general tend to sort out their careers and not get married and have children until a bit later in life.

A few words on my non-Japanese classes. Classical Japanese is going quite well; I'm actually learning new things this term, though I usually forget them in between lessons and have to do a frantic little bit of revision just before going in. In Japanese Religions we're making a kind of erratic progress as the teacher in charge seems to have a lot going on and often cancels lessons. As for Japanese Culture & Art, one of the most interesting lectures recently has been on Geisha culture in the Meiji period, where many of them became super-politically-active, many in an espionage-type way. It's a subject that I've docketed in my mind to learn more about sometime.

Japanese Snacks Vol. 11 - Reduced sushi again, though this variety pack is a bit more expensive. At first I wasn't sure about the small round red/orange things or the shredded-looking yellow stuff, but they're both actually quite good.

歌舞伎 (第二舞)

What follows is an account of the Kabuki performance I went to see on the sixteenth of February. It took place at the same theatre as last time, and our seats were more or less in the same place, as well, though I didn't get any vertigo this time. As the lavishly decorated curtains rose, the most immediately noticeable difference from last time was the set. Scenery suggested open countryside, some painted on a backdrop, other features picked out in wood/cardboard (couldn't tell from the distance I was out), creating an almost pop-up book style of dimensions. This play was called Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, and I shall attempt to recreate it with words, referring to some notes on it at times to fill in the holes in my own knowledge/memory.

The story opened at a quaint little roadside teahouse, which was visited by some folk of noble standing - a lady and child (obviously noble from their nice clothes and skin painted white) and a samurai-looking retainer type [later found out they were on their way to meet the lady's husband, who was on the run from an opposing army]. Kogino (the retainer chap) sets his money down on a bench for a few minutes, only to get it mixed up with an identical money-containing device (I can't really say wallet and stay accurate) belonging to another chap by the name of Gonta. The mixup is discovered and despite his politeness Gonta is given a smart clout on the ear for being common and the toffs depart.

As night falls troops of the opposing army catch up and Kogino fights them off. This scene was interesting to watch, for though it was a fight scene, it wasn't intended to be realistic and seemed sort of part fight, part dance. A particularly impressive moment came when the enemy attempted to snare Kogino in ropes, but he slipped out, leaving them all together in a spider-web like pattern, which he then jumped on in a "Check me out."-kind of way. Alas, though, for all his impeccable choreography he is eventually laid low, and later some old man happens across the body, takes up his sword and appears to be in the act of cutting off the head as the curtain falls for the interval.

Part Two, as it were, mainly took place in a Sushi shop. My notes tell me that there were all kinds of relationship problems going on with the staff, but I didn't tweak on to any at the time. What I was able to follow was that Gonta came to visit his mother, feeding her some story about having been burgled in order to get some money, which then hid in a nearby tub. The old man from earlier then arrived, carrying Kogino's head, which he hid in another tub. Yes, both these tubs looked identical and were placed next to each other, and much confusion and trouble was in store! A general arrives, demanding the head of someone or other, but the head's not there, things are looking tense, but Gonta arrives with the head and takes the reward for himself. Another of the Sushi shop staff stabs him, but before he dies he explains all he has done and why.

I must admit, I didn't catch a lot of his monologue - it went on for quite a bit. In fact, during the second interval I overheard someone saying they fell asleep during the death scene and it was still going on when they woke up. The Useful Notes, though, say that the noble woman and child from earlier met up with the husband/father they were searching for, and Gonta did in fact save them by diverting the general's attention away from them. They were now dressed in plain robes, which denoted that they were posing as clergy and disappearing for their own safety. Though at the time I wasn't sure if they were priests or ghosts.

One interval later the second piece started, this one called Ninin Dojoji and being more of a musical routine and less story oriented. If asked to sum up my first impression of it, though, I'd say "A Day at the Campest Monastery (Clarkson Voice) In The World." Why? Well, two dancers at a temple showing off their skill I can accept, but when the monks start joining in, doing a dance with fluffy pink parasols, one really has to wonder what kind of sutras they've been reciting. Anyhow, the dancing was quite enjoyable to watch, interesting movements and props, and not a lot of emphasis on synchronicity. Perhaps that's because of an underlying Buddhist mentality (to match the setting) about walking your own path, and that everything is impermanent, so if you attach too much importance to watching any one dancer you'll not enjoy the dance as a whole. But that's just my theory.

To sum up, much like the last time I saw Kabuki it was an enjoyable evening, if a little long and difficult to understand at times. Since last time it was structured as several sketches, seeing a show that was mostly one main story made a change. Though I think if one only ever sees just one Kabuki piece it should be Shiranami Gonin Otoko, which I think not only epitomises but also satirises the form as a whole. Gosh, check me out with my theatrical snooty opinions - with these I can surely bluff my way into high society someday!

