Am I on strike? I was recently told that it is a National (or similar scope) Blogging Month but I have been too busy for words unless they are combined with {curly braces} and //comments and.operators++. Maybe I care too much about what you (who is reading this now) think so I am holding back because I have no time to correct and assess the neutrality of my writing.

So what is going on? I am preparing for the SFC Open Research Forum to be held on November 22nd and 23rd. Check out the site - it’s really cute except I have mixed feelings about the tossing of crumpled paper into the pond. If I navigate among the menus enough will that beautiful scene become polluted?

Two weeks ago I went to Nikko and I actually did write a few things about it but have not posted. Maybe in a bit.

Last week I was leafing through one of my Japanese lesson books and found the most informative diagram. (My lesson books are very informative on aspects other than the language but often I’m like, “okay yeah I know that already”, but this…this was very useful). So traditionally, women used squatting style toilets (see this link for good toilets in Japan info) and they are still found in many public restrooms. Often they are the only choice and sometimes you will be asked if you are okay with using the squatting style toilets. In the past I have always answered with a confident, “of course, I’m from Saskatchewan”. I had some complaints though. Like why I had to balance while reaching behind me to get toilet paper…why couldn’t they hang it from the opposite wall? Well. Minna no Nihongo informed me via stickwoman drawing that this whole time I have been facing the wrong direction. Why didn’t I realize this before? There is even a splash guard on the one side. The first time I used one, I likely just transferred my western toilet orientation to the new case. We get used to facing the stall door. So now I know and I hope this little bit might help someone finding themselves in a similar situation (sorry I did not include a diagram - if you are interested enough, I imagine Google will be suitable for all sorts of interesting diagrams).

Last weekend I went to ATR around Kyoto for an Open House event. It was a whole new place. Very international and a little bit culture shocking because when it came to reception time, people were just taking their own beer. An intern from Canada working at ATR, Anton, was super kind and let me crash at his place. Again culture shock or space shock as he was put up in a 3 room + dining/kitchen apartment. If I had that kind of space I’d be learning how to do cartwheels! Anyway, I met a number of his coworkers and they were all very fun and interesting. I also learned that this is not an unripe tomato, it’s a fruit called a persimmon (in English). Actually, I knew “about” persimmon’s but had never actually seen one. Persimmon’s are yummy, they have little barrier between object and eating the object (like seeds and skin) and the flavour is a little almond-y, leaving one quite satisfied.

It’s getting cold here. But it’s not really that cold. It’s weird. I’m weather-confused.