Tagged again it seems

That makes it 3 times. Nice! This whole blog-tag is really getting around. What does that say? ... The world really is small, even on the internet (^_^)

Alright. I'm going to start 8 more facts.

1. The computer room I'm in right now is open 24/7 it seems. But I'm the only one here... ? Oh well, it's not exam season yet.

2. My guy friends like my scarf. I wonder why the girls don't mention it much? Not that I want it to be mentioned, it's just odd to have something only guys have mentioned about... ?

3. I haven't cut my hair in 6 months, which is a great achievement. I don't think this has happened since... I turned 15? 14?

4. Gunman Fired Slugs As Well As Pellets is what is on the Japanese news in english web today. It kinda made me wonder how slugs could fit into the mouth of a gun, and then get shot without exploding into smithereens at impact with the gun powder. Then I realised, slugs. It's another kind of bullet for the shotgun. Click here for the actual news.

5. Toys are cool.

6. I don't even have eggs in my refrigerator. I need to go grocery shopping today.

7. My holiday starts from the 27th and ends on the 6th.

8. Nintendo DS has games(?) that allow you to take kanji tests, or at least, practise reading and (more importantly!) writing kanji.

Signing out now.

I've been tagged

Twice.

I don't usually do this, but since this seems to be going around so much lately, I might as well do something. I'm not going to follow any of the rules though... ... (at least, too many of the people I know have already been tagged so I don't really have any one else to... therefore...

I'll simply write down 8 facts to entertain you guys (^_^)

1. I don't have OCD but every chance I get nowadays I like to wash my hands and scrub them thoroughly until the smell of soap sticks.

2. I've grown a wisdom tooth and I'm seriously thinking of removing it because I think it's useless and all it does is jut into my cheek and make it sore.

3. Thinking of more than one fact to say is difficult and time-consuming.

4. I lost my voice on January the 26th 2 years in a row. Am waiting to see what happens this coming January.

5. My nose blocks, for some weird reason I suppose, every time it hits winter here in Japan. And it doesn't cure till Spring comes.

6. Aurelie is my daily planner. I can never remember the appointments/promises I make, but somehow, she does. And she's not here! And she won't come back till January - (T_T) looks like I'll have to manage somehow on my own.

7. I drink one (small size) box of vegetable juice everyday.

8. In Japan, 180 000 people own guns.


Whoa. I think I jumped somewhere else for that last fact. Well. This huge thing has been on the news lately. The facts are all jumbled up in what I'm about to say, but it's as close as I know to what really happened. Somebody brought a shotgun (at least I think it was a shotgun), brought it to a fitness club, shot it twice by the pool (where it was filled with children!), left the room, and shot 2 other people. I have no idea what's happened to the children but the 2 other people, the instructors, died.

Here I was, thinking that the general public of Japan can't own guns but they can! Of course, they have to get special licences and whatever, and they're only allowed guns for hunting (not even for self-defense).

Put power in the hands of innocent babies. There's sure to be misconduct. It's human nature.

It's not "Say NO to drugs" anymore. I'm all for "Say NO to guns". The best(?) and the worst thing ever to be invented.

Hello December!

I've been in a rut lately. I guess it's the weather.


I actually threw out the insides of my wardrobe yesterday to rearrange everything... I mean everything. I sorted out my summer and winter clothes drawer. All the clothes I don't need anymore to UniQlo bags so I'll remember to donate them in March! (Isn't UniQlo great! They take care all the merchandise you bought that you don't need anymore to give to those who really need them. - I just wish they had more places like this for clothes not bought from UniQlo...). I even arranged all my socks! My wardrobe's cleancleanclean! I have space! I have floor room! My rooms 80% in shape! I'll do the last 20% during WInter Break hahahaha.


I'm also now into this band. Well, I have always been into this band but I've rediscovered them! Abingdon Boys School! Their album rocks! I haven't felt this way since Hoobastank. They had an album out in October and I'm listening to Lost Reason now, they even have a version featuring Micro from Home Made Kazoku, (of course, he raps) so it sounds so close to Linkin Park. Some parts even remind me out Yellowcard. Basically it's the same atmosphere and it's great! This song, Doresu, was also reeeeaallly nice. - They had a new single out this month. Blade Sword (which is apparently the theme song of Basara 2) and Desert Rose. And I looooove Desert Rose!


I'm really busy this month actually. I'm putting more hours for work. I'm not really straining myself or anything but lately it's been hard to stay within Uni grounds. Some smart-ass's idea was to put my entire faculty under construction (now of all times!) and We have no proper Library. We have no, and I mean no, Cafeteria. Not even self-study rooms. Basically there's no warm place to have lunch. No place quiet enough to study. Some of the books in the library are inaccessible. What IS going on?!? How am I going to survive to the next exam period with no Library?!?!?!?!?!? Sure I could go to the Library up in the Business, Economics, Law Faculty but the students there need their books too. (Not that the collection of books are the same, they're faaar from that.) From what I've seen, even the Engineering Faculty is having a face-lift. What ARE we going to doooooo??? As far as retreats go, this computer room is the only one left for me.

-In anycase since a lot of the professors here have gotten all irritable too because of all this construction going on and all the moving they have to do (their offices are changing location), they're slowing down the pace of the classes and/or cancelling them at the drop of a hat. Hence, I don't have much to do at Uni nowadays. Might as well take this opportunity to work... ... ... ...

Most of the foreign students are going back to their respective homes between this week and next week. Including my roomie. So, between here and next week all I have left are the Japanese students. Even then nearly half of them will be gone by the 22nd. Which leaves me... ... Library and Cafeteria-less till January the 7th. This year is officially braking down and stopping soon. It's in the air - no doubt about that.

Which leaves me... depressed again.

But hey, on the bright side. This is an opportunity for me to get some quality R&R. All this construction business has be deconstructing me.

Weeeee.......... (^_^)

I watched Hotel Rwanda! And yes, it was much better than Shooting Dogs. I was wondering how to look at the incident from a Rwandan point of view and it turned out to be very enlightening from that perspective.

Anyway, I have to run again... 2 presentations coming up! *eep*

Time to take out your coats

Winter has come. I definitely think so. The cold winds are becoming stronger. My nose is constantly blocked again (as it always becomes during the cold seasons). Trees are shedding their leaves. The Uni has a quiet buzz going around that goes to show how we've already slipped into the routines for this autumn/winter semester. The Sun sets early. There's so many things I like about Winter- but the longer nights top it all off. I really like it when night comes quicker everyday.


That said, I should mention now that I have also been feeling somewhat depressed. I think it's because of The Routine. You know, the one I mentioned earlier. There's nothing new going on. Just lots and lots of classes. The only thing that piqued my interest was the class that I mentioned in my last post, the one about the Rwandan Genocide. Even so, that topic is utterly depressing.

