Well. It certainly has been a while, Gustavus Blog. It’s time to start posting again!
I sort of dropped off the face of the planet back there in November. Classes were ending and things were getting a bit hectic and I guess I can just say I sort of forgot. I don’t have much an excuse besides that.
Winter break, though, was so much fun. I had a month off and spent some time with my friends and my parents. One of my old friends from the last time I studied here came home from Australia and we hung out. After Christmas, she, her friend, her friend’s little sister and I all headed out to Tokyo for some fun times! We spent a day at Tokyo Disney Sea and then a day at Disney Land, then we spent the next two days at a fan event called Comic Market (lovingly nicknamed Comiket). While you can easily go read about it on Wikipedia (here, I’ll even give you a link!) I’ll just say that it’s an event kind of where people sell self-published comics and art and things based on manga, games, novels, and so on. It was super nerdy but it was a lot of fun!
My parents also visited and we headed out to Osaka for some sightseeing and we visited the aquarium and Osaka castle and lots of other attractions. Afterwards we headed back to Nagoya for more fun times and the Coming of Age ceremony! My host family was kind enough to lend me a kimono and we visited some… interesting temples after the short ceremony (which was pretty much just like a high school graduation, minus the handing out of diplomas).
And school has been in session for about two weeks now. I’m in the 600 level of Japanese and things have been going along just fine. As for classes, I’m taking Business Japanese (essential if I want to work for a company in the future!), Japanese Foreign Policy, and Sumie–black ink painting. I’m having a lot of fun in each class so far and the load for this semester isn’t as heavy as last.
I just finished catching up on a light novel series called Durarara!!. (Yes, the !! is a part of the title) There are eight books so far in the series with a ninth coming out next week and I successfully managed to read them all in Japanese! It’s about a boy who moves from the country to Tokyo in search of something to spice up his life, and all the trouble that starts brewing in the city. I’d explain it more but it gets very, very complicated. The story is a bit strange but I think it’s very interesting, and I can’t wait to read the next one!
We just got out for a week break since Nanzan has to be closed for university entrance exams, so I don’t have to go back to school until after Valentine’s day. My friend and I are heading out to Seoul for a few days and I can’t wait!
See you later.
