Metamorphosis

I'm sleeping in later and later these days. Today I woke up at 12:45 PM. At this rate, I'll be on Japan time in about a week.

On a sad note, it caused me to miss the FedEx guy with my copy of Tiger, who was here at 12:12 PM.

Finally found the time to redesign the page. (This is what I mean by doing nothing) What do you think? It's based on (ripped straight from) this nice fellow's template. Latest pics are across the top, random pics along the side and now using 100% width, 0% wasted. Much more image-friendly this way. If you don't have the desktop resolution to deal with this puppy, the image is neatly tucked under the sidebar like so,

I'm sorry guys, I'm really bored!!

Edit: Nevermind, scaled the image down. It doesn't work on IE XP, even though it worked on IE Mac.

I don't think I was ever happier than the moment I finished my CS 343 exam last Thursday night. The picture says it all, doesn't it?

I still don't know when I'm starting - the people in Epson Japan are applying for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE), which supposedly takes about a month; I hope they started as soon as they received the documents I biked 85 km to send them. Having a COE basically cuts the amount of time it takes to obtain a visa down to a few days.

What it all basically means is that I won't be leaving till sometime in June. At first I was a little down about that, because I was expecting to leave...right around now. But after some thought, I realized it actually doesn't really matter - 11 months, 12 months, what's the difference in the whole scheme of things? A month off is a welcome change anyway. I haven't had a month off since.... I can't even remember when. Probably grade 10. In fact, a month off gives me exactly the opportunity I need to tie up the loose ends I was complaining about a couple months ago.

So I'll see you in a few weeks, Matsumoto! I really don't have much to say about this city, aside from what I've read on the co-op web pages. A couple of peculiaritities about the Matusmoto employee residence that really stuck in my mind were: you aren't allowed to have guests after 10 pm and that it's an all-male residence. Either of those alone would be fine, but together? It's all part of the Japan experience I suppose. That's just a knock against the residence however, as I really should only be there to eat and sleep, as many a previous Epson co-op have dutifully noted. As a city, Matsumoto is situated in the absolute perfect location for travelling - the centre, of course. It's roughly equidistant from the southernmost and northernmost islands of Kyushu and Hokkaido and more importantly, the two commercial centres of Japan: Osaka/Kyoto and Tokyo. It's surrounded by mountains, which make it a winter sport haven. And there's a gym downstairs. What more could I ask for?

The strip of photos you see the to right are the latest photos I've uploaded into Flickr, automagically updated. すごいね？(How to make a Flickr Badge)

I went to the Epson office in Toronto today to drop off some documents they needed to send to Japan. I know, I could've courier'ed them, but I needed an excuse to bike home yesterday. Heh, actually, I feel like such a hypocrite since I drove to the office from my home. And I'll be getting a drive back home to Waterloo. *sigh* So dependent on cars, so depressing... one day though. One day I'll be free.

But back to the topic of this post: At Epson, I ask if there was any news on where we'd be placed. Not expecting an affirmative, I'm suprised to see him search through his inbox. It looks like they've known for a long time and just forgot to mention this little tidbit to us, or me, anyway. I hold my breath as he finds the e-mail and says I'll be working for..... **drum roll, please** A.I. Soft, in Matsumoto. (I can see the blank stares from everyone). That would be in Nagano prefecture, where the 98 Winter Olympics were held. (ahhhhh).

So that's that. Matsumoto, Nagano. My new home. More commentary, next week, after the break. I mean, exams.

Edit: Flickr Set created and thumbnails added.

As expected, my ride home today was the most ball-busting, soul-destroying, quadricep-impairing ride ever.

It started off nice enough. I left my Waterloo house at 9:15 AM. As I've been dying to do, I stopped to take pictures of my favorite landmarks. Nearly every five minutes. I probably had 20 pictures, and I hadn't even left Waterloo yet! I soon realized that short of riding with the camera strapped to my wrist and snapping pictures on the go (dangerous for both me and the camera), there was no practical way to keep up that pace of picture-taking, if I wanted to get home at a reasonable hour. It's too bad too since regular picture breaks every five minutes were very easy on the legs.

So my mood on these expeditions invariably progresses in the following order:

1. exhiliration to
2. satisfaction
3. boredom
4. discomfort
5. fatigue
6. exhaustion
7. suicidalness
8. euphoria

At around the discomfort/fatigue stage I start noticing my rear wheel becoming more bobb-y than usual. I get the dreaded feeling that I might have a flat. I look down and try to get a view of the tire, but I don't dare stop because if I do have a flat, I have to squeeze every last ounce of inflation out of the tire in my drive to roll towards Mississauga. If there's anything worse than the thought of getting a flat in the middle of boony-land in Ontario, it's doing so without having the proper gear to fix it.