I was so interested in it I rented out Shooting Dogs (ルワンダの涙). (It was on the same shelf in Tsutaya as Hotel Rwanda and one more movie about Rwanda - I will take note to rent those out next.) It was... pretty enlightening. I guess. Pretty serious stuff. It covered things generally. But I'm sure there must be other ways of looking at it.


In any case. I got even more depressed, so I decided to go to the Zoo to cheer myself up. I do have a free pass and all I need to go there is the train fare so I just up and went on Sunday.

That's the entrance


Spent most of my time with these sea lions. At least I think they're sea lions.


One of them even came over to bump noses with me hahahahah.....




From above


Overall view

Of course there were loads of other animals, but I liked these best. They really cheered me up. (^_^)

.... .... end of Autumn

I wanted to post up the rest of the purikura I took when I was in Tokyo but it seems this computer won't download the things properly for me....

In any case. Well. How have I been? People have been asking me if I'd cut my hair recently... very odd. Though Ayaka-chan just explained to me today that I'd been putting my hair up a lot and it looked long then but since nowadays I've been letting it down, it looks shorter. Somehow. She couldn't really explain well. It was strange. I thought one's hair would look shorter when put up.

And since it's Autumn... or shall I say, late Autumn, it has gone significantly colder. Tis the season for my colds... I'm sick more days in Winter than I am well. It's amazing. I guess I'm just not completely adjusted yet.

I'm hanging in there with my work though. I know I'm sick more days but I'm also grateful that the only things I have to do nowadays is read, read and read... and read I can do under the warmth of the covers of my futon.


Which reminds me of the class I had this morning. You guys know I'm taking an International Relations seminar right? (Which, by the way is so difficult... I have to learn politics and history from scratch - considering we don't learn about those much - or at least the politics - anywhere in Brunei. It's a little different when you're living in a society that depends on a democratic government. I think.) And we were learning about the Rwandan Genocide, 1994. It just kind of shocked me. I lived when the Genocide occured. I mean, you learn about Auschwitz. And a number of other atrocities. But you just don't ever think that - you were alive when it happened. Sure I was probably 7 then. Unkowing. I was alive when that happened. I guess it just goes to say... there's still a lot for me to learn.

Back from Tsukuba/Tokyo!

I planned to write down more but I just remembered that I have to rush down and do some grocery shopping!

To summarise:

It was a nice break! It was sooooo nice to see everyone there! I'll put up the rest of the purikura I got once I get the time (^_^) which, hopefully will be soon!

I can't seem to get my laptop to acknowledge my external hard drive *shocking!!!*. All the anime and movies I took from Adeline's place. Nooooooo..... *cries* I have no idea why it won't hook up properly.... my 250GB baby..... Even if it IS time to get a new one... I can't live without the stuff that's still inside there!!! (T_T)

I bought perfume! It's called Butterfly Kiss... or was it Secret? I have no idea what brand it is - if it has one but it is SO nice! It so nice.....

Purikura update! hahahahha

Me and Cesar at HAT KOBE last month

Me and Adeline and Eng and Joie!! Yesterday night (^_^)

4th week of classes

And I'm already behiiiiiiiiiiiiind! I can't believe it. I promised myself to focus more this semester because of all the seminars I'm taking. And yet, I'm already behind with work? It's just not possible. I even tried to make sure not to take anything on Friday except for that compulsory English class. Even then the teacher let me reschedule it to one of my free periods on Monday.

Of course... I predicted I'd be on time all the time with my work provided I let my Friday and my weekends free.... And I haven't as yet.



Right.


That's why.


I've been working on Fridays! (-_-;) I forgot, I'm teaching English at this school in Nishinomiya (about 15 minutes away by Hanshin trains). Well. At least... well, I hope at least, that that job will end in November (as my boss said it would). Not that I'd be devastated if I could keep the job... I just need the free time. Or maybe, I just need to learn to balance my current free time. Hmm.


And I have neeewwwsss for you all!! I'm taking koto lessons now (on Sundays). It's a traditional japanese musical instrument. And it's soooo fun! Here's a link if you want to know a little bit more about koto.

Autumn......

I really like the weather today! It's warm but the wind is really cool hahahha (I know it's going to turn cold at night anyway, but I'll enjoy what I can when I can--)

I have this seminar on Postcolonialism (or Postcolonial society consciousness... I think that's what I wrote before), today from 3.10pm and I was supposed to read this book? Well, as of now I've only managed to finish 1/5th of it.

Well, I tried. I sincerely tried.


I think I have a migrane. I've had this kind of weird, kind of soft, pounding on my left front side of my head for a week now. It comes and goes. Sometimes I wonder if it's just my imagination. In any case. I know I like Autumn but I get most of my illnesses from the changing of the season... that is, now.

Selamat Hari Raya

I'm two days late - but hey, I don't have internet. (Not yet.)


I was happy to be able to call back home and talk to my family and relatives. After I hung up, it all just kind of made me think of some things. Some things I didn't realise were important to me. Aurelie and I had a nice long talk that night.... (after watching Black Lagoon lol). And we talked a lot about separating religion from the public sphere. Fanatic religiousness, anti-religion, anti-religious-consciousness. It was all very spider-web-like. We were talking and talking and had some similar opinions, some very different opinions, some points where we just couldn't discuss any longer because neither of us wanted to give in until.... she said ... that 'political parties' that we were arguing for, were realisticly like that. Unbending. Unwilling to give in, because of their own beliefs. So nothing gets done. (Well, then again, it might be good that way too, at least both sides will have had time to think and cool down too....)

Even if, for example, in France. Where she says, the French want to separate religion from the state, theoretically because, in history, monarchs used to use the power of religion to control the state and such. Also, because religion is private (which was something I didn't agree with, it is very very public, but then again, we haven't grown up in similar environments so there must be some element to this that we're missing).

As to that issue with schools - as you all probably know about the banishment of religious icons in schools, scarves, crosses etc. "Schools are public, therefore religion should be separated," was the reality we both agreed to. But then again I personally think that schools are private but anyway....

You know how you can hide necklaces with crosses under your shirt anyways, but you can't hide your scarves? It's not just the Muslims but Sikhs too I suppose (though I don't know what the Sikh population is like in France). Anyway, because in some cases students could bring the cross (and hide it) but scarves couldn't be hidden, it felt like the Muslims were being singled out. Which brought on the big protest, some basing on religious discrimination. Heightened media attention, especially in these times.

There was a similar problem in Britain. It applies to people who use mototcycles/scooters. Riders should wear helmets. That was the rule. But what about those people (Sikhs? if I'm not entirely mistaken), who won't take off their turbans? They can't wear the helmets, so they get singled out, and that whole "We're being discriminated against," feelings are aroused again. Protest.

