This summer I also sold my old Ford Explorer and bought a more economical Suzuki Alto. I got a stereo system installed about a 2 weeks ago as well as my navigation system I had in my old car. It's such a strange feeling driving this tiny car after the monster I had before.
Another development is the new apartment I moved into. My room number changed from 203 to 302 in some bizarre twist of fate designed by the 'Blue Sky Preschool' on the first floor of my building. They wanted to use my room since they have an increase in student body. My old room is now host to a bunch of little Japanese toddlers. Go figure.
I also spent a lot of time reading since the summer and managed to finish four Japanese books. The first book is called Chichi to Ran, a book I borrowed from another ALT. To sum it up, it's about breast enhancement surgery and menstruation. The book is written from the perspective of the sister of a prospective breast enhancement surgery recipient. The main character tries to basically convince her sister not to get the surgery and an interesting argument ensues about the difference between breast enhancement surgery and cosmetics. Intermittently scattered throughout the books are journal entries of the sister's daughter, Midori, who only communicates through notebook messages as opposed to speaking. Midori finds menstruation revolting but yet is curious about it in a strange way. Most of her parts are about how she's not looking forward to puberty and the other half are how she thinks her mother is stupid for wanting the surgery. The last part of the book is also a short piece about a strange happening between a man handing out flyers in the street and a woman walking by who ultimately decides to ask him out on a date only to be knocked out by him. The story ends with her laying on the pavement and blood running down from her lip. No joke.
Another book I read was the first book in the Kino no Tabi (Kino's Travels) series. The series also became an anime of the same name. The premise of the book is about a girl (who originally seems to be a boy) named Kino who rides around on a talking motorcycle. The world Kino lives in is a somewhat alternate reality to ours, where 'countries' are basically cities surrounded by walls with immigration personnel at the gates. Each chapter is about Kino and his bike's journey into these different 'countries'. The book was originally published as short stories in a magazine so the book can be read in a non-linear order and still make some sense. The different countries are based on intriguing concepts. For example, in one, people have discovered a drug to make human beings telepathic. This seems like a good idea to the people there as it was believed it would end war and crime because everyone would be empathic to each other's feelings. However, it destroys relationships because people can hear all the little bad things they think about each other. In fact it ends up that no one lives within a certain distance of each other because it is so unbearable to hear each other's thoughts. I'm really interested in reading the rest of the series, but I decided to take a break to read something that's at a little more difficult of a level. The Kino no Tabi series, I can read essentially cover to cover without consulting any dictionary and glean almost all the ideas/story from the text. This makes it a nice portable read when I'm traveling or on public transport somewhere.
Finally, I read both volumes of Shonen H or "The Boy Called H". This is a supposed true account of the life of author Kappa Senno, a Kobe native who grew up during World War II. The book is a moving story of H (the author's name originally was Hajime) and his Christian family and their struggles through the war. The subject matter is on the surface, very heavy, but the author mixes in a lot of comedy to lighten up the story. It was interesting seeing wartime Japan through the eyes of a Christian family, especially because I have never met a Japanese Christian family. I do have to say that there is some speculation as to whether the book is actually true or not so it looks as though that it is at least partially fiction. As I was reading the story I did think that the author's perspective was incredibly liberal for someone growing up in a country seized by nationalistic fervor. At any rate, it is a great read and if kanji is any obstacle for a second language reader of Japanese, there is enough furigana to dispell the notion that an intermediate Japanese speaker couldn't try and give this a read. One warning is that much of the book is written in the Kansai Dialect spoken in Kobe, so it may take a little time to adjust to that.
Currently I'm studying for the JLPT 1 again, which I failed last summer. I will take it on December 4th, so I'm clearing my schedule as much as possible to make room for plenty of study this time. I at least hope to get my score up this time. Anyways, hope to post some more stuff soon on my study progress. I have so many other books that I want to read but not enough time to read them right now. At least now I have officially read over 1000 pages in Japanese books!
Also, I'm planning a trip to Hong Kong (and possibly somewhere in Japan) this New Year's! P.S. I have been starting to study basic Chinese classes, and I take them about 3 times a month. Too bad mandarin won't help much in Hong Kong as they speak Cantonese and amazing English there.
Anyways, it's 1:50 AM and I'm hitting the sack in my new apartment. Zai Jian!
