October 15. 2004 20:44

Sky Mail and social life

Waai! I've got Internet in my room! Yes! I can start putting up my diary entries as I write them instead of hoarding them and putting up seven at a time. And I've got anime wallpapers and Winamp skins and I can read Harry Potter fansites and do research and everything! I so love the Internet!

So, I've got the phone up and working. It took me 3 hours the first day to find out how to send Sky Mail messages and save friends' phone numbers, and I had to ask some friends the next day how to get the little dots that make shi into ji etc. and how to delete Sky Mail. Then I spent another 3 hours with it, figuring out the sounds and the alarm clock. Today I changed the e-mail address to something I can remember. I'd tell it plainly here but I don't want spam, so here's a riddle that's easy to work out but doesn't give it in plain text: it's my first name and the 3 first letters of my last name, written together in one string, and then @k.vodafone.ne.jp. Don't write it anywhere online, because spam in my mobile phone would be zettai dame.

But if you want to send me e-mail to my phone, go ahead. It's easy and free and you can do it from your normal e-mail (assuming your address isn't too long, and that'd be around 30 characters). Just send it to the address above, no bc or cc, no header (I think). The message can be 128 characters long. It'll come to my mobile and I can read it from there, and answer it. (But that'll cost me, so I'll probably do that through the Internet when I get home. If you want a reply that is.) Again, I must press that don't give this address out anywhere, because I really don't want spam. In the worst case, they might go to the person I might sell the phone after I go back to Finland.

I've been buying more stuff from the flee marketers at school after that first shirt I got. I realized they're a convenient and cheap way to get some Japanese fashion, 'cause I don't mind buying second-hand. A while ago I bought a connect-the-dots top by Milk, one of the clothes brands in the photo book Fruits, and a brown shirt with skulls on it yesterday. To tell you the truth, I only got that Milk top because it was Milk, and Milk makes cool clothes. I have the impression it's a British brand, though, but anyway. But the skull shirt, that's an interesting piece. Firstly, I rarely wear brown, and secondly, I've never had skulls in any of my clothes. But I was feeling pretty Avril at the time and Japan's already affecting my style, so there we go. Now I have a punk shirt. And I feel kinda cool about it ^_^

Laura had her birthday party yesterday at the Oil Painting building. Her schoolmates had arranged food, lights and music there and there was all of her class and more plus all the exchange students. Even Dion joined us because I tipped him during lunch. The Japanese were really nice, a lot more of them tried to talk English there than in my class. There was takoyaki for food again, which made me very happy, I love it. I got the note about the party a bit late so I couldn't get a present, but I made a card for Laura on manga paper and even tried tones for the first time in my life. I pressed the knife too hard on the paper, so it's cut and I had to take a photocopy of it to give out.

I loved the party with the Japanese, it felt very homey at the Oil Painting department. Painters' studios are the same everywhere in the world... But we had to get out at 22, so we international students got some drinks at the Circle K and continued to the boy's dorm, Kino-ryou Minami, toying with the idea of going to karaoke. And after we were sent out of the dorm (no loud noises or opposite gender allowed after 11) we did go out to the karaoke place.

Karaoke was great. It was my first time in a Japanese karaoke booth, which is pretty different from Finnish karaoke. In Finland you have to sing in front of a whole bar, and karaoke is for weirdos anyway, but here we get a nice little room all for ourselves. There's drinks and some snacks available at the counter to keep you going for hours. (I abandoned my diet for a day and got some soft ice cream.) I sang My Will by dream, the first Inu-Yasha ending, just because it has to be my first karaoke song, but I couldn't read the kana fast enough to sing it well. Then we settled with English songs. I didn't have much interest in choosing the songs, as my bad taste in music was again pretty evident. I've been forgetting about it here, since the Japanese taste is much closer to mine than the European, but the exchange students went by the European standards again... So both the songs I chose, Lady Marmalade from Moulin Rouge and Skater Boi by Avril Lavigne were met with obvious dislike. Well, I'm used to it already. But I couldn't leave the booth without singing some Avril Lavigne.

Avril Lavigne seems to be a big thing here, by the way. It's no surprise, actually, her style is the kind that attracts the Japanese. I'm pretty happy about that, because that means I can say I like her and not sound like and overgrown teenager (though that is what I feel like inside, even if others seem to think it's somewhat geeky...), and I might find some of her stuff cheap from Book-Off. I just realized a couple of days ago how I miss listening to the first CD, so I thought I'd get the second from Book-Off as soon as I get the chance. Meanwhile I tried to search for some mp3s of the first album, unsuccessfully. And before someone shouts out "Downloading music from the net is illegal!" I must remind you that I do have the CD. I just couldn't bring all my CDs here, so I have to settle with listening ripped versions of them.

The autumn is settling in in Japan now. It's gotten really cold at nights even though in daytime a T-shirt is enough to keep you warm. I'm not used to that, coming from the cost where the sea keeps the temperature changes minimal. It's pretty interesting, and kind of a nice experience, though I'd rather carry just one set of clothes around. And I'm relieved to notice that signs of autumn are the same: I can smell the cold air and see the certain pale colour in the air and the sky. It might not be that bad after all, not being able to feel the Finnish seasons. The air here carries a similar fel to it that makes my mind wonder off to the world of storytelling...

Oh, wow, An-san and her friend just invited me to have some cake with them at An-san's room. (An-san is that Korean mangaka girl in Fujimura-sou.) We had some orange cake and chocolate cake and milk and I actually had a rather long conversation with them all in Japanese. They're so nice, I have to treat them to something, too. We talked about Finland and school and the weather. I really wish I could learn lots of Japanese really soon so that I can talk a lot more with everyone.

I had no idea it was this late already, I haven't eaten any dinner yet. An-san and her friend were pretty surprised and told me to get something quick so I won't feel too hungry. But I'm not hungry at all... I think I should get something, though. Where did all the time go to? I still want to watch some Inu-Yasha, I've got all the episodes right until the end now, and the third movie as well, so I really want watch some. But I need to write the script for my animation as well, so what should I do... Waah, maybe I can watch one episode an then write some, or the other way around. But I really need to sleep well tonight because I didn't sleep much last night 'cause the karaoke went so long (and I stayed up surfing the net afterwards, so I had to skip the first lessons today... bad me...) and tomorrow I'll be going to Tokyo with the night bus, so I won't sleep well then either... Again, where did all the time go, it's already Friday and it was just Sunday a while ago.