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.

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Okay, today was not the worst day I ever had. It just reminded me of the book/movie title.

I had not cooked at the dorm kitchen for three days, meaning I have not had a hot home-cooked meal in three days. I survived one day on leftovers, second day on cereal and the third day on instant noodles and convenience store packed meal.

Having such a long stretch without wholesome (well, relatively) food, I was determined to cook during peak hours today. My friend joked that the situation now can best be described as the “hunger games”, so I wanted to channel my inner Katniss Everdeen. I don’t care how crowded it is, I will cook today!

I went down at the start of peak hour, hoping I was the first but when I got there, the kitchen was full and people were already in the midst of preparing their meals. I was really shocked. Did they wait outside the kitchen for the cleaning staff to finish?!

Mortality

At around 6am today, I was woken up by an alert I received on my handphone. It had the heading “Emergency Alert” and the rest was in Japanese language. The feeling of disorientation quickly gave way to a sense of urgency and I checked my Twitter feed for the latest news. I thought it might have been an earthquake warning. Turns out that North Korea had launched a ballistic missile towards the northern part of Japan.

Arang and the Magistrate

Warning! I know it’s an old drama but spoiler alert if you haven’t watched and plan to watch ;)

I just finished watching this 2012 Korean drama. It was mostly because I had just finished watching Moonlovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo which revived the Lee Joon Ki fangirl in me.

Summer in IUJ

Wow, I can't believe my last post was in autumn last year. I totally skipped through two seasons. So here's a recap:
In winter, I got DUFF-ed for the first time and it really affected my self-esteem for the next few months. Academically, now that I am more familiar with the system of this university, I did better than the fall term. I was really happy that my efforts paid off :) It wasn't all about studying though. Surprisingly I went out more in winter than I did in autumn. This despite my initial plans of just hibernating till spring. My friends and I went to the Tokamachi Winter Festival which is like a snow sculpture festival with lots of food stalls and entertainment. We also joined the IUJ Ski Day and learned how to ski at Hakkaisan. This was an experience I'll never forget. I was nervous about it but it turns out I did not too badly, I did not fall down as much. I guess all those rollerblading and ice skating helped. I even went up the slope three times! I wouldn't mind doing it again next year but I suspect I might be lazy. 

Autumn in IUJ

It's almost two months since I've stepped foot at International University of Japan in Minamiuonumashi in Niigata, Japan. I would have written sooner but this is the first time I've been away from home (excluding vacations and assignments); settling in takes time. When I first arrived the weather was transitioning from summer to autumn so it was still pretty warm. It's been gradually getting colder since last month. I've bought a ceramic mobile heater, which is a speaker size heater that can only directly heat whatever's in front of it. Now I know why its called "mobile" heater. My Uniqlo heatech undershirts are now a daily necessity. I decided not to wear one yesterday because I was wearing double layers and I regretted it; can't live without my heatech shirts now.

Ramadan 1437