One Week In

It's been a fairly eventful week, although it's about to slow down again. I met my first new housemate, which went suprisingly well. I say that because in most other circumstances, it would have been far too easy for me to fall back into my natural awquard state and just not... mix. But Kay's quite an outgoing person. A nice one (yes, sometimes I can find them a little intimidating, not this time though). And it turns out we're both into film - our tastes aren't exactly the same, but they overlap. So since neither of our terms have begun yet, we've both been bored and spent the evenings watching films together, and generally just talking. Isn't that nice? ^_^ Today's actually the first day I haven't really seen her much - she's decided she needs to be productive and so has been working (possibly) hard in her room. I was supposed to, too. But that didn't happen. I'm only just getting round to writing this and I meant to much earlier. What on earth have I been doing?? Old habits die hard, as the saying goes.

This week I also met up with one of the girls on my course who went to Kansai Gaidai: Sarah. It really is nice to have people who shared an experience with you; although they were still very different experiences. Not that we even talked about Japan - it's just an unspoken understanding. I mentioned the brief job I had over summer, and as it turns out, she also worked for the Cobra group briefly last summer. Apparently I lasted longer than her - why didn't I just give up sooner? It was never going to work! I must just be too stubborn. Its weird that I still miss the office atmosphere though. I just loved the energy and found the whole thing... fascinating. Anyway, we talked a little about our respective final year project/dissertation. Yet another person who's a better student than me. And we also both helped out our department at an Open Day, which was yesterday.

How did I forget how much I love the anthropology department!? It does have its problems - mainly organisation, which is hardly unique. But it's not a subject that anyone does if they don't have a passion for it. That really shows. I was out in the Sports Hall just being available for any future students' questions that relate to my experience, and I could direct them over to the table where some of the lecturers were sat for more specific inquiries. The staff changed roughly every hour, so I got to see a fair few of them, having not seen them for over a year. I was so suprised, and so touched, that some of them remembered me. One lecturer in particular who was my Seminar leader for only one module in the first year! I just think that they see so many students, how could they possibly remember? Maybe I have been more involved than I initially thought. And then my supervisor came by. I chose well. She told me that it was her idea to offer the extended assignment to those of us in Japan when the earthquake happened, so that we'd have the option to come back without worrying. She's just so supportive. And I don't think she's oblivious to the fact that I can be lazy, I've been honest about that, but then she knows my record and that I've never missed a deadline. I wouldn't say my work's poor quality either, though I feel I could improve on it. [I really need to stop wasting days like today]. I really am keen to get back into the swing of things now. I might be dreading saying this when the time comes to it, but hurry up and pass next two weeks!!!

There are no plans for another Open Day before October/November even, and so there won't really be anything else for me to do. Except read. If I got a page read every time I just thought about working, I would be so much further ahead... Oh, and it's Sarah's birthday one day next week; we're supposed to be going for a meal, and that might be another good opportunity to meet new people!

Final thought for now: something before reminded me that it's festival (or 祭り : matsuri) season in Japan now. One of my favourite ever events in the entire year was the danjiri matsuri we went on a fieldtrip to see around Korea Town, in Osaka. I wanted to hunt down every festival like that afterwards, not realising the huge variety in Japanese festivals, and that they all tend to be just in Autumn and Spring (to do with harvests and fertility). It's hard to explain what really grabbed me about this event. But I want to go back now. I guess, just like my sales job, it was the energy. Like in capoeira, it's essential to have axe. I'd also really like to go back to that society this year - I was only with them for one term in my first year, but I loved my Muzenza family.

Energy's like a drug.