In France it was school regulations. In Britain, it was the law. In either case, there wasn't enough protection for the minorities. I suppose I can say, this is not entirely a religious debate anymore, but political, and it's minority vs. majority.



What started this episode was our discussing President Bush. (I think.) We were talking about what a poor representation of the US he is, considering his religion and all. The 'religion' that was brought up here is what struck me in one of my classes last year, and an article I found in Newsweek. (Or was it the Times?) I read that one article about the future elections in the US, and how low the possibilities, they said, there was for the Mormon politician had to actually win Presidency. (A little bit of a discriminatory sentence but that was what the article practically screamed to me.) So I thought that, yeah, America is definitely religious-conscious. Then a teacher mentioned last year, that Bush was... catholic? protestant? Anyway, that was a laaaarge political religious community backing him up which was partically why he became President. Therefore actually, truly, representing the politically-strong in the US. ..... Of course, another way to say this is that Bush does NOT represent the minorities. At all.



Well I'd love to continue this discussion but I have to go to class. So I'll goooooo...... I'd appreciate some comments? Anyone? I feel like this discussion Aurelie and I had could use some other opinions too!




Anyway, Selamat Hari Raya everyone! Maaf Zahir & Batin.

Quick post

I have to go soon, but anyway, I just wanted to drop a line.

I have a book I have to read by next week.

Another book twice it's size to read by the week after that.

A presentation to prepare for, in late November.

And a class that'll have me present every other week starting the week after next.

I cannot really express well how busy I will be this semester. I have a knack for choosing the difficult and heavy-work load subjects. I have. I know I have. But I like the subjects I have now. I have 3 different seminars, which are on 3 totally different things: Postcolonial society consciousness, Culture in translation and International Relations. What am I doing? Seriously?

I'm thinking very hard each day. Just to figure out what it is that I'm trying to do. I know I'm doing International Relations because that's exactly what I said I'd do if I come to this University. But I'm doing the others because I am genuinely interested in them. To think that the seminars I'm taking at this stage will have some effect on the thesis I'll probably start writing the year after this. I'm sooo..... not going at a stable direction.


Anyway. Hopefully, my current seminars will help anyways.

Anyway.

Gotta go!

Later!

First day of Autumn Semester!

I'm not overly psyched but it has been a slow day and I am thankful. Anyway I just needed to say that.

Time out

I just thought to take out some time out for myself and start thinking about things. You know, stuff like:

1. I am not Najee. It's Naj. To the non-Japanese speaking world? It's Naj!! Let's start all a-fresh again.

Hi. My name is Naj. I'd been Naj for 17 years, and I don't want that to stop. I'm 20 years old now, and I'd like to be Naj. Nice to meet you! (^_^)

2. I don't hate pink anymore. (Well, I don't like it either, I'm just neutral) In fact, right now, I'm wearing a pink t-shirt. In fact, I think it's the first time in my life - wearing a pink t-shirt. I mean, this pink is not even pastel-pink or baby pink. There would be no other word for the colour of my t-shirt that pink. Think, Staedler-colour-pencils-pink.

3. I am too comfortable with myself to care about what other people think of me at times.

4. I am not so comfortable with myself to not care about what other people react to me at times.

5. I procrastinate.



That's only a slice of the things I'd been thinking about myself lately. Others include stuff like.... Why did I cut my own hair???? Yes, I cut my own hair. I only wanted my front hair shorter again and couldn't be bothered to go to the salon to get that cut. So I cut my front hair. Plus I layered my back hair. I have to say I think I have a result closer to what I imagined and better than what my usual salon could give me. Then again I cut one part to short and it's kinda noticable so I have to part my hair differently to hide it. Which is not so bad... but Why did I cut my own hair in the first place??? I'm going to the salon next time to get a proper cut.

Maybe not for a while. I've been trying to grow my hair again. I want it longer than it's ever been before. Without it looking too weird.

Which kinda reminds me of another thing I thought about yesterday:


6. I had the best purikura sessions yesterday with Anni and Joie!!! The machines in Saty, KitaSenri were awesome. There were bars in one of them where you could hang, if you wanted, like a monkey hahahahahaha...... We had a blast.

Autumn Equinox

I'm at school again. No, it's still holidays, I'm just here to check out my results from last semester. I think I've been doing pretty good. I'm already at the half-way mark to getting all my credits! Actually I'm already exactly halfway at my 3rd semester so I suppose that means 3 more semesters, which is till the end of 3rd year and then I'll be home free for 4th year!

I've been sitting in a whirlwind of to-do since I came back from Fukui. Aurelie came back with her sister from London. I've been going in and out and around inside the house trying to get my things in order so they have more room at the apartment. I hadn't exactly been the tidiest person when she was away. Life was on the carpet for me. With no one to mind my business, it was TV, anime, knitting and reading at any time any which way I wanted. There were piles of books and papers and loose pieces of yarn all about up until the night before Aurelie came back. Anni will be coming next week. Apparently Joie will also be around in Osaka sometime early next week too! This is going to be fun!


Autumn Equinox will be on the 23rd this month. Just 2 days from now, it will be Autumn. My Favorite Season!! There'll be tangerines and persimmons and nice juicy tasty fruits all season! The night comes earlier. Dawn arrives later. The amount of daylight we get shortens. We can wear darker coloured clothes! (You could be amazed how Japanese are so fashion-conscious and ALWAYS dress according to season!)
I remember when I was wearing all-black during Spring last year, this friend of mine told me that that just wasn't usually done. And that wearing jeans in Summer was weird. And that long white skirts in Autumn/Winter was odd. I mean, come on! After looking at how they dress here, I'd thought that they didn't really care much about what people wear, considering how uniquely they dress sometimes. Then came this year and I suppose I can say, I get their fashion sense now. It's weird and troublesome but if that's how they're trying to make the shoe fit.


I like Autumn. (^_^) It's what comes before winter. You know what happens in winter? Besides the cold (which I don't particularly like). It's the late mornings. The early evenings. The hot chocolate. The hot baths which feel oh-so much better than in either Spring or Summer. It's how dark and bleary most days are which means I can sleep easier. I can sleep mooooore.

Best of all? I love it when the day is not so bright when I wake up. It puts me right in the mood to take everything easy. Heeeee


In any case I can't stay any longer so... au revoir! A la semaine prochaine!



(I hope I spelt that right. But for the sake of clarification. See ya next week!)