View from my seat this time 'round

プロジェクト･ワーク

The first week back after the brief holiday! It was only four days long, though, and we weren't doing normal lessons. Stress relating to non-academic matters was rather piling up, but otherwise it was a jolly nice week. On to the bus. of Project Work. As I mentioned briefly a while back, this week our class was visited by a number of students (plus one teacher - best friend of one of our own sensei) from M.G. Uni of Sendai. Dividing into groups, each was assigned a place of interest in Nagoya - Wednesday was spent exploring it, Thursday crafting a presentation about the expedition, then on Friday the presentations were given. It was sort of relaxing not having homework or tests, but that's beside the main point. Our group's location was Sakae, so off we shot in the next underground train toward bustling busy downtown-ness.

First stop was Oasis 21, for a quick look at the shops and more importantly (as it seemed to us at the time) a bite to eat. Unfortunately all the people in our group had a passive, "anything's fine" attitude, so we wandered in a haze for some time before taking the easy option - MacDonalds! Not exactly an adventurous choice, I'll admit, but it was the first time I'd frequented such an establishment in Japan, and I was much impressed with the limited edition "Big Miami" burger (topped with nachos and salsa - epic win!). We follow this up with a walk in the park which I now know is called 久屋大通(hisayaoodoori), not Central Park. During our travels we happened upon the Nagoya TV Tower, and decided to venture inside, something that I'd not done before, so it became a nice new experience.

The first thing to strike me on entering was the elevator attendant. That is today, her presence made an impression on me, not that she assaulted me. There just aren't enough lift attendants around these days, even in Japan. Yes, it feels like an unnecessary privilege to have someone press the button for you, but it does wonders for one's mood and the image of the establishment in question to have a cheery, polite person in a spiffy uniform greet people. From the entrance we ascended to the fourth floor, where we gained access to another elevator which took us to a height of 90 meters. This was the main observation deck, with various comfy sofas and signs detailing different varieties of hugs and which season they suited, for it is apparently quite a popular spot for lovers. In that same vein there was one wall full of tiles commemorating couples who had got married there. A staircase up to the open air, 100-meters-high balcony (open air but protected by a wiry cage) was also to be found, but that was as high as we members of the public could climb. The views of the city were certainly very impressive, but I somehow found them rather sad as well.

Upon exiting the tower I realised that time was getting on - that same day I was scheduled to see a Kabuki performance. I barely had time to stop and talk to a cat, then made my excuses and rushed off to the theatre. I was a few minutes late, but not so as anyone would notice, and since it was the same place I went last time I wasn't feeling at all bewildered. Again, I think the performance itself deserves an entry all its own, so for the moment I'll just say that I went to the theatre and returned home much later, rather tired. The next day we collaborated together to write something interesting about our adventures (we had trouble just at first getting past "There was a cat!") and make some kind of Power Point presentation to go with the commentary.

Friday arrived before I knew it, and it was time to give the presentations! It was not at all painful, and I was able to find out some interesting things about Nagoya, including places I've not yet been but may go to in future. The assessment method was a bit strange - we were required to vote on three presentations we found interesting, and the marks given would reflect the number of votes received. Somehow this rubbed me the wrong way - I don't mind a competitive edge in studies, but not if it everyone doesn't have the potential to get the same amount of points. Still, it was only worth 1 or 2 per cent of the final grade, so I swallowed my protests and voted anyway.

End of P.W., huzzah!

Later that day a farewell party was scheduled - realising I would have to go their directly after Culture & Art, I dashed home and changed into something party-worthy. One "Modernising in the Arts" and "Anti-Buddhism"-themed lecture later I was hurtling toward a strange building owned by the University, and got there just in time for the opening toast. Fun times were had all around - I ate lots of delicious food, met a few new people, learned that the American Way can be summed up as "Beer and Fried Chicken," and won a coupon that entitles me to give a massage to the teacher of my choice. This project work was quite fun, and I think I shall remember it fondly for the fact that it was a unique experience born of a link of friendship.

誕生日

Thursday, 10th February, 2011 - my 23rd birthday, which I spent in Japan. That is something about that day which cannot be denied or changed, and thus I hope it will always stick in my memory, whatever I get up to in my future birthdays. How did I spend it? Allow me to tell the tale...