I stop at one of my favorite points. At the top of a cliff overlooking a vast expanse where you can see for miles. Miles and miles of hydro lines. I eat my lunch there and take a few pictures. I continue on, completely forgetting to check my tire. I'm a very forgetful person. I guess I didn't have a flat after all. I scold myself for putting myself through that grief. Never ever leave the house without a spare tube and pump!

Fatigue gradually turns to exhaustion and on the last stretch of road, a 30 km long straight-away I nicknamed the Derry Homestretch, I'm spinning on my lowest gear, moving at snail's pace. Every part of my body that can ache does. My bag, only housing my 5 lb. iBook feels like a ton of bricks. I take my fifth bathroom break at a gas station; the first in a real bathroom. But the relief is only temporary. Now my other body parts clamour for attention. My ass, my shoulders, my back, my wrists... everything moves by in slow motion but the memory is a blur. I'm almost there.

My phone rings. It's my mom calling from work. I tell her I'm almost there and I just want to sleep. She tells me there's food waiting for me in the kitchen. All of a sudden I'm totally revitalized. I'm moving quickly again. The pain is still there. But I can bear with it now.

I arrive at my home at 3:45 PM. 6 and a half hours. A far cry from my peak of 4 hours last year. Still, just coming home in one piece never fails to be the most satisfying feeling in the world. What doesn't kill me can only make me stronger. I'm already forgetting the pain.

I will be doing my famed Waterloo-Mississauga bike ride home tomorrow morning. For the first time this year, in fact. I did this ride 10 times last year between April and November. The cold, in conjunction with general rustiness from being in cycling hibernation for the last five months and a forecasted 20 km/h head-wind will make it a very, very gruelling ride indeed. But like an old dead-end relationship, I keep coming back for more because the happy memories (the satisfaction of finishing, becoming stronger) are what stay with me. The pain fades.

I'm still trying to get a hang of balancing blogging with real-life (≈school). So here goes: the fastest blog post ever!

I wrote my Japan 201 final yesterday, and although I did fine I'm just a little saddened by the fact that 1) my Japanese language ability likely peaked last night writing the final, as it does for any course you're writing, I suppose. Especially with Konja over for the term and all the exchange students returning home. Speaking to yourself in Japanese just isn't the same you know. But anyway, more importantly; 2) Japanese class is just plain, over! Without a doubt, for the past year, Japan 101, 102 and 201 have kept my spirits and my average up in this increasingly disheartening CS program I'm in. (CS 343 and various others excluded). Some great memories from Japan 201 this term:

• Asking Mamoru our TA personal questions in front of the whole class to test our usage of "koto". "[sutorippu kurabu e itta, kisu wo shita] koto ga arimasu ka?"
• Spending about one week straight learning how to swear and kill each other in Japanese for our final presentation
• That warm feeling you get from attending the only class all week that you look forward to going to :)

And I think I've just overstayed my welcome here at blogger, so until next time let me leave you with the most hilarious "gaijin-in-Japan" blog ever; be warned: have many spare hours on hand before clicking the following link: Outpost Nine

Knowing that Japanese men, much like myself, are avid breast lovers, I decided to share my findings with a Japanese male friend of mine. I was hoping there was some sort of Science of Breasts Ministry he could contact, and in a few weeks we could get Operation: Japanese D-Cups underway. I carefully explained my observations and detailed my findings. He listened intently over his beer, giving me a few thoughtful nods, and when I finished he crossed his arms and said "But, I think if our women eat more McDonalds and exercise less, then maybe they'll be as fat as American women."

*pant* It's finally over. After the last post, I realized I should not come near this blog during school. I've got a small break before mad cramming for finals, but there will likely be another 3 week lull after this weekend.

I bought a Canon PowerShot SD200 last weekend, so to commemorate the end of yet another term at UW, a selection of photos from hell-week:

Since almost no one visits my place. this is it!

I didn't clean up to take these pictures

The other half of my room

I never miss a workout

I sometimes miss my kanji drills

Shogo and Amika correcting our horrible Japanese for our Japan 201 Final Presentation (a skit based on Battle Royale). 教えてくれてありがとうございました：）

Japan 201 class

8 AM Thursday morning after pulling an all-nighter to finish a CS assignment to top off the term- Angela is the hardest-working person I know. I learned a lot from her this term :)

I'm looking into image-hosting solutions; currently, Flickr is the front-runner. I am going to give their free account a spin.

Edit: Just finished setting up my Flickr gallery. I've already used up half of my monthly bandwidth!