夜色ブログ

Opening the in-box of my Gmail account, I saw the bold letters of a new e-mail and my heart stopped for a moment as I read the subject line, "What's your recipe for the peanut sauce you made?" Breathing a sigh of disappointment and continued stress, I opened it just like the last few hundred.

. . .

While I've been somewhat interested in Japanese as a language and a little as a culture for a few years, picking up some basics like the kana orthography in that time, I only started studying it in June 2006. At the time I was just studying to pass some of my spare time with something I was interested in and enjoyed, not really considering going to Japan. During this time, my interested in it increased considerably, and I figured that it would probably be best to learn in Japan, but that would be unrealistic for me.

One day in February, or perhaps it was in early March, I was meeting with a friend and one of his business acquaintances to see if I could offer him a variety of technical services as I was tiring of my rather bureaucratic, red-tape laden job. At some point he asked what I would be doing if I could do anything and didn't have to worry about money. I quickly replied, "Studying Japanese in Japan", to which he retorted just as quickly with something along the lines of, "Well then what the hell are you doing here?" My response amounted to, "Umm, . . ." at best.

While I haven't ended up doing business with him, I appreciate our meeting since I realized that it was foolish to want something and not pursue it. It was another one of those beliefs you say that you hold, but don't act on ― I'll write on different types of knowledge and belief at a later date.

Immediately thereafter, I started looking for ways that I could study Japanese in Japan. I checked everything from university exchange programmes to the much maligned teaching English. Well, it's tainted in my mind anyway since I know too many people who taught English overseas and never learned the local language and I have read too many stories of English teachers who generally acted without any consideration for the culture they were living in.

As I filtered though my options, the only one that had been captured and remained was a language school in Okazaki, Aichi called The Yamasa Institute (YAMASA言語文化研究所). It appeared focused on provide a good Japanese language education to a culturally and linguistically diverse student population while targeting those with an academic bent. It's not-for-profit status and my experience with a science camp at a Canadian university, again recommended it. While I have no issues with for-profit educational institutions, I believe they are best reserved for those who know them personally.

I collected as much information on the school as I could find and decided that I wanted to study there and chose to pursue it. For long term (visa) students, entry is only possible in October and April, and the application period for April had already closed and I didn't have enough money to stay for a year, so I decided to apply to start in the October term. That would give me a chance to save some money as well.

Since applying, I've been hoping for an acceptance e-mail and admittedly worrying about receiving one that says, "sorry, the Japanese government has rejected your visa application", or something like that. The October term starts on 3 October, so as August was drawing to an end, I was getting a wee bit stressed.

. . .

After dragging myself out of bed for work this morning (Friday, 31 August 2007), and checking my e-mail, it finally came! Both the school and the government said yes. Okay, okay, so the school said yes back at the end of June, but I was still waiting to hear from the government.

Now I'll have to start concretely planning once I stop bouncing off the walls. I'll be off to Japan within the month!

Now that I'm over the initial excitement of realizing that I've been accepted to the Japanese language school I applied to back in March, I'm collecting my thoughts, which I can scatter about at times, and beginning to make more concrete plans.

Immediately after reading the visa confirmation e-mail from Yamasa on Friday morning, I switched into high-gear and spent much of my lunch (and maybe a bit more >_>) running around, taking care of the immediate necessities: completing the visa confirmation form, wiring tuition and rent payments, faxing both to the school, along with everything I already had scheduled for that day.

More forms

The visa confirmation form was very straightforward. I had to confirm my e-mail address and the address I want my certificate of eligibility sent to. Then I selected the programmes I wanted for the four terms. I had already done this on my initial visa application form in March, so it would appear there is some wiggle room here. The difference is the exact cost is listed on this form, which you then add up to figure out how much tuition you own. Because of the privileges and requirements of the student visa, it's also necessary to pay the first six months of national health insurance at this time. At 8,400円, it's a fair bit cheaper than provincial health insurance is in Alberta. Speaking of which, I wonder if I can stop paying that . . . The cost of renting and buying a futon is outlined. Next, the apartment room that I have been tentatively allocated was indicated along with rent and deposit amounts. At the end, I just totalled tuition, health insurance, futon purchase price, and accommodation fees and signed the form.

