Greetings to all…

I know its been a while since I blogged.. What with all the moving and shit.. man.. And I really mean SHIT.. hahah where do I begin.. ah yes…

It was a yet another busy morning for normal Japanese throughout the nation.. Getting up early, getting ready for work… as usual.. for some of us up in Osaka Gaidai, it was the last morning that we would ever get out of the single bed, fumble through the small room that we had successfully (or not) made our home for one whole year… Goodbye room… *sniff*

Just like many other salaryman across the country, some of us had spent the night away drinking till dawn. Not so much of drinking on my part because there weren’t people drinking along with me, hence raining on my day (night?) Otherwise it would have been another ordinary reminiscing session with the pals. I retired early (4am), sober and sleepy. Others stayed on, and what happened to them next became a tale to tell the very next morning. (A tale which I believe should be added in Aesop’s Fables just to remind children these days NOT to mix all the left over alcohol and drink till 8 in the morning when you are moving out at 9am) *ahem*

And so heartfelt goodbyes were said, mostly feeling sad that we are parting, but then again some were undeniably feeling “THANK GOD I wont be seeing you again!” Either ways, I left for Umeda to get my hair done (again! –I did a second digital perming and then a treatment the following week and then this time a trimming because I was having split ends *the horror!*) There I parted with my friends and met up with my now Uni-pals… we sat uncomfortably on the night bus to Tokyo. Sayonara Kansai.

The morning we reached Tokyo Eki, we split into two groups a guy friend going to his senpais in Odaiba, while I head to my Embassy where I shall hole up for 2 nights, bringing along with me my friend who has never been to Tokyo. It’s funny that when you are in Osaka, you cant help but feel unsatisfied with it… wishing that somehow you are in Tokyo. And now that you are finally here, you feel an emptiness within you. Ahh… the complexity of human nature. Right, moving along. 1st of April, we took the ever so famed Tsukuba Express from Akihabara to Tsukuba. With a speedy time record of 45 minutes, we can get to our University. A far cry from the speed of light, I must say. Price one way? 1150yen. Yes, a bit on the price-y side. Thus dooming me and the rest of the foreign students on a budget. I believe it all to be a conspiracy really. Leaving Tsukuba University in the middle of no where, cut off from the kinks of Tokyo Metropolis, and with the overly staked price of the train ticket, thus leading to the high suicide rate in this University. Sometimes I wonder to myself; Why am I here? Then I recollect that I am after all a University student, with an objective to study learn analyse Japanese Literature. Yes I am hungry for knowledge; I seek the light; I want to learn. I am a sponge. I wish to absorb all I can from the books, scrolls, wheezing old professors. I am NOT here to have fun karaoke-ing nor am I here to club, not to analyse the male population and eliminate each one of them off my list to find my one true life-mate and copulate to further increase my country’s population. However, the urge to do so is painfully high. Why oh why are hormones being mean to me?

Besides my non-sensical conspiracy theory, I arrived Tsukuba rather safe and sound. But of course after dragging a burdensome weight of a hand-carry (although I was advised to carry something light, somehow things got out of control… then again this is me we are talking about), we are disheartened, discouraged and LOST!!! We came to Tsukuba prepared for rice-fields and a lovely campus. Well we were most definitely wrong in the later expectation. It was without a doubt; a LARGE campus, lovely when skimming through the surface of the University. Once reaching to the Student Residence, we were greeted with the warm welcome of used cardboard boxes piled a mountain high; left and right, old and worn out home appliances looking like they had World War Two all over again; a-strewn on the pathways, not forgetting to mention the daily disposals of students still living in the dorms. And to top it off, Sakura petals were falling on top of the left overs of the war like rainbow sprinkles on your favourite Baskin Robbins ice-cream. Lovely.

Aimlessly, we dragged ourselves over to our designated buildings, only to find out that we needed to go to the office to get documents signed and also get the key. Which we did not know, due to the lack of reading on our part. Upon reaching the office, we were greeted by the office door sign saying “LUNCH HOUR – back at 12pm” The time at that time was 11.20am.. ARGHHHHH!!!

Right, fast forward to the part where I actually GET to my room. I open my room door NOT expecting a portal leading to another world in which I have to explore vast lands to save that realm from complete destruction and in my journey I will find companions, fall in love and also face many trials; many difficult choices to make; sacrifices to consider; mistakes to make and regret later on and so on. No I am a sophisticated, independent young lady. I do not believe in fantasy realms (oh if only they exist~) I was expecting an old room to accommodate me for one year. I was not expecting a 5 star hotel room, not my room back home. No, I was humble. One cannot expect much from a dormitory.

But! Even with my low expectations were shocked with a new LOW!!! The room was spacious - that’s forgivable. But the amount of dirt that had accumulated was just beyond imagination. It simply was not my day. I cannot even begin to explain how dirty – no dirty is too much a modest word for it… CONTAMINATED-TARNISHED-UNSANITARY-UNHYGIENIC- not fit for human living. Okay maybe that was too much, it was simply SHOCKING. I didn’t know where to begin cleaning. Standing in the middle of the room for a bit and I felt DIRTY. But unbeknownst to me, a dark matter was waiting to welcome me in my attached toilet (yes I have my own toilet now). And it was only later did I find out that the last tenant was probably too much in a rush to flush after herself/himself before leaving me the premises. And probably was an algae-researcher otherwise I cannot explain why on earth the toilet was growing algae/moss left right up and down. It took me two days to properly sanitize the place. Now as I am typing this terribly long blog, I look around my comfortable home-y room, and go ahhh… we have come a long way together. Thank God for small miracles.

Now that I have told you all the tale of Adeline moving to Tsukuba, I do not know where else shall I proceed to… The disappointments University life has shown me? My classes? Groups that I plan on joining?

Maybe again next time. But for now I must bid you all a goodnight; for I have a very important meeting tomorrow morning.

Tra-la~

Adeline