Well after four long years, university has finally come to an end. I’m not going to lie and say it’s all been peaches and cream (though I probably could since I don’t like cream … peaches … hmm … they’re ok I guess), but I know there have been a variety of challenges I’ve had to overcome. I know for a fact that my final exam was a nightmare, so I’m hoping to have got by on my (equally bad) essay for that module.

For now all I can do is try to relax a little bit.

This cat gets it.

The placement information for JET still hasn’t been issued yet, however with the events that have taken place in Japan I can still hang by and wait patiently (still hoping for somewhere not that far North however. Remote island? Fine, just make it warm).

I’ve also gone back to Lotaku lately, updating another page and planning the next few. I’m happy I can finally get the time to do some more of my small projects without having to worry about kanji and vocab tests as well as vast amounts of unmemorisable readings. Guhh … I’m not going to miss academia.

Yeah it has been a while hasn’t it, soz about that.

I really wish I could say that I’ve been on fantastic adventures in amazing worlds, but the truth is (as you might have guess from the last journal), I’ve mainly been waiting and working.

So let’s start with my exam results that I took in December. Generally I’m pretty happy. No fails, some good marks, alright marks. If I’ve worked things out rightly, if I get minimal passes this semester (not what I’m aiming for by the way) I’ll finish with a third-class honours degree, and to get a 2:2 all I need is 43s (again, now what I’m aiming for).

Classes this semester have been … actually I’ll talk about that in June once all the exams are done. Dissertation too for that matter.

Next was the result for JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). I took this test the year before and failed miserably, so in taking it this year I thought I had half a chance. Unfortunately I was wrong, and failed by just three marks. Now I’ll be the first to admit I improved in my previous score, but … three marks! Ney Mind.

Which brings us to the final update. The job interview that I went to in January was (from what I can remember, weirdly the second I closed the door on the way out my mind went completely blank) not too bad. But the wait between each recruitment stage is painfully long, not to mention the tight deadlines each stage gives its applicants (which involved me actually getting a coach down to London to hand the forms in personally as I didn’t know if they’d get there on time with the post). The job itself is an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Japan on a government run scheme called the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Programme.

Unfortunately due to the recent events that have happened in Japan, the results of the interview had to be pushed back further (they were originally scheduled for early April) until Mid-April. Last week some results had been released in the Caribbean and North America, with members of the JET Forum getting the ball rolling on announcing how they had done. Many Embassies and Consuls announce results to candidates via email, but unfortunately for us the UK still solely uses the postal service. This isn’t necessarily a negative aspect, but because it takes longer to get the results, many applicants were getting somewhat stressed.

Today on the forum, some UK members announced that they got their results. I checked the post upstairs. No result, just an ironically harsh brochure about courses in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. However, back in Telford it was another story. There was a letter from the Japanese Embassy. It was my result.

I’m shortlisted!

Yeah, I probably should explain what that means. There are three possible results from the interview: Shortlisted, Alternative, Better Luck Next Time. People who are shortlisted progress to the next stage, which is where you will be allocated a location (generally speaking everyone who is shortlisted gets the job). If a shortlisted candidate drops out for some reason, they will be replaced by an alternative (though the call happens quite last minute and can (if ever) take up until December to happen). The only real negative side to being shortlisted is that there are MORE forms to get filled out and MORE deadlines to get them done by.

Well folks, here goes!

Oh yeah and I had a tooth wrenched out from my jaw.

Just around the corner by ~xXxFucked-UpxXx on deviantART

It seems I’ve been spending a lot of random time in London lately; participating in the UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships, handing in my application for a job in Japan, taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. But, much to my parents pleasure I’m sure, I wasn’t involved in the recent ‘student’ activity in the capital. It is unfortunate that the cost of going to University will rise, but at least loans and grants are still there for us poor saps, and I’m just thankful I’m supposed to graduate this year.

Even George is a bit curious about what I'm up to.

Well to be honest I’m not planning on venturing out an awful lot. Going out means (generally speaking) money spent. I will be heading back to Telford at some point for a few days, but will definately be venturing back up to Leeds before New Year.