There was also an arrival form attached to indicate what flight numbers and pick-up options are, but I've decided to send this later since I want to confirm my attendance as soon as possible and I still have to work out flight details.

Depleting my account

After filling out the form, I ran off to my bank and found it unusually packed. Perhaps it's just due to the long weekend, but I had to wait about 30 minutes to make the transfer. At the same time, I also ordered 100,000円 (about 1000 CAD), which I figure should cover my expenses for the first few weeks. I got a better rate on my transfer (0.009335) than my cash order (0.009451), but I suppose that's to be expected, and both are a fair bit better than in March when I applied, so I won't be complaining. That's reserved for the $50 bank fee for the wire and the $5 fee for the cash order.

Naturally once I returned home, I received a call on my cell from the woman at the bank indicating that she didn't realized she needed to have me sign a form to order the Japanese cash and that I'd have to come back to sign it. Fortunately, I had a meeting with an investment advisor at the same bank later the same day, so I didn't have to make another trip.

Now we can fast-forward a few hours to my meeting with the investment advisor. Be warned! If you have mutual fund or RSP investment plans, do not tell the bank you're moving to Japan. It appears they will immediately freeze your investment accounts due to some odd Canadian legislation. Fortunately, the woman at the bank was nice enough to explain this.

Finding a flight

Booking a flight on short notice is a great short-cut to spending more money than you need to ― well, unless of course, you have to leave on short notice. Fortunately, it appears a month in advance is enough time to get reasonable rates. Since I applied, I've been tracking the prices from Edmonton (YEG) to Tokyo (NRT) and Chubu (NGO). The best rates I saw during that time were around $775 plus tax for a total of around $1025, but that was mostly for short term trips. Also, the internet flight searches seemed nearly useless for this. You search one minute, and it tells you $1025 and you hit refresh and it says $1800+. Perhaps this is just due to my technical ineptitude.

Most of the travel agencies around here aren't much better. Their staff are largely rude, overly curt, and really not interested in finding the best option for you. Fortunately, I stumbled across one that stands out! Nippon Travel Ltd. is an Alberta-based agency that specialises in flights to Japan. (Sorry, this probably won't help those of you on the east coast or other countries much.) The woman I spoke with, Akino, was helpful when I explained what I wanted when most others up to this point had sounded like they wanted hang up. One agency even tried quoting me a price of $4,600! In the end, she found an itinerary to Narita for $1016 which I have on hold until the 10th so I can confirm some details with Yamasa.

I figure I might as well fly into Tokyo and spend a day or two there before taking the train to Okazaki, the city where the school is located. As such, I'm making arrangements to that end. Accommodations in Tokyo are still being sought, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

What to do in Tokyo?

I'm sure that I could spend at least a month exploring Tokyo, but since I'll only have a day or two, I picked up a copy of the ninth edition of the Lonely Planet's Japan guidebook. It actually looks fairly disappointing, although it seems more complete than the Frommor's guide, which was next to it in the book store.

This may well be the longest entry you will ever see me write, so if you're bored by now, rejoice, and if you enjoy long texts, weep.

Notes to myself

The following notes are primarily intended for my benefit as I try to organise my entry to Japan. On the other hand, I figure that if it will be useful to me, it may well be useful to you as well, and thus I'm writing here instead of in my notebook. Naturally, the fact that my notebook is halfway across the house and I'm lazy has nothing to do with this decision.

From Japan with Kids:

SEND YOUR SUITCASES AHEAD: Pick up at the airport before checking in! This way it isn't necessary to travel with big luggage on the train or bus. You can also send them home this way when you arrive back in Japan, after clearing customs. Price is around 1800 yen per item though second one might be a bit cheaper. Below are Tokyo telephone numbers for companies that provide this service. They will pick up and deliver suitcase to more distant places such as Nagaoko too, so check them out!

