Update: April 3-11

Hello all! Sorry there's been such a gap between posts. I'm nearly a month into my exchange here at Doshisha University, and time has just been swept up in a whirlwind of homesickness, hay fever, fleeting moments of connection, frustration and moodiness. I'm trying really hard to avoid getting sucked into bitterness and anger, and when I relax, allow myself to be open minded and calm, things progress forward.

Despite all of the earthquakes and reports of unrest here in Japan, life progresses normally. Aside from shortages of large bottles of water in conbinis and donation boxes placed all over the city, all of these reports of what is happening might as well be occurring in another country. Some matsuris and small festivals have been canceled out of respect and I have been told that the usual festive hanami mood is quieter and more contained than usual.

I've decided to make a point to try and get to as many traditional, notable matsuris that I can. I bought this great book called "英語で紹介する京都” or "Kyoto introduced in English", a bilingual book, divided by seasons, and then year-round attractions. On the third of April, I went to the Seiryu-e Matsuri at Kiyomizudera with some other international students. There was taiko drumming and people lining up to be blessed against ill fortune, and of course, there was the dragon, which my camera could see much better than I could.

During the days leading up to school, I tried to spend as much time as I could outside, enjoying the sakura blossoms and the warm (finally!) weather and breezy days. It is so beautiful; it is easy to understand why the Japanese love sakura so much. Right now, the early blossoms are falling and it is like pink rain! Very, very beautiful.

Over this past weekend, I went to two 花見 (hanami, literally, flower watching) parties, one at Maruyama park and the other on the banks of the Kamogawa river, held by two different Doshisha circles, one for speaking English and the other for international friendship. There was lots to drink and snack on, and plenty of kind, friendly people to talk to. My only complaint is that sitting with your legs folded under your body for upward of five hours, on rocky ground that's threaded through with knotted roots can really do a number on your shins, let alone your knees and hips!

And on Sunday, I went to see the Yasurai matsuri, held at the Imamiya Jinja. This festival is considered one of three eccentric festivals of Kyoto. It is very old and very traditional, all held to lure a Kami back into the shrine with beautiful flowers and music. People who visit on that day are supposed to have a year of very good health. I refrained from buying the usual omamori that you can attach to your bags, but bought the special mochi treat that this shrine prides itself for (aburi mochi, mochi heated over coal, then covered in a sweet-salty miso sauce), and stuck around to watch the ceremony. Performers dress in red robes with black and red wigs, chanting and singing, and being followed by shinto priests and young men playing flutes. I didn't take many photos, as it was really quite crowded, and also...we ended up leaving about half way through. My friend and I had arrived around 11:30, thinking that the ceremony would begin around 12, as my english online source had advised, but apparently, the real showtime was 3, so by 3:45, we were both pretty tired.

On a different note, school has started up and I'm a bit intimidated. I was fairly certain that I did poorly on the placement exam I took, however, I guess my spoken abilities and listening comprehension are stronger than I had believed them to be, as my oral interview went quite well, and the instructors considered placing me in Level 5, about halfway up the learning levels here at Doshisha (the level system is from 1, beginners, to 9 which would be fluent as fluent can be, I imagine). I'm ashamed to say, my pride swelled at the thought of being intermediate level, but I requested Level 4, since I still possessed a brief, fleeting hint of common sense and boy am I glad I did. The work here is going to be very intensive and I'm already scrambling to figure out a homework schedule for myself that I can pull off successfully. Aside from the requisite 10 Japanese classes I'm enrolled in, I am taking a Japanese culture class on Kyoto gardens (taught in Japanese), a class on Intermediate Japanese grammer (also taught in Japanese), an ikebana class (...also in Japanese), and a class on Japanese dialects (In English!!!).

I felt a little unsure about taking so many Japanese culture classes, but now that I've actually sat through them all, I'm glad. If Japanese speaking, reading, writing and listening are all goals of mine, I think I'm on the right track. There are classes on anthropology, psychology and business available in English, but right now, I just want to strengthen my Japanese as much as possible. Next term, I think I will take business classes along with my Japanese.

Anyways, it's late and I just wanted to post up a brief update on what's been going on. I'll write a whole post on Japanese classes and University in comparison with Canadian classes and university.

<3
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