小雨、大雨、雨

I think it's slowly becoming a trend. Long posts... Postponed logs... Lol And constant apologies. Here it is again: Sorry for the late post! Lol

Saturday November 6 (JAPAN TIME)

It's test week! Time to study, study, study! I went to a medical clinic with Dinara and Beth to get a Health Inspection form because the staff at this institute require proof that I am not suffering from a terminal illness. 「健康証明書」 I was a bit worried about being bombarded with Japanese words I did not know but yea, I was relieved to see that there were a few English speaking staff. (Not that I'm not already bombarded by new Japanese words everyday) It would be troublesome if I was misdiagnosed because of miss-communication! I somehow was the lucky person and was called out first! I first walked into a pink room and had a quick consultation with a nurse. She checked my blood pressure (99/52) and helped me arrange tests to follow. Afterward, I went into an orange room where they measured my height (184cm) and eyesight. Unfortunately, the lady who was testing me did not speak English so when it came time for the eye test... I think she thought I was blind or just down-right stupid, lol. The test was pretty much in what direction is the circle segregated. For an example: C = The circle is open to the right. It took me 3 tries before I realized how to do the test, lol. The second part of the eye test wasn't too bad... I think, lol. The instructions were simple: cover one eye and walk towards a wall with a circle and tell the nurse where the circle is segregated. The nurse probably told me to walk towards the board several times but I think I stood at the starting point for a good 30 seconds because I could not catch what she was saying, lol.

After the eye test came the personal consultation with a doctor! The lady in the weight room told me something about the orange hallway and some number I did not catch because she was talking too fast, lol. I walked towards the orange hallway and sat down somewhere in between two doorways. One was clearly labeled 男 (male) and the other 女 (female). After sitting there for a good 4 minutes, I looked at the labels again and realized that I was sitting in front of a heart rate testing room, lol. It had 心，電 and some other characters I cannot recall at the moment. I noticed that Beth and Dinara were taking longer than usual because I usually get up for the next test when they get out and sit down, lol. I walked back a bit and I saw them sitting beside a yellow wall, lol. I was clearly lost at this point. I was about to ask Beth what the heck was going on when a nurse popped out of the yellow room and called my name, lol. Being a total goof, I wandered into the yellow room and cackled to myself. The doctor was an old man who, at first, talked to be in fast, meshed up Japanese. He then decided to speak to me in English and asked me where I came from, etc, etc. He checked my breathing and pulse. (I'm alive~) After the test was over, the nurse walked in and told me to go do some blah blah test. I gave the doctor a confused look and he said, "Oh uhm.. They're going to.. to.. Test your piss. Pee. Urine." I lol'ed inside so hard. It was the first time I've met a doctor who was so informal and cool. Anyhow, I got my urine tested, followed by an x ray and voila, it was over. The test summed up to roughly 30CAD. We left the clinic and I bolted straight to the University where I met Abdy, the Asian-Russian guy.

We studied in the library until 5PM then we wandered to the boys school dormitory. We studied some more then took a short little break. Abdy snuck out and made food for both of us! I was quite surprised. I bought him a small snack early when we were in the library and I didn't expect him to give me anything in return but hey, he's just that awesome of a guy. =) After dinner, we studied some more... I met random people who lived on the same floor as Abdy. Everyone seems nice, helpful and really welcoming. I probably shouldn't jynx that, lol. But anyhow, I left at around 7:00PM because I was invited by a fellow Japanese student to eat 牛丼 "beef rice bowl." I met him and the fancy Russian guy at the local convenient store. From there, we wandered to his house~ I did not take any pictures, unfortunately, but I can tell you it was damn fun! He lives buy himself in an apartment a few blocks away from the University. The food was amazing, we had an awesome time talking about random things! I finally understand where those crazy Russian jokes come from, lol. ex, In Soviet Russia, you don't eat food, food eats you. (Bad example, but whatever) A few things in Russia is somewhat backwards, lol. Like their alphabet system. For an example, they completely mirrored R into Я, N into И! (omg) You'd think those letters in a sentence would somehow sound similar it's opposite but no, it's a completely different "letter," lol. I also bought along a little box of mixed biscuits from the underground market. I bought some famous "Butter Sand," lol. I'll let your curiosity wander as you try to decipher what the heck "Butter Sand," is lol. For now, just know that it's an expensive, BUT OH SO GOOD, heaven wrapped in plastic wrap. =) There were other treats too; a lot I have yet to try~ But anyhow, we decided to venture to the train station at around 9:30PM. The Russian guy came with us and we had a nice long talk while walking to the station~ It appears as though the Russian guy was trying to set up a date with one of the Japanese girls in our club and I guess he was successful, lol. But anyhow, I got home at around 11PM. I went back to my room, dropped some stuff off then went back down to the study hall at around 11:30 to study a bit more before going to bed. A long day~ But a fun one, nonetheless!  OH YEA! I took pictures of the University before the sun set~ =) Voila~~~

From the window to the streets

From the streets to the University.

 As you may have already noticed, it IS in fact still green in Sapporo, LOL! Sapporo and Calgary are roughly at the same latitude yet everything is still green~ And yes, the colorful things to the left are flowers. =) (In November, lol.)

