Summer term begins

Today is Friday, the first day of the summer term in the B class. The day was rather eventful in comparison to the summer break. Mostly because it was school. Many faces long time now see. It was a really pleasant feeling to greet everyone as usual.

This time new class does not mean new people. It is only the 6 of us who stayed for this term from the previous class. The gender ratio is 5 vs 1 with having only one girl. She will have to withstand us - the all famous '下品島' (island of gross people). Poor Keishin...

Yesterday Gioki called me, because I did not show any life signs after taking the JLPT - and she was correct indeed. The only feeling left of it now is that it could have been better. I have more confidence about the answers this time, but whether it is enough to actually pass or not will only be disclosed at the beginning of September.

Finally, I also got a package today from home for it was my Name day last week (a European thing). Thank you Mom!

Dragons vs Lotte

I went to watch a sports event on the spot for the first time in my life. It might be strange but I never got myself to do this at home. So, I ended up at a baseball match in The Nagoya Dome. Without knowing the rules it was somewhat difficult to follow at first but thanks to my classmates I managed to understand what's happening after an hour. It was great fun!

The Nagoya Dome

Nagoya Dome from the inside

Cheer leading before the game

The big screen...

New term begins, hooray!

It is the end of the spring break and I have to say it was eventful. So much more fun than expected.

The first half of it was clouded by all the people leaving the dorm. Many friends left this time. I hope that I will be able to meet you all again at some point in the future!

I got to go Himeji and Kobe, but I already told you that. Yui, my friend whom with I spent a lot of time at autumn, did pay a week long visit to Okazaki. 懐かしいな.

I also had my birthday this Friday. Thanks for everyone, really! I was so surprised that I did not know what to say most of the time :)

Spring break album

Ohh, and I also found some pics that I took when we went to the NHK building in Nagoya.

NHK Visit at Nagoya album

Spring edition

It seems that my motivation to write posts faded dramatically. Some updates: the winter term is over and I am having a 3 weeks long spring break. Most of my classmates left Okazaki so I will have a mostly clean start next term :) Right now the dorm is pretty lonely. I have been to some places lately that were worth taking pictures. Please see them on my picasa page.

Mitsubishi factory visit

Himeji castle

Chinese New Year

Dear friends, the past few weeks were not quite as memorable and much more stressful than expected. I am not very proud of it but I guess there are times like this in everyone's life. Anyway, I am happy to be over it.

This semester I started to take cooking classes to get a better understanding of the Japanese cuisine. I might not become a Japanese chef in the upcoming 4 lessons but at least I get to hang out with fun people and try various Japanese food that we make together.

The best thing around - as the title suggests - was the Chinese New Year. I went to a new year party arranged by my Taiwanese classmates. I had the opportunity to try Taiwanese and Tai cuisine and I have to say I both were marvelous! After the dinner we were playing the new Wii Mario game thanks to Seki. At least now I understand why is it so popular.

Let's make mochi

Hello, Everyone! I just recovered from what was supposed to be a simple cold. There had not been much going around with me, mostly due to the fact that I hardly left my room. In the meantime the new semester had began. I am continuing my studies in the F class with many familiar faces. Although, I do not like burning the bridges, this time I made an exception. Thanks to the decisions I made, my life started to get a more sustainable pace which was long anticipated. I feel that I managed to gain back my vigor, and I am looking forward to new challenges.

As soon as I got better - which is the day before yesterday - I participated in a social event with the students of the Uechi Elementary School. The school had programs all day along and as a part of that a few Yamasa students were also invited to make 'mochi', which is basically a rice cake made with a large hammer for the celebration of the new year. The raw process is as follows:

1. Take 2 liters of raw rice, leave it soak for 12 hours
2. Heat it up and put it into a pot that is able to withstand the hammering
3. Stir it with the hammer(s). This mashes 80% of the rice to pulp
4. Mash the remaining 20% by hitting the rice as hard as you can with the hammer

If you are interested there is more on the wiki. Unlike the other volunteers, I was given a big 'Niceee' by the organizers. Maybe cutting wood is not that different after all.

Winter break

Here at Yamasa we have a 3 weeks long winter holiday. To get a clue what I was doing this time see the picture below:

But that is not everything. I was invited to Osaka by the Takada family for which I am very thankful! Thanks to Mr. Takada I could get a unique view of Osaka and Kyoto. I took a few photos, just follow the link...