Recap#2: Autumn in IUJ (2017)

The new term was not as depressing as it was for me last year. I wasn't homesick but some of my close friends were away on exchange so it felt a little different. It was still okay because I got to know my other friends better. I took only two subjects this term and enjoyed both of them. One of the subjects was closely related to my thesis topic of climate change.

 I cooked a lot in the shared dormitory kitchen during summer but since there were more people now that the term had started, it was a challenge to cook in a crowded kitchen. I would usually cook at off-peak hours like 9am or 3pm. I stopped my extracurricular activity (which was iaido club anyway) but still went cycling whenever I could.

I also managed to go out with my Japanese friend and other university mates. We visited a sake factory and one of the largest Shinto shrines I have ever seen. Its vivid red pillars were very striking. After that we visited a historical house belonging to a rich, prominent figure. It was like going back to the time depicted in Rurouni Kenshin, the Meiji Restoration period.

There was a little incident around the time it was my birthday. It was a Saturday and most of my friends were away that weekend due to exams. I went out with another friend in the morning to watch her kid perform at the local childcare centre. After that I expected one of my friends to celebrate my birthday but nothing happened. It was kinda hard on me because although I knew some of them were away, there were some who were still around and I thought they would do a mini celebration or something. By evening, I was stewing. One of my friends on exchange noticed and asked me if something was up. We ended up talking on the phone for over an hour which consisted of me mostly ranting lol. I was really mad that day but talking on the phone with my friend cheered me up.

The next day, I decided to go to Nagaoka to celebrate my birthday alone. One of my friends was on the bus and I kind of put a silent wall (childish I know, but couldn't help it). In Nagaoka, I went to the mall, ate a subway sandwhich at the food court, watched a movie (it was a Moomin winter movie in Japanese because I forgot to ask for the English subtitle version) and did some window shopping. I thought of buying something for myself as a birthday present but I didn't see anything I liked. I did however, but a Star Wars The Force Awakens pen I saw at the souvenir shop at the cinema. I returned to IUJ at night and managed to take a photo of an exceptionally luminous full moon from behind my dorm.

The next day, my friends did a surprise celebration at night. They came to my door with a cake and my anger still hadn't subsided so I shut the door on the pretext of a joke. But I did go down in the end for the celebrations. They seem to think that I was angry at them because they thought that I thought they forgot my birthday. At the time, I was actually angry that they let me celebrate my actual birthday alone but oh well... it doesn't bother me anymore.

I went back home for the term break to help out my family with some issues and spent around a month back at home. It was nice to escape the winter but I knew it would be even colder by the time I returned...

My family more than made up for the missed birthday celebration. It coincided with our annual end-of-the-year turkey dinner and my sis made me a beautiful unicorn cake :D