(Sorry, no pictures of the food. I even bought my camera too! It just slipped my mind, lol.)

Sunday November 7 (JAPAN TIME)

I tried so hard to wake up early today because I wanted to do laundry but things just did not go according to plan. I woke up at around 11AM, lol. (failed) I cooked up some stir fry rice, packed a little box full of it then went straight to the University to study with Abdy. I got there at around 2PM, we studied until 5PM, went to the dorms where we again studied a bit before taking a break to eat. I split my portion of stir fry and he split a portion of his convenience store packaged curry, lol. Everything went down well~ I left at around 7:30PM again, went straight home to study a bit more. The kanji this time round just could not stick... But anyhow, I went to bed at around 2AM trying to remember Kanji but failed, lol.

Monday November 8 (JAPAN TIME)

I woke up late and met Beth a bit late, lol. It was raining today~ I wrote my Kanji test, sat through lecture then got back our kanji test after lunch~ Boy, this one hurt, lol. I did not do well at all. I still passed but still, it was ugly, lol. Anyhow, I rushed back home today after translating the kanji text for the following test. I had to buy groceries for the week since I did not buy anything over the weekend. I stopped by the local 100yen shop and bought myself a more presentable pair of chopsticks and a case to put it in so that I can bring it to school!  I also did laundry~ But anyhow, I cooked, ate, and packed my lunch! I have pictures to prove that I am not malnourished, lol! I keep forgetting to take pictures of food so here's one!

Sweet potato and chicken over mushroom rice

 I finished everything at 10PM and had yet to memorize kanji. (Yikes!) I rushed to the study hall and drilled down 9/10 sentences then went to bed at around 1AM, lol... -sigh- that ended my day~

Tuesday November 9 (JAPAN TIME)

It rained again today, lol. I know it's snowing/cold in Calgary right now but I'm going to rub it in anyways, lol. It's raining in November and the grass is still green~ Lol. Autumn in Hokkaido is really long. I'm enjoying it. =) The rain today was significantly heavier than yesterday but it was pleasant, nonetheless. I should take pictures of the leaves on the ground because unlike the ones in Calgary, leaves actually look nice on the ground in Japan, lol! I'll do that tomorrow. =) But anyhow, today was like yesterday~ Class started, class ended and I wandered into the library to study~ The rain stopped and the sun decided to peek out a bit before setting~ I took some photos because I thought it looked awesome. I went to the very top floor of the University and took various photos. It might've seemed like I was attempting to commit suicide from bellow since I was reaching out of the window to take photos, lol. But anyhow, here they are~ (LOL woops. I put the pictures in the wrong spot. Oh well, I am too lazy to change it. It's just a wee bit down south of this paragraph.)

I left the library at around 5:45PM and went to the male dorms, lol. I studied with my friend for a wee bit inside this little information box close to the entrance. It was my friends turn to answer the phone and handle delivery if something were to arrive. Of course, there was a Japanese guy who accompanied him since my friend was obviously not fluent enough in Japanese. The Japanese guy was really nice, lol. He was helpful and easy to talk to. I left at around 7:40PM. Before leaving, I asked the guy if there were any vacant rooms in the dorm and he said yes, lol. He told me talk to the International Division about it. I somewhat tried to explain to him why I could not stay in the dorms, lol. He said to give it a try anyways. I guess I'll try again tomorrow. It's time to see what they think about my proposal~ It's been a month and I'm sure they read my email. They probably neglected it but hey, I'm going to try one last time~ Come on! Hopefully things work out.

O.O~

Picture of the river and light forest with some awesome Autumn colors (It just rained so you can see puddles)

This University seems more like an agricultural institute rather than a research institute, lol.

Another part of the University Extension

Rain clouds~

I passed out on the bus but woke up on time to get off at the right stop! I went home, cooked up another meal and ate, packed and took a picture! Here it is. =)

Beef and eggplant with squash over mushroom rice

I am now sitting in front of the computer typing randomly. I was supposed to study but hey, I'm damn tired today. I think I'm going to sleep soon~ Before I leave, I shall mention something before I forget. I've been postponing this fact for awhile so before I forget again, here it is!~

• Japanese people do not believe in deodorant. I was desperately trying to hunt down deodorant and found a few that seemed inadequate. I did some research on the internet and it appears as though that Japanese people just don't believe in deodorant... What the hell? I'm glad I did my research way ahead of time. It's time to do some scheming... 

• Majority of Japanese men do NOT wash their hands after using the urinals. Young and old~ They just do their business then fly out of the door. Thankfully, most Japanese men wash their hands after #2. I only saw one guy who left from a #2 and did not wash... Gross.. Gross... 

• Dental here is horrible. One of my friends at the University has a broken tooth and he doesn't do anything to it. I'm guessing it's been like that for awhile? I also noticed there are a few people who have teeth growing over teeth... And again, they don't do anything about it. The toothbrush's here are primal at best, lol. My tooth brush from home looks high tech and I got it for free, lol. Their toothpaste apparently doesn't have fluoride. I'm not too sure about that one but hey... At least floss here exists. =) I also bought a nice tube of toothpaste from home so I'll be good for a wee bit~