A few little packages and cards from my family had arrived the previous day, just in time. Just before time, perhaps, but just in time to tempt me. Anyhow, as a result I was able to wake up and open presents, and have a lazy morning, which sort of balances out last year, when I was taking exams on this day. Presently I set of toward Osu with a spring in my step and a 10,000 yen note burning a hole in my wallet. One of the presents I'd received was a CD set of "Fry's English Delight," which made me laugh out loud even in crowded streets, likely cementing my image of a strange foreign person.

My first port of call was a shop called "Gamers," I think I may have mentioned it before as being a bit of a sensory overload with bright colours, different soundtracks playing and the delicious smell of fresh manga. I walked in and walked out a few minutes later, feeling that I needed to get my thoughts together. Thus I took a moment to have lunch, sitting underneath the large cat statue and taking in the view. I returned to the aforementioned shop and bought an illustration book and a few packs of trading cards. Next came a trip to a clothing shop where I picked up a Chinese-style dress... yes, some may say a kimono would be a more appropriate choice considering I'm in Japan, but it caught my eye and rather appealed to me. My final purchase was a collector's edition of one of my favourite games, Disgaea 2. Yes, I don't have a Japanese PS2 so I won't be able to play it, but it came with a soundtrack CD and artbook, so I consider it a worthwhile investment.

Later that day the housemates gathered together for some drinking and cavorting. Although we were somewhat late assembling everyone, we still had a good time - played our international version of Ring of Fire a few times, along with "that Finnish Clapping Game" and "that Korean Clapping Game." The latter two are very simple but surprisingly effective, and since they require no special equipment beyond voice, hands and drink they strike me as the kind of games that would be good to introduce when I get back to England. I think they'd be handy for getting past the initial awkward period when you first arrive at a club while on a night out. To summarise, a relaxing day full of buying nice things, followed by a fun evening of intoxication and tomfoolery. Who could ask for more in a birthday?

Presents from me to me

If You Change Your Mind, I'm the First in Line

Sorry to make you wait, dear readers! Had a week off Uni and been flitting rapidly between "Too busy doing stuff to write" or "Can't focus long enough to write." But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? I still need to recount the events of Friday the fourth, so here goes! Lessons started off with a review of new expressions learned this week, though everyone seemed to be sort of dazed and in little mood to speak up. Somehow we stumbled through it and moved on to an exercise in using quotes to back up arguments, which I don't think went amazingly well, but there's plenty of time to improve! Later that day I went to my Culture & Art lecture, the content of which included growing interest in Japan in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Japanese art gaining recognition and a few bits and pieces about the differences between Japanese and Western art at the time. Quite a few technical arty terms got thrown around; I was able to understand them alright, but they felt somewhat unfamiliar on my ears, like when you taste a new food for the first time.

So with that, my little holiday began. Writing from the end of it I can say that it was a lazy one - I spent lots of time at home, didn't go travelling like some other students do, but I enjoyed it and managed to get some amount of work done, so I have no regrets. It'll be more interesting if I recount what I did do rather than sticking rigidly to chronological order and including the days when I just stayed in and studied.

In spite of the time off facing me I felt somewhat downhearted on Saturday (5). Perhaps it was homesickness, or a sudden lack of confidence in my abilities, or just a bit of bad mojo. I went a-walking and found myself in Sakae, where I sat in a park and spent some pleasant time reading. At the moment I'm getting through The Pillow Book (http://tinyurl.com/6anb69n) as I'm thinking of writing about Sei Shonagon for my Culture & Art final paper and want to get an idea of what kind of person she was. Taking this time out to relax and drift into the past refreshed me considerably, and I followed it up by buying a few bits and pieces from the Jump Shop - retail therapy for the win!

On Tuesday (8) I visited Atsuta Shrine, partly just to get me out of the house, partly to see if I could find anything interesting that I missed the first time I went there, and also to gather inspiration for this term's Japanese Religions reflection paper. The shrine seems the same as ever, nestled in dense greenery as if sheltered in its own private world. This time I lingered near to (as entry is forbidden) the main shrine a bit longer, taking in the elegant decoration on the fixtures. Though I went away with a few new ideas, I found the journey there and back much longer than I remembered, so much so that I took the tube for the last leg of the journey home. I must have become either soft or impatient since my days of taking a whole day to see a certain place with nothing but water for nourishment!

福は内

Oh by gee, by gosh, by gum, by Jove. Here we are again. This week has produced all kinds of mixed feelings - fairly interesting and enjoyable pursuits of time on the one hand marred by wicked homesickness and what may be a form of culture shock on the other. A classmate of mine recently said that so far the second term "feels like staying on long after the party has moved on somewhere else." I can appreciate this sentiment, but I am hoping that things will pick up and get fun again after a while. But enough of my insect-on-a-leaf-proclaiming-there-is-too-much-food-type whining, on to what I have actually been doing!

