Binge Day

It's kind of hard finding anything fun to photograph in this country.

Especially now that it's winter everything is just.. white.

Yesterday I went to school and came across a group of kindergarden kids playing on the enormous snow mountain created by the trucks plowing all of the snow in the middle of campus.

Zzz..

Cat and Jacque

In the evening after school we went to Benedicte's house to.. binge.

Karoline & Benedicte preparing
pie crust

Benedicte's house is so fancy
it looks like something
outta an IKEA catalogue

I'm snoopin'

We made pizza!

Benedicte's famous
carrot
cup cakes
Yum

Petter

After eating Karoline's blueberry pie
we all looked like
messy kids who'd been out on a field trip
eatin'
blueberries

Wictoria making
mango and blueberry
smoothie

Wah, I look scary

Waaay past our normal bed time (it was around 10) we rolled home, full and happy.

That's it.

Don't think I don't notice

"Sexy", you say
"Stupid", I say

Do you have any idea how 'cold' it is in Japan right now?
(And why insist on wearing high heels if you
can't even walk properly?)

As I have complained about before, Japanese people are strange creatures, who never seem to be affected by the weather. At winter time I'm always cold, so I'll walk around wearing tights underneath my jeans, winter shoes, winter coat, big gloves and the rest of the shabang.

When I first arrived in Japan back in September, it was so hot. Yet I'd frequently observe Japanese girls in their skimpy hot pants - wearing big heavy winter boots at the same time.

I don't get it.

And now, even though it can be freezing outside, the girls still cling on to their nano-skirts, and the guys refuse to wear a jacket. Still they'll walk around shivering, clearly uncomfortable.

They look so pathetic.

When I went to Kyoto the other day, I witnessed something that truly shocked me.

As I was walking up a busy street, heading for one of the popular tourist attractions, I walked past a Japanese family with three kids. One of them was a small baby who was strapped to the mothers back in a baby holder. It was only wearing a thin body with bare feet. In the middle of winter!

It was only a little baby!

In any reasonable country I think this would have been considered as child abuse.

I asked one of my teachers about it at school today, and she agreed that it sounded bad, but she also told me that Japanese kids are encouraged to not wear that much clothes in order to get "a strong body" that is able to endure the cold.

What?

Yet 70% of the Japanese I see swear by their beloved saft blanket of a face mask - "to prevent them from getting sick".

And I have to say, it seems like the most dolled up Japanese girls that are so obsessed by their apperance, usually are the ones who don't even wash their hands after they've been to the bathroom. They'll flush, walk out of the stall, fix their hair while making a pouty face in the mirror, and walk out.

Don't think I don't notice.

Pros and Cons - Soon heading home

My momma's porch on December 27th
(Picture taken by the lovely lady herself)

Warning: Rant alert

Gah, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, people.

This semester living in godforsaken Togane and attending good-for-nothing Josai International University has been a true test of patience and stamina. A few weeks left, and I'm outta here!

I'm going to miss

- my humble apartment
- having a microwave oven
- the 100 Yen shop across the street

Yep, that's it.

I'm not going to miss

- being treated like an imbecil by the university, despite being an adult who's paying a lot of money in tuition - and for what?

When a bunch of my lazy, oh-so beloved, fellow students continuously fail to show up in class - we're being incouraged to end class earlier "so the other students won't miss out on too much".

When the class scored terribly low on a big test, due to the fact that most of my fellow students don't bother to study, for the next test we were told the day before in detail what would be on the test. I tell you, the test was so easy, I felt stupid for studying. Nevertheless, there's no way to compare your own progress, since the level on the test we're given are all different from each other - and not in a good way.

And then when our teacher returned our test, like it was a big announcment she over-excitedly made a big deal about how "well we did compared to the previous test". My ass. I wanted to throw something in her face.

I would rather study hard for a test and get a low - and deserved - score that'll sting, then having them insult us by giving us tests proving that they think of us as idiots.

This whole deal have just been.. fishy. When I'm at the top of my class - you know there's something wrong. As said before, I want to be around people who motivate and inspire me. Now, frankly, I'm just getting depressed.

I'm afraid this semester haven't helped me improve my language skills any more than if I'd stayed home in Norway and attended classes at the university there would have done.

Such a waste of good suffering. It's unfair.

Academically I'm doing great, though - How can I not? The bar here is ridiculously low, as it's more important for the university to maintain their "reputation", than to give their students an education of quality. So what if I'm getting straight A's? They won't count for jack once I get back in the real world.

I can't wait!

I'm looking forward to be going home to

- my family & friends
- Oslo
- my university
- the study hall
- my new home
- my work and colleagues
- the challenging new courses I'm taking next semester
- the gym on campus

I'm starting to get all gitty!

In the same way as when I lived in Thailand for 12 months, I didn't allow myself to be homesick until the very end. Today it's three weeks until I'm going home, and I'm excited!

BUT

I don't what to go home to this:

(Photo: Momma)

(Photo: Momma)

(Photo: Momma)

The temperature these past few weeks back home in Norway has been insane - today it reached as low as minus 21 degrees celcius - IIiiik! I can't go home to that!!

Anyway.

I still truly enjoy studying Japanese and I'm looking forward to be returning to Japan in the fall next year.

Hopefully to a more serious university far away from other Norwegians.