"Do you have a bellybutton?"

Other than the picture dump, it's been quiet on this blog. It's the end of the term in Todai, which means final projects and exams. Luckily, since I'm an AIKOM student, I only had two to deal with, so there's not much of a problem there. Three papers, but currently I'm tying off one, with one already done (minus needing to add a bibliography) and one halfway through.

Assuming everything goes according to schedule, I should be completely done with the first term by Monday, when I turn stuff in at the office, then it's off to Shibuya Station. There's a Fukusaya in the basement's Tokyu Foodshow, and Fukusaya is the definitive place to get castella, which is a specialty from Nagasaki. Castella is actually Portuguese, but it was brought over to Japan and the Japanese have made it their own--it's like a pound cake, but lighter and not so sweet. Since my relatives in Taiwan have traditional Asian tastes--i.e. not too fond of overly sweet stuff--castella's perfect.

Note: there's a neighbor that makes castella all the time and passed the recipe on to my mother; Nate and I didn't like it much because we didn't think it had much flavor. But I had some here, and it was different; the texture's more cake-like and there's flavor, but it's a lot lighter than pound cake for sure. They've even got it in different flavors, like green tea--had that at Rie's place, and it was terrific.

So, what's been happening since I last wrote in here?

I met some more people, or at least got to know them better and got their phone numbers. I feel bad because I haven't really contacted most of them, but then again, since this is a busy time of the year, it's probably not going to be missed. I haven't really been seeing anyone unless I'm in class, and everyone I've talked to has mentioned essays, if not exams.

One of them was Yamamoto Takahiro--he surprised me by speaking in English when I asked if a certain saying in Japanese was right. He's interested in diplomatic relations, and he'll be in the US this spring attending a conference about the whole thing, if I'm not mistaken. The title of this entry is an actual question he asked me; it wasn't his fault--first of all, his English is pretty good--he just had a brainfart. What he really wanted to know was if I had a navel piercing. Then I told Maru-chan in Japanese what he'd asked, and Maru-chan did this loud, deep belly laugh he always does when he's amused.

Seriously, I love the way Maru-chan laughs. It's terrific and totally fits him, since he's a huge guy. I want to think up funny things to say to him in Japanese just so I can hear it.

The range of English ability amongst the Todai students is wide; there's some who speak it fluently (Ken, Maho, uh...that girl who spent time in Berkeley, Kazu, Jun, Koichi Goto) , and there are the ones who understand it but can't or don't want to really speak it, and there are some who are just...well, to use Japanese, "ダメ" or no good. They can read or write it just fine, but speaking is completely out of the question for them.

It's hard to gauge ability the first time you really speak to someone in English, though; since my Japanese is reasonably fluent, it's the default language unless I'm speaking with Ken or Maho. Talking with Kazumi, Gaelle's tutor, though, I had to be reminded to speak slower--though I thought she could understand me well due to how she spoke English with me and I didn't have to repeat myself. She's really nice, if shy.

Katie arrived the first week we got back; we had lunch and there was much happiness around. One of the best senpai ever; I don't know what I'd have done without her advice. Assuming her schedule can handle it, we'll be going to Ishigakijima, one of the islands on Okinawa, for the week before my birthday. It's like Okinawa Island, if less crowded and touristy, and since it's spring, it should be comfortably warm.

For the most part, though, there was burnout. Lots of it. My sleep schedule is still out of whack; there was one day I just went, "screw it" and called in sick because I hadn't slept at all that night, and then mad planning to see if I could get these papers done early. The pressure is easing up now that the end is in visible sight and I go to Taiwan in less than a week.

This is what the vacation schedule looks like for me so far:

February 2-15: Taipei, Taiwan with Apple

February 24-25: Hakone

Mid-March, two weeks: Kyoto, Osaka and Fukuoka with Feng Lan

First week of April: Ishigakijima?

I may go back to the U.S. early if I do Ishigakijima; technically, we can return around July or August. But the term ends in July. I'd probably go, then, after Tanabata, maybe go see Fujisan with Feng Lan before I leave.

Today, I had a strange dream about being back home. My brother was there, my dad was there, and I recognized the house in Ann Arbor, but it was different. Like, the way the bed was placed in my room, the color of the walls and the light the lamp gave off. I woke up here in Mitaka wondering why I didn't go get a glass of milk. I also wondered how some pals in the U.S. were doing; around here, if it wasn't for instant messaging, email, journals and the like, I'd probably not really remember them by the time I came back.

Without knowing it, I've become used to life in Mitaka. I remember when everything here was so strange and foreign, and now it's not anymore. There's the Family Mart I saw whenever I rode the bus, there's the plum tree on my bike route to Mitaka-dai that I didn't know about until I looked up one day to find out what it was that smelled so floral and lovely in January, and there's the Tsutaya store I see when I ride back to the dorms.

I wonder what it's going to be like when I go home in July-August. You know, besides the painful flight Sarath and I both will have to endure.