ABC (Air Baggage Service Company Ltd.) - (03) 3545-1131
NTS Sky Porter - (03) 3590-1919
QL Liner - (03) 5994-3332
Yamato Transport Co. - (03) 3541-3411

[Not yet proofread]

Well, I'm finally in my apartment and am about to become fully aware of how little Japanese I know. To those of you looking for an exciting story, sorry, my planning was largely successful. Feel free to skip this account.

The week immediately prior to my departure was spent transferring my responsibilities at work, running about taking care of last minute necessities and desires, and having fun with friends. On Monday, I went shopping for new glasses since my benefits plan covered me until Thursday. Tuesday morning I picked out a pair between meetings. In the evening on Wednesday, I played LaserQuest with some friends and then had a barbeque at home. Thursday and Friday passed while I was blinking. I picked up my glasses, deposited my last checks, replaced my debit card, but I can't remember which I did on which day. Saturday, I ate my last masala dosa for some time to come and gave my dad power of attourney at the bank should anything need to be done with my accounts while I'm away, then went out with my dad, Trevor, and Karen for an Indian dinner and desert at the elder Kozak's. Of course there was packing and cleaning going on as well. I don't think the basement ended up as clean as my dad would have liked, but there's not too much I can do about that now.

Edmonton and the Canadair J700

Naturally, I failed to set my alarm correctly and it didn't wake me up since it was the weekend. Fortunately, my dad did. There was just enough time to finish packing and head off to the airport. Everything in there proceeded smoothly and as expected, inclusive of the grumpy-looking woman at the check-in counter. The flight from Edmonton to San Francisco was aboard a Canadair CRJ700, which I hadn't flown in previously. It was a nice surprise and naturally had far more leg room and more comfortable seats than the next flight.

SFO

Arriving a few minutes late in San Francisco had me slightly worried after all the fun I had last year transiting through Hethrow with almost an hour more than this time. Much to my relief, the various terminals are connected both outside security and in the gate area, after the security checks, so I didn't have to pass through what I'm sure would have been a terribly long fear-induced process. "I'm sorry sir, you can't carry a trigger lock in your carry-on." Oh, wait, that was in Edmonton, but it would have doubtlessly been similar here. There was a make-shift bus system that tranferred the passengers from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, so I was at the gate with plenty of time to spare, but not enough to make it a drawn-out wait. The food services in the airport are also far superior to those in Vancouver or Toronto.

UA837

I'm not sure there's much I can say about United Airlines that hasn't already been said by others. They're cheap and it shows. Although as an yet unemployed student I think saving 600 CAD was worth the lack of individual televisions, the limited leg room, in-flight announcements that were inaudible from a window seat, and the worst airplane food I've ever had, next time JAL and Singapore Airlines will be tempting my wallet. The flight itself was fairly normal and we arrived 2 minutes early at 14:08. I was quite surprised by the number of non-Japanese on the flight: at least two-thirds. I suppose I should have expected as much since we were flying into Tokyo.

Immigrations, baggage collection, and customs at Narita

My only prior experience in Narita was in transit to Singapore, and while I really didn't get to look around at all, it struck me as a pleasant airport. The immigration line moved quickly and there were no problems at the counter. Even then, all my luggage was waiting on the carrousel when I entered the baggage claim area. They confirmed that I didn't have anything to declare at customs and I was out in the unsecured area within 30 minutes.

Catching the trains

After clearing customs, I headed straight for the domestic delivery services and sent my three suitcases ahead of me. At less than 15 CAD a piece, it beats trying to lug them through the train stations.

I had prepared a number of alternate train iteneraries since I was unsure how long it would take to clear immigration and customs, but I figured I had enough time left to catch the first one at 15:13. The ticketing system doesn't let you pick your final destination if it's sufficiently far removed, so I just bought a ticket to Toyohashi. There is a fare adjustment system that allows you to pay the balance when you exit your final station which is nice.

