今日はまた台風がくるそうから、一日に家でのんびりして、いっぱい時間があったのに、なんと速く過ごしたことか。
Time passes so relentlessly that even a full day at home to myself seemed to just whizz by and before I knew it, the sky has darkened again. It’s only 6pm though, but the darkened sky inevitably makes one feel like it’s already the close of another day.
Since I was at home all day, I decided that I wanted to write about living in this space and document the “home”. I had, among various other options like a share-house, hostel, or home-stay, chosen to live on my own in an apartment. For one, I have had experiences with the above three (Share-house in Vancouver, hostel in university, and home-stay on my first visit to Japan 5 years ago) hence I wanted to experience something different. For two, after weighing cost, travelling time to and from school, etc., this option was the most plausible.
There are definitely pros and cons to living alone. While the solitude allows me to think and be with myself more often (of course, I didn’t have to come all the way here to be alone in solitude, but it’s different somehow because I can only be really away when I’m away), solitude could sometimes mean emptiness. Living alone allows me to also organise my life and the things around me in accordance to my own desires, yet it also means that I have only myself with whom to share these things physically. Having said that, there are ways to counter the cons such that the pros could dominate, resulting in this decision becoming a rational one after all (decision rules came into use).
Thanks to the Internet, one can never fully be alone despite being physically alone. In fact, don’t you agree that the Internet undermines the longing for physical presence? I speak to my Japanese friends/ as well as to the important people at home via Skype/Line almost regularly.
Okay, so this is what this place is somewhat like; it’s not fully representative because they are only snippets… but you get the picture!
View from my window. Typical Japanese homes line the street.
One of my workspaces. The small desk and chair was requested and originally didn’t come with the room.
The original workspace. This is very Japanese, with the low table on tatami flooring, but, the floor is not where I am most comfortable… I do have my meals, watch the telly, or do some reading and work here occasionally.
The telly with Japanese channels. I turn it on sometimes, and most of the time to variety shows. This helps me in my listening skills!
My medicine stash! An alternative way to count the days left here.
Vit C tabs. Charles got this for me and I have been trying to take this daily. Not too sure about its efficacy because I’d already fallen sick once, but no harm I guess.
The mini kitchen. The electric stove has been a great tool! Also, I bought this 2500 yen non-stick pan (at a discount) and haven’t regretted it. In contrast to the 100 yen one that I settled for initially when Charles was here, this is truly non-stick, easy to wash, and allows me to use less oil! The kitchen was originally furnished with other kitchen ware like pots, cutlery and a damaged pan. There is also a refrigerator, electric kettle and a microwave oven. It is adequately equipped!
I have been working hard! The current text I am using introduces a tonne of new words, but without any explanation. Some words are explained in class, but only in Japanese so I still prefer to understand vocabulary based on what it means in English, and take down notes in Japanese when, say, the nuances are different, when there are usage exceptions, etc. This, (writing it, checking up the meanings, and understanding its usage in various contexts) takes up a crazy amount of time.
My 作文/sakubun that was written last week. Note that the mark was definitely generous. Anyway, this weekly thing, that is something like an essay (similar to GP, you have to showcase both sides of the coin and finally have a stand and explain why) on a fixed weekly topic, is pretty challenging to me because it is simply difficult to express certain opinions in Japanese given limited exposure to Japanese sakubuns. I take at least 3 hours to complete one of such assignments. ;(
Since it’s a weekly thing, I guess practice will make perfect?
The above topic was about one’s opinion on prenatal care, something we hardly talk about, hence I really struggled on this at the beginning. Retrospectively it wasn’t that difficult after all if I used simple Japanese to bring my points across.
Studying/ snacking? Snacking, of course! I know it’s bad to snack and I know I just need to stop buying to stop snacking. But I still buy them. Resolution is to snack in moderation!
That’s about all for now! じゃ、ね!