Recap#3: Winter in IUJ (2017/2018)

The winter seemed to have come early but I think I was prepared. After all, I already had my winter jacket and mobile heater. My friends who went on exchange were back and it was nice to have them back. The first day I came back, we had movie night that night. I decided to sit at the back since I was sleepy. I think we watched Bad Genius. It was good to be back.

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.

Recap#1: Summer in IUJ (2017)

My last IUJ recap was for the 2016/2017 academic year. I will now recap the summer break that took place after.

I went back home for Raya celebrations and it was nice to be able to celebrate with my family and friends. It did mean however, that I missed the Class of 2017's graduation ceremony. Being back was nice and I know I ate a lot. I spent around a month at home and then returned to IUJ in August to start my stint as a facilitator for the Intensive English Programme. It was not too bad but I do think that I lack superb people skill that would make it easier for me. One good thing about returning to IUJ early (apart from the money earned from being facilitator) was getting to spend time with my friends who would finish their course in August. These were the people that took 1-year courses such as E-biz and International MBA.

Dream fulfilled

It's been a week since I returned home from Japan.It took me a few days to get used to being back, the rainy and gloomy weather certainly didn't help.

Looking back at my two-year stay in  Japan was inevitable now that the dust has settled. One of the many things that occupied my mind was how I regained my status as a mostly straight A student. From primary school until middle-school, I had obtained As in most of my subjects. You could say I had a stellar record. But it all changed in high school. I just couldn't cope with Add Maths and all the science subjects: Biology, Chemistry and Physics. My score for these subjects ranged from fail to slightly above the passing mark. Until now, I'm not sure if I was lazy or that I just couldn't cope with the way the subjects were taught.

Alternative rocks!

I don't usually discriminate in terms of the genre of music I enjoy; I like any song as long as I like the rhythm/melody. During the last few years though, my preferences leaned more towards mainstream pop.

Delving deep

My thesis is on climate change and the deeper I delve into it, the more despair I feel. I didn't realise that humankind had known that we were causing global warming a few decades before I was even born. And the international community has not achieved much in mitigating climate change. I now experience what Naomi Klein described in her book This Changes Everything as "pre-loss":

"At some point about seven years ago, I realized that I had become so convinced that we were headed toward a grim ecological collapse that I was losing my capacity to enjoy my time in nature. The more beautiful and striking the experience, the more I found myself grieving its inevitable loss — like someone unable to fall in love because she can't stop imagining the inevitable heartbreak.

I need a kotatsu

I was going through some of the stories I've written and one of them stood out because of the cold and early winter I'm currently experiencing at Minamiuonuma right now.

Here's an excerpt:

Keorey has always been the kind of place I couldn't get used to. For starters, the place is as frigid as my hometown is warm. Unlike my hometown, Keorey is odd because it has four seasons but the distinction might as well just be a kind of formality. Its spring, summer and autumn are just milder versions of its notorious winter. It’s so cold during that time that taking a bath is a daily battle of wills (to suffer or to stink?). Unless you're rich or unless you happen to live in the kitchen, food is usually served cold. It's not that the town has limited supplies of firewood and oil; the townspeople are frugal by nature. The last winter of 212 lasted for six months and supplies of food and firewood were at the bare minimum by the time the first flower bloomed. Taking baths and eating less than warm food doesn't seem to bother the people here, they are hardy and because of that seem to be accustomed to the punishing climate. I seem to be the only anomaly. Over in the room down the short hallway, I can hear the landlady stir. I look outside, its still dark but its probably 7 in the morning already. The sun comes up and sets early here; something that got me into trouble a few times when I first arrived here. My sense of time has much improved since then. There's a lot of coming and goings here from outside traders since Keorey lies along a major trade route. Most people don't stay on longer than they need to though. I had sometimes wondered at that. I mean I may not be particularly fond of the weather here but I'm sure it has its own charms to other people. The town looks like a crystal town during the winter. While this is also the time where I would like nothing more than to stay indoors, the townspeople go out even more than they usually do. The abundant snow and frozen ponds or rivers have made it the perfect place for outdoor activities. This creates fertile ground for several outdoor markets as well. I think this town is just as alive if not more during this season compared to other "warmer" seasons.

I wrote this story six years ago. I'm astounded at the similarities between the place I wrote about and the place I'm currently in. Similar to the story, the winter and summer seasons here in Minamiuonuma are longer than its autumn and spring; I eat any food I cook cold most of the times because I cook in the morning and don't really like to microwave food; and during last year's winter, I went out more because there were many events and festivals going on in this town.

Does life follow a certain symmetry or pattern? Or is it totally random? Life certainly seems to follow some sort of symmetry or circle of events in some movies I've watched but does it apply to real life? Maybe it does but we're just too oblivious to notice it most of the time.