The Narita Express looked somewhat older than I expected, but it had comfortable seating and was a pleasant enough ride. After just under an hour, we reached Tokyo station. "Oh, fie! I thought 10 minutes would be plenty of time to change trains!" Fortunately, since I caught the 15:13 train from the airport, I had 26 minutes. For one reason or other, I though it looked smaller in the map and focused on it being only the eighth most trafficed station in Japan, neglecting its service of over 4,000 trains everyday. The possibility of a problem first struck me when I read on the train display from Narita that we would be arriving at the fifth basement level of Tokyo station. My apologies to those who want pictures; I was too busy trying to find platform 18 on the first elevated level. I haven't had any luck finding numbers, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was almost as big as West Edmonton Mall. Then again, it was my first time there and I didn't know where I was going, so the experience may have been amplified.

The seats on the train from Tokyo to Toyohashi were a little short, but other than that it was a very pleasant ride. I quite appreciated how the train tilts the cars independently when turning so that the passengers aren't pulled to one side. Since I only had tickets to Toyohashi, I wasn't quite sure where to go when I got there, so I asked a station attendent who was most helpful. On the previous trains, the cleaning crew reversed the seats, but on this one we had to do so ourselves. All-in-all, it's a feature I wish the LRT had. After another 20 minutes, I finally arrived at Okazaki station. One of the staff members picked me up at the station and took me to the school where I signed the rental agreement for the apartment and then we continued there.

Sleep at last

Being awake for the previous 26 hours or so, I set up my bed and fell asleep immediately. It was actually the most comfortable sleep I can remember. Whether due to being stuck in airplanes for 14 hours and being awake for so long will be determined tonight.

Clockwise from the top: twisted pastry with pistachios, almond paste, and raspberry glaze, funny apple tart with unknown centre, chocolate croissant, cheese Danish

Sadly the pastry itself failed. Mind you, it was better than the grocery stores' around Sherwood Park, which doesn't say much, but it didn't compare with Baguette's. The cheese filling was good; the odd twisted pastry was okay too; I definitely won't approach the funny apple tart again; the croissant hasn't been eaten yet. [Update: the chocolate croissant was good too!]

The chopping board was a good deal. It's a single piece, so I won't have to worry about glue leaking and the board falling apart, unlike some others I'd had the fun of using.

I think I'll be living out of my suitcases and eating poorly for another few days. Some of the stores are rather far away and there's a limit to how much I can carry, especially when larger items like the garbage bag container branded as the "Dust Box".

Today, I picked up the Dust Box, glasses, a bowl, a plate, a set of utensils (knife, spoon, fork, chopsticks, a pair of cooking chopsticks), a kitchen knife, and ten clothes hangers. Add to that some tea, a bag of apples, a pineapple, which actually seems to be one of the cheaper fruits, and some tomatoes, and I'm quite out of arms. Even that took two trips to the stores. I was going to buy some cooking utentils as well, but couldn't find a spatula that had a thin enough front edge, and I'd hate to rupture my fried eggs.

Since I'm not used to paying with cash, I ended up making somewhat of a scene at the register. First I dropped my wallet while fumbling for coins to see if I had the exact change, then I wasn't paying attention and assumed that all the coins with holes were 50円 coins (5円 coins have holes too), then I dropped my wallet again and some cards came out. By this time the person working the register had finished packing my purchase into bags and took the payment with half the coins needed to even it out resulting in even more coins in change for me to carry. The long line forming behind me didn't seem particularly enthused. What ho, yet another thing to get used to.

Tuesday's expedition

Even after being up for more than 24 hours, I didn't sleep for more than eight Monday night and was quite awake by five in the morning on Tuesday. Daylight saving time is not observed in Japan, so in October it's still starting to get light at five, but it's dark by six in the evening. Since my luggage was still en route from the airport, I spent the morning walking along route 248, the main road in this area of town. I arrived at the nearest department store before it opened, so continued on and reached the mall just as it was opening.