At a friend's house

I haven't been sleeping well lately. I can't sleep till it hits 2am and I constantly wake up at 6am. Now, to compensate (and probably worsen) this state of sleeplessness, I've been sleeping in the afternoon too. Which is just... well. Let's just say I stopped my napping habits when I moved to Japan so this past week has been a little strange. And I've been having these constant nosebleeds too. I'm probably going to go check in at a clinic and a pharmacy soon to fix my nose and get sleeping pills. I wonder if it's the holidays that's making all this trouble.

I made plans to stay at Nazuna's house in Fukui-ken for a few days and that's where I am now. I arrived here yesterday at noon after a 2 and a half hour train trip. This place is faaaaaaar from Kobe. But I love her house! It's a lodge. Or at least, I think it's like a lodge. There's trees all around us. She has a creek! The entire feeling is rustic and so to me, it's like a holiday retreat. But this is where she lives! It's amazing and so beautiful! I totally love her house!

They have a terrace with a place to eat outside and that's where we had our lunch. It was incredibly rustic-like (without the barbecue stand hahaha). We went around to look at the port that's so well-known around here. And we had tea out with her mother. This mother-daughter pair are amazing! They are so close, it's like they're joined at the hip!

Dinner that night was amazing too. We had dinner at her house with her parents and her elder brother and I swear it lasted at the very least 3 hours because we were continuously talking. Mostly it was about stuff going on around the university but we had a really nice discussion-session going on.

I slept at 1am last night, which is much better than the past week. I woke up nearly falling out of the bed at 9.30am today because of Adeline's sudden email (LoL). That's not the funny thing though - I'm surprised that the shock I got this morning from almost falling didn't wake me up. Rather I feel even more dull and out of it. I'd just finished a lengthy breakfast when we decided we'd go to watch Kimura Takuya's new movie, Hero, this afternoon. I hope I'll be able to understand the movie.

Well that's about it for today. Later then!

It's starting to feel like Autumn

I'm having my Summer Hols now.

I officially do not have any posts for August. I really don't know what happened. One minute I'm right in the middle of exams, and the next minute I'm rolling around on the floor of my living room trying to find something to do other than watching tv and knitting! Of course I don't mind knitting so much but if there was only something else to do...

Anyway, I will find something. I've got to try at least or else I'm going to go out of my mind and there's still 27 days worth of holiday left! Which is like... 4 weeks or so... which is actually not that long, now that I think about it.

o*haaa---

Another rush-post, but anyway I'm biting my nails trying to finish 4 of my reports on time for the 31st AND to finish reading Genji Monogatari for the exam. I'll make it. I have a feeling I will make it. At least, if my body doesn't break down again and gives me another week of sniffles and headaches, I'll be fine.

My last exam is on August the 7th... it's still such a long way to go. 7 reports and 2 exams in between. Oh I really hope I make it on time. I've been studying and preparing for weeks, all that needs to be done is the actual writing. I really hope that it'll be alright.

I'll see you guys around after I finish!

Weekend!

My presentation was fine. I breezed, no galed through it was more like it. It was about Culture and Civilization and Samuel Huntington's book on "The Clash of the Civilizations". I finally felt like a part of the class. (haha....)


Harry Potter, the 5th movie, will finally coming out in Japan tomorrow! And the book will be coming out the next day too... my Pottermania will finally end. hahahhaa Then I can finally sleep in peace and concentrate on these exams (^_^)

I have Korean and 文字文化 exams next week. I feel somewhat relaxed though.

Anyway, I'll update again soon! Later!

I have a presentation in about 3 hours!

So it'll only last 5 minutes but I've been working on this for a week. I hope it turns out well.

The weather is bleak

Seriously. How is anybody supposed to feel good in this kind of weather? It's Summer (okay, so technically it's the rainy season BUT), it's almost freezing outside! My hair-do is not springing to life today, it's actually very tame, because of the cool humidity (as opposed to it being hot and humid). I can almost imagine the air today forming clouds on the ground and start raining on my feet. It's that bad.

To make things worse I've been having this sore throat as well as these nose bleeds which is usually the case before I get a really long drawn out cold. I was thinking of taking a really nice break this weekend, then I remembered these 4 reports I have to hand in exactly a week! I've been putting them off for a while because I've been working on another presentation that's coming up but now....

In any case. I've dug my own grave so all I can do really is carve out some steps so I can climb back out.

I've been going down to Sannomiya these weekends to get some English magazines like Newsweek and Scientific American. It made me realise how out of touch I've been with the rest of the world. What a failing for a Cross-cultural Studies student. I think I might have to get that journal I saw about the American Foreign Policy since it seems one of my exams will be partially about that. I just can't read any information they have here in the library. Oh they have enough for the Japanese students but I just don't get any of the books they have in the English section.

Then again some of the better books that I've seen aren't even here, they're in the Economics Faculty and the Faculty of Letters. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place?

Even so. Well I did know what I was getting into when I decided to come to Japan, didn't I? Trying to not depend on English is tougher than I thought it would be.

It's rainy season...

My eyes itch. I mean seriously. Why is that?

Anyway, I'm back at the library writing up a note sheet for the seminar I have tomorrow. It kind of bums. Oh well. Anyway. I've been thinking a lot about stuff that I don't really know much about.

The other day this friend of mine, Hiroshi, started a discussion about Nuclear Power Plants and alternative sources of electricity and about how different countries tackle the worry over nuclear leaks or problems that could be caused by those nuclear power plants. Anyway. I couldn't really follow her conversation. Even though I know what nuclear power plants are, I don't know anything about the stuff in the conversation she started. It was a little shocking for me.

I mean, stuff like this is almost like background knowledge for these people. I mean I know I've got stuff only I know too but I don't think I know it as well as they seem to know their stuff. Not good.

Anyway this note sheet is starting to worry me, I've been at it for almost 2 hours and I've only wirtten, like, 9 lines? Oh dearrr.... I've still got about 3/4ths of the page left. Oh myyyy....

Has anyone else out there ever watched Everything Is Illuminated? This book, well, movie actually (based on the book), is awesome. It's a must-must read for everyone out there! The movie was kind of awesome- I watched it with Japanese subs (with the rest of my class) the language of the film was in Russian, English and broken English. One of the main characters in there had been doing translating within the film and it's not always literally translated which is awesome because you see both English and Japanese subtitles work their own magic and translate the movie their own ways anyway.

My class was about translation (we don't translate things in class, just study about translation). The movie was awesome. Seriously. Must watch. I just placed an order on the book because I really want to read what the original must have been like.

Among other things....

I know I just wrote yesterday but I just felt like writing again today. I had this class today, about transportation and distribution in Japan and I had to explain a bit about transportation system in Brunei *laughs*

I said, "Well, the first thing, the most important thing, or difference is that we absolutely do not have (anymore) trains for public transport." I am right, right? I know there used to be a commuter train but it's not in use anymore right? Anyway in this side of the world, and even to myself as I find the situation now, 'no trains' is like, '...what?'.