On Sunday I have a Poker Tournament at the Alea Casino, something I’m really looking forward to. As normal my game plan will simply be “don’t be that pillock who’s out first”, though I guess I’ll have to wait and see on that one.

There are many project that need my attention aswell so I want to be able to spend a bit of time on those.

Of course studying and preparing for the January exams will be high on my list, as well as making a start on my dreaded dissertation. 8,000 words to write, give or take 10%. So I guess I’d better get off my arse and make a start on something. Catch You later.

Been a while eh. What was I up to last time I jotted stuff down, oh yes, I’d just finished writing about my Summer Road trip, and was getting ready to start the final year of my degree.

Since then I’ve managed to successfully get a job. I’m working at FAB Cafe in Leeds, which is a pretty awesome place. I’d gone there many-a-time during my first couple of years up here. The hours can be pretty late, but it’s a good place to work with good clientelle and a good atmosphere.

We’ve just started week 5 of classes, and if I’m to speak frankly I’m struggling. No be fair I’ve struggled my way through pretty much every year, but still managed to pass through onto successive years. Last year being the first time I’d done it without any exam resits. However, I’m still feeling the pressure of a seemingly ever increasingly difficult course, but let’s be fair we were told in the first year that we would be pushed harder than previous years. And even though we finished the third year on par with the fourth year students, I know that I have to just try and keep up.

Dissertation! With the final year comes a nice long piece of written work. After my 5,000 word hikikomori report last year I haven’t really been feeling anything negative from writing an 8,000 word piece, mainly because we got to write it about anything we wanted. Or so I thought. The dissertation needs to obviously fit within the range of ‘East Asian Studies’, so I drafted up a list of 12 or so ideas that I might write about. Unfortunately, every dissertation idea needs to meet the aproval of the departments dissertation co-ordinator, and this is where all of my ideas came to pop.

Given my interest history, a couple of my ideas were in regards to anime and/or manga, but unfortunately these topics seem to have been black-listed from this years dissertation criteria. That knocked me back a step, considering the only dissertation I’ve ever read was about manga and anime.

I’ve had a couple of other niggly-little problems that have also been causing me extra unwanted stresses, though I won’t chat about them so openly. Maybe I’ll try and find a Japanese version of it and pitch that as a dissertation idea.

At the moment my free time feels like it’s being pushed to the brink of extinction, and I’ve been having pain and twinges in my back for some time (like a trapped nerve-like feeling I’d imaging), so I guess things will need to change.

But so that I don’t sign-off on a negative note, here’s a cute little one who saw something she probably souldn’t have.

Nabe - Not too different from Jamaican soup back home

Let’s start with the easy one, exams. Well ok not quite that easy, in fact after every exam I left the room feeling I’d been completely destroyed in the head. Some exams, particularly my Japanese History exam, left me with that nagging feeling of self-doubt where I knew that I had either done fantastically well or scored worse than a celibate prostitute. Others, such as the Japanese listening exam, just smacked me in the face with a sense of failure so hard that even the worst posts on Failblog couldn’t even compare, though as a bit of a cheer-up plan, one of my Japanese buddies held a Nabe party as his place. I’ll talk about results shortly.

39!

King of the Juice

A couple of weeks back, we celebrated a friends birthday by doing an Otley Run. The Otley Run is basically a pub crawl typically done by Leeds students, beginning in Headlingley and finishing pretty much in town, and (though optional) fancy dress is normally worn. It’s the kind of pub crawl that covers such a hefty distance and number of pubs that it takes a whole day, presuming you can survive until the end that is. Facebook photographs have confirmed that I did make it the whole way, though memories are few and far between. Anyway, no one’s come back to me saying I did something I shouldn’t have (that I didn’t already know ^_~), so I’ll say it was a definate victory.

Last week was the return of LURPS, the Leeds University Rock Paper Scissors society. We had a tournament in the Old Bar and even had a guest player all the way from New Zealand. Details can be found on the LURPS website (photos coming soon).