Aeon Mall is fairly new and there's a good number of stores there including Sisley, United Colours of Benetton, Baskin-Robbins, Starbucks, and a Bagel shop that has lox and capers. Of course, there are the two anchor stores, ジャスコ (Jusco) and 西武 (Seibu). Seibu's selection seems similar to The Bay, although perhaps a wee bit higher class with more food shops on the first floor: cakes, fresh fish, bread, Japanese sweets. Jusco is a department store that carries wide variety of items: there's a grocery store on the first floor, school supplies, televisions, and clothing on the third floor, and everything between.

After exploring the mall for a while, I walked back to the school to see if my suitcases had arrived yet. Upon entering, the housing coordinator from the student affairs office, Kawakita-san immediately recognised me (I'm almost convinced the staff has secretly memorised our faces from our application photos) and indicated that my luggage had arrived and that they would drop them off at my apartment later in the day. I was rather relieved as I was not exactly looking forward to lugging 150 pounds through the streets.

After they dropped off my suitcases, I walked back to the first department store, 西友 (Seiyu), that was closed when I was there in the morning. Seiyu is similar to Jusco, but much more run down.

After exploring a bit more I decided to grab dinner at a chain called Pastel; it's just under 10 CAD for a plate of pasta. Apparently the Japanese take on Italian food is better than Italian food too; although at the moment, I'm still partial to the North American variant.

Tuesday: 13 kilometres

Placement exams

Placement exams were scheduled for Wednesday morning, so after waking up early, I headed to the coffee shop owned by the school. The breakfast special there was 350円 and consisted of a hard-boiled egg, a large piece of toast, a coffee or juice, and some off-white drink whose contents I have yet to figure out. While not terribly expensive, I think I'll stick to eating my toast at home, at least once I have bread and all.

The written portion of the test was held first and I think I am satisfied with my performance on it except for one or two questions. The interview on the other hand was as expected: rather disappointing (probably for the teachers holding the interview too). Since my Japanese education to this point has essentially consisted of two textbooks and some notes off the Internet, my reading and writing ability far exceeds that of my listening and speaking. This discrepancy, I trust, will soon be remedied.

After the exam, I wanted to find a pair of kitchen scissors, but hadn't liked any that I saw in the department stores on Tuesday, so I headed north to find a knife shop. Naturally, I forgot that the map I had looked at on-line was far more extensive than the one I had in my bag. My map ended at the mall, and relying on my memory, there was a knife shop about three times as far to the north. Eventually, I found it and found a chopping board and some scissors and made the somewhat painful walk back to my apartment.

Wednesday: 21 kilometres

Blisters

After walking some 34 kilometres in two days, my feet had become rather sore and blisters had developed. Don't worry, I didn't take any pictures! Regardless, I figured it would probably be a good idea to buy a bicycle. I wasn't so much concerned with sore feet and blisters since my feet would become accustomed to walking more, but rather with the time it takes to walk, especially north of the river.

After searching a bit on the Internet, I found a shop nearby and walked there Thursday morning. En route, I happened across a patch of trees and other flora about 350 metres long and 50 metres deep running along side the road. Perhaps it's just because of differences in native vegetation, but it felt much more wild than the patches of greenery in the Edmonton area. In the end I found a bike, but one my size wasn't in stock, so I would have to return on Saturday. Two more days of walking!

Some more exploring ensued to the northeast and I found a Toys"R"Us and an electronics chain. People were actually lining up at the electronics store before it opened. Does this happen at home too and I'm just ignorant of it? There weren't any special sales as far as I could tell.

Thursday: 15 kilometres

Strange bicycles

The design of Japanese bicycles is significantly different from what I'm used to at home. Typically they have a low, if present, top frame bar, almost like women's designs in Canada, except even lower and on all unisex models. The handle bars are higher, so you sit more upright while riding and they come standard with baskets, chain guards, lights, and mud guards. I have to say that it will take some time to become accustomed to, assuming that ever happens. They severely violate my sense of style.

When you purchase a bicycle, it is registered with the police so that should it be stolen and recovered, the police can return it. This is despite having lower bicycle theft rates than in Canada. The concept of locks are also very different. They stop the rear tire from spinning and lock the handle bars so they can't turn; however, there is nothing that anchors it to an external object, so anyone can come along with a trunk and throw your bike in the back of his trunk.

