Darlo's World

Well today’s April Fools Day, that is to say it was, before midday. First off I know I’ve been a bit slow about updating this, but if you think that’s bad I’ve not updated the Japanese Site in a much longer time.

To be honest I really don’t know what to write about. I could talk about how it’s the Easter holidays at Uni so we have a month off, however we’ve still got lots of work to do during this break period. I could talk about how I went home to Shropshire for a week to get harrassed and abused by over affectionate kittens night after night. I could talk about some of the things I’ve recently came into possession of, such as a novel about it becoming illegal to be fat in the UK. But the fact is I don’t think I will. ^_^

But there are two things I will talk about. First of all if any of you out there are planning on sending things to Japan (or vice-versa) by surface mail (aka the slowest and cheapest option), then do remember that it will take a very long time. Around christmas I sent some chocolates over to Japan and have been told this week that they have just arrived. So keep those patience hats on people!

Secondly, as I said before today was April Fool’s Day and as such a time when people play practical jokes on one another, or, as is the case in Japan, tell each other lies. Early this morning I decided too to have a bit of fun with one of my friends who hadn’t realised what day it was who I was chatting to online. I was originally going to copy & paste the conversation here, but unfortunately have just realised I forgot to save the bloody thing.

So here’s the jist of it.

Me: “Oh by the way, I have some news but it’s quite secret for now so keep it under your hat”
Friend: “Go on?”
Me: “I got engaged.”
Friend: “What??? How, when?”
Me: “There’s a girl here on an exchange year, similar to what I did in Japan, and we’ve been going out for a while. The other day we had a random discussions about weddings and how they were done in her home town of Laiton. Then the next day I proposed.”
Friend: “Wow that’s awesome!”
Me: “Well like I said keep it a secret for now, there’s a lot of paper work and red tape involved with foreigners getting married in Laiton. Actually, if you go on facebook you can see her profile. Her name’s Eipuriru Fuuruzu, pronounced “April Fools” ^_^”
Friend: “You bastard!”

Yeah, ain’t I a stinker!

So today marks the end of my time of learning Japanese at Konan Daigaku, Kobe. Yesteday was our kanji and reading comprehension tests, and today we had our listening test followed by grammar. That doesn’t mean I’m completely done though, after Golden Week (literally THE next day) I have my religion exam, and then the next day is my wonderfully anticipated Leeds exam (insert sad crying clown breathing through an iron lung here).

This partially explains where I’ve been for the last few days (presumably revising) with the exception of Wednesday where we were given a day off for a national holiday, and last night when I just plain didn’t feel like studying so stopped up watching Family Guy.

Wednesday was みどりの日 (midori no hi, Greenery Day), and while I could talk about the day’s history, I’d pretty much be repeating what I read somewhere else. So rather than do that, you can find out about Greenery Day right here. Personally the only real difference I noticed were a lot more people that normal out on the streets painting and drawing, which to be honest was still quite nice, and given the awesome weather that day I’m certain their pictures turned out great.

I did use the day to take a quit run (it was neither quick, nor did I run) over to Shinasaibashi (again). As well as buying what I severely intend to be the last Higurashi book I buy, I also bought the first Higurashi DS game at a nice cheap price, as well as an awesome とたけけ (Totakeke) firgure. You might know him as KK Slider from Animal Crossing (or the Japanese 動物の森, doubutsu no mori), and am happy to say I didn’t pay anywhere near the $70 that it seems to be selling for online. Here’s hoping I can get it home!

Sorry it’s kept brief today (though I did try to maintain a sarcastic demeanour) but I have somewhere I gotta be. In the mean time, I’ll be updating the Photos at the weekend, so be sure to check them out!