The weekend
I'd intended to write something poetic today but I went for a quick kip under the kotatsu and woke up three hours later after dreaming about being chased by tigers all over Ami-chan's house while she and her father tried to rescue me. Instead I read most of The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky by Ken Dorstein and did some translation.
On Friday I took it easy. In the afternoon I watched E.T. in my classroom, since all the students were off for midterms. After work I returned it and ~always~ Zoku Sanchoume no Yuuhi to the Tsutaya up the road, and tried to return via Route 1 which I will never do again. At points the sidewalk disappeared entirely, scaring me senseless as plenty of transport trucks were driving on the road. Since I was on the left hand side, travelling with traffic (opposite from North America of course) there was no place to cross the highway when I got to my area, and had to continue on to the exit and the safety of stoplights. One train stop away in the opposite direction than usual. >.>; I did trundle by the West High School grounds on my way, too; it hadn't changed much, more leaves were on the ground since last fall. I need to come back with a camera sometime. Near Nishikou I saw a sign saying the Yodogawa was 400 m away, so I decided to follow it in order to cycle the riverbank instead. The path spit me out in a familiar area just near the bridge to Takatsuki, so I turned parallel to the river and went home that way instead. Because of this, I chanced across a brand new and completely awesome grocery store just 5 minutes away from my apartment in the direction I rarely go in, haha. Huge selection of everything and open until 9, which isn't terrible. Closer than the city centre at any rate. I called Emily to tell her about it and ended up meeting her there.
After that we had dinner at her place; enchiladas again. We watched The Rescuers in the meantime. Yay!
Next day was Takarazuka! And other things, actually. I got up early to clean my apartment up a bit, and when paging through forums remembered the ZARD flower memorial set up in Osaka over the weekend. Her record company was having a small event in their building lobby where fans could lay flowers and write a message in the memorial book. So I biked over to the new grocery store, got three small 100-yen bouquets (because it was opening week, all the flowers were just 100 yen - about $1!), put them together with a ribbon back in my apartment, and got the train out to Shinsaibashi. The closest station to Being Studios was Yotsubashi on the Yotsubashi line, but Hyperdia told me the distance could be walked in 7 minutes. I'd never been to that area of Shinsaibashi before as it was on the opposide side of Midosuji Avenue from my usual shopping haunt, the Shoutengai. A nice policeman patrolling the crosswalks pointed me in the right direction and, remembering from the website that it was near an am/pm combini, I found the place by chance, in the rain. At the studio, I was probably the only foreigner who had come to the event thus far, as they took my picture while I laid my bouquet. I wrote a short message in the book and took some photos. Then I headed back to Shinsaibashi Station and got the subway to Umeda to meet Emily and Laura.
We met on the platform; I was late. I'd missed the Express train I'd wanted to take that morning and finding Being Studios was more difficult than I'd thought. One train was waiting at platform 6, the boarding platform for JR Kobe and Takarazuka. I freakin' hate JR West, let me just note. I called Emily who said she was with Laura near Car 5, whereas I was at Car 1, our original meeting spot...she said "this train goes to Takarazuka, get on" so I hopped on the one at platform 6. Then, as I turned around, a train pulled into platform 5. I realized that Emily had probably meant that one, as 5 was the side with the Takarazuka sign on it, so I quickly switched trains. As the doors closed I noticed the train was an Express to Himeji. Uh-oh.
Emily called. I said "you're on the train that just left, aren't you?" which of course she was. I had gotten on the Kobe line by mistake. Mine was Express, though, so I told her I'd hop off at Amagasaki and get on the correct one instead. I waited for a moment at the platform in Amagasaki, only to see the train approaching at a different platform across the tracks!! The Takarazuka train boards from the opposite side at that station! I barrelled up the stairs and down around, asked someone in Japanese if this was actually the Takarazuka train (faster than trying to read the boarding info which only flashes English every 30 seconds) and hopped on. Fortuitously Emily had noticed the platform change as well and gotten off just in case. They also got back on in time, and we were off!