Since buying a Trek Soho and adding a mud guard, rack, light, and chain guard is a little out of my price range, I picked up a Japanese-style bicycle on Saturday. It actually has three gears! although, I haven't figured out how they work.

Home-made food!

I'm finally eating my first home-made meal and I haven't vomited it back up yet! Okay, okay, so that's not particularly surprising, but still, it's nice to be eating something a bit more substantial. The package of spaghetti contains lots of little tid-bits of note. Click on the picture for more details.

Aside to dad: go buy yourself a real knife. I had no idea how dull they were until tonight. You'll enjoy it, really. You certainly cook enough. Oh, and if you remodel the kitchen while I'm gone, make sure you install a gas line for the range. （＾＿＾＊） You've always said you prefer gas cooking, and it's not as though we have to worry about earthquakes rupturing the gas line.

A very quick update regarding my 1.6 mm spaghetti photo on Flickr: I found the 1.8 mm variety when shopping today! Apparently people do care.

Yesterday for lunch, I found a cafe I had read positive reviews about earlier in the week. It's a local okonomiyaki shop called TIME. There's no English translation for okonomiyaki aside from literal ones like "fried as you like it"; just accept it as a Japanese food item. It's a cross between omelettes, pancakes, and bunch of other things. TIME did indeed take me some time to find: the sign for it is a bit smaller than a US letter piece of paper. I had a general idea of the location, and I had read on the review site that there aren't any large signs in the area like you find around the bigger restaurants and chains.

I ordered the スペシャル (special), so I don't really have an idea of what I ate; most of the flavours were too different from what I'm used to. I managed to detect, cabbage, shrimp, egg, and some sort of bacon-like meat. Regardless, it was tasty and a very generous portion.

Next time I go, I'm going to ask the owner or at least the attendant if I can take some pictures since the place has a great atmosphere. It's in a rectangular concrete building that was actually pleasing for a change. There are a good number of concrete buildings here that are quite refreshing to look at and be in: the concrete is used in the visual design of the place as opposed to just being a structural component. The seating area is on the main floor of the building, which is just slightly below ground level. The tables are single slices of wood taken from rather large trees and each is supported by a single steel beam from the floor. The front of the building is set back from the main road and has a large window allowing the patrons to look out on a small green patch concealed from the road. To access the cafe itself, you have to take a catwalk elevated about half-a-floor. Well, that's about as much as I'll say without pictures.

2007 Gourmet Plus Rally

While I was there, I saw a poster for an event, the 2007 Gourmet Plus Rally, and since I like food, I decided to investigate a bit more especially considering that TIME was quite affordable, as lunch or dinner can be had there for under 10 CAD. After classes today, I found a pamphlets for the event.

The pamphlet has a small map and brief entries for each of the seventy-eight participating restaurants. Each entry lists the establishment's name, phone number, address, a recommended item from the menu along with its price, a special available for people with the event passport, typically a free drink or dessert, the days the restaurant is closed, its business hours, available parking, the time the last order is taken, and special notes.

All this is great because in an unfamiliar city, knowing the approximate cost of a meal at a restaurant greatly aids the selection process. And even better, although there are four or five places on the list with meals costing more than 30 CAD, most are around 10 CAD! I.e., this is definitely something of which I will be making good use.

Why you should read and not skim

After talking with the Uchida-san from the student affairs office about my gas bill, which was actually a notice of payment from the last bill and finishing what was hopefully one of my last general supply shopping trips, I didn't particularly feel like returning to the store again to pick up groceries to make dinner. Turning to the event pamphlet, I found a reasonably nearby restaurant with prices under 10 CAD, looked it up on the bigger map I bought today, and set off. It's about a 20 minute walk to the south-south-west from my apartment. (I dislike cycling after dark since the streets aren't exactly illuminated, and I don't really mind walking.)

