Welp, I’ve got a cold. 
So … what better time to update my study log?
First of all, the trip to Japan was great! And somehow I ended up only buying 10 books. 
Some highlights
- snowshoeing in Noboribetsu and then going to an amazing giant hot spring that allows tattoos! (so my partner could go in too), and then getting soft serve ice cream parfaits when we got back to Sapporo
- Aoao aquarium in Sapporo, especially the zen aquarium area, and the Rockhopper penguin/cafe area (and the croissant with red beans and basically a stick of butter in it)
- just the general winter wonderlandyness of Sapporo
- letting ourselves get a little obsessed with Snow Miku at the Sapporo Snow festival
- seeing friends and my tutor (she is so funny and also kind and supportive)
- having roasted Japanese sweet potato for the first time! in a cute little counter restaurant where we were all crowded in with just a few other customers, too.
- vegetarian soup curry! it was delicious!
- learning the magic of haramaki
As expected, I got behind on kanji reviews and book clubs while traveling. I plan to start catching back up again after I get over both jet lag and this cold. But right now I haven’t even gotten all the way through unpacking or my laundry.
While I was traveling though, I kind of decided I should start doing “solo bookclubbing” in my study log … I need to (for a time) stop letting myself get distracted by all the new and exciting book clubs out there on the internet, and start focusing in on the books I’ve chosen for myself over the last few years. Maybe this is the perfect time to get serious about (reverse) bingo!
My new acquisitions from the trip:
アイヌ民族もんよう集 and 世界のかけら図鑑 are two of my favorites, because I found them very serendipitously.
アイヌ民族もんよう集
We used the underground roads/malls a fair amount while in Sapporo and one of the cool things we came across was an exhibition of Ainu tapestries. We spent ages looking and taking photographs (and being like “how did they do that!?”). Then another day we happened to notice a store devoted to Ainu crafts. They had a number of art books, but this was the only one that was also a how-to book! I can’t wait to try it out! 
世界のかけら図鑑
When we were leaving Aoao aquarium we stopped (naturally) at the gift shop, which had a whole bookstore section. I browsed, not necessarily expecting to find anything, but then this jumped out at me. It’s a book of very brief essays (no more than a page) on different interesting things relating to science, math and philosophy. Opposite each essay is an illustration by one of a couple dozen illustrators. This is so up my alley, and the bite-size essays seem so approachable yet potentially full of delicious new vocabulary.
Also 魔女の宅急便 その２ キキと新しい魔法
Kinokuniya didn’t have it, but Maruzen did … An edition of the second Kiki’s Delivery Service that matches my edition of the first volume! For some reason it’s weirdly difficult to find this particular edition in softcover on the internet, so I was very pleased about this. Also, I love the idea of what that subtitle suggests!
Last trip I didn’t let myself choose anything that I didn’t think I could probably read right away, but this time I let go of that a little in getting 薬屋のひとりごと and 眠れないほど面白い枕草子 and I don’t regret it. 
Here’s hoping I can get into that blissful, focused study state sooner rather than later!
do you have a target number of points you’re reaching for?