From JR Takarazuka Station we walked to Hankyu Station and left Emily's stuff in a coin locker, stocked up on tea and then went to the Grand Theatre. Of course we discussed the queer social structure of the town en route as we walked through Flower Road. XD Outside the theatre, people were scalping tickets, so there was pretty much no hope of getting rid of our extra one. Emily and I bit the bullet and split the cost.
The show was called Love and Death In Arabia:
In 1807, Egypt is under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Sometime earlier, the imperial government appointed Muhammad Ali viceroy of Egypt, whose provinces are controlled by tribes. His present goal is to establish central authority and create an independent state of Egypt. However, not only the Ottoman Empire but also European countries such as France and England ambitious for the conquest of the Orient stand in his way.
In the Mediterranean port, Rosetta, North Egypt, Thomas Keith and Donald McLeod, respectively a sniper and a surgeon serving in the 78th Highlanders, have already spent three months in prison since they were captured by Egyptian forces. They are well treated for prisoners of war. The Egyptian soldier Medjid takes care of them as their valet, and they are not placed under strict guard. One day Muhammad Ali’s eldest son Ibrahim and the French military advisor Colonel De Juliet come to see Thomas to check out a rumor: Thomas’ eyes are said to be as sharp as a falcon’s. Once this ability is confirmed, Thomas is separated from Donald and the other prisoners; sent to Nubia in South Egypt as a training officer of a cavalry...
There's more, but suffice to say that it was supremely kitschy, especially the Revue part, Red Hot Sea. The story of Love and Death In Arabia seemed to be pretty polically-minded and history-based, so it was 100x more confusing to me in Japanese, but I was mostly there for the costumes and music, which didn't disappoint. We intend to go see The Scarlet Pimpernel next month. :) Laura had to head home right after the show, so Emily and I went back to her place and had enchiladas again, and watched the first part of Robin Hood. I told Emily I can't let her feed me anymore, I'm trying to watch what I eat. :( Noooo--!
On Sunday I had a coffee chat arranged with Caitlin, another Canadian JET who won't be recontracting. Amusingly, we met at Yotsubashi Station, the same place I'd gone the day before for the flower tribute. I'd never been there before this weekend. It seems as though Yotsubashi can be reached from Shinsaibashi via underground tunnels; though they're not connected by trains, its three train stations directly adjacent to one another. Caitlin and I went to a nearby cafe with these amazing plastic scoop chairs and I had a very good iced cafe mocha. From the 2nd floor we had a good view of a park outside. After coffee, we walked to the information centre at Namba to ask if there were any libraries in the area. There, we got a map and some free Osaka posters. Then we hopped the Sennichimae line to the main branch of the library.
Oh man...and what a library it is!
Their English section was huge and had an excellent selection. It will likely become my new favourite Sunday hangout. XD After getting a card I was able to borrow 8 books, including a few that had been on my Chapters reading list last year.
After the library closed we had dinner at Subway, which neither of us had eaten in Japan yet, and were unimpressed with the taters but quite taken with the sandwiches. I had a melted cheese and chicken sub with sesame dressing. Yum yum. :3 Then we parted ways for the evening, and I went home to watch most of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. All in all, a very agreeable weekend.
Monday, it was fairly quiet, spent much of it writing this entry. In the evening I had a small fit over my deflated bike tire, especially when it began to rain and the bike shop was closed, but I managed to straighten things out. Need to take it to Asahi after school today. Tonight is my Japanese class; last week my tutor said "you can definitely pass 3kyuu" (referring to the 3rd level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test) and so this week we're starting hardcore kanji training for that. Eek. Level 3 requires knowledge of 300 kanji, 1,500 vocab words, basic listening and you need 60% to pass. It's multiple-choice so I suspect I actually CAN do it, but since I haven't taken the 4kyuu (the lowest level) test at all and am going straight to 3kyuu, I have to study the material for both.