Much the same as so many Thursday mornings last year, this week's began with a lesson in which we spoke to Japanese students about various things. However, the subjects were a little bit deep and (at first) uncomfortable to speak about - rather than the usual "Ooh, getting a job in Japan sounds hard," or "What do you think of our project work title?" we had to attempt to discuss things like "What kind of person do you think other people see you as?" or "Is there a difference between a lover and marriage partner?" and so on. There was a thinly-veiled theme to it all - generally the issues of the balance of work and homelife, where roles of men and women fit in and if attitudes are changing.

We were also introduced to some project work we'll be doing for a week or so mid-February. This has been planned less so with an academic focus (counts as 1% of the final grade) but rather a social one. The way the Japanese academic calendar falls means that the main part of the University will be inactive for a while, hence there won't be many Japanese native speakers around for us to talk to. Therefore a number of students from Miyagigakuin Women's University (MG for short) in Sendai volunteered to come over and spend some time with us. The object of the project work is to introduce and explore a certain area of Nagoya, in the hopes that everyone will gain some enriching experience.

After all business was concluded at Uni I headed off toward Osu Kannon for Setsubun. Setsu-what, you ask? Setsubun is a Japanese holiday to welcome in Spring (the next day is called 立春/risshun, lit. "Standing Spring"), although since time immemorial people have remarked that it seems to be placed rather early in the calendar. Similar to the British "Out with the old year, in with the new," a cry of "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi!" generally goes around - out with the demons, in with good fortune. This is accompanied by throwing beans, which are thought to ward off the evil spirits for some reason. This much I knew already, but seeing a public performance at a major temple was to throw new light on the proceedings.

In front of the temple entrance a stage of scaffolding and whatnot had been erected (see picture below), on top of which stood the various M.C.s and people involved in running the event. Groups of people came up onto the stage in turn, a mighty cry of "Fuku wa uchi!" went up, and the beans were scattered. No "Oni wa soto," apparently it was recently taken out due to the idea that sending the Oni away might equate to sending it to someone else. Something else that surprised me was that people were very enthusiastic about trying to catch the beans - those near the front of the stage were holding up carrier bags and the like. I didn't catch any but a nice lady who had a few gave one to me. It tasted dry, but I had high hopes for the Spring and good fortune it was meant to represent. As a slightly odd note to sign off on, I had a kebab for lunch.

鬼は外

New week got off to a shaky start - having cancelled my weekly Sunday food-shopping trip I had nothing for breakfast but a cup of tea and a bar of chocolate. Mercifully this Earl Grey and Dairy Milk with Turkish Delight revived my English-type faculties enough for me to hastily scribble off homework due in that morning and to get into the first lesson on time. There we learned about hay fever in Japan, for it is evidently quite a big problem. A great deal of people often wear masks during Spring, and experts are working on producing pollen-less cedar trees. An overdue excursion to Jusco and a Classical Japanese lesson followed, in that order.

Had a day off on Tuesday as the Uni was being used to hold examinations of some kind. I can't say I did anything too exciting, in fact I alternated between spacing out in a semi-vegetative state and being very productive getting homework and other studies done, producing a curious mixed bag of feelings. I also booked my plane ticket home. Four months to go! One thing I somehow avoided getting done, though, was memorising a speech I was due to recite, which had to be haphazardly done Wednesday morning instead. The point of this speech was that everyone had gone off and research a certain Japanese saying, then related  an experience connected to it, and attached some sort of message or advice to the story. Somehow I stumbled through mine and learned some interesting bits and pieces along the way.

So, this term there is another trip to see a Kabuki performance scheduled, so once again it was required to attend an introductory lecture by Hisao Watanabe-sensei. In terms of content it was much the same as last time, although instead of watching a video of a kabuki performance at the end we saw an excerpt of a documentary about the training onnagata (guys that play girls) undergo. I didn't notice before that Mr Watanabe has really nice handwriting, though his interpretation of the history of Kabuki comes across as ever-so-slightly misogynistic. I shall look forward to this performance (takes place on the 16th), though I still need to read up on the plot, which I'll actually do this time as I know how hard it can be to follow.

The only other notable thing that happened on Wednesday was Yuki's taking up the mantle of Dorm Leader and leading her first House Meeting. We didn't actually have many issues to discuss, but it was a bit sentimental in a changing-of-the-guard sort of way. Pretty soon two of our Japanese housemates will graduate - we were asked if we had any preferences as to what kind of people we'd like to replace them, the general consensus was "tall, handsome and rich," but apparently those aren't qualities an interview situation can turn up. I think there are other people leaving the dorm soon, as well. I was prepared for the changeover which occurred over Christmas, but now another comes along, it's quite exciting in a way...

