The last two days have been really fun, though I didn't really get much studying done. I somehow kept up with my SRS (review), though, so it's tolerable. I haven't studied much today, either, but I will next after this.
To keep it short (maybe):
Two days ago I went to Shinjuku Gyouen (a really famous and really nice large park near, yes, Shinjuku) with Joon Woo, Team China (Yang Rui, Wu Di, Chen Ken and Yu Chen), Francesco and Etienne of AIKOM 15, plus Sarah and Park. The idea was for it to be half "welcome back to Japan" picnic for Sarah and half hanami (kinda hard to succinctly explain, but basically a very common annual Japanese pastime of picnicing under the blooming cherry trees [sakura] and enjoying the view [hanami literally means "flower viewing]). The sakura weren't blooming all that much yet, but here and there there were some nicely pink trees. We were really lucky in that we got an usually warm day. It's been usually around 13° or so most days recently, which is nice, but it was more like 20 that day; I didn't even wear a jacket. Anyway, that was glorious fun.
After that I went to a Chabashira-organized birthday get-together. Originally it was "the March birthdays," but it ended up being just Koyanagi who had a March birthday and could make it. There were only five of us (Koyanagi, Misato, Patrick, Tore, and myself) but I had a really great time. At the risk of sounding like I'm using people for their language abilities, it was especially good to spend time with Koyanagi, who doesn't speak much English (though I have made it my new policy recently to be more predatory in my attitude about Japanese, and take what others know). He even deliberately taught me a few words... But, they're rather colorful words, which I will probably (hopefully) not have occasion to use. XD+
Eventually Tore had to leave, but Akabane joined us, and we went to another izakaya. All in all, a very fun day.
(By the way, 非公式 is such confusing kanji. I was all, "uh, does that mean I should ask permission to go?" before I entered it into the dictionary, just in case, and found out that it means not, as the kanji would lead one to believe, "non-public" but "informal").
And yesterday~
Mara, my senpai from Michigan (that is, the person from UofM who went on AIKOM last year), arrived in Tokyo apparently the day before yesterday. She's just visiting for now, and only here for a couple weeks. I don't know about last year, but this year really only Joon Woo and I of AIKOM 15 participate in Chabashira. Mara, however, also did, last year, so we have many mutual friends and acquaintances there. As a result, not just from the few AIKOM 14sei I've met, but also from Chabashira, I've always been hearing about Mara... But I had never actually met her. XD We'd talked a little through Facebook, but that was all.
Anyway, yesterday I had dinner with Taiga, Akabane and Kenji, and then Kenji took me to meet Mara. She even had homemade chocolate chip cookies from the US, a kind of cookie that does not really exist in Japan (but is the cookie by which all other cookies are to be judged). We talked for a bit where they were having dinner, and then went to karaoke, which was great fun. Karaoke in a group of about that size (five people) is perfect. I'll definitely have to spend more time with her before she goes back.
The next three days, however, I will not meet Mara, nor will I be studying, because I'm going to Kyoto (and maybe a little bit of Osaka, etc.) with Miyamoto!
It had seemed that there would be others, but I think it's just us, for the most part. Joon Woo and Team China are also thereabouts somewhere, but I'm sure how much we'll see of them. Anyway, with just Miyamoto and I it'll be very easy, I think, so I'm quite happy. (And to return to the slightly uncomfortable theme of talking to Japanese natives for personal gain, Miyamoto is great because he patiently speaks Japanese with me even though his English is pretty good).
Tomorrow Miyamoto and I will use Youth JR Rail passes to go to Kyoto. This means being on the train for eight hours or so, but it's the cheapest way to go. I actually kind of like long rides (see: driving around the perimeter of the eastern continental US a few years ago; me being a little disappointed at how fast the shinkansen was on the way to Osaka), at least on the way to someplace (not as much coming home), so I'm looking forward to it. Miyamoto will be fun company, there'll be various scenery, and the train probably won't be very full most of the way.
Originally Joon Woo and I were thinking of staying at a hostel or a Korean-operated guest house together, but in the end we didn't. As a result I'm staying in, yes, a capsule hotel. ...Sort of. Not exactly the 本物, made for salarymen who can't get home for the night and sometimes used by low-budget travelers, but rather a quasi-hotel built to imitate those, geared toward foreign tourism. Still, I'm looking forward to it; it should be novel. XD It was slightly cheaper than any of the hostels with space I could find (with sakura blooming and many Japanese schools on break right now, it's peak season for Kyoto), and looks nicer (if perhaps less interesting) than a normal capsule hotel for the same price, so~
Anyway. I should probably talk about that more after I get back, rather than before I go (although we know how that turned out with Hokkaido... and Hakone...)
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