Good heavens. It has been a whole month since my last update. Once again, it's not through any lack of interest, it's entirely the fault of... things. I was in Akihabara a few days ago, the first day I have actually seen snow in Japan. I was wearing two layers, under a thick coat, with a hat and gloves on, and I was on the verge of shivering as I was walking down the street, when I saw a maid, in little else than a French maid outfit, looking as if she was on the verge of tears. Somehow the sight of this made me realise it's been too long since I posted here. I shall try to cover as much as I can remember!
As I said, the reason for the lack of updates is not to do with lack of interest. It was instead to do with a sudden surge of essays, presentations and exams, all of which came at the same time. It's a bit of a shock to go from preparing for each class and doing some self study, to having three exams in one week while writing four five-page essays. Part of it has made me ever so slightly bitter that I came to Japan, just for a year, to spend at least one month of that researching and writing in English, for stuff that will not count towards any of my grades. As a result, I'm strongly considering taking up at least a couple of language classes during my second semester at Hosei. At least then it might count towards something I value.
Obviously the big occasions that I'm yet to write about are Christmas and New Year. Christmas was... any other day really. There was a much more noticeable amount of couples, and a few Christmas themed offers in shops, but otherwise there didn't seem to be much to it. The day was also rounded off by an American friend of mine falling down some stairs and spraining his ankle, which thankfully did not amount of anything more serious. It was also nice to have been very quickly assisted by a member of the public, something which I somehow came to believe wouldn't be something to expect. Memorable in a few ways, I suppose.
New Years, on the other hand, was a much bigger event. Due to the difficulty in spending time with Japanese students if alcohol isn't involved, I instead met Rory and Kim, a couple of friends from Sheffield, and made a visit to Meiji Shrine, which I believe I have written about previously, but could possibly be wrong about that. Ideally, if you go to a shrine, you should follow the process of making a request, paying some money, praying to the gods and such, but with several hundred people and as a result, slowly edging forward in a crowd for at least three hours. That was not exactly a situation any of us envied, so we decided to go to a couple of bars, and then, lacking a warm place to hang out, decided to ride the Yamanote train line, which is a big circle line that goes around the metropolitan area. It is something I've had on my list of things to do, and it takes an hour or so to do, but I'm just quite pleased with myself for starting the year off that way.
After that, I joined a few of the French people and their Japanese friends to watch the first sunrise in Tokyo at Roppongi, right next to the Mori Arts Tower, where I had previously been to see a Dragon Quest exhibit for the 25th Anniversary. I knew that Roppongi had a reputation for being popular among foreigners for a night out, but suddenly being in a train station in Japan where a mere 10% of the people there are Japanese was quite jarring. It was also slightly more chaotic than the drunken, angry shenanigans that I've witnessed in Newcastle and Sheffield. Following that up with watching a sunrise and gradually noticing a few birds was something I feel I will remember for some time to come.
With exams and essays finished for the time being, I have three months of spare time to make use of. I've decided to attribute most of it to self study and going to the youth centre in Daikanyama. Following some words of wisdom from Rory that I can be a tourist here anytime, I've decided not to get bummed out about not being able to travel around as much as I'd like to, and focus on improving for final year instead. Admittedly, there are a couple of places I'll be going to, but these are both inside Tokyo, so unlikely to break the bank.
Potentially a good way to start the year.
