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Well, after ranting about how the university sometimes like to treat us
international students, they actually did something really nice for us - a
TOTALLY FREE Shinnenkai (New Year Party) for all international students
and their tutors, food and drink (including beer, shochu and sake) all
provided!
And very fun it was too.
The food was out of this world. There was sushi, tempura, basashi, the
nicest spring rolls ever, all kinds of yummy cooked meat, and even sea
snails! Sea snails...they certainly do not look appetising, but really,
once you get over how very...still snail-like they look, they're rather
tasty. They taste a little like squid, but even more chewy :)
After the party, there was still lots of full bottles of alcohol left, and
the teachers actually told us to take them away with us!
This obviously shows one very clear thing about the university - it's
very, very rich. And this not only shows in it splashing out on lots of
high-quality food for us. In our IT lessons, for example, we're told to
use as much paper and ink as we want when printing - none of this scrap
paper business! And the uni has its own medical centre, with the most
advanced equipment I've ever seen, especially the fully-automated
blood-pressure machines.
However, how the university has acquired all this wealth is quite sad. The
university does not fund any of the student clubs and societies in the
slightest. This means that members have to raise all the money themselves,
and they're unable to have all the social events that the societies back
in Durham do. Tom was telling me that in the rowing society he's joined,
the members had to buy their own boat. And that any member who has a
part-time job must donate 10% of their earnings to the club, just to keep
it running. It's really, really sad that the uni does not support the
student societies, despite all it's wealth.
Anyway, back to the party...
My tutor Kisako arrived, and she gave me a late birthday present - a
Japanese-style hand towel and some bath pearls! I was thrilled :) Now,
I've just got to find a bath in which to use the bath pearls... I do feel
guilty, because Kisako didn't come to my joint birthday party. Richard
organised the event and sent a group message to everyone, including Kisako,
but Kisako says that she didn't quite understand that the party was my
birthday too. I should've made sure she knew, cause now I feel like I left
her out. After all, I wasn't that surprised that she didn't go, cause she
hardly ever comes out with us Durham students.
Well, after the party, we all went back to Saranne's room for some more
drinks and snacks. And then, we moved on to the Sligo Inn. This was great
- they had a Japanese Irish folk band playing, which was actually really
good, and made me feel very nostalgic for Britain. I thought I'd never
live to see the day when I'd see a Japanese Irish folk band!
After Nick had eaten two mixed cheese pizzas at Sligo (his favourite food
in the whole of Japan), we went to Jeff's Bar. I was going to go for a
nomihoudai - but then I saw a sign saying that they'd be an "arigatou
(thank you)
party" tomorrow (today!), with nomihoudai from 9-closing time for 2000yen
- £10! I've saved my 2000 yen, so guess where we'll be going tonight....
:)
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