I took 135 photos today on the trek from my dorm to Suita campus. I was going to post them here, but just go over to Tumblr to look at the bulk of them. I didn't post them all, mostly because I hit my daily upload limit, but I'll post the rest tomorrow or sometime in the future. Have I mentioned I hate the "home room" class that we're required to go to? Seriously. I got up and did this: -walked 15-20 minutes to the station,
-sat on the train for 15 minutes,
-walked 15-20 minutes to campus,
-was at "home room" for EXACTLY fifteen minutes and then it was over. Then
-another 15-20 minute walk to the station,
-15 minute train ride,
-15-20 minute walk to the dorm.
Spent over $3.00 on train fare for basically no reason. They literally gave us a sheet that they read verbatim off of. They could email this crap to me, but no.
It's Japan. There are rules.
Actually, a lot of people have started to skip the class and they're not being shy about it, either. However, after the debacle we ended up in after even ASKING IF IT WAS REQUIRED, I am lax to miss anything that is even remotely mandatory. There is some fun stuff coming up, though. Next Thursday, after my Introduction to Japanese Legal/Political System and Culture class, we are having a big party at some karaoke place. The "cover" charge is ￥3,000, but that covers food and unlimited drinks ("grown-up" drinks, too) as well as karaoke for like three hours. It's going to be so fun. The instructor said he does this every semester because the Japanese students are really shy and don't really attempt interaction with us foreigners. This is hopefully going to help them loosen up (and if I know anything about the Japanese and drinking, it will work), and help us all become great friends. Or something. Anyway, I think it'll be a lot of fun.
Also, in early May there is going to be something called ICHO Festival which, according to the handout we were given at home room today, will feature "exhibitions, movies, lectures, concerts, sports, foods, etc." and a note that "You will enjoy Icho-SAI" (emphasis mine). It seems like a command more than a suggestion. YOU WILL TOTALLY ENJOY THIS OR ELSE! We will write your home institution and tell them you're not being a team player, or something. Anyway, I am hoping it'll be fun. There is also Golden Week coming up, and I so far have no plans for Golden Week which is a little disconcerting. I should have made my own plans, but will probably end up either coming up with something on the fly, or be dragged off by some group somewhere. Either way, hooray, spring break!
Later in May is something I am really excited about; an overnight bus trip to Mt. Koya (click the link, the wiki page has some great pics). It's a mountain, obviously, and there's a Buddhist shrine at the top (perhaps more than one?) and we'll have the opportunity to meet with the monks and visit the shrine(s) and temple(s) and OVERNIGHT BUS TRIP YAY! It's also free, which is really quite nice. I am excited to go and take pictures and bring back stories and blog-stuff for you guys.
For my Osaka in Modern Japanese Literature class, we are also going on a field trip to see bunraku, traditional Japanese puppet theatre. That should be a lot of fun, and more manageable now that the class has shrunk in size. In fact, all of my classes shrunk in size (is it me?? :P), especially the law ones. My final class on Thursday went from being almost full to having maybe 12 students in it. That's okay though, because I think we will be doing a lot of discussion in that class. This class in particular makes me wish I knew more about law, though, because I am basically going in with very rudimentary knowledge and so I often don't know the answers to simple questions. But this is good, because I'm cramming in all my law classes at once so by the end of it I should be a total legal eagle or something (writing "legal eagle" is hard. My brain kept going "leagle eagle" or "leagal eagal" -- Doh!).
I just think it's neat that even if I never planned a single thing on this trip (which is NOT going to happen, believe me), I will still get to go out and explore Japan with my fellow studentss.
