caring communication

I just finished my reading for the night. I did the math and I’ve done about 350 pages of reading for my independent studies…which I feel pretty good about. I mean, it’s really not that much work, but considering I have had so many other things going on, I’m glad that I’ve gotten that much done. Plus, I did all of my work for the week through Friday, so I may try to go and find a comfy chair somewhere. I know there has to be a comfortable chair somewhere where I can do my reading. All of this sitting on the floor has really gotten to me, I think. I just feel like I could use a good chair.

We had another student meeting today. It was kind of frustrating. Although we did get things decided, I felt like it was very rushed and that people weren’t listening to each other. One of the other girls here and I have talked about trying really hard to push a more Quaker-like community meeting, since technically they are supposed to be based on Quaker tradition. Hopefully we can find a way to make the meetings more positive. Although it may mean that the meanings are a little longer as we have to spend time thinking about what people have said instead of just jumping down each other’s throats, it will, in the long run, save time because no one will have to worry about having hurt someone else. Plus, there will be less confusion if everyone gets a chance to clearly state their opinion without being interrupted. I know I don’t have much room to talk since I’ve never been to anything other than a meeting for worship, but from talking to Bryan, I know that people aren’t supposed to act the way that we all were today. I definitely was just as guilty. It’s really difficult not to get dragged into the whole thing when everyone is talking really quickly and not truly listening.

I was having this conversation with the girl and we were talking about communication, and I explained how Bryan and I started addressing our conflicts differently, by calming down and talking and that we usually realized we were just looking at it different ways, not really disagreeing. In the middle of it she says, “Man, you sound just like a Quaker.” It is kind of funny, I guess, how people really do rub off on each other. I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. I only hope that I can make positive communication a bigger and bigger part of my life as I get older.

This weekend marks the beginning of Spring Break for everyone back home at W&M. It’s kind of strange to be on a completely different schedule. It’s weird to know that Bryan is getting to spend Spring Break with at my house, sleeping in my bed, and getting to eat my mom’s home-cooked meals while I’m in Japan. I just really hope that the break will be a positive time for everyone because I know how stressed out I usually get around midterms and I almost feel guilty about not having more work here. I mean, sure, I have more work I could be doing, always, but somehow it doesn’t seem so heavy here.

I had another cooking experience tonight. I learned to use a rice cooker. And believe me, it was a chore. I wasn’t exactly sure how to work it, so I set the timer. I come back 40 minutes later (which was the time that was recommended to me) and found that it was still cold. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I knew that it was certainly not getting hot. I then realized that the rice cooker I was trying to use did not work. At this point, I’m really hungry, but not about to give up. I found out that there was another rice cooker downstairs and got that and set the time and came back to check it. It was hot, or at least hotter than the other one had been, but it still wasn’t really cooking. I didn’t know why and I couldn’t read the controls because they were in Japanese. I finally gave in and started playing with the settings. I left it on one of them and then I heard a loud click like 10 minutes later, I open up the rice cooker and my rice is done! What a relief. So now I know how to do it. I definitely am going to have to get a rice cooker for next year and eat a lot of rice and sushi. I will be spoiled by then though, and nothing back home will taste as good. I put the last sweet potato I had into the rice because it was getting close to needing to be eaten thrown away, and I didn’t want to throw it away. I added some cheese on top. It was definitely an interesting dish, but very good. Also very filling. I have snacked a lot less tonight than I usually do while I’m studying. I think it’s because I feel very, very full. I bought a decent sized bag of rice, so I think I’ll make rice for lunch and dinner as much this week as possible (with toppings, of course) so that I can try to cut back on the munching on junk food. It’s really bad for me and my body feels so terrible after I eat chocolate. I think I just have a habit of needing to do something while I’m studying and that usually ending up being eating because it’s convenient and doesn’t distract me too much. Tonight I had some dessert like an hour after dinner, but it wasn’t like a constant all-night eating.

On another positive note, I ended up with a little over $200 left from my stipend this month. That means that I didn’t even have to dip into my checking account for anything. This month I may have to, since I’m going to be taking Tai Chi and Shiatsu classes and hopefully seeing more of the city when the weather gets a little nicer. But it was cool to have my first money budgeting experience. At home I usually don’t worry about it too much, whereas here, I had to check every few days, just to make sure. It’s good to know that I can also watch what I’m spending, rather than going crazy just because I’m in a foreign country.

I still have a lot I need to get done tomorrow and Friday before I can really enjoy the weekend (which is my second Tai Chi and Shiatsu classes!) but I feel like I’m on the right track. But the right track also involves some sleep, so I’m going to go and get that now.

Music of the day: John Lennon- God, Sage Francis, Pink Floyd- Money, Dismemberment Plan- Following Through
Food: Rice, cheese, and sweet potato
Meditation/ inspiration/ thought of the day: positive communication
What I learned: There is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the Emperor Meiji, who the people of Japan believe became a kami (deity) after death, but that’s not the interesting part. Meiji was lauded for setting Japan on a path towards becoming a progressive, industrial nation so in part this shrine is to celebrate the industrialization of Japan, but at the same time it’s a traditional Shinto shrine. Somewhere in there, there is a contradiction, but I am not sure you guys back home will get it. I will have to explain in more detail sometime when I have a whole blog in which to do it. It has to do with how, although Japan does want to be a progressive nation, so many of the things that are really important to the country are related to its culture heritage, so sometimes these things intersect and overlap in a funny way.
Top priority: reading for independent studies as much as possible before the weekend.