What has this to do with anything? Read on...

Unhinged Talent

January 2011 draws to a close. Or perhaps it will already be long gone by the time I get around to posting, but this entry was started on the 31st, so in theory I can still reflect on this, the first month of the new semester and also of the calendar year. How has it gone? If I had to give it a theme or sum it up in one phrase, I'd say it's been a month of "re-acclimatising." Back at the start of the month I had to adjust my way of thinking to accept that I was going back to Japan, despite feeling like I'd been back in England for much longer than a few weeks. On my arrival I had jetlag to deal with, and though I fell back into the Japanese lifestyle easily enough, I'm still finding the rhythm of doing homework and dealing with occasional bouts of homesickness.

As to how I spent the last few days of this month, there we have a few points of interest. I began the weekend by wandering into Sakae, lured there by rumors of Chinese New Year celebrations, which proved false. Either that or I misread the location or date, then threw away the magazine I found it in so couldn't check. Anyhow, this wasn't a huge problem as Sakae is a fun place to spend time even when there aren't events going taking place. On this visit I found a shop stuffed with seven-ish floors worth of manga, CDs, DVDs and other such merchandise. I was just reflecting on how much of the manga on display featured pretty young male protagonists, when I noticed the sign saying "女性向き" and realised each different floor was arranged thematically. Funnily enough I saw gel mouse pads that looked like breasts even on the women's floor, so I suppose they have at least some consideration for different demographics.

I may have mentioned before that Nagoya's sister city is Los Angeles, and there is a park commemorating this union. While wandering around said park I discovered a replica Hollywood walk of fame. I'm not sure if I shall ever get around to seeing the real one, so it was quite enjoyable to look at some famous names.

That evening the housemates gathered for the delayed party (see previous entry), and there we did share drinking games from our various countries and regions. Three of us collaborated and mixed rules to create an international version of Ring of Fire, which we played two rounds of in total. I also learned games from Finland and Japan, which involved clapping and drinking and I'm not sure if they actually had names or not. As the more astute of you may have already guessed I got rip-roaringly drunk, and woke up on Sunday morning to face the first hangover I have had since coming to Japan. This put me in a tricky position as usually when I'm hungover I feel better after eating a fry-up, or a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, or indeed anything as long as it contains lots of meat and cheese and is dripping in grease. Those kinds of food are not easy to come by in Japan, so I was rather slow at recovering and indeed I felt so bad that I barely ventured out of my room all day. Saturday night had been great fun, though, so I'd say it was totally worth the price I paid!

My Werewolf Boyfriend Is On The Prowl

Morning is a curious time of day. In fact, the passage of time and how it affects people's moods is quite odd. While I can and will get up for early lessons, work assignments, trains, planes or automobiles, I make no pretense of being a "Morning Person" (I think I've already mentioned that I agree with Oscar with regards to this matter). Around midday my mood usually improves drastically, which I'd always attributed to the dizzying high produced by Relentless. However, since coming to Japan I wonder if perhaps it's just to do with my natural rhythms. This will not make me give up my b'loved energy drink, but it was a bit interesting to muse along these lines for a bit.

I felt rather rough on Thursday morning, but things started to look up as the day progressed, got quite a bit of work done in the afternoon and a party scheduled for the evening. Or so I thought, the party got pushed back to Saturday, so I was all dressed up with nowhere to go, thus:

The mask is to prevent 'flu.

Friday got off to a good start, as I was able to talk to two of my favourite girls in the brief window of time when I've just got up and the English are perhaps considering going to bed "in a while." I bounded off to an exam that presented little challenge, followed by a lesson that offered little of interest. Though next week we're going to start practising writing that involves quoting from sources. Jubilation.

Late afternoon saw me giving a presentation in Japanese Culture & Art about お雇い外国人/Oyatoi Gaikokujin (lit. 'employed foreigners'), foreign advisers brought in to assist Japan's modernisation in the late 19th century. I'd been struggling to find enough relevant information on this all week, but I think it went alright in the end. First time I've been up talking in front of a group for a while... and I must say I've missed it. Might look into joining a theatre group or something when I get back to England. The main portion of the lecture covered exposure and growing popularity of Japanese art to the western world and the rise of "Japonism." We were also given some information about the final paper required for this class, and I was pleasantly surprised at how flexible the options are. One can write a conventional essay about movements of art and/or culture, or based on one's own experience and observations. However, there's also an option to write some fiction (prose or dialogue) involving a historical person or event. I like the wide scope this presents and think I may actually have fun with it.

