:: My Urban Eyes ::
All that I see, and then some.
:: Saturday, January 07, 2006 ::
Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!
(Or, Happy New Year!)
I can't believe that I haven't updated this thing since December! I'm really falling behind. -_- That being said, I hope that everyone's new year got off to a great start!
I've been having a lot of fun over here. Yesterday I started an intensive section of ceramics. Can't beat the value--my school pays the tuition ($200 or so), and I only need to pay a $40 materials fee. I get to play with a ton of clay and make even more cool things. ^_^ There are only two people in the class total, and the other girl isn't going to show up for another week, so right now it's just me and Sensei. How cool is that? At first I thought it would be a little awkward, but it's not--Sensei and I actually end up talking a lot. :P Sensei is Japanese but he teaches completely in English, and I'm studying Japanese, so we usually end up using a combination of the two. He told me some neat stories about his high school days and a lot of neat stuff pertaining to Japanese culture. I like it because I can pass along fun English phrases like "Black Friday" (turns out Japanese has the expression "in the black", too! Literally "black letter/s") and "to have a lead foot" (I tend to have one on the potter's wheel -_-). Sooooo much fun.
And I'm making neato stuff! Every day there's a new technique. Yesterday it was lidded pots (don't like those so much, not very fun) and today it was big bowls. Fruit bowl sized bowls, over a foot in diameter. Normally you make a ton of smaller pieces off a big hunk of clay, but these bowls are so big that they would become misshappen under their own weight. So you make a flat donut of clay on the wheel and attach a wooden "bat", or a piece of plywood the same size as the wheel, and then make the bowl on that. That way, when you're done, you can take the whole piece of wood off, so the bowl is always supported. Then you attach another wooden bat and start over again. Neat, huh? Today I made four of those bowls, heaven help me get two home. >_<
For kicks I Googled some pottery studios in the US--it's an expensive hobby, between the materials and studio time. Some of the classes give "25 pounds of clay!" to use during the classes. But like, today, in those four bowls, I went through 18 pounds of clay (eight kilos). Soooo... yah.
Tomorrow I have no plans, which is wonderful. Monday is a national holiday, Coming of Age Day, when those turning 20 in the coming year are deemed adults, finally being able to smoke, drink, and vote. It's also my friend's Patricia's birthday. Her parents are visiting from the States, too. There's going to be a party for her at her host family's house, with her real family and friends attending, with karaoke after that, yea! Should be a ton of fun. ^_^
Also looking forward to Mark's arrival next Friday--he'll be here for almost two weeks, yeaaaa! Have a whole bunch of stuff planned for when he comes here, including trips to Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo, and, of course, more karaoke. ^_^ Can't wait!
I hope you're all doing well, do take care!
:: Kazen @ Always Doing 3:48 PM [+] ::
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