Finnish summary: (English version at the end of the mail)
Tervehdys,
Suomessa kuulemma lumi on vähitellen sulamassa, täällä kevät on jo hyvässä vauhdissa. Talvitakki tuli pakattua kaappiin, ehkä hiukan liian aikaisin koska onnistuin saamaan flunssan reilu viikko sitten. Pyörälläkin on tullut taas liikuttua - Suomessahan pyöräilen myös läpi talven, mutta täällä piti pitää hiukan taukoa kehnon aurauksen ja talvirenkaiden puutteen takia.
Tammikuu oli melko kiireinen, mutta helmikuussa oli aikaa myös nauttia talvesta. Hauskinta oli kun Juha keksi että rakennetaan asuntolan eteen lumiluola, joka tietysti viimeisteltiin katolle pystytetyllä Suomen lipulla. Kuva hulluista suomalaisista ei varmaan ainakaan lieventynyt, kun seuraavaksi haimme makuupussit ja nukuimme yhden yön luolassa. Toisaalta, ei siellä ollut juurikaan kylmempää kuin asuntolan huoneissa jos lämmityksen laittaa pois päältä, kuten suurin osa (säästösyistä) yöksi tekee.
Kävin myös katsomassa Kenrokuen-puistoa talvella ja kaksi kertaa laskettelemassa. Toinen niistä oli yhteinen retki muiden vaihto-opiskelijoiden kanssa, ja valikoima kuvia on esillä verkossa:
http://www.iki.fi/ajt/travel/japan/ichirino/
Sain myös viimein valikoitua kuvat vaihto-opiskelijatoimiston viime marraskuussa järjestämältä reissulta, jolla vierailtiin kivoissa pikkukylissä, Inuyaman linnassa (犬山城) ja Meiji-ajan (1868-1912) ulkoilmamuseossa Aichi- (愛知) ja Gifu (岐阜) -prefektuurien alueella. Kaiken lisäksi yliopisto maksoi suurimman osan koko lystistä, opiskelijahinta 5000 jeniä ei kattanut edes hotellia puhumattakaan itse matkasta:
http://www.iki.fi/ajt/travel/japan/fieldtrip/
Viime aikoina on ollut sekä labrassa että asuntolassa melko hiljaista. Lukukausi päättyy täällä maaliskuun lopussa, mutta monet kurssit ovat loppuneet jo aiemmin ja iso osa vaihto-opiskelijoista käymässä kotimaassaan tai matkustamassa ympäri Japania. Itse työskentelen vielä projektini parissa ensi viikon, jonka jälkeen lähden kahden viikon reissulle Lounais-Japaniin Kyushu-saarelle (九州) sekä Etelä-Koreaan. Sitä ennen piipahdan kuitenkin vielä ensi perjantaina paikallisessa koulussa kertomassa suomalaisesta kulttuurista japanilaisille lukiolaisille.
Hyvää kevättä kaikille,
AJT
Spring has arrived in Kanazawa, only a few patches of snow remaining here and there. I already packed my winter jacket back in the closet - maybe a bit too early as I caught a flu about a week ago. Well, maybe biking in the rain roughly 12 kilometers to eastern Kanazawa and back contributed as well. I had decided to go to movies and rain is no reason for me to change plans, like take a bus. In Finland I actually use my bike througout the winter, but here I had to have a short break due to poor (non-existent) plowing of the bike lanes and also not having any winter tyres.
The movie I saw was Lord of the Rings II, it was good although I liked the first part better. Re-reading the book in original language is also on my to-do list, I've once read it in Finnish but it was long ago and I've forgotten much of it.
January I was busy with my work in the lab, but in February I had a bit more time to do winter activities. The funniest of them was Juha's idea to build a snowhouse (like an igloo but from snow instead of ice) in the front of the dorm, complete with a Finnish flag on the top. After giving a tour to everybody interested, we reinforced the image of crazy Finns by fetching our sleeping bags and spending one night there. It was great fun, and actually not much colder than the dorm rooms at night, when most of the people turn off their heaters to save money.
I also saw the famous Kenrokuen garden covered in snow, and went skiing twice. Ishikawa area has a good number of ski resorts to choose from, and there's a bus to all the major ones each Saturday and Sunday morning from Kanazawa station, paired by a bus back in the late afternoon. The ski centers don't seem to have a huge number of slopes like big resorts in the Alps in Europe, but the altitude difference is almost comparable, over one kilometer from top to bottom in the highest ones. There's even a website in English (!) which contains all the necessary info: http://www.snowjapan.com/.
My first trip was with Anemone, a German girl who loves skiing and went almost every weekend, often on both Saturday and Sunday. No wonder, as it turned out that she had worked as a part-time ski instructor in her home country for almost ten years already. The second trip was quite different, a group excursion with other exchange students organized by International Student Center. Quite a few of the people were on skis the first time in their life. I compiled a small picture gallery of the trip:
http://www.iki.fi/ajt/travel/japan/ichirino/
I also finally got online the pictures from another trip organized especially for exchange students. It was a trip to Gifu (岐阜) and Aichi (愛知) prefectures last November, including visits to pittoresque small villages, Inuyama castle (犬山城) and an outdoor museum of Meiji-era (1868-1912) buildings. The travel story is on my web site:
http://www.iki.fi/ajt/travel/japan/fieldtrip/
In addition to the university, there are a few other associations or clubs, partly funded by Kanazawa city and Ishikawa prefecture, which provide resources and organize courses and events to introduce Japanese culture to foreigners. In fact, there are so many possibilities that it's impossible to participate in all of them. One such event was a Japanese culture day organized by Kanazawa International Exchange Foundation on the last weekend of February. We got to try wearing a Japanese kimono, participate in tea ceremony, go to a short tour in the Nagamachi (長町) samurai district (old houses) and design a decorative plate using the "gold leaf" technique, outlining shapes and covering them with a 1/10000 mm thin gold alloy.
Lately, it has been rather quiet both at the dorm and the lab. In Japan, the semester ends at the end of March and a new one begins in April. However, most of the classes end already earlier, and those who graduate have also finished their thesis papers and presentations. Therefore, many exchange students have returned to their home countries or are traveling in Japan. Just after graduation seems to be one of the rare moments when the Japanese take longer vacations too, before starting to work in some company. Yesterday, we had a party to celebrate the graduates.
My Japanese classes are also on a break until 10th of April. I will still continue working on my project for one week, and then leave for a two week trip, going first to Kyushu (九州) in South-Western Japan and continuing from there to South Korea. Before that, there will be at least one event worth mentioning: next Friday I'm going to a Japanese high school to give a short (20 minute + questions) presentation about Finnish culture - in Japanese of course.
Hope you'll have nice and bright spring days,
AJT
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Arto Teräs --- See http://www.iki.fi/ajt/ for contact info