Nomnomnom. *gets on that*
On Friday I took it easy. In the afternoon I watched E.T. in my classroom, since all the students were off for midterms. After work I returned it and ~always~ Zoku Sanchoume no Yuuhi to the Tsutaya up the road, and tried to return via Route 1 which I will never do again. At points the sidewalk disappeared entirely, scaring me senseless as plenty of transport trucks were driving on the road. Since I was on the left hand side, travelling with traffic (opposite from North America of course) there was no place to cross the highway when I got to my area, and had to continue on to the exit and the safety of stoplights. One train stop away in the opposite direction than usual. >.>; I did trundle by the West High School grounds on my way, too; it hadn't changed much, more leaves were on the ground since last fall. I need to come back with a camera sometime. Near Nishikou I saw a sign saying the Yodogawa was 400 m away, so I decided to follow it in order to cycle the riverbank instead. The path spit me out in a familiar area just near the bridge to Takatsuki, so I turned parallel to the river and went home that way instead. Because of this, I chanced across a brand new and completely awesome grocery store just 5 minutes away from my apartment in the direction I rarely go in, haha. Huge selection of everything and open until 9, which isn't terrible. Closer than the city centre at any rate. I called Emily to tell her about it and ended up meeting her there.
After that we had dinner at her place; enchiladas again. We watched The Rescuers in the meantime. Yay!
Next day was Takarazuka! And other things, actually. I got up early to clean my apartment up a bit, and when paging through forums remembered the ZARD flower memorial set up in Osaka over the weekend. Her record company was having a small event in their building lobby where fans could lay flowers and write a message in the memorial book. So I biked over to the new grocery store, got three small 100-yen bouquets (because it was opening week, all the flowers were just 100 yen - about $1!), put them together with a ribbon back in my apartment, and got the train out to Shinsaibashi. The closest station to Being Studios was Yotsubashi on the Yotsubashi line, but Hyperdia told me the distance could be walked in 7 minutes. I'd never been to that area of Shinsaibashi before as it was on the opposide side of Midosuji Avenue from my usual shopping haunt, the Shoutengai. A nice policeman patrolling the crosswalks pointed me in the right direction and, remembering from the website that it was near an am/pm combini, I found the place by chance, in the rain. At the studio, I was probably the only foreigner who had come to the event thus far, as they took my picture while I laid my bouquet. I wrote a short message in the book and took some photos. Then I headed back to Shinsaibashi Station and got the subway to Umeda to meet Emily and Laura.
We met on the platform; I was late. I'd missed the Express train I'd wanted to take that morning and finding Being Studios was more difficult than I'd thought. One train was waiting at platform 6, the boarding platform for JR Kobe and Takarazuka. I freakin' hate JR West, let me just note. I called Emily who said she was with Laura near Car 5, whereas I was at Car 1, our original meeting spot...she said "this train goes to Takarazuka, get on" so I hopped on the one at platform 6. Then, as I turned around, a train pulled into platform 5. I realized that Emily had probably meant that one, as 5 was the side with the Takarazuka sign on it, so I quickly switched trains. As the doors closed I noticed the train was an Express to Himeji. Uh-oh.
Emily called. I said "you're on the train that just left, aren't you?" which of course she was. I had gotten on the Kobe line by mistake. Mine was Express, though, so I told her I'd hop off at Amagasaki and get on the correct one instead. I waited for a moment at the platform in Amagasaki, only to see the train approaching at a different platform across the tracks!! The Takarazuka train boards from the opposite side at that station! I barrelled up the stairs and down around, asked someone in Japanese if this was actually the Takarazuka train (faster than trying to read the boarding info which only flashes English every 30 seconds) and hopped on. Fortuitously Emily had noticed the platform change as well and gotten off just in case. They also got back on in time, and we were off!
