A week's worth or so of things

Lots of stuff to recount. First of all, on Thursday I got to talk a bit to the two Chinese ladies in the YMCA group. It was kind of fun. The most important thing is - I can talk without worrying I sound stupid, because they're on the same level as I am.

On Saturday we went to Uto to watch a firework competition.

Uto is an hour away or so, and the reason for holding the fireworks' display there is because it has a river.

Sooooooo many people. Big bridge :) We ate lots of tasty things - I especially liked the chicken(?) in sweet sauce and the crepe with chocolate and banana (I made some thin pancakes at home later on).

The fireworks themselves were divided into sections. There were some standard flower entrees, and in between them show-style ones. They were awesome!!! One of the most amazing and imaginative ones was the Requiem.

Two of Shiv's students caught a cold. It seems Shiori-san's is pretty serious. Still we were lucky, since some nice people let us sit on their mat. No wet grass - happiness. I did take some warm clothes with me, but it didn't feel like enough. If we ever go there in the same season, I am taking a blanket.

On Tuesday we had two more people join us in the YMCA group. The lesson dragged on a bit as the teacher was trying to see if the new guy could read all the hiragana. I guess the lessons will become a bit slower now that there are more people, but, hopefully, not fatally so. Also, there are 6 people, so it's good for dialogues.

Trying to shift our sleeping schedule. Not going so well. I went to sleep early-ish, but woke up in the early hours and couldn't sleep. Then slept until 11... Le sigh.

Missed the festival

I was supposed to go to the festival up at the castle today. But somehow I got my toe infected, so I'm still at home. Instead, I organised one of the drawers. My lingerie collection looks lovely. I now have enough underwear to last me several years if not more, thanks to Shiv spending a small fortune on it yesterday. I didn't notice at first, but after looking through it all, I do have an enormous amount of pink in there (Shiv was right), even though I prefer blue or white. A lot of black with pink. I read somewhere once that a preference for black with pink (in clothing I suppose) signifies naiveness and childishness. Something else as well, which I don't quite recall, but nothing good.

I should really get round to doing various things today, like going to the store to get some food - at least some eggs, or sorting out my clothes. Alas, I couldn't fall asleep yesterday because of the toe, so I feel super tired. Couldn't sleep in the morning after chatting with Shiv either. So in total I'd say it was some 4 hours, maybe. My own fault in a way, I guess.

The food thing is serious though. I wanted to make an apple pie, and we've run out of eggs. No salad ingredients either. We bought dried plums yesterday (expensive!), but I think I'll experiment with those a bit later in the week.

Second lesson today. Not as fun this time around - we had a different lady teaching, and her voice was sometimes so loud and shrill. Also, she was more aggressive in her teaching style. Put me off a bit.

Before the lesson I walked around the shopping streets a bit, because I came too early (the tram arrived earlier today). There was a 'Living Store' (I think) that had a sale on. Cute cups, and bowls, and teapots.

We went to eat champon in the evening. Shiv's champon was extremely spicy! I tried a tiny sip, and my mouth was burning. I liked mine better. On the way back we bought some ice-cream at (SHOCK!) McDonald's. It was't too bad, cheap as well.

Japanese lessons, missing keys, and trams

Today was my first Japanese lesson at the YMCA. It started with Shiv taking the only key from the flat with him.

Had to wait ages at the tram-stop. I think it came after around 25 minutes. Thankfully, I went out early so I had some time to spare. One of the shops had furry bras...

At the YMCA they talked Japanese at me a bit. 'Something wrong with the form, and could we have some identification, and here's your stuff'. Then, the lady took me to the wrong room. And then - the right room. Our room, it seems, is 403.

We had some name-tags that we didn't use. Instead, the lady teacher wrote out our names on big pieces of paper. After some introductions we learned some greetings and other common phrases. For the most part we reviewed/studied hiragana with some words at the end of the lesson. Got lots of homework. Nothing difficult though.

It was also my first time braving the public transport alone. I'm still not quite sure where to drop the money. Hopefully, I did everything correctly.

Because Shiv took the key I had to drag myself to the university (with a chocolate bun along the way. It wasn't that tasty, and left me super thirsty). Shiv got me a strange drink, which tasted of grapefruit. It was called 'aqua'-something, and apparently, it's a sport's drink (really?). We ate lots at the university cafe/restaurant; sadly, it was late, and the food wasn't hot anymore.

It's getting kind of cool in the evenings nowadays. Much better, but during the day it's still hot.

Lots of money was spent today on various small items. Tomorrow will probably be similar.

Most of the day was spent washing, cleaning, cooking, and shopping. And hobbling down the street, because I managed to get awful sores on my feet. Mainly the pinky toe on my right foot though.

At one of the stores we met a rather twitchy student of Shiv's. Thankfully, it was a brief encounter. I never quite know what exactly is expected of me in such situations. Need to remember to answer 'yoroshiku onegaishimasu' if anyone says the same to me (what Shiv sternly told me the other day).

Going to bed late again - a very bad habit.

Pancakes

Making pancakes in the morning. Unfortunately, we put in too much milk so they're not that fluffy. Also, there's a noticeable lack of chocolate. I want to find real honey too, not the strange-tasting processed one. It's still good with pancakes though. Soooo hungry now. Pancakes, pancakes!

~~~
Делаем блины утром. К сожалению мы налили слишком много молока, поэтому они не такие воздушные. Также наблюдается явная недостача шоколада. Ещё я хочу найти настоящий мёд, а не тот странный переработанный. Правда он всё равно хорош с блинами. Я такая голоднаяяяяяя. Блинчики, блинчики!

It's already late, and we still haven't gone to the store to get the milk and, maybe, a lightbulb. Had to wake Shiv up, since he was already sleeping for more than 2 hours.

This laptop is so hard to get used to - no Russian, lots of signs in different places. Very annoying. I really should try learning that 'no-looking-at-the-keyboard' typing thing.

Ok, finishing quickly => going to the Donkey store.