Blurred days

The Spring holiday at Japanese university continues.

I may have previously stated, here or otherwise, that I don't particularly mind having months of holiday and no classes when I only have a few days short of a year abroad, and that statement continues to be true. I feel I have gained so much from self studying in a month or so than I even got close to from classes here. The problem is that at my particular university, and from what I gather holds true for most universities in Tokyo, the Japanese students are not particualrly interested in speaking Japanese to foreign students. This leaves me in a state of feeling that I can't actually make use of what I am trying to learn.

Another issue is that, Tokyo is so expensive to live in, and had so many hidden costs everywhere, that I cannot actually afford to leave it. Generally I have been living within my means, I've not had many nights out, I've not bought extravagant things. If I have really, really wanted something, I sought out the cheapest deal I could find. Yet, I find myself worrying about what money I have on an almost daily basis, even when buying food.

It isn't all frustration, though. Thankfully, as other institutions have begun their holiday season, I've had the chance to meet friends from Sheffield, something which raised my spirits so much I actually struggle to properly put into words how much it cheered me up. The main thing I've noticed this year is just which people actually want to communicate with me. It's felt quite enlightening in some senses.

Another little aside is that, in an attempt to actually test my knowledge of Japanese, is that I've got involved with a fan translation of a SNES videogame. It's not something I've ever heard of, which might indicate just how niche it is to people who know me well, but so far it's been pretty plain sailing, which has boosted my confidence quite a bit.

Outside of that, my days have generally consisted of going to the free gym at university in the afternoon, studying in the evening and translating at night.

I get to feel productive at least.

Discount books and wrestling

While on the train today, a woman sat down next to me, covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief, and stared at me for the duration of my journey. Upon leaving, she removed the handkerchief, but continued to look at me, seemingly aghast. My only feeling was that it's about time to update my blog. Additionally, on the return journey to the dorm, a man stood next to me, and upon his departure, seemed as if he wanted to compliment my facial hair without using any words, just a sequence of nodding, pointing and other assorted gestures. That made me want to update this even more, which brings us to this update.

Puzzlement towards actions of the locals aside, it's been an interesting month. Holidays have well and truly got underway, marked by a complete lack of anything. My days have essentially devolved into going to the free gym on campus in the afternoon, studying by evening, and fitting attempts at reading books or playing games in between. It's not overly exciting, but it's rewarding enough. My drive to do much outside of that has currently waned, but I have a few things lined up over the holiday. Considering I have a little under four months to occupy myself, I'm making sure that I pace myself.

Yesterday, I went to a Sumo tournament, mostly for the simple reasons that I had little other than a very, very basic understanding of Sumo and the tickets were half price thanks to Hosei University. I can honestly say that it was one of the most enjoyable sports I've ever watched, which is a reaction I didn't expect at all. I could just be that the vast majority of it is new to me, but I really could enjoy watching it for a long period of time, and the entirety of the tournament lasted for seven hours and remained interesting throughout. It was a one day tournament, which I'm told are bi-monthly, so I'm really quite eager to go again should I have the oppurtunity. I'm horrible at describing sporting events though, so I don't really want to attempt it, but it's something that's definitely worth experiencing for more than the atmosphere alone.

Something I've been meaning to write about for some time now, is a wonderful shop called Book Off. It's a second hand media store, and thus the contents range from games and DVDs to trading cards and everything potentially between the two. Books are obvious enough for me to not mention, possibly. The turnover seems almost constant, as I'm often looking in to find different content. There's a rather well known book store in Alnwick back home that works in a similar fashion, so discovering that it's essentially a chain in Japan excites me immensely. The downside to this is that I have a substantially large pile of books that are being considered as "I will hopefully be able to read these in the future" sort of material. I should mention that about 90% of those books were the equivalent of £1 each, should anyone reading be concerned about what I'm spending on things I can't even make use of. While I could go on and on about the vast list of things I am ever so keen to buy, or the wondrous things I have found so far, with a gag comic about Kim Jong-Il springing to mind, it's probably best I restrain myself.

I'm starting to notice that I'm considering myself as a resident more than an extended tourist now, which has both it's ups and downs. I'm not sure what sparked the change in attitude, but I'm happy at least that I'm feeling settled in now.