At long last, Spring seems to have arrived. It's been almost too cold as of late, which leads me to think that I've almost certainly acclimatised by now, but the comfort of that doesn't really give me much in the way of actual comfort. The lack of insulation in Japan hasn't made it easy at all. I also kinda feel as if I have hayfever at the moment, which isn't ideal!
Trees are starting to bloom in Tokyo, and I've seen a number of sakura trees that have begun blossoming. I've seen a few photos from around Kyoto and they're very much in bloom at the moment, so that should gradually develop over the coming weeks. Almost perfect timing for the missus visiting in a matter of days.
With the season changing, and a new term beginning very soon, some new transfer students have begun to arrive in the dorm. The first of whom arrived today, in fact, which is partly what sparked this update. Now, as of late, I've been speaking more and more to the dorm parents, either because I'm feeling more confident or just because I'm getting fed up of most of my daily vocabulary consisting of "thank you" or "that's okay". As such, that seems to have led them to think I'm alright at Japanese now, and they asked me to interpret for them upon the arrival of a rather nice fellow from China, who can speak more English than Japanese.
I've not really had much experience with interpreting so far, but the fact my understanding is stronger than my speaking helped with this, as I only had to relay information from one side really. By some standards, it's not much of an accomplishment, but by my own, I'm very pleased with it. It certainly paid off as well, as the dorm father bought dinner for me as thanks.
I also decided to weigh some of the books I'd bought while in Japan. Not the grammar books, as I'm not going to be sending them back any time soon, just the little novellas. Somehow, I've collected about five kilograms worth, which is reason enough for me to hold off buying anything like that for the time being. Especially as I've been strongly considering getting a thirty plus volume collection of a manga I'm fond of.
At least that'll help with budgeting.