From JR Takarazuka Station we walked to Hankyu Station and left Emily's stuff in a coin locker, stocked up on tea and then went to the Grand Theatre. Of course we discussed the queer social structure of the town en route as we walked through Flower Road. XD Outside the theatre, people were scalping tickets, so there was pretty much no hope of getting rid of our extra one. Emily and I bit the bullet and split the cost.
The show was called Love and Death In Arabia:
In 1807, Egypt is under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Sometime earlier, the imperial government appointed Muhammad Ali viceroy of Egypt, whose provinces are controlled by tribes. His present goal is to establish central authority and create an independent state of Egypt. However, not only the Ottoman Empire but also European countries such as France and England ambitious for the conquest of the Orient stand in his way.
In the Mediterranean port, Rosetta, North Egypt, Thomas Keith and Donald McLeod, respectively a sniper and a surgeon serving in the 78th Highlanders, have already spent three months in prison since they were captured by Egyptian forces. They are well treated for prisoners of war. The Egyptian soldier Medjid takes care of them as their valet, and they are not placed under strict guard. One day Muhammad Ali’s eldest son Ibrahim and the French military advisor Colonel De Juliet come to see Thomas to check out a rumor: Thomas’ eyes are said to be as sharp as a falcon’s. Once this ability is confirmed, Thomas is separated from Donald and the other prisoners; sent to Nubia in South Egypt as a training officer of a cavalry...
There's more, but suffice to say that it was supremely kitschy, especially the Revue part, Red Hot Sea. The story of Love and Death In Arabia seemed to be pretty polically-minded and history-based, so it was 100x more confusing to me in Japanese, but I was mostly there for the costumes and music, which didn't disappoint. We intend to go see The Scarlet Pimpernel next month. :) Laura had to head home right after the show, so Emily and I went back to her place and had enchiladas again, and watched the first part of Robin Hood. I told Emily I can't let her feed me anymore, I'm trying to watch what I eat. :( Noooo--!
On Sunday I had a coffee chat arranged with Caitlin, another Canadian JET who won't be recontracting. Amusingly, we met at Yotsubashi Station, the same place I'd gone the day before for the flower tribute. I'd never been there before this weekend. It seems as though Yotsubashi can be reached from Shinsaibashi via underground tunnels; though they're not connected by trains, its three train stations directly adjacent to one another. Caitlin and I went to a nearby cafe with these amazing plastic scoop chairs and I had a very good iced cafe mocha. From the 2nd floor we had a good view of a park outside. After coffee, we walked to the information centre at Namba to ask if there were any libraries in the area. There, we got a map and some free Osaka posters. Then we hopped the Sennichimae line to the main branch of the library.
Oh man...and what a library it is!
Their English section was huge and had an excellent selection. It will likely become my new favourite Sunday hangout. XD After getting a card I was able to borrow 8 books, including a few that had been on my Chapters reading list last year.
After the library closed we had dinner at Subway, which neither of us had eaten in Japan yet, and were unimpressed with the taters but quite taken with the sandwiches. I had a melted cheese and chicken sub with sesame dressing. Yum yum. :3 Then we parted ways for the evening, and I went home to watch most of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. All in all, a very agreeable weekend.
Monday, it was fairly quiet, spent much of it writing this entry. In the evening I had a small fit over my deflated bike tire, especially when it began to rain and the bike shop was closed, but I managed to straighten things out. Need to take it to Asahi after school today. Tonight is my Japanese class; last week my tutor said "you can definitely pass 3kyuu" (referring to the 3rd level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test) and so this week we're starting hardcore kanji training for that. Eek. Level 3 requires knowledge of 300 kanji, 1,500 vocab words, basic listening and you need 60% to pass. It's multiple-choice so I suspect I actually CAN do it, but since I haven't taken the 4kyuu (the lowest level) test at all and am going straight to 3kyuu, I have to study the material for both.
Nomnomnom. *gets on that*