I arrive in the general location which is just to the north of the entrance of Minami Park and start looking around for it. The restaurant, じゃんご (Jango), appears just of the north of the park entrance on the map, so I figured I was close. I walked around the block once, then again, then the adjacent block, checked the map, and repeated the process, but there was no sign of the shop. I was even looking for US letter paper-sized boards on the sidewalk. Alas, I was having no luck, but decided to check the pamphlet once more. I read the entry for the restaurant again, "[blah, blah, blah] . . . 定休日：木曜日 (Teikyuubi: mokuyoubi)!!!" "Bloody hell!"

I have forgotten once again that in Japan, almost all shops, which are not in business 365 days a year, take a holiday once a week. Unlike western countries where this is usually a Sunday, in Japan, it can be any day of the week. Of these days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday seem most popular, and the above part of the entry that I just read happens to mean, "scheduled holiday: Thursday"!

Alas, not all is yet lost

Naturally, now that I'd resigned myself to stop at some random place on the way back to my apartment, I find the restaurant I was looking for in the first place. It was closed, of course, but I know where to find it next time.

Additionally, the random place that I stopped at on the way back was half-decent too. For 1150円, which at today's exchange rate less the 3% or so that the bank takes off works out to 9.92 CAD, I had a meal with a small potato salad, a medium bowl of noodle soup similar to the beef-and-dish dish we often make at home, and a plate of crab fried rice. That's right, real crab meat! for under 10 CAD!! I hope all of my Canadian and American readers are enjoying their crab-flavoured pollock at home.

Hello all,

I'm still alive; I just haven't had a chance to write any updates lately. Of course the preceding sentence may be read, perhaps more accurately, as follows. I'm still alive; I just haven't taken the time to write any updates in the last month.

Here's a list in point form with no particular order. If there's anything you're curious about, let me know and I'll take the time to write about it.

• For some reason, I couldn't sleep this weekend. Usually after not sleeping for a long period, I'll sleep for at least ten hours or so, but when I crashed after classes today, I woke up after three hours. Perhaps jet lag is finally catching up to me.
• I gave in to the pressure and bought a cell phone, or more accurately signed up for a cell phone plan and received the phone as part of the deal: nearly equivalent to buying, yet subtle differences remain. If you don't have my number or cell phone e-mail address yet, but think you should, let me know. (If I don't already know you, don't bother.)
• My listening and speaking are still trailing by reading and writing by leagues and neither seems to have improved.
• On one hand, I quite dislike having a goal and not knowing how to get there. On the other hand, it makes for a most interesting challenge. Many people say something along the lines of, "so long as every step you take takes you closer to your destination you're making progress". Others say, "so long as you're moving, whether it's toward or away from your destination, it's better than standing still". While I agree with both of the above statements to some degree, I say, "if there's a route, which you're not taking, that achieves the same result in less time, then you're wasting time." It is thus necessary to find a balance between taking the route you're on and looking for a better one; between doing calculations and performing optimisations.
• It appears I'm no longer Canadian. I just turned on the heater since the temperature in my apartment dropped below 19℃ and it's bloody cold.

ナサニエルということを消えて、新しい自己を作り出すことができるかとうか考え中です。いつもナサニエルの（英語の）経験は日本語の練習・習うこと・話すことに支障を来たすので。どうしようかな。

明日二つ目の試験がある。あとでナサニエルのことを仕留める？

I haven't quite finished writing the previous entry, but this deserves its own brief note. Actually, most of my longer entries are generally left unfinished. Perhaphs, I should just stick to shorter ones. Who knows? maybe one day I'll return and finish them.

I finally understand why heated toilet seats are fairly common on newer Japanese toilets! In Canada, I've used heated toilets a few times and was somewhat befuddled by their existence. All the houses and buildings I've been in in Canada aside from barns and such have central heating and even when your monther's trying to save energy, the indoor temperature is rarely less than 18°C or so. Add the heated toilet seat to that, and it just seems like a useless extravagence for those who enjoy a warm buttocks.