You would see how striking the difference is if you were here. Trains are a part of daily life. Trains are necessary for a lot of people to go to, say, school or work. People smush themselves so they can all fit in a train. They sprint to get to one before the door closes. The fight doesn't usually end there.

They board buses. Which are as punctual, if not as plentiful, as trains. The domestic transport system here is amazing.

Of course, I think that the transport system in Brunei is no less amazing - even better! You can drive wherever, however at ease... if you're not like me, without a licence. If you are like me, you don't want to need a license or perhaps are exactly like me, since I may be half-terrified of driving, so Japan might just be the right country for you.

Of course there are restrictions even if you're free to take the bus and/or train, and that's the schedule. One has to remember that beyond midnight (or earlier in some places) the only transport would be the taxi.

Anyway. I looked at the brunei tourism website the other day and looked into the pages with pictures of food.

Somebody help.... they looked soooooo gooooood! (T_T) *waaaaah*

muhihihihi the beginning of the end... of June

I just realised that April is over. may is over. It's the middle of June. It's the beginning of the end of June actually. Which means... I have a month till exams?!! I have to get my act together (T_T)

Remember... I might have mentioned before about my seminar where I have to write a 4000-character report for 4 different teachers... (T__T) Imagine a 4-5 page report to 4 different teachers... which doesn't should too bad since it's in English but how am I supposed to do it in Japanese!!

Actually there is something I've just recently noticed about myself. I feel that I am definitely improving in my language skills. Most definitely but then I've just realised that I've been ignoring a very important facet of my education.

I think... I might have only the mental ability of that when I left MD 3 years ago! I haven't changed at all! I haven't made any improvement in general knowledge- much less on what I'm studying right now!

I've been focusing on Japanese but not so much on knowledge in general! Which I now realise is probably partially the reason why i don't feel any matureness in answering during exams.

I know I haven't improved much in English at all - I'm most probably at the same mental age as wehn I left MD (which I hope wasn't anything below 2 digits ;_; ). Here I am, one of my dreams - as a student a dream I wanted to accomplish was to hand in essays which show deep thinking, awesome theories which some sense of stylistic writing, but no! I barely accomplished anything to my self-satisfaction during MD and I have less hope of accomplishing such a thing even now!

Everything I write is shallow. I am really dissatisfied with this.

Dissatisfied and Unsatisfied.

... Could anyone tell me what the difference is between those two?

Anyway, I've vented enough today. (^_^) *feel so much better now*


egad. If this is one extra day of school a week does to me, I do NOT want to imagine how that'll effect me in the weeks to come. Need to find a way to vent out this stressssss-- could somebody drag me to karaoke one day, pretty puh-leeaaase!!? Or maybe I should start jogging again. =_=;

It's Friday!

Well, it's Friday! And I never thought that I would ever say this! -but I have a class tomorrow! LoL - well it's not so bad I guess, since I have only one class-

Anyway. I don't have anything else to do today so I think I'll just go back to the apartment... and do my homework. Oh well. I guess, life's alright right now.

Uwaaa

I couldn't post anything here due to the sudden holiday we had starting 2 weeks ago. There was a measles outbreak or summat so they shut down the entire University for about 10 days until yesterday. I can finally check my mail!!

Anyway now they say that the classes missed during the sudden holiday would be made up for on Saturdays. For my Faculty, it'll be for approximately 7 weeks from this week which means that I'm going to have a 6-day school week from this week till the last week of this semester, which is the 4th of August! Man I'm so dead. This is so not good. So not.

It's a good thing that anyway my Wednesdays are free so I do technically still have 2 days of no-school. Maybe?

I shudder just thinking about when that week comes to replace one of my Thursdays. That means taking classes from 8.50 to 6.30pm on that Saturday! (=_=) Well I guess I can look at it this way-- at least I won't be wandering around my apartment wondering if I should go out and play... or what. My goodness. I might actually be able to save more~ hahahha

I wish.

Anyway... I'm off to finish some of my reports. I'd been laying off and bumming around my entire holiday. Well of course I did spend a few days studying Japanese... my goodness my kanji level is so low! I should have continued taking some classes at least... but no.... anyway.

Later!

Thanks you guys! Man the party my friends set out for me on Thursday night was the best hahahaha (^_^) *happy again* It was 5 of my japanese girl-friends and Aurelie... We all went down to this nice place for dinner and just talked and talked and talked... then they gave me a present... this perfume I've been looking at for soooo long! (Adeline you remember the Very Irresistable by Givenchy?) I got that one hahahah *happyhappyhappy*

After dinner we went out for karaoke which was just the best... and by this time it was already almost midnight... after everybody went back home, me and Nazuna ducked in Tsutaya, this DVD rental store and who did I see in there! My really cool Media Culture teacher w/o his glasses and his eyes and cheeks all red and his army of followers (they'd all just come back from somewhere- they were probably drinking) was gathered all around him too! (What a laugh!) He recommended some movies and stuff, I took one of his suggestions and then Nazuna and I left the place laughing our heads off because... well you had to be there to appreciate it I think but, during dinner we'd been mimicking Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow (since the 3rd movie's just come out) and that teacher was acting a little Sparrow-like too. And they'd just all been discussing Ali G In Da House, so it was a pretty weird mixture of Pirates and Hip-hop in the way he was acting. That was just the weirdest/nicest end to the day.

Then the next day I went out with most of my non-japanese friends to the cinema to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3! heeee

It was a nice end to the week. Then on Saturday I picked up my homework again... and I'm doing it even now but I don't feel so stressed out anymore. o(^_^o)

See you guys!

R&R

This week has been absolute h*bleep*ll. I'm in dire need of a break. A break. (Wasn't there just Golden Week? ... There aren't any more public holidays in June... oh no...)

It all began last weekend when I realised that I hadn't completed the reading for my seminar (why oh why did I put so much confidence into finishing it on time!!) I was taking too slow a pace reading it that I couldn't finish much in the end. This episode ended Monday at noon.

Then I realised that I hadn't finished the reading assignment for my Media Culture class, the homework for one of the languages, the handouts for my English presentation on popular science writing... and the teacher now handling my seminar handed us all a piece of work saying we all have to summarise it by next monday. Plus I'm still looking for reading material for my other English class! I'm just so nervous now!

I know I'm going to finish all of these assignments... someway or another. ... MAN! I've got more things to hand it next week and more reports (being backlogged since I can hand those in July) just waiting to be written! It's like everytimne I hand something in, more stuff follow!!

