STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 26

FEBRUARY 23

Yesterday, Saturday, my throat started feeling a bit weird. By the time I came home from Gamagori I had a full-on sore throat and a fever. I did not leave my room today. I barely left my bed. I was so tired that I even messaged Mark to ask him to bring me some juice (since once again I had nothing in my fridge). Thankfully, he replied before I pushed myself out of bed to go to the convenience store myself. Apple juice, orange juice, and a veggie mix. I drank juice. I slept. And I continued to sleep for the rest of the night.

FEBRUARY 24~FEBRUARY 28

I woke up on Monday morning feeling significantly better. The head cold has now condensed itself into sinus drainage, which is usually a sign for me that it’s coming to an end.

The Hawaiian students are heading to Korea for a week with Chaerim. They, like most of the other students, are using their spring break to travel around Japan, or visit their families in Korea/Taiwan/China. Of course, traveling to Korea from Japan is really cheap, so it was a good opportunity to go. I had more reasons not to go than I had to go. I wanted to hang out with the others, but at the same time, the only thing I knew about Korea was through Korean Pop, and in that sense, I really just cared about the dances, not necessarily the groups. Also, Chaerim said that most of the dishes over there use pork, and it would be hard to find something that I could eat. But above all that, I wanted to stay in Nagoya so I could get more practice in, more training experience, and more rest. I’m still wiped out from the Hokkaido trip.

I only had to go down to Gamagori once this week, on Wednesday, so I was able to spend as much time as I wanted at dance practice on Tuesday and Thursday. Many of the members are planning for another small event down at the Toyohashi campus. They’re calling it buropa, but they said it doesn’t mean anything. Only the break dancers seemed to be having a normal practice session, which was perfect since that’s exactly what I needed. I also went to the park on Friday and met a new member. He kind of dabbles in various kinds of dance, all of which he’s learned from watching videos. He’s also incredibly springy; he can do back flips, and just about anything if you show it to him. I’m not sure if I’m jealous or simply overwhelmed with the fact that he can just DO things. Okay, I am kind of jealous, but of the fact that he’s willing to challenge things head on. I need that kind of confidence for dance more often.

MARCH 1

Our first month of spring break has passed so quickly! Everyday has been busy with training and dance… Honestly, these last few weeks have been something of an ideal lifestyle. Wake up when I want, dance, go to “work”, repeat. No pressures of homework, presentations or deadlines. I’m living at my own pace, and doing the things I want to do. Who could ask for more?

Today was another great day dedicated to dance. There weren’t that many people at the park, despite it being Saturday, but Ken, Sato and a few other members filtered in over the course of the day. I could have stayed and hung out with them all day, but by 7pm I had no more energy left. I booked it home on my bike and made it just in time to buy groceries from Aoki before it closed at 9pm. This is a small side note, but it was my first time using the public bike-lock meters. I’m always worried that they’ll shut and I won’t have the money on me, so I haven’t used them at all. Today, however, all the other bike parking was full, so I used the public bike-lock right outside the store. It said the first thirty minutes were free, so I hurriedly bought my groceries and was in-and-out with time to spare. Free is good.