A few closing comments about machines. Recently I have worked out how to use a Japanese microwave, at least as far as popping corn is concerned (I put corn that remain unpopped in the burnable rubbish - will there be complications?). I also used the printer in our dorm's community room for the first time, and shall perhaps feel less resentful for paying the monthly fee that goes toward its upkeep. Finally, at the entrance to the University library there are always a couple of trolleys with books, magazines etc free to a good home. Recently there have been other kinds of media appearing as well - beta video tapes and film reels, I kid you not! It's so nice to be here in Japan, land of amazing technical advancement..

The Melon Bread is in the Water Heater

Since coming back to Japan there are subtle differences I've noticed here and there. Yes, there are obvious ones like different people and different weather, but there's also things like the front door of our dorm being broken. I say broken, it's just that one now has to close it behind oneself or else it slams hard and stays open. Also, due to the brief break in the CJS calendar and coming back near to the end of the Japanese term, things feel a bit different around campus. Buzzers supposedly marking the end of classes elsewhere go off in the middle of ours, causing a bit of confusion now and then. My local supermarket also went through a brief phase of trying to cut down on packaging, resulting in various different experiments but ultimately reverting back to how it was before. It's remarkable, though, how easy it is to get used to these slight changes, as well as just being back in the country, almost as if I'd never left.

Moving on, the first proper Monday back was quite easy going. The opening lesson was much the same as last term, involving little tests and listening practice and so on. Also, a breif history of AUM (http://tinyurl.com/69shfr), their brainwashing, and their poison gas incidents. This theme was later continued in a lesson on Tuesday in which a summary of major events in post-war Japanese history was given. No theme is ever absolute, though, for on Tuesday we also read a story about chickens and discussed the role of fathers in various societies on Wednesday. In each of these lessons I didn't do the reading beforehand, started off in a daze, suddenly got the gist of things and answered and discussed questions lots to bluff a kind of understanding. Went fairly well, I think.

Let me tell you of my adventures on Wednesday! In the early afternoon students staying in dorms were required to attend a first aid training session, which included how to use an AED (beepy shock machine). I now feel remotely more prepared for the remote contingency of needing to help a collapsed person. The session itself was quite amusing, the only English the instructor used was "Hey, you!", and toward the end people threw themselves into acting out scenarios. I can't quite explain why it's funny in text, but in future if anyone says "Motte kita bakari desu" to me I am likely to crack up regardless of context.

Following this spectacle some thirteen of us toddled off to a place called the Cat's Café. No actual felines were employed there, but they were a central motif in the decor, and the place looked very luxurious. Of course, we went there not to admire wallpaper, but to eat ice cream! How shall I describe what we ate? The selections in question were called "Never Give Up" and "Unbelievable," and if I add that these two were enough for everyone I'm sure you can get some idea of their size. They were filled with whipped cream, ice cream, fruit, cornflakes and all kinds of other sweet things! We also ate them with long spoons which had bells attached to the end. This all made me very happy.

Unbelievable

Codology

At times I miss England - or being in England - awfully. I think of all the foodstuffs that are so easily obtainable, cheap supermarkets, materials (books, games etc) in English language and wish I could have them within my reach. Or I think of my friends and family, and of the progress I was making in personal and inter-personal matters, and whether this time away will do damage. However! This weekend has not been one of those times. I have been not only satisfied, but indeed happy to be here, drifting along the waves of time, living a fairly laid-back day-to-day lifestyle in Japan. Why such a good mood, you ask? Perhaps part of it is because I've had lie-ins every morning and have been able to stop worrying about fixing my sleep patterns. But there's much more to it than that, so read on...

Saturday saw me having lunch with Aunt & Uncle, as I now call them (though not to their faces), Chihiro and Takahiro. This meeting had quite a different feel than previous ones - usually we meet up somewhere and go for dinner, but this time we went for lunch, and they came to pick me up in their car. We went to an Italian café which did a nice lunch set of salad, pasta, and cake. I tried a pasta the name of which I forget, but it had a creamy sauce and anchovies, followed by a yummy chocolate cake. We chatted about what I'd got up to over the holidays, about English customs and exchanged stories about each other's families. I much enjoyed this time we spent together and came away feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world! Well, the world of getting overdue e-mails and whatnot sent off, anyway, along with a healthy bit o' study.

