I still feel slightly shit, which is down to several reasons. The first is that I have done very little work over the weekend and really wasted what was supposed to be a great opportunity to get some things done (especially doing some cross-over revision from last year) and secondly, I haven't been to the gym yet (lolz?) and am still eating crap. Okay, the time starts now. This is a new leaf and I'm ditching all the crap. Maybe...

On a final note, I was deciding to take a small weekend break somewhere in Europe on the first weekend of December - but after looking at some of the prices (£148 to Lille and about £87 to Brussels) I think I will decide against it. I am not working at the minute, so its very much draining my finances. I think I might just go to London for the day and do some shopping. Which reminds of me going to York last December and walking from the train station to my previous home in Endcliffe Village - which despite its huge distance was somewhat enjoyable. I am a strange fellow.

Onwards and upwards. I just have to rote memorise these 600 kanji, learn some new grammar, type up my translations notes and lexicology notes, read some stuff on the Ainu and finish off the segement of the Japanese translation. And all this in one day. Because I couldn't be arsed to do any work this week. YAAAARRRGGH!

Where does the time go?

It seems like only yesterday I was lamenting about last week. The work has slowly increased and I'm now feeling the burn somewhat. Tomorrow, I have to remember 5 more kanji (woop de doo), plan my story for sensei (about reflecting back on my first year - so lot's of I should have done, or I shouldn't have done etc.) and I have to finish off my translation. But maybe, I only have to do one page of it. In short, I have to cram a alot in, because I will be verrry busy tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the first real official Japan society event thingy and I shall be donning my hachimaki and happi coat and dancing around like a prick. Hopefully I will be able to meet some more Japanese people as I have been shamelessly hanging around this Japanese girl I like, like the proverbial goldfish poo. Hopefully she will come for a few drinks at my flatmate's birthday on Friday, so its all good. Before then, I'll say hello and be making myself known to a few more people. And getting drunk. getting very drunk. Hehehe.

I have been so busy this week and there are so many things to do, but its all worth it in the end. The work and social life is coming thick and fast after a slow malaise leading up to this week. Hopefully I'll post some pictures soon.

Tomorrow, I'm up at the crack of dawn and then working from around 1pm until 5pm, typing furiously into my laptop in the IC! Please save me!!!! >o<

Alas, I have caught the dreaded man flu! Oh woe is me! Thankfully, this gave me a great excuse not to do any studying on Friday and Saturday. Now, as a result of my intolerable and suffering man-flu, I'm struggling to remember these kanji and am typing this while rapidly trying to cram them into my brain. I can remember 'doubt', 'omit' and 'impression'. There is also one about 'self reflection' and 'crime' which I can't remember for the life of me... hansei and hanzai? How confusing is that?

I've also completed my sakubun (which is really awful) in which I had to write about my holidays. I'll post the corrected version soon, because no doubt it will be riddled with silly mistakes, which is the hallmark of my written Japanese.

As a result of kanji uselessness, sakubun ineptitude and man-flu, my Japanese flatmate wants nothing to do with me. He's now avoiding me like the plague, even though its just a cold, sorry man-flu. *cough* *cough *splutter*. Granted, it doesn't seem as bad as last year, when my chest felt like it was melting for about 4 weeks but I'd rather get it now than when the exam/essay season rolls around. If you are gonna get sick, get sick when the work is relatively light I say...

Besides, he gave me a cold last year, so its only fair that I infect him this year as revenge.

My physical health has also seemed to be detoriating, depsite the fact I have lost some weight (that's the hills of Sheffield, fruit and veg and plenty of walks everywhere in this great slopey city of ours!) My feet are smelling thanks to some potent athelte's feet that won't go away, my nose has a huge spot on it and my man-flu is making me snivel all the time.

Great. A sniveling, spotty, overweight Englisman with smelly feet. Line up ladies.

Yay! I've finally moved in. My room is clean(ish) my flatmates are nice and clean (in more ways than one *cough*) and I got the internet working as well. The flat itself is not a bad price considering we get a flat screen HD-TV, super fast broadband, a big bed and en-suite. Oh sir, with these facilities you really are spoiling us. Overall I think we are saving about 500 to 600 from last year.

Rockingham House (awesome name) is literally a stone's throw from campus - which is handy for those nights out - and given the fact its on a fairly uncommon route - is not always full of students keeping everyone awake.

I also seem to be the only white person in this entire building! Seriously. Yay for ethnic diversity! But its obviously something I'm going to have to get used to in a few years as I'll be surrounded by Japanese/Chinese/Koreans all day. Its a weird experience being back in Sheffield right now. No-one is back and the IC has a creepy air about it. The air of saddos studying in their own time. Saddos like me.