We’ve just finished week 4 of teaching, and that does mean our exam results have been made available. I’m glad to say that I haven’t failed anything yet, though some results were bloody close. It’s also become apparent that I am much better at Japanese History in essay form rather than exam, as the exam itself severely hurt my overall mark.

Japanese Written – 53 – To be honest I’m generally happy with this, I’d have much rather got a higher score, and my practice exam clearly showed I am capable of better, but as far as written exams in Japanese go, this was a good result for me.
Japanese Listening – 46 – After the exam there were a lot of complaints about it being too difficult for our level, but to be frank I think in most cases it’s down to students not getting enough listening practice. Some students got scores upto and including 86 (out of 90), so trying to argue it’s beyond our level is pointless. In my case, I was just naff.
Critical Approach to East Asian Studies – 60 – A module that confused me throughout, and eventually turned out to be my highest scorer. 100% essay based, I was complemented on my bibliography (something I was worried about to be honest), but it was my spelling that let me down. I’ve not gone back over the essay yet, so I’ll take the markers word for it.
Organisation Management and Economics in Japan – 48 – No excuses here, 100% exam based, and I was shit.
Modern Japanese History – 50 – 50% exam and 50% essay. If only this one was 100% essay, seriously! With an overall score of 50, I scored 64 on the essay (the best mark I’ve ever got for an essay in my department), which means that I must have scored a pitiful 36 on the exam (40 is the pass mark by the way).

I also had the result for the Japanese Language Proficency Test which I sat in December. I knew all along I’d failed, but having the confirmation has finally put my mind at rest (but DAMN! 141 out of 400, that’s shit!).

So let’s end on a bit of good news eh. Think back to September, when I opened the auditions for Learn With Anna. Well the first bit of good news is that the animation is done, online and ready for you to view and enjoy. You can watch it at the LSTV website, or on Newgrounds (please vote 5 ^_~). The second bit of good news is that it’s been nominated for a NaSTA Award (National Student Television Association Award) in the animation category. Presuming no other student TV stations submit anything into this new category, then we’d get a victory by default, otherwise I’m not really holding up much hope for silverware.

Well, that’s me pretty much caught up. It’s taken a good three hours to jot this down, so if you’ve actually sat here and read all this then here’s a little reward in the shape of a very cute snowball fight.

I’ll see you after.

I’ve already hit my old pizza place and made use of the great (well, not bad) Leeds free city bus, but this time around I want to actually take a real bus at some point. Actually that’s not so much want, but need to. I haven’t brought a car with me this time because of what happened to the last one. I know it’s wrong to blame an entire city for what happened to it, but since I’m living pretty close to where I was before I didn’t fancy risking it either way.

On the subject of unfortunate things, my beloved television that I bought with my paper round money when I was 14 (I’m 25 now) and has travelled with me on many adventures (not to Japan though), has finally died. At some point between leaving Telford and arriving in my new room in Leeds, it suffered damage to the power button and won’t turn on. It’s also making strange ‘ticking’ noises when I try to power up. It’s gutting I know, but I know I will have to move on (and get a new TV).

So what happens now for this Anglo-Carribbean student of Japanese in Yorkshire? Tomorrow I’m off to the Parkinson Building to work on my Japanese, and also write up my final report of my year of studying at Konan University. Why not tonight I hear you (Simon) ask? Because I’m gonna pop t’ pub.

So I’ll leave you with something weird; the cast from Spongebob dubbing three classic films (Godfather, Singing in the Rain & Casablanca).

Between trying to pack my life into various boxes and send things home via the Japanese post office (an expensive, time consuming and freakin’ heavy task by the way), I’ve tried to fit in a few more of my “When in Japan” wants and desires including making a few new ones which did kind of jump on me spur of the moment. So I guess now with my big ass hefty bag packed and my smaller hand luggage missing a few things (this laptop, my PSP and DS which are charging etc), I should tell you how I’ve spent my last week in the land of the rising sun.

First off I’ve not been able to go into university at all this week which was really gutting. As I keep banging on, at uni’s one of the few places I can meet up with Japanese friends who happen to live in a different prefecture from me. It was not that I physically couldn’t go, it’s that at the moment a lot of schools in Kansai have been closed down since the breakout of the Piggy Flu in Kobe, which in turn has spread to my own Osaka. Thankfully no one I know has been infected, though a couple are nursing regular colds.