Once more rising late on the Sunday, I passed much of the day in time-honoured fashion - food shopping, laundry and desperate scribbling at homework due for the next day. In the evening, though, the housemates assembled to make and eat a meal together! The result on this occasion was 鋤焼き/Sukiyaki. This is made by putting meat, vegetables, tofu etc in a big pot, adding water and liberal amounts of a special sauce, the boiling it all up and picking what you like out of it. One interesting point is that you break an egg into the bowl from which you eat your share, made for an interesting taste overall. Also, we only had one portable gas cooker but two pots. Therefore when one side of the table's food was done we'd switch, then back again and so on. All amusing good fun and a fine end to a fine couple of days.

Sukiyaki. No such thing as too many ingredients.

授業

The following entry recounts experiences of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I've done little beyond going to lessons, but they have been vaguely interesting, so I thought I'd write about some of the content. In addition to the usual reading comprehension and new grammar points (or expressions practise as it's known this year) this week we have been learning about こおわざ(kotowaza), 慣用句(kanyouku) and 四字熟語(yojijukugo), to which I'll give the shamelessly lazy translation of sayings, proverbs and aphorisms. I like these kinds of lessons when one can learn bits and pieces that make one's Japanese sound more natural, and knowing them does come in useful! Barely had I stepped out of my lessons on Wednesday when I found myself reading some manga, one of these phrases popped up, and I was delighted to understand it. In an attempt to make all this a bit clearer to you, dear readers, here's some examples.

• 豚に真珠 (buta ni shinju) - literally translated, something like "a pearl necklace for a pig." Used to imply a gift is too good for someone, that they won't really appreciate it. Only used for definite, physical gifts, for abstract things it's 馬の耳に念仏(uma no mimi ni nenbutsu), "Chanting the Name in a horse's ear."
• 猫の手も借りたい(neko no te mo karitai) - "I'd also like to borrow the cat's paw." For when you're madly busy and would gladly accept any form of help.
• 八方美人(happou bijin) - "Eight-way beauty." Someone who seems to have no flaws and is always nice to everyone, a bit like the English "too good to be true."

On Wednesday I noticed that the class seemed rather few in number. I think there's something like twenty people in IJ600, and since we get split up into different sections, and 'flu is going around at the moment the result is some very small classes indeed. In this case I was also struck by the variety of nationalities - one Thai, two Chinese, one Vietnamese, one English (obviously), one from Singapore and two Americans (one from Hawai'i, I'm not sure whether to count that as separate or not). The next day, however, the class was rather large as one of the teachers had come down with influenza and the two sections had to be merged. Things can change so fast.

I went jogging on Thursday afternoon, which turned out to be a bad idea. The problem lay not in my level of physical fitness - I'm not sure about distance but I stayed out longer than I used to in England and at generally the same pace - but rather that I thought I could get away with going out without a scarf or similar item. Cold weather + insufficient clothing + asthma + misunderstanding of how the heater in my room works = unhappy Cal with a bad chest. It had more or less recovered by Friday afternoon, though.

Speaking of Friday afternoon I had my first "Japanese Art and Culture" lecture (3.15-5.30, not the best way to kick off the weekend, one may argue). First impressions... it may be an interesting course (for the first lesson it was just some background info about Bakumatsu and Meiji era, i.e. the start of "modern" Japan), heavier workload than I imagined (though to be honest I was imagining just one presentation and one essay), and the teacher seemed a likable chap. And he has documentaries, interviews etc for use in class on video tapes! I was surprised at how retro and nostalgic this form of media storage seems to me.

A busyish weekend ahead, need to write a speech, research and put together a presentation, miscellaneous bits of homework and a meal engagement on both Saturday and Sunday. Allons-y!

Japanese Snacks Vol. 10 - Reduced sushi. It gets reduced to half price or
thereabouts at 8.30, making it an attractive alternative to making dinner.

春学期スタート！

Right-o, so the new term has properly started. In time honoured fashion, one of the first things we did in the first lesson was an exam! Unrelated to final grade, but just to get an idea of everyone's ability. Our Intensive Japanese 600 class consists of two of the same teachers from last term, one being off on maternity leave. In addition to most of the people from last term (some having returned home or skipped a level) there were six new people, though three of them later went down to IJ500. After the exam the first day was fairly laid-back, just self introductions of teachers, newbies and textbooks. One of our teachers co-wrote the main textbook we'll be using! Impressive.

Also had my first lecture for Japanese Religions II ("The Revenge of Buddha", coming soon to the silver screen!). Although it's still in the fishing period when people can drop or pick up courses if they wish, I was surprised that in comparison to the Autumn term there were at least twice as many people taking the class. Many were on courses or from Universities where it is compulsory. As for content the first lesson was much in the same vein as last term's, sort of introducing people to the idea of religion, how to think about it in the context of Japan and so on. Remembering the fiasco of my final paper for this subject last term, I have already started thinking about this term's, going as far as to go to the library (on Wednesday evening) to choose a subject and start reading up on it.

