School Days

Yesterday was pretty successful - studying, skype-ing, completing homework, going to class, arms work out, etc. etc. For fun, I visited the K-ON (light music) club again and spent about an hour before working out playing with an electric guitar. A really talented upperclassmen showed me some basic scale-type things higher up and kept emphasizing how you should just "play freely." It was a lot of fun! Then, for dinner, I had tonkatsudon and it was amazing. Meat battered and fried and then cooked with egg and a sweet sauce in a special pan and then poured directly onto a large bowl of rice. As sides, there was Japanese white radish (daikon), umeyaki (made from that fish paste that is often found in circle form in ramen), a salad with avocado and octopus in it, and miso soup.

Today was also very successful but in a different way. I survived my four classes, quiz, and homework submissions! I love all my classes but having two intense language courses in the morning and then two information-heavy classes taught by the same teacher with only a 10 minute break inbetween in the afternoon is a little tiring. However, I had some delicious kitsune-udon and pino brand ice cream for lunch. I think kitsune udon might be one of my favorite Japanese dishes (and now tonkatsudon and, OH I FORGOT - I had dango for the first time yesterday while eating in the campus garden with my Nihongo Partners - so sweet and chewy and amazing). Anyway, back to my Friday - I also paid the first part of my health insurance. Fun fact: in Japan it is normal to pay important bills at the convenience store...convenient, isn't it? On the official document, there is even a list of convenience stores at which you can pay, one of which was located on campus next to the international program CIEC office. These two days were very nice and relaxing yet productive and fun - nice offset to earlier in the week.

I played another game of I-go and was totally crushed but it was a lot of fun. I'm realizing that the very mentality is different, though the rules are pretty much the same. Japanese I-go game-play
mentality is different from what I learned (though, honestly, it's not like I played that much before).
Tonight I had Japanese Hamburger! We somehow got onto the topic of hamburgers the other day and my host mother said "Then, you should look forward to me making some Japanese hamburgers soon." It was so good! Bun-less, juicy, full of onions, topped with mushrooms, and covered in BBQ sauce! [For those who don't know, I love BBQ sauce] There was also fantastic homemade french fries and some veggies (but that hamburger was so delicious). What was also neat about today was that I started and ended with American-style food. As I walked towards the table to assemble breakfast, lo-and-behold, I saw a small jar of Skippy peanut-butter on the table. I was so excited (and my host parents were excited that I was excited). I got to have peanut-butter this morning~. It was a great start to the busy day and a nice taste of home. I do have plans other than homework this weekend and I will give a taste: it involves iconic Japanese food...

Furthermore, I finished the anime "Your Lie in April" today, which I did plan by the way. I wanted to watch it in April and the beginning coincided wonderfully with the cherry blossom season. The episodes would be full of pink petals and then so would the outside. But the anime had a lot more than just the petals - beautiful music and animation, nice story, realistic relationships (except for that small arc with the sister), and interesting characters. It was really good but not quite resembling the hype people give me. It could have been my mood or because it wasn't one of my first anime, so I critiqued it more than I would have if it had been an earlier anime...I guess? But since I've been watching anime and reading books for so long, I have come to enjoy analyzing them while watching and reading, so it may just have become second nature. Anyway, for anime fans who want a nice slice-of-life that isn't quite slice-of-life genre, and are okay with beauty and sorrow, I'd suggest "Your Lie in April" (四月は君のウソ）