sechan19 | Tidbits.

I spent a very relaxing weekend up in the foothills by a spectacularly beautiful lake. It was ostensibly a girls night event, and I did enjoy a bit well-placed fellowship, but mainly I napped and read (both for my thesis and for pleasure). I guess a person can't escape their nature--even in the great outdoors.

Actually, I'm much less of a camping person than I used to be, and this little weekend excursion was about all I could take. When we got back,

lillith_knox and I recuperated by giving ourselves pedicures and watching hot Japanese men blow each other's heads off. (As I side note, I could watch Ando Masanobu kill people all day long. [sigh])

Anyway, the thesis reading consisted of my continued quest to pin down exactly when the Fujiwara clan started calling themselves the Kujō. I'm getting closer to it, which is good. I still have so much to do, though, and even though I've worked fairly diligently over the past few weeks it seems as if I am well behind where I should be. On the pleasure reading front, Genji just met karmic fate in the form of having someone do to him what he had done to both his father and his brother--he was cuckolded. I would have laughed except that all the blame for the incident managed to fall on the poor girl in the equation, whose relationship with the interloper was little better than rape-victim.

I just cannot get sufficiently out of my own historical viewpoint to appreciate the Genji. It makes me really mad, for all that it is a beautifully written piece and a tremendous accomplishment. I don't at all accept the theory that Murasaki Shikibu was writing a covert treatise against the treatment of women by men. At every turn her narrative supports the position that women are fickle, thoughtless creatures whose own actions (behind their screens and curtains) bring about whatever horrible thing a man determines to do to them. I recognize that neither she nor her contemporaries ever knew any other social construction (nor, for that matter, did anyone in the tenth century, really), but I can't keep my blood from boiling all the same.

On a better front, I received information about my dormitory today. It is located in Meguro-ku in Tokyo, and seems to be a delightful place to spend a couple months. I'm super excited about exploring this area of the city, which boats some lovely parks and art museums--as well as eateries and other attractions. Supposedly there is a really nice restaurant/bar located just a short walk from my metro station that has live music every night. I'm totally there!

Also on the delightful front is the message I recently got from my undergraduate mentor, KB. We'll be meeting for a low-key reunion this weekend. I'm excited to see her, and to hear all about her doings this past year.