I skipped my Japanese class today. We had a vocab quiz, and I didn’t have time to learn the words, so I just didn’t go. BUT, it’s ok… because my teacher drops the lowest quiz mark at the end of the term, so this will be my quiz that doesn’t count. Which is good, cause I got a big fat 0.

Japanese class is kind of boring. It’s pretty easy and the stuff I learn in a hour’s worth of class could be learned from the textbook in probably 10 minutes. But that’s alright, I usually go anyway.

Even though the class is ho-hum, that doesn’t mean I don’t love learning Japanese. I’m having lots of fun with it and am always excited when I learn new words that I can use with my family and when I’m out and about.

My other classes are really good though. Ceramics is as fun as ever and now that I’m getting more comfortable with the whole clay things I’m starting to actually have control over how things turn out. I can sort of design something in my head and then try make it. Uhh… it’s still really really hard, but I’m getting better. My ceramics instructor (sensei) is maybe my favorite person in Japan. I’ll make sure I get photos of him before I leave. I love the days when he plays Bob Dylan… and I can just sit in the studio and make things.

Soon I’ll be starting a paper on modern architecture in Japan and how it incorporates some aspects of traditional Japanese aesthetics… using Tange Kenzo’s buildings as examples. Should be fun… or maybe not fun, but at least interesting…

Right now I’m in the school computer lab, waiting for friends to get out of class and then go for lunch. I usually eat in the main cafeteria on campus, which has the usual… soba, udon, rice, curry, random things… I’m kind of sick of it, but it’s alright. Once in awhile I’ll mix things up a bit and go to the “good ramen shop” down the street. There’s two ramen shops close by and one’s good and one’s bad. (We still go to the bad one sometimes though cause it’s closer and dirt cheap, haha…)

Umm, that’s it for now. Oh, the weather here’s been kind of miserable. Rainy and windy and a little cold. The cherry blossoms are out, lots are almost finishing though.. They’re really lovely, I wish it could be sunny every day so that I could enjoy them more. But I’m not complaining! It’s all good!