I did register for courses today, finally, after shuffling things around quite a bit. The schedule is still a total mess, but at least now the classes will count (well, most of them) for credit at A&M. Today was the deadline to register. Of course, last night I reminded my other OUSSEPians (our program is called OUSSEP) not to forget their registration sheets because the deadline was the 25th! So, of course I promptly left mine sitting in a binder in my dorm room. -facepalm- Well, to be fair, I am blonde so I get a blonde moment every now and then. Luckily, Toyono-san (one of the program directors) was able to get me an extra copy and I filled it out and dutifully handed it in. My actual schedule is like this now:
| DAY | TIME | COURSE |
| Monday | 12:15-1:15 | My favourite: "Home Room" |
| Tuesday | 8:50-10:20 | Japanese 200 |
| Tuesday | 2:40-4:10 | Topics in Japanese Law |
| Wednesday | 1:00-2:30 | Japan: Society & Ideology |
| Thursday | 8:50-10:20 | Japanese 200 |
| Thursday | 10:30-12:00 | Osaka in Modern Japanese Literature |
| Thursday | 2:40-4:10 | Introduction to Japanese Legal/Political System & Culture |
| Thursday | 4:20-5:50 | Topics in Comparative Law |
| Friday | 8:50-10:20 | Japanese 200 |
As you can see, my schedule is all over the place and most days I end up on campus with only two classes with huge gaps between them or even just one class (MONDAY AND FRIDAY, I'M LOOKING AT YOU). Thursdays are absolute HELL, though. The good news is that my law classes have a lot of overlap, and so I think taking them simultaneously will help me in each class in its own way. I may learn more about a topic in one class that we're covering in another class or vice-versa, and be able to implement said knowledge during discussion or in my research paper(s).
Well, that's about all that's going on. I had meant to buy a tennis racket today because we have a tennis court, but I ended up getting off at the wrong station (Yamada station has a sporting goods store, whereas Minami Senri does not) and I figured, I'll be at Yamada again soon, so no worries. I did pick up some bread and milk. I pack lunches to school because I'm trying to spend a bit less money on superfluous things. I have had about as much Japanese food as I can take, anyway. Sandwiches are inexpensive, easy, and do not require refrigeration as long as you eat them within a couplefew hours. I also pack some frozen edamame (helps keep the sandwich cool and thaws out by lunch time). I bought some delicious strawberries today, so I think I'll take some of them along as well.
Yes, I'm eating carbs, but I'm trying to steer away from the sweets (trying... I am so trying) and to eat more fruit/vegetable matter if I'm going to be consuming carbs. For example, I restocked my "snack" cabinet with the strawberries and some minneola tangelos. I had meant to buy some sweet potatoes today but I completely forgot I was going to do that and bought regular potatoes instead. Breakfast is panfried potatoes with 2 eggs sunny-side up. Dinner this evening was sausage, stir-fried with cabbage, red and yellow onion, zucchini, carrot and bean sprouts slapped on some rice. I buy my rice in pre-made packages that you just have to microwave, and try to eat them 1/2 a package at a time. The sausage I got was on special and it's really quite flavorful, especially if you put it in a pan and let the edges caramelize a bit.
When I get back to the states, I want a Texas Roadhouse 12-oz sirloin steak ASAP. I miss steak and meat in general and delicious, low-carb goodness. I actually miss my morning protein shakes. It's just not feasible here with the amount of money I have to spend. Plus, the meat here is totally different. The bacon is more like sliced ham, it's very low fat and therefore doesn't give off those delicious bacon drippings which are so handy to have to make other meals more flavorful. I also want a heaping platter of Mexican fajitas. I hate to say it but thus far, I am not tremendously impressed with Japanese food. It's not that I hate it or anything, it tastes good, but it all tastes the same. Granted, I haven't had any sushi or sashimi yet (SO. EXPENSIVE. GAH), but everything else is the same. Meat, egg, cabbage. Hah, that's what I had for dinner. Anyway, I want some parillada or something. I want SPICY food.
That being said (or as Andrew would say, "MIND YOU"), if I had the option to turn this 1 semester stay into a year, I would do it in a heart beat. I like Japan, and it's so beautiful here right now despite (or likely because of) the rain. It's already April 25th and one month has almost completely come and gone. After this it's just May, June, and all of July and then I'm going home. I'm 1/4th through my trip!! I miss my family, my friends (and my cat, of course), but I feel like this trip is so short. I am just now used to things and already I'm 1/4th of the way done. Incredible, just incredible.
Anyway, it's time to get ready for bed. I have classes early'ish tomorrow. I hope everyone is doing well and I love & miss you all (except you, Andrew. I don't love or miss you. BUAHAHAHA just kidding!)
<3 <3 <3
