Brief thoughts, of limited interest

[jamjar]

So, yesterday I had Japanese class, and it was kind of funny. Almost, but not entirely, completely useless. I was tired going in, running about 5-10 minutes late, but I feel absolutely no regret for that, since...
...I am a teacher. I know what a lesson feels like when it was made up in the two minutes I was getting my stuff out of my bag. And, like I said, mostly useless. It did, however, serve one purpose. I went food-shopping on the way back, and if I hadn't had to go out for the class, I probably wouldn't have managed to get out the flat for that. It's the thing that makes it harder to do a half-hour trip than an two hour one.

Green Arrow,

Mia is such an Arrow. Just absolutely and completely one of arrowfamily. It's not just the looks, or the desire to wear a mask-- she's an Arrow. And the similarity between the way she and Ollie reacted... I pretty much love Mia, and she's Ollie's, as much as Roy or Connor are. Possibley more, in the way she reacts to things.

Samurai Champloo

This series rocks. You know, I'm fairly used to gaijin-as-comic-relief, especially in period anime, but this is one of the few cases where the gaijin episode didn't feel personally offensive. YI liked him and I hope he gets what he wants and doesn't have to sit alone in the tulip field anymore. Also, this series is on crack.

Pictures!



and you can see the corner of my futon. I'm strangely happy about my sheets. I do not know why they make me happy, but they really do.

You can see a bit of my apartment in this one



The spiders are huge-- not tarantula types, you know, just average domestic spiders the size of tea-cups.








My hair did nothing to deserve the amount of backcombing they inflicted on it.

Comments

[girl-starfish.livejournal.com]

I'm tired and definitely not enthused about Japanese class tonight. However, there is sushi involved on the journey there, so that's my motivating factor. Also, I really like the photo of your family at Miyajima. ^_^ Your brother is almost as cute as mine.

[jamjar.livejournal.com]

Y'know, your brother has an age advantage in cuteness. It's a lot easier to be cute below a certain height.

Of course, I still think my brother is cuter, but I'm just saying.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

You look amazing in all that stuff! *g*

Tell me-- you have a little table with a big quilt over it. Is that normal for tables in Japan?

[jamjar.livejournal.com]

That's the kotatsu, and probably the best thing thing Japan has ever come up with in furniture.

First, remember that most Japanese houses have no insulation. Thin walls, no double-glazing.
Then keep in mind that there is also no central heating.
The winters are cold.

The kotatsu is a small table (designed for floor sitting, and you can see one of my floor-chairs in the picture, I think) with a removeable top. There is a small heating unit on the frame. In winter, you stick a mat underneath, and a quilt over the frame, then put the tabletop back on. under the quilt gets nice and warm and absolutely impossible to escape from. You are forced to spend the whole winter, attempting to fit as much of your body underneath it as possible.
A better explanation is found here (http://www.amychavez.addr.com/news/kotatsu/) and here (http://www.tamegoeswild.com/photos/japan2002/01/images/kotatsu.jpg) is a picture of one in use.

Note- there's a small piece of MDF above the heativing element so the quilt doesn't get burnt. We're also issued with a kerosene heater which, plus, kerosene can be delievered, minus, danger of carbon monoxide poisoning and the smell of kerosene.