I'm not liking my position right now. I'm very thankful for all the people helping me out but oh whyyy do I have to study on Sundays toooooooooo (T_T)

My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Liliana who lent me her Friends collection. I really needed that. I really really really needed that.

Heh... Joey just cracks me up (^_^) HAHAHAH From now on, every day I go and study I'm defitely going to watch something funny... I go to sleep more easily.

To think I'm going to turn 20 soon as a nervous wreck. I'll probably take time off the rest of the day for R&R and mentally prepare for next week. I hope I can... at least. (^_^) Peace. Don't ever go to Uni thinking that it's going to be all fun and no work, unless you love deadlines - heehee!

Harborland pictures

I know I promised pictures.... I haven't managed to edit the rest of them but here's some of the night view from Harborland- (It's basically only 2 different types with different angles but I like these pictures all the same (^_^)

Wentz

Woops, I know I said I'd post up pictures this time, but I forgot to save it to my pendrive.

I just wanted to talk about how awesome Awakening Emotion 8/5 is ahahahhaha It's by Eiji Wentz(sp?) I just saw it on TV, and like how I fell for Abingdon School Boy's Innocent Sorrow, I felt [this is it] for me... again... hahah, I really like it. It's the main song for the new Gegege no Kitarou movie (ironic, I don't think much about Kitarou).

I'm in a pinch. I've got less than 5 days to finish reading another 15 pages for my seminar AND write a commentary on it. I'm insane. Why oh why oh why did I think I could handle this in a week? I should have done it before Golden Week when I was insane enough to go on studyingggggg- I'm insaaaaane.

Come to think of it, I think it was a wonderful day when I first learnt of the word 'insane'.

Heehee.

GW... is over

...and I'm back to school. (^_^) Well... It's not so bad and I think I did manage to do quite a lot of things... lets start from the beginning shall we?

Technically, my holiday was a lot longer than everybody else's. So I tried to finish the majority of my assignments before Anni came (which was on the 2nd) and I did manage to finish one of my reports and reviewed for some other subjects too (Go Naj!) *big grin*

I remember clearly what it was that we did on the 2nd... I believe that I cooked quite a big lunch at the apartment... then Aurelie came back from the last of her classes... then... Oh yes! We went to Harborland. Harborland was really nice that day, even though all we did was go around window shopping it was still very pleasant. Then we came back and rented an Audrey Hepburn movie... Holiday in Rome or something like that I'm not sure about the English title... and it was really cool too! I should continue watching Audrey Hepburn movies, so far I've watched My Fair Lady and Breakfast at Tiffany's too. I wonder what else there might be...

On Thursday we went to Kyoto, Sumire joined us that day. We had intended to go and watch Yabusame, which by the way is SO COOL! It's like Kyudo, only horseback. They have an archery contest (sort of) horseback. At first I thought that the horses were going to be trotting or walking or what... but it just zoomed past the track! It was AWESOME (^o^) I'm probably going back there again next year. It was just.... SO fabulous.

Then we went to Kiyomizu-dera, one of the most scenic spots in Kyoto... I've been there several times already too... but it was still awesome.

On Friday we decided to take it easy and go to the Zoo at Oji-koen, the station just next to Rokko (which is near where I live). Aurelie was being all kiddy about it going "I want to see the pandas and the monkeys and the penguins etc etc..." hahahah I wish I could show you guys the video but she might bop me one over the head (^_^).
Apparently it has the only pandas (in a zoo) that you can find in Japan (even if they did come from China). They had lions, jaguars, leopards, elephants, monkeys, gorillas, bears, sloths, white owls, eagles, iguanas, alligators, flamingo, storks, farm animals, kangaroos, polar bears, penguins, sea lions, wolves, binturong, anteaters, porcupines, ostriches, wallabys, hippos, rhinos... I can't remember what else there was... the main attraction was of course, the pandas. Cute really.

On Saturday Anni went to stay over at her host family's place so we stayed mostly indoors, and I was half doing my Korean and reading the Tale of Genji... I only managed to finish the Introduction and the first chapter this day. I bought some manga versions too just to get a clearer picture. What have I found out so far? The novel is an excellent example of Freudian... something. Basically a lot of ... well...

So this guy has a thing for his father's, the Emperor's, Consort who apparently looks a lot like his own mother, and well he impregnates her just after he found and took in (as his own child) a girl who looks like the Consort (only younger) whom he ends up getting married to at some point during the book.

Hmm? I don't quite get much of what I wrote either. Anyways, the whole thing is all complicated. I'd recommend reading the book but then again I wouldn't also... maybe a shorter version? Hahahaha... but I can already smell the complicated mixture of excitement and anguish fuming from the first chapter. Reading this is going to be one ride (and it already is!).

My hat's off to ya Adeline, good luck with Japanese Literature... I've only got one class to please, I'd be horrified if I had to read this book in Japanese (modern translation OR original).

We sent off Anni on Sunday (I was doing my reading assignment the whole day long... Goodness my life is so sad.)

And now! Today! I'm in school! I just had my only class for the day and it wasn't so horrible- only that I didn't understand a bit of what they were talking about... yet again. Anyway at least I have the notes I can review it later (Jeez more studying... Can anyone be more boring? (T_T) Well... Look at the brighter side... My reading pace has improved... I cut it in half *woohoo*

It used to be about an hour per A4 page last year... now it's only half. (Okay, it does still take a lot of time but hey! Maybe next year I can cut it in half again!) (^_^)

Anyway I gotta go and start working on my reading now! I'll post loaaaads of pictures next time!

It's Golden Week again

Monday was a national holiday,
today, all my classes were cancelled,
tomorrow, I have no classes
Thursday is a national holiday
Friday is a holiday
Saturday is a national holiday
no school on Sundays..

So, add all of the above plus last weekend? I'm getting 9 days straight of no classes muhahahahaha (my much needed holiday) Finally.

I just got the order I placed for books through amazon.co.jp and boy am I crying my eyes out (hysterically? - it is my holiday but now I face the amount of reading material I have- and that wasn't all of it!) Anyway, one of the books I got was The Tale of Genji, you've probably heard of it before, if you haven't! (o.o)

Here's a wiki reference:

"It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, or the first novel to still be considered a classic. The issue remains debated among scholars."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Genji

Well... I hope that was helpful. It's as thick (though a little smaller) as one of my previous Sociology textbooks. I've read a couple of pages already and it really is rather interesting. I would recommend to anyone who would like to read it (for fun, from curiosity, for some light literature) to read the 2002 translation by Royall Tyler. All the other translations are alright however, Tyler's is the easiest to read (as in smooth reading, lots of notes, pictures, descriptions etc).

I've also got Kafka and Michel Foucault, Walter Benjamin etc. on the reading list. Crazy huh? I really feel like I went back to studying sociology.

