For the first time in about a month or two, I actually went to classes on Monday (No, I wasn't boozing and partying for most of it. In fact, I just didn't have the energy to do anything and didn't feel like I could face the world. Never mind exactly why, I'm still in the process of chasing down someone who's prepared to put up with my 'Am I bipolar/depressed/borderline?' navel-gazing.
I've been to the doc's about my head once, though. Which is a start.)

But enough of that, onto what happened today.

Spent the early morning doing a bit of room-tidying and sticking things onto my walls with white-tack, which was enjoyable.

First lesson was Japanese language with John (Collins. John Collins^. The end of a leg and an amazing guy. He also regularly has me in stitches during his classes).

^Sorry, I couldn't resist XD! And no, I'm not a teacher's pet (I hope). Just wait until you meet him.

*****
Anyway....

He offered me a 'plate' of really cute finger puppet animals and I had to say "kore ni kudasai" (I'll take that one). I hovered between a white poodle and a dog with tan on the sides of his face and white on the front, deciding on the latter. The boy next to me took the poodle and reckoned that it looked like Sweep (I disagreed). We analysed the comparisons between Sweep and his puppet in great detail and we also had to talk to our puppets.
I called mine Chauncey, after Jimmy Urine's - long dead and stuffed, but still very much loved! - dog. Jimmy-sama is the lead singer of Mindless Self Indulgence, if you're wondering. *daydreams but manages to stop self from posting completely irrelevant rubbish about teh band just in time*.

We covered the "-nai" form of verbs and I remember at one point that John stamped my hand with a marker pen (Lid ON!!) and said it was a voucher for a Bounty bar. He also said 'Bounty bar for you' whenever I made a point that - I guess - he thought was particularly relevant/good/illuminating/whatever positive synonym. Which was twice. And he said that the second and third offers for a Bounty were lies. I thought he was joking and that the Bounty was a bribe, so I pretty much forgot about it.

At the end of the lesson, John said we could keep the puppets, but ONLY if we said 'May I keep it?' in Japanese. I didn't know how to say it, so I gave Chauncey back to John. He was surprised and said that he'd thought I'd keep mine.
I felt a tiny bit sad about it, actually. I loved Chauncey. Oh well, there should be another time I see him.

Checked emails and uploaded new photos to my Facebook and Myspace, then went to Introduction to Contemporary Development (id est, contemporary Japanese society).

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Luckily, I came in just before John arrived. He came in(durh!!), then - to my surprise - actually gave me a Bounty! In front of the whole class, too. I was embarrassed, but thanked him and put it in my bag.
This lesson was spent reading a very confusing textbook extract about Zen, finishing the following sentence

Churches are being demlished to make....

and (for me) colouring in the mens' faces on aforementioned textbook extract(Photocopied), taking notes and occasionally drawing Jimmy.

My answer to the following sentence was 'nightclubs'.

Lastly, Japanese language with Ken. I was feeling really tired at this point (I'd not gone to bed since the night before due to revising for Tuesday's test) and actually dozed off in class a couple of times.
But Ken never says anything about it :s. Mind you, I'm usually off in a trance when he asks me to read something and/or completely lost anyway ><. Plus, I'm painfully slow at reading aloud to the class (Imagine a 5-year old English child reading English, but replace it with a 20-year-old Englisher reading Japanese while being in a bit of a daze and you should get the picture).

Went home, lay on bed and crashed out. It was 5pm.
Woke up about 9:15 (Oops, I meant to go out somewhere at 7) to hear my mobile going. It was mum, to tell me that she'd told Dad to post up a new contract sim card^ and that she had a really gunky chest infection :(.

^I barred my after losing it at a houseparty a couple of weekends ago. Never mind how. Just connect the dots of student, alcohol and alcohol's effects.

*****

It's nana's birthday on the 8th and Mum was planning on coming up to see me on Thursday (She'd even booked a ticket from Norbury to Liverpool). Whether she actually will or not depends on how her lungs are. It'd be a shame if I didn't manage to see mum, but seeing nana will be nice.

Things I've learnt today:
-I'd forgotten how hilarious lessons with John are
-NEVER buy a Chicken Caesar wrap from the Student Shop. Because you will stink of garlic, guaranteed.
-Whenever I've spent most of the week revising for whatever I've been told to revise for as part of that Tuesday's hiragana, I then get told the test is on something completely different on the Monday before said test, ergo pull an all-nighter revising, go in for test at 9am and invariably do really badly ><