shinkeishitsu

First day of class today. Started early, went out to buy some slippers for use in the studio. Clear day, somewhat cool. Here's a street shot. The ugliest thing about Japan is how wires are not buried, so you see them everywhere. This is due to bureaucratic reasons, the requirements for buried wires are so stringent, such as requiring parking-meter sized markers for underground wires every 40' or so, along with other annoyances, that its just easier to stick with the status-quo.

Back at school, had my first painting class. watashi wa shinkeishitsu. Small group, and I had met my sensei before, but language is a huge barrier on both sides. After setting up an area for me in the studio, we looked at some student work, then, as I didnt have any work of my own, I was sent outside to do some drawing. Spent two hours or so on a small little pencil drawing of some sakura leaves, which gave sensei something to look at. His english is better than my japanese, which isnt saying much, but I gained greater insight into what I will be doing this semester. He also lent me some books and prints to study. While I was outside I was kept company by a group of roosters which apparently live on campus.


After class and stopping home, went out for some food. Walked down the street to a ramen place I had yet to see open. The traditional noren curtains were out, meaning come on in, so I did. Sat down at the bar and ordered the specialty noodles, or so I thought. I thought he was asking what kind of meat on top, to which I replied chicken, but I guess he took that to mean I wanted chicken. So instead of noodles, I got a full spread with rice, soup, some lettuce, fried chicken and a cube of tofu. It was still good.

Stopped in the nearby liquor store on the way home, hadn't been there yet and wanted to look. What did I see? 4L plastic jugs of whiskey of course!