Financial Lucidity; Or What I’m Going To Spend My Money On Next

I’m suffering the strains of London living and no income at the moment, trapped in a bubble of knowing I could squander money I’ve saved up in Korea and before on temporary joys, or become too obsessed with saving every penny at the other end of the scale (although that’s hardly likely is it).

Anyway, despite this the drips and drops of tutoring I’ve been doing in Maths and English are turning into more of a trickle now, if not a fully fledged stream. It should keep me going…but I have my sights fixed on this beautiful shiny thing…

It’s a shiny Samsung NC10 Netbook, perfect for taking notes in the SOAS library without carting my laptop around, using on trains and planes, and generally keeping me even more connected with the internet than I need to be. In the long view its also a blogging tool which I could take on a long travel trip…a trip I’m planning on taking in the next couple of years.

Which brings me right back round to the beginning- my main concern about my finances is not having enough money for travel. Still, as I’ve basically decided I’ll work for a year in London after finishing my Masters, this shouldn’t be a big concern- I’ll have a year to save the 10k or so required for a large scale journey- back to Asia, Japan, China, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, Australia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Panama, the States, Canada, Morocco, Turkey, South Africa…the list goes on and on and on.

Becoming A Master

I realised I hadn’t really posted about my Masters yet, which might be a good thing to do as time progresses. Things so far have been a lot busier than I expected, although I don’t really know why- I shouldn’t be surprised that becoming a Master involves lots of work. I’m taking three courses- Japanese Modernity- essentially modern Japanese history- International Politics of East Asia, which does what it says, and Intermediate Japanese Two, the language module between Intermediate Japanese One and Advanced Japanese.

The Modernity module has been rather stress-high so far, with bulky readings every week and a rather intense, “every man for himself” atmosphere in the seminar. Politics is more relaxed- less required reading, more reading around the topics that interest you, and a positive discussion for the seminar. The language module is probably the best so far- only 5 of us in the seminar, so plenty of time to speak, and I already feel like I’ve learnt a hell of a lot.

This weekend I’ll be reading about Tokugawa Society in c.18th Japan, conceptions of Asia, Asian regionalism, imperialism and nationalism, and translating a Japanese paragraph. Eventually though I’ll be able to hone in on stuff that really interests me- Meiji Imperialism, Taisho and Showa fun, contemporary expressions of Japanese nationalism and maybe some stuff on China. I’ll post more as time progresses, but this weekend I plan to read until my eyes bleed…no fun for Steve methinks…

Do I Emirate It?

I Got Theroux It

Well I finished Ghost Train, and it was excellent- a thoroughly engrossing read all the more surprising because I wasn’t a huge fan of Great Railway Bazaar- the “original”. Having got to Georgia when my last review was finished, we were then taken through the Stans- Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, then into India, Sri Lanka, across to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, and finally to Japan and Russia. The Japan part was simply fantastic- Theroux captured so many feelings I had while in Japan. In particular his ruminations with Haruki Murakami on Japan and the past were fascinating, as was the journey up to Hokkaido. It reminded me of my trips to places he also visited- Hanoi, Japan, and the Trans-Sib- and motivated me to want to visit the places I hadn’t- Sri Lanka and India, the Stans, and the rest of South-East Asia. Theroux writes, “I’d come to see that travel for me was no longer a fun-seeking interlude, not even the roudabout detour of heading home, but a way of living my like: a trip without an end where the only destination was darkness. The beauty of it was that I was doing it in the simplest way, as a homeless person with a small bag and a briefcase of papers, rubbing across the world, travelling light.” Here here.

Next book on my reading list: Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red.

Yoisho- 33 Goodge Street

I’m spending too much money on food recently; yesterday I had some vegetable bibimbap in a small Korean restaurant off Tottenham Court Road that’s becoming a regular. Still,

Tigers Season Review 2009

A bit rushed, but here are some of my immediate

Escape To The Country

I left the reading and stress

Final Battle…Desparate Disappointment

Today was the day of the last Hanshin Tigers game of 2009 – we lost 3-1 to the Yakult Swallows, meaning that they clinch the third and final playoff place, and we are consigned to a fourth place finish.

阪神、５年ぶりＢクラス転落 declares Yahoo!Jp Pro Sports page- after five years in the “A-class” of Central League baseball, we’re fallen to the B-class. In this “最終決戦”, final,decisive battle, the Swallows prevailed. I’m not bitter about their victory- the Swallows are a worthy, likeable team compared to the financial might of the Dragons and the Giants (and, indeed, Hanshin themselves). I wish them all the best in the Climax Series- in fact I hope they win it. What is disappointing though is the whole season viewed now, after the events. Despite bright sparks- particularly Aniki’s fantastic start, an 11-10 victory over the Carp, and Brazell’s form since joining, there have been too many negatives to this first year of Mayumi rule. His incompetence at handling situations- the relief, pinch hitting, and tactics- seriously undermined our challenge. Even more so, perhaps, is the general lowering of pitching and batting standards- the coaches need to be changed, as this season- with the exception of Toritani perhaps- most of our front line has been desperately disappointing. Compared to last season we are most definately worse- this season’s ending doesn’t have the pain of last season’s- which was, of course, the biggest upset in Japanese baseball season- but it’s still disappointing, robbing the fans of the excitement of the Climax Series.

Well, thats it for another 5/6 months until the start of the 2010 season- fear not, I’ll be back! Just like Hanshin.

Art Yuppies At Home

A Times advert on my tube from Highbury & Islington to Kings Cross St.Pancras told me that “the average Londoner wakes up at 6.04am”. I probably read this message at around 10, and I doubt I’ll see it much earlier. On the same journey I’d seen graffiti on the railtracks declaring “Art Yuppies Go Home”. Despite this, and the seriously hard work that goes on in this city of 6.04am risers, I can’t help but feel that London is uniquely suited to “Art Yuppies”. It’s certainly well suited to me. The area around SOAS is Central London at its very best- old buildings, great academic institutions and great public buildings- the British Library, the National Gallery, and the British Museum, to name three. There is also a proliferation of Japanese eateries- “Samurai”, “Wasabi” and “Itsu” all seem to be leading the charge with low-priced, reasonable quality sushi. When I left the UK, Yo!Sushi served up a pair of salmon nigiri’s for around £3.50- now Wasabi can do the same for £1. Edamame are everywhere, if you look for them- and to top all of this Japan-ness off, there’s the Japan Centre in Piccadilly, with an expensive but thorough selection of Japanese goods and groceries.

SOAS itself is very different to Nottingham- while the huge library is impressive, and I approve of its general old-ness, its not got the communal sense that a campus university has. Step out, around the corner, and you are into UCL. A few more metres and more universities open up to you. It may be ideally suited to research, and a good spot for a Masters course, but I wouldn’t have wanted to do my undergraduate degree here. Still, I’m going to be seeing a LOT of the library, as my reading lists are intense and workload more than expected. I’ll try to keep posting about things, and taking photographs, although there may be a bit of a hiatus while I settle into the course.

This Is It

Hanshin Tigers vs Yakult Swallows (Koshien)

3rd October 2009

Its crunch time. Hanshin have five games left. Yakult have eight. Hanshin have a one game lead over Yakult- the team that finishes with the better record gets into the playoffs. Pretty simple really.