However, for one reason or another, central heating simply does not exist in Japan outside of larger public buildings. This means that in the winter unless you have the heater in your room cranked up to 25°C or 26°C, it may be 14°C or 10°C in your washroom. (Apparently insulation in walls hasn't caught on either.) Sitting down on a ten degree porcelain chair is, well, rather unpleasant! Alas, all that said, my apartment doesn't have heated toilet seats . . . and hence this realisation.

. . . and am feeling particularly retarded.

It's taken me three months to realise I have an oven in my apartment, all the while mourning the loss of all the baked goods I enjoy eating. Apparently, my microwave oven also doubles as an oven proper — well, almost.

Upon arriving three months ago, I soon realized that the microwave oven had a function where you could set the temperature, but I assumed that it was tied into the microwave part of the oven, and it only went up to 200° anyway. Of course, in Canada all my recipes have directions with the oven temperature given in Fahrenheit which didn't help since the number 200° and word oven bring to mind phrases like "keep warm".

When a package containing popperdums (Indian food item) arrived from my dad early this month, I decided to microwave some of them (yes, I'm hypocritical). However, the convergence of the microwaves in the oven is much different than what I'm used to, so parts of the popperdums were being cooked and other weren't. For the first time I decided to look at the interior of the microwave oven and discovered a heating element recessed in the top of it. "Ah! So it is a real oven" briefly crossed my mind, but was quickly brushed aside since I still figured an oven that just keeps food warm is somewhat useless.

Last night, as I was half-heartedly trying to fall asleep, I started wondering if the common Japanese person simply doesn't eat baked food as a rule. I had no doubt that they eat much less than your typical North American. But even in the Japanese cooking class I went to in October, we used an oven. Then it struck me! What's 200°C in Fahrenheit!? 200°C ✕ 9°F ∕ 5°C + 32°F ・・・ 392°F!

If I'm awake tonight, guess what I'll be making for dinner. Who knows, maybe I'll even bake some cookies over the holidays.

Winter break is finally over and the second term, or at least my second term, has begun. Reading, "winter break", one may initially think that I'm yet another person to discard reason and bow to the voice of political correctness; however, in Japan it is most certainly not Christmas break. Christmas day is on the 25th of December like everywhere else, but everyone goes about their daily lives as per normal. Sure, there are decorations in the stores and the occasional house has lights, but by the 28th of December, the Christmas decorations have been removed in favour of the much more important New Year's ones. Anyhow, winter break was too long.

A new class

Or rather, half of a new class has been formed this term, with eight students from my class in the previous term, four students from another programme at the school, one from another class in the same programme, and one brand new student. The intake of new students may seem low, but because student visas are only issued by the government for entry in October and April, the intake is naturally lower in January and July.

The assortment of nationalities is even more varied than last term with fifteen students representing twelve countries: Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Brasil, the United States, New Caledonia, Taiwan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Korea, England, and the Netherlands.

Although perhaps it is to be expected to some degree, the six students who are new to the class seem particularly quiet. Maybe the rest of us are intimidating with Americans and Canadians who have little reservation when voicing their opinions. (You know who you are, or is that we know who we are . . . ?) Regardless, I'm sure people will warm up to each other and relax in the coming weeks.

While I occasionally, and by occasionally I mean every day or nine out of every ten days, complain about the slow progress as far as grammar is concerned, and outdated, poor teaching methodologies, since languages are so expansive there is enough wiggle room to allow for an interesting term. More accurately it's not a matter of the term being interesting; rather, the term can be made to be interesting. The preceding is doubtless an obvious statement to most of you, but some people are like me, somewhat retarded, and need to hear it explicitly.

Here are two photos instead of the rants that I so enjoy writing. As usual, click on the pictures to see a larger version. If you enjoyed the rants, don't worry, I'm sure they'll make a return.

Last term's class

A few people are missing, but this is most of us. I'm almost never in my pictures since I'm holding the camera, but here's a rare shot taken by someone else (after being frightened by holding an SLR and dropping the lens cover).

Model koi pond

My dad's always talking about making a koi pond in our backyard, and I finally found an ideal model! The picture is a little over-exposed, but I like the way it turned out. It's the pond in the Imperial Palace East Gardens in Tokyo.