Today's Picture: 065

[akujunkan]

Is of:


my air conditioner. This tiny little machine, jammed as you can see into the corner of my rectangle, is what I am supposed to use to heat and cool the entire apartment. As might be surmised from its position at the uppermost corner across from the closet, it performs neither of these duties admirably.

Its lack of effectiveness is compounded by the fact that there is no door between the bedroom and kitchen area, which means that even if I run it constantly (read: run up INSANE electricity bills) only the inch of atmosphere below the ceiling gets heated/chilled before said heat/coolness is sucked out through the drafty front door. So basically, I don't use it, which is why it's unplugged. My kotatsu got me through the winter; it remains to be seen what will get me through the summer.



That will be all.

Comments

[firesign10.livejournal.com]

I seriously don't know how you make it there!

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

With about five layers and a lot of shivering through half the year, that much is certain.

[reppu.livejournal.com]

This scares me, only because the National JET Committee was advertising your school and I was considering it. Learning about the crap heaters in the apartments is a major turn-off... @__@

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Wait, they're advertising *Rits?* For what program?

FWIW, I'm a regular grad student (e.g. not in the foreign student's division) so I didn't qualify to live in the dorms and found my apartment on my own. So if I'd been thinking to look at aircon placement the problem could have been averted.

[reppu.livejournal.com]

It's the Study in Kyoto Program (SKP) for Intensive Japanese Study. Heard about it? I'm not crazy enough to believe that I'll be talkin' to Japanese folks left and right at school (didn't happen at my last uni, so pardon the negativity), but I would like to be near-fluent soon(ish), and I don't study so well outside of a classroom environment (maybe I've been trained too well?!).

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Ah, I've heard about it but I couldn't tell you anything more. I could try asking around on campus though, if you like.

I will say that the ESS is crazy aggressive here and the school's idea of providing extra-curricular language support is "You can get a language exchange partner." (Um, excuse me, but if your students want to learn English so badly, they can leave their family and friends behind to go to Australia or wherever and do it. Pardon the negativity^^)

OTOH the academic writing course I audited last year was crazy intensive, so if it's at all indicative the program itself is pretty good.

[reppu.livejournal.com]

I would appreciate any info you can glean from others about the SKP thing. Applications are due on the 20th, blah. I am wavering between getting a job or going back to school. How much longer are you there?

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

I'll be here until March of next year at the earliest. But the way my thesis is going, it could be much, much longer... (T_T)

Good luck with everything, not matter what option you go with!

[reppu.livejournal.com]

Good to know I'd have a friend down there if I went! I really do want to improve my Japanese, and I'm still a student at heart, but I gots bills to pay! The uni doesn't give you jobs, eh? Strangely enough, I had a uni job last time I was here...@__@

Right, and did you come through a university back home, or apply directly to Ritsu?

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Well, you can apply for TA positions if you're a grad level student or higher, but I don't know what's available for SKP people.

My U.S. university has a relationship with Rits, but I still applied directly to Rits...did the essays, the interviews, the whole shebang.

[reppu.livejournal.com]

I think I might have to give Ritsu up. The app is due in 15 days and I don't have enough time to get recommendations. Besides, if I am inbetween schools, am I a grad student or "other?" Gah!

[theosakakoneko.livejournal.com]

The cool might actually work better than the heat. Mine always did. Perhaps the old 'heat rises' reasoning? But I could keep my place reasonably cool for a reasonable price with my aircon, despite the fact that I couldn't keep it warm in winter.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Well, here's hoping. The big sticking point for me either way is that I have to heat/cool the entire apartment, not just the living room where I'm studying/reading/whatever.

It'd be brilliant if there were a way to shut the kitchen off. As it is, I get the feeling I'm gonna be spending a lot of time in the toshokan from here on out, so it might not even be much of an issue.

[theosakakoneko.livejournal.com]

How big is your apartment??? hahaha

No door between you and the kitchen?

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

It's about 12帖 including the kitchen area, bathroom, and storage space. The living area itself is 6帖, which wouldn't make it impossible to heat were there some way to keep the heat *in.*

[theosakakoneko.livejournal.com]

Oh suck! My first place was 14.5 and yeah, I could only heat/cool that place by keeping the sliding doors all closed - it was divided into 3 rooms (2dk). My second place was a 1 room - but it was 10 mat. Actually, I didn't do so badly in there..wonder why. But yeah, definitely easier to cool than heat.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Luckily(?) my place is drafty enough that I'm hoping I won't need to run the aircon too much during summer.

Ironically, my first three apartments in Japan were all 2dks...and much easier to heat/cool than this one.

[amasugiru.livejournal.com]

I WILL GET YOU THROUGH THE SUMMER.

Just kidding... maybe the cold will stick around for summer.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, if only it were that easy.

I don't want the cold to stick around, but I wouldn't mind a little breeze to go along with the SOUL CRUSHING HEAT AND HUMIDITY.

[bran420-7.livejournal.com]

Maybe you could learn the practice of piercings from which you could suspend yourself from the ceiling with? If your can meditate through the pain you might be able to keep warm. Or the painand stress on your body could stimulate some sweating. Either way, your naked and warm. Or, I could come over there and spoon you!

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Or, I could come over there and spoon you!

Ys pls.

[bran420-7.livejournal.com]

Let me just get a fake passport, since I'm a proby and all....and like the dude from last month, I guess I'll have to hold up one of the LCB offices...