My slightly lazy Tuesday

Excuse me while I go on a short tangeant from my time with mother.

Today was Tuesday, January 10, 2012 and Keio University's founder, Fukuzawa Yukichi's birthday. And thus, there was no school (I don't have class on Tuesdays normally anyways...).

I always have memorable dreams, but I've especially been having really vivid dreams lately. For example, last night, probably caused by the conversation I had with my parents the other day, I dreamed that I went home for the spring vacation. But, I'm glad that it was a dream. Not only would going home right now be quite expensive, but it would also feel "chuutohanpa"--"half-baked" (?). I don't want to go home until I feel like I have made a greater improvement in my Japanese and myself. Only then will I feel comfortable going home. Within my dream, I woke up and was talking to my mom about my dream (Inception?!?lol). I told her that I knew the previous dream was a dream because the ceiling looked like pixels so it couldn't be real life! ...hahaha I'm such a dork...

Anyways, today I spent writing an essay about food, specifically a food that gives you energy from your country and a food that gives you energy when you're lonely. First, I wrote about Caldo Gallego, a stew from Galicia, Spain traditionally made with collard greens, pork, etc. Second, I wrote about guacamole--just because it's my specialty dish that I have fun making☆ Today was the also first Donguri club meeting of the year, so I got my grandpa Satou-san to check my essay for me. Ah~ Satou-san really feels like my grandpa...I noticed today that his eyes even look like Yayo's--experienced and wise, slightly tired and old but beautiful eyes. In a culture so different from my own, it's interesting to see something in the people here that's reminiscent of my own family. Perhaps it's proof that we're all human beings.

This evening, I started watching a new drama on television called "Hungry!" with one of my favorite actors--Mukai Osamu. Ahh~ Mukai Osamu is so cool~~ But other than that, I noticed that watching a drama is different from anime in pronunciation of words. In anime, the voice actors are trained to vocalize and pronounce their words clearly. However, it's not like that in dramas and real life. The way they talk in dramas is more how people talk on the street--sometimes quite quickly, sometimes with not so much attention to the clarity of their words. Plus, unlike my video game, dramas and real people don't have Japanese subtitles so I can both hear and read what the characters are saying. Thus, dramas may be more difficult to understand, but they're also probably better listening practice as reference for real life conversations.
I have 2 more weeks of class filled with work and exams. Busy busy...