Post-Pesach Post

Survived Pesach (barely). Last night, had lots of pizza and then played LAN games with the roommates. It was fun. Just started Golden Week, a.k.a. Spring Break. I'm kinda bummed that I didn't plan ahead and therefore won't really be able to travel much, but so it goes. Also, I'm gonna need to go to Harajuku sometime in the near future. Yesterday, one of my friends saw a t-shirt that I really oughta get, because it sums up my personal opinion quite well. It says "Eat shit, Nazi fuckers!" and has a crossed-out swastika on it. That's the type of thing you only see on display in the streets in Japan, and it is glorious. Perhaps I'll get a fedora with a skull-and-crossbones in rhinestones on it, too. I can find those in Harajuku, as well, after all.

Still up and kickin

Well, it's been a while. My apologies to my one regular reader (if you do in fact exist). It's been a fun, annoying, tiring couple of weeks. Fun in that I've been spending alot of time with some good friends. Annoying in that there seems to be a constant stream of boring but time-consuming assignments and readings coming my way due to classes. Tiring due to the combination of the two. Looks like at some point, I'll be spending a full weekend in Akita with Rennis doing lots of iai. That'll be cool, though it'll cost me about $120 in transportation. Also, "Golden Week" is rapidly approaching. That means a couple of weeks without classes, which will be nice, but unfortunately I didn't plan ahead, so I don't think I'll be able to do much traveling.
I'm finding that I don't enjoy Pesach any more in Japan than I do in the States. In fact, I enjoy it significantly less. All I seem to be able to eat are stir-fried veggies and cheese omelettes. It's getting old fast. On the plus side, my roommate from last semester (who is a ridiculously good cook) came over last night and made some tasty eggplant and cheese stuff... made sure not to use any grain products so I could eat it. Unfortunately, there were like 8 people and therefore none of us got as much of the delicious dinner as we would've liked.
Still dealing with a complicated situation; hopefully I'll be able to resolve it soon, because it's driving me nuts. It seems like every time I'm about to resolve it, though, something else comes up. Oh well, such is life, I suppose.

Updatification

I've now survived most of my first week of classes. The weather has been really crappy. I've had two umbrellas get killed over a period of 24 hours. It's rained every day this week except Wednesday, and it's supposed to keep raining every day for the next week except possibly Saturday and next Wednesday. And to think that this isn't even the rainy season...
Still not sure what I'm gonna do for pesach (besides starve, of course...). Still working on unraveling various complications and trying to avoid any catastrophic explosions. Also running for student council; maybe I can make IES have some functions that're actually enjoyable. It also seems like, although I've got a 6-credit Japanese class this semester instead of the 10-credit one I had last semester, the work load is heavier. Very annoying.
I think that's about all I've got to bitch about for now. Here's to hoping things start looking up sometime soon, otherwise this'll be a really long semester.

I'm not dead yet! Or, potential complications

Hey folks. I've been pretty busy over the last week or so. Got the results of the placement test back. I placed into the 4th-year Japanese class, which is the highest-level one they offer here. Not bad, considering I was sick before and during the test and consequently didn't study at all. Ended up just going clean-shaven for the group picture thing (along with my absurd pink tie, and some fresh sakura blossoms I stuck in my hat).
I went to the iaido shop the other day to buy myself a Japanese hakama and dogi, as well as a nifty new sword bag. It was kinda expensive; I'm sure the old Japanese guy who owns the shop appreciates my business. While I was on the train heading to the shop, I was watching the scenery go by. I was struck by the sheer beauty of it: the sakura trees in full bloom everywhere, the buildings built in the old traditional style, and right next to all of this there were existing skyscrapers and construction cranes either demolishing old skyscrapers or building new ones. It was a very strange dichotomy between the old and the new, but that is kind of what Japan is. I imagine there are plenty of other places in Europe and Asia that also have that same dichotomy, but I haven't spent time in any countries besides the US and Japan.
Also, I've got several other potential complications on my plate for this semester. I don't really need any additional complications in my life at this point, but they're there whether I want them or not. I won't really go into them in such a public forum, but I will say that I have quite a feeling of foreboding. This likely won't end well.

The latest...

I took the placement test this morning. I was going to study for it, but I spent the last few days feeling extremely sick. In fact, I was too sick this morning to eat breakfast before taking the test. Of course, by about halfway through the test, I'd gotten over whatever bug's had me down for the last couple of days and so I went to Costco for some pizza... which I ate too fast, having not had much to eat for the last couple days, and then I felt kinda sick because of eating too fast for a bit. Then I went off to buy a cheap and absurd tie to wear for the official beginning-of-the-semester group picture tomorrow... I'll be proving that I am indeed man enough to wear a pink tie. I think it's even supposed to be a men's tie, though I'm not 100% sure. Still haven't decided if I'll be doing anything weird with my hat or hair, but I'll think of something (or people could post suggestions, lol)