hasanhujairi[dot]com

Let’s see.. I’ll write this as it comes to me;

• Kobudo (Ancient Japanese Swordsmanship) : I received a CUSTOMIZED KATANA (Japanese Sword) from my sword teacher yesterday. Don’t worry, Mom - it’s blunt. I don’t think I can hurt myself with it - I think. I guess it’s just to practice Kata (form) in a style of Swordsmanship called Murakuryu Iaido (Iaido, basically, is a form of swordsmanship that emphasizes the concept of “quick draw” - to strike the opponent before he strikes. The strike actually occurs the moment a sword is unsheathed, rather than unsheathing it and THEN striking with it - Makes sense? I dunno). I got a good discount on it, too. I guess my sword classes are a good way for me to keep in shape, learn about the Japanese culture and get to practice speaking and doing things using the Japanese language. I will be taking the exam for the 2nd Dan (equivalent to 2nd Black Belt) at the end of this month/beginning of next month. In the meantime, I’m really enjoying my Kobudo classes. I had a three hour practice yesterday, SIX HOURS today, and another three hours tomorrow. It’s crazy.
• My Summer Holiday begins as of this upcoming Friday afternoon. I can’t wait. However, the bigger event is that on Thursday I will find out whether I was one of the handful of International Students who were accepted into my university’s graduate department or not. I took a special placement oral exam a few weeks ago; usually, not more than 20% of all non-Japanese applicants pass
• One question; would it be a good thing to give a small charity concert for Lebanon/Palestine sometime this Summer? I’m thinking of giving a solo performance of some Lebanese/Palestinian music on my Oud here in Tokyo and give all proceeds to charity to help those injured by enemy bombings. I wonder how feasable that would be.        
• I don’t know why, but I think it would be cool to post an image of a tiny sheep right about here —–>
• I’m not sleepy right now, even though it is quite late. I don’t want to to go to bed. I never did like being forced to go to bed when I didn’t want to when I was a kid (but I always listened to my parents when they told me to ). I hope to be able to catch up on all the lost opportunities to sleep after this week is over.    The things us students studying abroad have to go through   *sigh*