During the week I managed to get in a final trip back to Kyoto with two friends (European and Japanese). Between the three of us there were similar things we wanted to see, as well as our own individual interests to follow. Buying bus passes for 500 yen (£3.33) which gave us travel across the city, we set sail for 金閣寺 (kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillion Temple).

The only thing that was against us was the weather. It was warm, so definately t-shirts, but it rained. This meant that the nice views of the Golden Temple could have been spectacular views. Not only that but it’s a pain in the arse trying to take photographs holding a brolly. During our time in the park we came across an interesting vending machine which sold disposable cameras and film, though this was not the strangest vender of the day. Walking to the bus stop we passed a vending machine selling neck-ties (fair enough), and hoover bags. Yes … hoover bags. The thing you stick in a hoover.

Next on our group voyage was one for me, a visit to another one my Leeds based Japanese teacher’s universities, Doshisha University. Carrying on from my adventure in Hiroshima, this was the second of three universities on my list. After taking a video (where the sound didn’t record properly) we headed off for a quick lunch.

Altogether we then went onto the 銀閣寺 (Ginkakuji, the Silver Pavilion Temple). Although the building was under construction, well, renevation, the Silver Temple (though actually brown and woody) was still a nice site, and so was the park area that accompanied it. At this point we split up, and I headed Southward towards 清水寺 (kiyomizudera).

In English we have a saying about “taking a plunge”, in Japanese the equivalent is “jumping off the stage at Kiyomizudera”. An awesome temple that is supported by strong 13 meter high wooden columns, Kiyomizudera gave spectacular views and good photos despite the crappy rain.

Before going home I wondered the streets of Kyoto’s Kawaramachi area before eventually meeting a KFC Colonel Sanders (life size model) in a kimono and Happi coat.

On Wednesday we all got together again for a trip down the Hankyu line to the 中山寺 (Nakayamadera). Nakayamadera is a Buddhist temple in 宝塚 (Takarazuka), and is known as a temple to pray for an easy childbirth. Though none of us were expecting (wanting) kids anytime soon, the excellent weather compared to Kyoto made for a nice day out (and also this was the first temple I’d been to with an escalator). After a bout of karaoke, we then went our seperate ways.

Time Check … 02:08 … crap. Sodding distractions.

That night me and a guy from France went to the Speak Easy darts bar in Umeda for a final drink. Originally due to the fact I still had a lot of crap to sort out I’d only intended on stopping for one or two (much like how I intended on writing this entry a lot faster so I’d be in bed by now), but as one thing led to another we ended up staying until the bar closed at around 5 am; hello sunshine. It’s thanks to this darts bar that we’ve been able to practice spoken Japanese with native speakers outside uni (the bar staff), but also I’ve developed a taste for Soft-tip darts (though am still not very good at it).

So yesterday (Thursday) I managed to tick off two more things off my list. First of all I finally got around to going to a media cafe. Most of my fellow foreign students use these as a cheap(er) means of having somewhere to sleep when you miss the last train, but because I normally don’t venture far enough away that I couldn’t get back on Shank’s Pony I’ve yet to have the need to kip in one. Now I know that these vary from place to place and company to company, so I’ll just give a quick overview of the one I was in, Cats. Cats is a mens only cafe with shower facilities (at an extra charge I think). The room I got was small, but comfortable, with fast internet access, reclining leather seat and access to the plentiful DVD and Manga library. I wish I could say I nosed around a bit more, but I had something I needed to find online; the final university.

I was lucky in that my final teacher studied in Osaka, but I was unlucky that it was Osaka prefecture rather than Osaka city. I’d never taken the monorail here, but because it’s very similar (aka pretty much the same) to taking the regular train I didn’t have to worry. The Osaka University of Foreign Studies in the Minou area of Osaka, had merged with and became a part of the Osaka University in 2007, but remains in the same location.