Ah. Second year of University life. Second year in Kobe. First year in my Department. Anyway. You gotta love it.

Holiday!!

Sakura Pictures!

I went to Oji-koen (a zoo) on the 14th (I think), with TRUSS members of Kobe-U. They're a group of people who usually set up gatherings or parties or just stuff to help out foreign students (a real fun bunch of people)... and here are the pictures! Enjoy!

I know how you guys just loooove my pictures, no? Hahahah (^_~)

The pavement of the above picture is actually grey... those are sakura petals carpeting the ground. It was SO nice!

Classes!

I thought that classes from second year on would be easier than the first but it isn't. There are more things to read, more reports to write... I should have focused more on improving my Japanese last year =_=;

I haven't updated in so long for several reasons. Hopefully from now on I can update more...

All I can give you for the moment is what my schedule looks like... See if you can taste the weirdness of my situation (hahahahah and by the way, I just met my French teacher, Richard Delrieu (sp?) and all I could reply to him saying "avec les printemps..." was "oui... ... ... tres bien!" =_= wish I could have said something more intellectual... ...)

Monday!

3rd period = Seminar.
(The heaviest of all my classes I think. The worst thing? If I don't pass this... I might not graduate =_=)

Tuesday!

1st = Cultures and Societies in Japan (with an English native teacher... I lucked out!)
2nd = Contemporary Economics
3rd = Modern and Contemporary Japanese Society
4th = Formation of Translation Culture ... (?)

Wednesday!

nada *big smile*

Thursday!

1st = Food and Health
2nd = Media Culture
3rd = Contemporary America
4th = Culture of Letters ... (?) (mostly about kanji)
5th = Beginner's Korean

Friday =

1st = Foreign Language seminar (I took English heehee)
2nd = Symbiosis of a Wide Are of Cultures (?? hahaha, but this IS a very interesting class)
4th = (a necessary English class which I managed to squeeze my way out of in exchange with writing a report)


So there you go! The names of these classes are weird-ish sometimes but they are interesting. My favorite has to be Media Culture. You should look up Michel Foucoult for his essay on mimesis (I think) called "Of Other Spaces" or in it's original language "Des Espaces Autres". It kind of discombobulated me. Hahahaha... anyway! I gotta run now! Laterrr!

Yo people!

Hi... I haven't posted in a while... truth is... everything has been such a whirlwind since this trip began.

March

3rd - Left for Tokyo on the night bus

4th - Met Anni at Narita, stayed the night at a hotel

5th - Flew to Singapore... Flight was 7 hours.

6th - Spent the whole day on Orchard Road. There was supposed to have been a tremor caused by an earthquake in Indonesia... but we hadn't felt it... ...

7th - Flew to Brunei

8th - Dad flew to Melbourne; stuck at home

9th - Mum flew back from KK, Malaysia; went to watch 300 at the cinema

10th - Hung around Yayasan, checked out Tasek Lama, Royal Regalia and SOAS Mosque; met Ali

11th - Went to Bkt. Shahbandar in the morning; watched Heroes all day long; shopped at SupaSave at night

12th - Baked brownies; watched xxxHoLic; met Farah; dinner at Empire

Tomorrow? Meeting Ali, probably going to The Mall.

Hectic? No... it doesn't seem like it does it? Wish I could drive (T_T) why did I leave Brunei when I was 17...??? Oh well. Small blessings. At least the next time I come back I'll have two chauffeurs waiting... my brothers who are turning 18 this year... muhahahaha... Else I'll just be stuck at home bumming my ass to pancake size watching Heroes, other anime and movies all day long. I'm not saying it wasn't nice. I don't usually have that kind of time to watch TV in Japan (not to mention almost no programs are in English)... so it was really nice. Heroes was pretty cool too... hahaha it took about 8 episodes to get me hooked to it though. The rest of my holidays seems just as promising. I might actually finish my never-ending movie list whilst I'm here.

Somebody save me. (^__^) Hahaha... pancakes... I might just make Adeline happy and re-start watching One Piece again. Though... maybe I should go back to the manga which I thought was so much better.

Did you wonder where I've been?

Haha... I haven't had the time to update properly. I'm currently in a hotel about 10 mins away from Narita Airport (60km away from Tokyo) from where I will take the plane to Singapore tomorrow ^__^ I'll be in Singapore from the 5th evening till 7th morning... and then I'll be in Brunei by early afternoon on the 7th... ^__^

By the way I'll be in Brunei until April 2nd... Hahaha... finally a nice looong break. Anni will be around the same time as me but will only be there until the 14th... Anyway.... I plan to seriously attack the cinema and CAM (Yayasan)

DUDE! I want my MEE GORENG!

And I want my Nasi Pulut!

And my Cheesy Wedges!

And my brownies!

..... But first... Singapore... to eat SCR HAHAHAH apa lah.

Good bye clean air and tall buildings... hello forests and air conditioning. HAHAHAHAHAHAHahahaha

See you guys around then-

Ps. DONT MISS NARUTO SHIPPUUDEN!!

Happy Chinese New Year!

My internet line'll be cut off tomorrow so there probably won't be posts for some time... ( T__T ) I thought I'd update that list I posted since I just dowloaded some batches in the last minute...

Kumo no mukou (movie)

Night Head Genesis [c]
Xenosaga [c]

LoL. I'm turning into an anime freak. Well... maybe not too much... since I don't think I've watched properly even half of what I have now haahhaha...

Adeline, Susan and Siti came to Kobe today so we (with Aurelie) met up in Sannomiya and walked to Chinatown to see what it was like... then ended up walking all the way to Harbourland too. Instead of having a chinese lunch, we had Indian. Curry and nan etc. ... LoL what a way to spend the day.

Now I'm bumming in my room again... same thing I've been doing the past 2 days... only yesterday I got so lethargic I went out (even though it's gone back to freezing cold here, and it was raining) and I walked for nearly an hour... =__= I didn't even break a sweat when I came back. I wanted to walk more but it was late and it was coooooldddd. So back under my uton again.

Like now. Man I'm so happy that I have an electric blanket. I don't know what I'd've done without it this winter.

Oh well.

I'm off to hibernate again. Tomorrow I'm cleaning my room. ... ... Tomorrow... ... I hope (^_^;)

Congratulate me!

I'm on holiday officially now!! Woohooo~! I'm so happy happy happy~~~

I'm sooooo happy right now~~~

I have loads of time tomorrow to clean my roooomm (inseart heart icon here) hahahaha....

