Five will make you get up, sing it....one, two, three, four...

I spent the beginning of my fifth month being sick and miserable, which was bad enough by itself but then I also had essays and coursework to finish too. The ever-present departure dates didnt help make things easier and the Ohmeikan seemed to get quieter and quieter by the day. I could almost see the tumble weed rolling across the floor. The Spring vacation was a welcomed change, but then I had more free time than I ever knew what to do with. Being sick also completely messed up my sleeping pattern because I couldnt sleep at night and so I was catching naps throughout the day. At the start of the vacation, I was getting up at 2 or 3 pm and staying up til 5am! That had to be quickly addressed. I began to get pro-active, enrolled into the Japanese Spring Intensive Course - 3 hours a day of Japanese starting at 9am! - and signed up for an experiment the Japanese students were conducting measuring brain-wave activities, which paid for a week's shopping.

Then, I got myself a student to teach English to, and soon my time was filling up nicely. The Japanese Intensive is going really well, and I have only missed a couple of lessons due to an eratic sleeping pattern. And while Im showing off on how pro-active I am these days, did I mention that I am also a frequent visiter of the gym now????!!!!!! Haha, hell is going to freeze over, I am sure! Yes indeedy, I've been going to the gym with Jae and Kevin, which we dont have to pay for thanks to the generosity of Nagoya University and also thanks to the ancient-ness of the machines. It would be a crime to charge for the creakiness of the machines available, but it still works well and its free, so one cant complain, can one?

I have also received my grades for last semester: A's in Japanese History, Japanese Diplomacy and International Relations, and for Jan Oberg's Intensive class. Then B's for Peacebuilding, Japanese (!!!), and Japanese Law and Politics.

Now, I am pleased with everything apart from the B in Graduate Peacebuilding, which so blatantly should have been an A. I feel robbed! My presentation received 90%, atendance and punctuality- tick, coursework and essay- tick. Grrrr! Still, water under the bridge now so no point vexing about it.

No travelling this month, because I want to go in March when its a little warmer and the cherry-blossom viewing season begins. I am going skiing next weekend with my faculty, i.e. Law, and then Alex and I are going up to Tokyo for St Paddy's Day. We'll also head out to Nikko (beautiful temples in woody grounds), Kamakura (home to the biggest Buddha statue in Japan) and then Mount Fuji. After that, I have tentative plans for a solo trip around the Eastern tip of the country. All this on the cheap juuhachi kippu, which is the discounted train tickets letting students travel for a whole day on the local and semi-express trains, so sadly no shinkansen, for a tenner. Bargainous!