I really now have to start studying though. The kanji writing come and go like the wind, but the readings should really be set in stone. I discovered a fair few extra readings which we haven't learned but which are probably quite effective in a few years. I also gave myself a scare when I had a sneak peak at the Year Abroad handbook. Its really putting me off now. The whole money/jouyou kanji/scholarship thing. I have come to the realisation that I probably won't get into my chosen uni (whatever that is) and won't get a scholarship (I don't work hard enough) and won't get a girlfriend, a well paying job or a nice car. Woe is me. >o<

Apparently I've learnt the following already;

* I can't work until 3 months into my visa (which the uni will advise against even after the 3 months.)
* I have to obtain a certificate of eligibility - which is issued in July/August (when I may be in China!)
* I need to take this thing to the Hong Kong embassy - because the Japanese embassy in China don't issue to non-Chinese nationals and take an age to sort things out.
* I need about 6 grand in the bank

Oh well. These are problems for another day. I have to plan and apply for my trip yet! And I also have to pass this year!

Laters;

Richard
リチャード☆
(Putting the Rock in Rockingham House!) ^o^

Went to the gym today for the first time in ages and my back is now very sore. Plus I also can't remember any of these goddamn kanji. I hate them so much. >o<;

Also my Japanese friend asked me what 'rueful lament' is in Japanese. I can't even find 'rueful' or 'lament' in my jisho, so his guess is as good as mine. Just shout what you think it is really loud and most English people will get the gist I reckon. Hell, who needs English teachers when you have the power of shouting at will, the most arbitrary and inane things in your language?

SSSSTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOMMMMMMMPPPPP - STOMP!

PS: I've reached 4 days so far. Things are looking good.

Nothing much to report from Castle Greyskull recently...

Revision update; what I need to do by Sunday...

Adverbs - Time
Adverbs - Quantity
Adverbs - Negative
Adverbs - Pos and Neg
Adverbs - Random

Adjectives - な

New verbs - around 600 (!!!)

Kanji compounds - Maybe 350 or so.

Its a lot, but hopefully if I get everything typed up I can start my 6 weeks of revision. Getting everything typed up saves time not just for now, but also for term time. Hopefully this may reduce the stuff I need to learn during the first few weeks. Its unbelievable amount of stuff to type up, but I'm confident I can do it. I have also managed to figure out to turn j-memorise files into rtf files. Complete life-saver!

I also have to revise grammar, although this should take less time to do than kanji and vocab. I just want to get all the boring stuff out the way first.

Ah, wonderful. Its like a daze. Like a quixotic blend of the insane and the beautiful dancing on the shores of Rimini in a perfect setting. I awoke this morning at Darlington train station to be greeted with glorious sunshine that would dip in and out amongst the clouds in schizophrenic fashion. It would have been nice to admire, had I not been;

a) hungover from Stevie’s birthday
b) shattered beyond belief
c) recovering from a stomach bug, in which I had made a Jackson Pollock over the ceramic bowl of life not being able to sleep at all during the journey – despite my tiredness

Crazy feelings.

Things are still dull right now and I opine for Sheffield. I would take Arai-sensei’s kanji class at 9am, some midsemester tests and a listening dictation all back to back rather than be stuck here with nothing to do and no-one to see. 8 weeks to go and I’m chomping at the bit to have some form of sanity again. Although Sheffield is far from sane.

I have managed to type up the 50 or so Japanese onomatopoeia – my favourite so far, being ピンピン – something I’ve not felt recently due to a lack of any physical movement or time management. Along with some adverbs, I hope to have all my new words done and dusted by the end of the week, so I can relax and just skim learn the stuff I need to know. Right now it’s a case of having my study aides in place, so I can focus more on my true weakness. My listening skills.

Because I will be doing 20 credits next year in Japanese, but presumably the same intensive workload – I’ll have to forge ahead and start reading ahead for Lexicology. The wonderful thing about this is, is that I am reading for the sake of reading and using the time to get a good overview of what I’ll be doing. Anything to combat this boredom.

This module is very strange. There are two to three lectures a week, no workshop exercises and I am assessed on a 2hr exam and 3,000 word essay in which I’ll have to write about the development of the English lexicon. So basically we look at slang, neologisms, foreign loanwords and slang/dialect.

Given my last essay result, I feel a bit hesitant about my essay writing skills. I normally can write about the most absurd things and make them seem plausible – however I have a habit of trailing off and missing the point. This year I am going to bother the head of the module incessantly with help!

Perhaps I should just write about increasing my Japanese lexicon!

Actually this is something I genuinely do find interesting and is probably one of the few linguistics modules I’ll look forward to taking at Sheffield. Last year despite my illness and utter contempt for the Varieties of English module, I enjoyed Professor Beal’s discussion on the background of dialect words and phrases. Cockney rhyming slang developing as criminal code in London’s backstreets for example.

Let’s hope Amazon can deliver them soon. Incidentally my mammoth green book of Sociolinguistics is gathering dust now. Although, I’ll probably use it in the fourth year when my module choices become more taxing and I’ll need to remember the stuff I forgot in the first year.