To sum up, by the end of Tuesday I felt hopeful about this coming term. On Wednesday I overslept and my rhythms were thrown, resulting in a not very productive day, but salvaged by a trip out under a beautiful full moon. Writing from Thursday, I'd say it's not been a bad first week back. More will follow!

The snow has mostly melted, but evidence of it remains.

雪

Sleep patterns are taking their sweet time about righting themselves, but fortunately I haven't slept through anything important. Just about. I pulled open my curtains on Sunday morning (well, afternoon, to be accurate) and was greeted by a scene of sparkling whiteness. Verily, snow I had noticed falling the night before in an "Oh, fancy that," sort of way had settled and was continuing to fall. In a flash I was wrapped up in my Winter gear and out the door to explore this snowy new world. The snow was already several inches thick and my feet made satisfying scrunchy noises as I walked, though it was still coming down with such force that a layer began to settle on my coat even though I kept moving.

Eventually I found myself in a graveyard. There's a perfectly normal sentence for describing my day. Well, there's a really big one nearby that I'd been meaning to visit, the biggest in Aichi prefecture, in fact. So big that it was divided up into sections marked by signs with cute pictures of animals on them. A graveyard under a heavy covering of snow is a sight worth seeing. Gravestones stretched out as far as the eye could see, much of the snow completely undisturbed but for my own footprints. The graves I saw were mostly family graves, the kind where the stone has space for several names, so they can be added as members of the family shuffle off the mortal coil.

This set me thinking about death and responsibility - upkeep of these graves becomes the responsibility of the living relatives, much as it is a kind of responsibility to keep the memory of lost ones alive. My own maternal grandmother passed away recently, and I considered that it was sad I would never visit her house again (though she'd been living in a home for many years and that house has since been converted into student accommodation), but that I did at least have some memories to carry with me.

On Monday it was also snowing, though only lightly, and the sun was shining as well. As I set off toward Uni a question popped into my head - why wasn't it cold? Certainly, the temperature was somewhere in the single digits, but I am used to England, where if ever it does snow the air will be bitterly freezing. Here in Japan, though, I was able to enjoy the light, sparkling flakes falling from the sky without wrapping up very much. I recalled that when I first came to Japan and was finding it hard I'd considered quitting after the first semester. I'm glad I decided instead to stick with it the entire year for all sorts of reasons, among them that I was able to see this snow and simply marvel at its prettiness rather than curse delays it was causing to my journey (see entries about my trip home). 

At Uni I spent lots of money, mainly on bills and buying textbooks. Lessons are starting again soon. A bit excited at the idea of getting back into the swing of things. As fun as sleeping until the afternoon then spending the rest of the day online is, it's no way to live a life. More on the situation as it develops!

Any Objections, Lady?

So, after the party on Thursday I felt well pleased with what had passed, bought a copy of Weekly Jump (http://tinyurl.com/ybyclpr) and settled down for a quiet evening and an earlyish night. Or so I thought! My housemates were planning a trip out to a nearby karaoke establishment, leaving the house at 11.00 and possibly staying out until 5.00! To be honest I wasn't much in the mood, but went along anyway, thinking that there'd be plenty of time to let my sleep patterns sort themselves out, and a bit of social interaction never goes amiss. And I did have fun, somehow I never think I'll enjoy karaoke or purikura all that much but once I get into it enjoyment occurs! Except later in the night homesickness kicked in and I wondered home in a slightly lachrymose mood.

I think there were renovations recently, this place always looked a bit run down before

Friday, and indeed Saturday, can be summed up with two words - "Jetlag" and "Redecorating," in that order. My body still insists on going "Ping! Morning! Get up!" at 2 in the morning, and my time of rising was 1700 hours for Friday, 1245 for Saturday. I still have faith that my body clock will right itself before lessons begin again. As I mentioned before, a bit o' BluTack does wonders for personalising my room, but putting up the kanji cards takes much time. Apart from that it's been fairly quiet so far, just settling back into life in Japan. Did manage to polish off an essay that I started last term and needed finishing, as well.
One interesting incident to recount, though! This actually happened Tuesday night but somehow escaped my memory until now. I was on my way home from the airport and waiting at an underground station for the next train I'd be needing to get on. Quite without warning a lady who had been standing on the platform was suddenly lying on the train tracks! After a moment of shock, everyone sprang into action - two people were down to help her back on the platform and collect the things she'd dropped, an emergency button was pressed, station staff were summoned, a stretcher was produced... All very efficient and showing proper human kindness, I was impressed, though it was a strange spectacle to see first thing after getting back.

So far my desk looks like this