After taking a video message at the university, as done for the others, I then walked the long way back to the train station exploring the countryside area. In a way it seemed to remind me a lot of various pictures of Shirakawa (Gifu) that I’d seen. I guess because I couldn’t get to Shirakawa this time around, Minou was a nice alternative. However for some reason every dog there seemed to get angry at me.

Which brings us to today (Friday), my last day. The time is currently 02:39.

First let me top up your background music. This is one of my favourites to do at karaoke, Anata by Akiko Kosaka.

Me and a couple of friends (the same 2 who I went to Kyoto with) had decided we’d head to Sushiro for lunch (sushi on conveyor belts). On the way we made an important stops though. I have a bank account here in Japan and since I’m leaving the country we (Konan exchange students) have been recommended to close them, unless we intend to return to Japan in which case we need to give the bank our home address. After a lot of explaining and mangled Japanese from me (and a lot of patience and understanding from the girl who served me) my address was changed and we headed off for lunch.

Not really much to report on as far as food goes in comparison to last time we went, except this time we got the worst table at the very end of the conveyor belt, meaning every other buggar got the best choice. Should I make a dorm/homestay comparison I wonder?

After lunch we popped into Softbank so that I could cancel my phone contract. Doing this early meant that I had to pay for the remaining period of time on there, but since I was quite smart at the start (smarmy buggar aren’t I) it was only a few thousand yen. From the sound of some of my friends because they went for more expensive contracts (some as long as 2 years, as well as actually costing more) they’ve had to pay up to £200 to get out of their contracts early. Now what to do with my Japanese handset. Ebay?

We headed back to Umeda for a wander around and ended up eating a crepe; mine being banana chocolate & strawberry, but soon parted ways with some tears.

Right … tonight … nearly done. Pachinko is a funny ol’ game isn’t it. Me and a European friend finally had a go on the game that holds it’s own popularity in Japan. Now because of the fact neither of us had a clue on what we were to do or how to play (other than the fact it used tiny balls pinging into a machine), we found a pachinko parlour that seemed to be quite empty and had a staff member easily visible (for when we cocked up). Splitting a bucket of balls between us we cracked on and after wasting at least half of them found out what to do (thanks to sed staff member). Our 1000 yen (£6.64) bucket was soon gone (after about 10 minutes), so we headed off. I guess once you know how to play and learn how to work the machine, you’re bound to get better.

For dinner a few of us went to our local 鳥貴族 (torikizoku, the 280 place) where after eating my usual Chicken Heart and drinking my huge glass of beer, I tried a black ice-cream. It tasted like burned bread.

We ended the day with a trip to a games arcade where I held my own in Virtua Fighter 5, but got my ass handed to me in both Tekken 6 and some tennis game.

So I guess this is it. The next time I write on this blog I’ll more than likely be in a different country and will have left the land that I have come to love. I want to thank every one that’s made this year possible (except for the jerks … you know who you are (if you’re reading this, you’re probably not one, so rest easy)) and really mean it when I say that I will come back if it’s the last thing I do; didn’t fancy quoting the Terminator.

So to sing us out, here’s Vera Lynn with We’ll Meet Again. T_T (finished @ 3:34 am)

The film itself was a fair adaptation to the original story, but it was the cinema screen itself which was real nice. We saw the final showing (literally, tonight was the last one) and it was in the ‘Premier’ screen. The seats seemed to be divided into two sections; singles and couples. The couples section comprised of two-seater chairs which just reminded me of the term “love seat”. For the singles, we had spacious reclining chairs with a table and storage space between the seats. Getting a special exchange student discount also was a nice little breaker bringing the cost down from 1,500 yen (£10.05) to 1,000 yen (£6.70). Don’t get me wrong this is still sodding expensive, but if I remember rightly cinemas back in the UK are also a frickin’ money magnet.

So what lies on the cards from here on in? Well as far as Konan goes I’ve just got an essay to write on religion, a presentation to make on the Japanese rubbish system, and a final evaluation sheet to fill in. I’m hoping to get these done tomorrow so I can at least enjoy my last few days with my friends here. But for right now, I think I’ll have a beer and watch an episode of American Dad.