A sad fact of the matter, is that for duals like myself Linguistics is very much a side order to the main dish of Japanese. Sadly I’m competing alongside people who do this subject as a major and therefore are used to the teaching methods, assessment and above all practical knowledge of the subject. I really disliked most of the linguistics last year and I spent zero effort on it. This year, now that those modules count towards my degree classification I am going to have work my ass off.

Before I left this morning, I logged into Mole, which is the most annoying slowest thing we have at the university (aside from me of course.) I still have all my first year module choices listed, which is kind of annoying considering I just want to banish them to dustbin. I want to see the second year stuff, to show that I’ve truly made it and survived the horrors of fresherdom.

Also recently I seem to have taken a bizarre fancy towards Konno Asami of former J-pop Morning Musume fame.

Curious. Not that I should be creeped out by that of course. She is extremely cute and intelligent and reminds me of a girl I used to date, or maybe it was a girl I want to date but got scared away due to my insufferable bowl movements and kanji fetish. Also internet girlfriends are a waste of space. Looking at you Yukari! Right, off to the gym to think about me being ムラムラ towards Miss Konno and 101 reasons why she will never go out with a loser like me.

じゃね☆

I haven't taken many pictures recently so here's one of my giant belly;



キモイ！However after going on the scales, it seems I've lost a kilo in a week!

This is quite a feat considering I've done nothing but arse about all week. Although my diet has changed considerably and I'm definitely not eating as much as I used, maybe thanks in part to sitting on my arse all day. I still need to lose a hell of a lot more weight however. Maybe another 15 kilos. Its very possible and an obtainable target before Christmas at the very least.

In other news, I have to learn 850 verbs before the start of term and make sure I clean my room because everything is not where it is supposed to be and it looks a mess. To prove how hard we work at Sheffield here are the first year kanji. Sadly, my brain can't remember any of them now - so its off the gym and library on Monday and I don't care if I don't feel up to it.



I don't know what's worse. A picture of those kanji or my hairy beer belly (or should that be whiskey belly?) This blog should carry a governmental health warning. Well to ligthen the mood here are some photos that I found of the first night I met Tomo and we went back to my Chinese friend's flat. In the end we left at 4am after rice and green-tea. It was taken in January iirc...

For many people who don't know me. I normally shave once in every solar eclipse. To prove my 男らしい over the course of last year, I shaved the grand total of 3 times throughout the year. Shaving becomes an almost cathartic experience in which I remember the occasions like having sex, seeing as they are so few and far between. Sadly since July 3rd, 12:47 am I have been without my prized possession for sometime and am counting down the days that it can return. With a beard I look like a homeless person but without it I look like a creepy child molester. I'd rather look homeless than look like a damn pervert tbh.

For a few of my classmates, they are off to Japan this summer whereas yours truly is stuck middling amongst doing odd jobs and sods in the UK and France chatting to Japanese people over MSN until 6am every night. I really am counting down the days that I can return to Sheffield, although when I get there I will probably be sat in the IC, wondering when I can return home. Grrr.

If I was to look back on my first year in Sheffield I would say its been a mostly positive experience.

• I didn't drop out (more on that later) and managed to even obtain some decentish grades
• I met some wonderful friends from all around the UK and the world
• And I feel more confident about myself.

However, I had some quite negative experiences and certain cases of "should try harder." I really need to stay fit, because I've put on a lot of weight since last summer and even more so since the amount of kilos I lost sweating out my shirts in Malaysia in 2006. So, I need to keep more active physically and socially. Hopefully this where the gym, Badminton, Ju Jitsu and Japan Soc will help. :-)

I also need to study a bit harder. Granted my effort has deteriorated since I moved houses right before my exams and more so since I developed a nasty virus the week after Easter.

The only thing keeping me sane right now, is learning Japanese (so I don't forget everything!), chatting with Yukari on MSN (the Anglophonic, wants-a-boyfriend-fancies me-but doesn't-want-to-openly-say it Nagoya girl) and my diet and exercise regime (which although has improved since last week is still not perfect.)

Yes, it truly is a summer of boredom until the football season kicks off and I have something else to worry about. I have about 8 weeks or so until I return to Shef, so I need to start revising. Keeping in touch with my japanese friends is allowing me to maintain my level of grammar and now its just a case of attempting some more listening and kanji practice as well increasing my vocab. I can only seem to remember アイスクリームのように溶かす。And sadly given the current weather in the UK, won't come in handy anytime soon. However time is very much on my side, and being able to memorise this vocab, kanji and grammar should be beneficial given the very fast paced of my Japanese course.

This summer I was intending to go to Japan but pulled out at the last minute. I had a job offer to work the summer in Okinawa, but this fell through as they couldn't guarantee me to be back in the UK by the start of the 2nd year. The money I did save up, probably isn't enough and I am looking to spend it on travelling across SE Asia next summer. I'm intending to jump ship in July, visit my relatives in Thailand and work my way across Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and China, going all the way down to Hong Kong and then fly across to some country called Japan.

Let's hope in the meantime my beard returns, and with it some increased knowledge of the Japanese language and the complexity that it is women.