And just for the people in Brunei... I know that making a list seems childish (to myself at least) but I just wanted to show my siblings, (Mom! Could you make sure that the boys read this at least!) the anime you can expect to leech off me after I come back... Feast your eyes on the list below:

Ah My Goddess [c]

Ah My Goddess ~Sorezore no Tsubasa~ [c]

Air Gear [c]

Angelic Layer [c]

Asatte no Houkou

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto

Basilisk [c]

Black Lagoon [c]

Black Blood Brothers [c]

Busou Renkin

Code Geass

Coyote Ragtime Show

Death Note

D.Gray-Man

FLAG

Full Metal Alchemist [c]

Gatekeepers [c]

Ghost Hunt

Gintama

Gravitation [c]

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de [c]

Haru wo Daiteita [c]

Higurashi no Naku koro ni [c]

Honey & Clover [c]

Honey & Clover II [c]

Jigoku Shoujo [c]

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori

Jyu Ou Sei [c]

Kanon

Kaikan Phrase [c]

Kekkaishi

Kiba

Kyou Kara Maou [c]

Kyou no Go no Ni [c]

Le Chevalier D'Eon

NANA

Naruto [c]

NHK ni Youkoso [c]

One Piece

Ouran Highschool Host Club [c]

Princess Princess [c]

Read or Die [c]

Red Garden

Saiunkoku Monogatari

Saiyuki Reloaded [c]

School Rumble [c]

School Rumble 2 [c]

Shounen Onmyouji

Spiral [c]

Soukou no Strain

Sukisyo [c]

Tenpo Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya [c]

Tokimeki ~only love~

xxxHoLic [c]

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge

Yoake mae yori ruriiro na [c]

You're Under Arrest [c]

[c] of course means complete. Yes I know, I'm insane. I'm so insane. My external HDD went full several times already and I had to ask Adeline to burn out so much for me... (then again, one must be aware of the fact that Adeline has the same collection as I do... and more. Since she's got the complete Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny and Fushigi Yuugi and most of Inuyasha etc etc etc....... =__= she literally has a treasure box of them. ... oh how I salute her hahahahah

Happy Valentine's

It's raining here... how depressing. I went to the Immigration Centre today to apply for an extension for my visa. It was so depressing to walk from the station to that stuffy-looking brown building (the inside was pretty classy though... it was the exterior...). Then after that (since Aurelie and I went together), we stopped by Starbucks... both of us a little sulky because of the depressing rain.

Then we decided to walk to Animate, this anime merchandise store for a pick-me-up, and it did cheer me up a little bit. But it was still raining. How depressing. I got to chat with Farah online which cheered me up a bit, but now I've got to start writing a report and I feel so depressed again.

... ... ... Hahaha I was challenging myself as to how many times I can say depressing before getting tired of the word. That's about it. The rain's stopped. Maybe I'll postpone that report until after I watch an episode of Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto. Hahahahaha... samurai anime.

I got this song stuck in my head...

Unbreak my heart

Say you'll love me gain

Undo this hurt that you caused

When you walked out the door

And walked out of my life

Uncry these tears

I cried so many night

Unbreak my heart...

KUSO.. It was all that party's fault... I haven't been able to get this song out of my head for ages now.

Aurelie's Birthday Dinner. The whole gang plus some more people.

But you don't see me in there so-

muhahaha... then again this is me preparing to go out... my hair's a little messed up... I tried to use these curlers to make it more Japanese-y but... hahaha as you can see my hair didn't curl (or fluff up that much either!).

Oh and remember when I mentioned before that I went all around Nipponbashi/Namba with Daniel and Adeline last weekend?

This is a picture of... well form an overpass of a main road going through Nipponbashi (yeah... Nipponbashi I think... I think hahahaha)

this is facing right!

still facing right! I just want you to see the big gundam poster! (^__^)

facing left!

facing front and up!

It was pretty fun that day... though I nearly dropped dead from all the walking... Daniel too I think... Adeline is so... genki. She was still all bouncy with her step towards the end. Sasuga... a true woman's shopping endurance is high!

Speaking of fun times with Adeline- I was bored and tried to do her hair one day... You can't see that much though but I put curlers all over her head at the time...

hahahahhaha....

Weekly report...?

Wahoo my exams are over... one more report to finish and I'm home free~ haha.

I went to Gaidai on Friday last week (since I don't have any more classes) and went off searching for familiar teachers (and met them all really). I was looking for Shimamoto-sensei, my history teacher in Gaidai, but while searching for him I stumbled over Itou-sensei, my Friday-Japanese class teacher, who also teaches in Kobe U. but it was a while since I last said hello and he was surprised enough as it was apparently. It was a nice face to see around Gaidai again... his classes were the most interesting then, I think hahah.

Then I found Shimamoto-sensei, said my greetings and on my way down I saw Atsuta-sensei through the elevator doors and we had a nice, brief chat too hahaha... then after I put my stuff down in Adeline's room, I went back to CJLC to look for Yamakawa-sensei who was my homeroom teacher... and I met him just as he left the elevator I was going to take to go up to his office. And who just stumbles over us on her way off- Adeline (who also has him as her homeroom teacher) hahaha... Very... weird day it was.

I nearly forgot but part of the reason why I went to Gaidai was to have that dinner with Ruo Lin and other Malaysians... which started at almost 10pm I think.... So late.... But it was so fun anyway... we were all bullying Adeline too... hahahahaha poor girl.

The next day we went to Namba... met Daniel for lunch and walked around there Nipponbashi, Shinsaibashi for nearly 6 hours... I was dead tired at the end. We walked so much partially because... I was looking for an Evangelion robot model for my brother... which was amazingly hard to find.... =_= but then I finally found it! hahaha.... (T_T) I felt like an otaku boarding the train back with it but anyway. Gaijin will be Gaijin.

THEN! On the way back to the apartment with Adeline... this Jamaican guy just came up to us, introduced us to his 3 japanese (female) friends and called us off to a barbecue at his friend's house.... It was so weird to me... and I tried to say no... but I guess I was just too tired... so we ended up going... and it was actually nice. The Jamaican guy turned out to be a writer of sorts and the friend whose house we were at was an artist (nicknamed JD... J.D. ... hmmmmmmm) his art is exhibited in the Modern Arts Museum somewhere on the western side of Kobe. And he has a pet snake.

It was so weird... but we got to make good friends with these 3 Japanese ladies... they were so nice. But it's still.... the whole encounter was just weird... hahaha. Apparently this is normal behaviour in the west... but still... *sigh* anyway.

Sunday was Aurelie's birthday! We left for Shin-Osaka, the three of us, met up with Ruo Lin and then went to a Koto concert (japanese traditional instrument). But then me, Adeline and Ruo Lin left half-way... for Sannomiya... because... we wanted to go to Animate! Hahahah (fyi. Animate is a place filled with manga... anime figures and spin-off merchandise.) I got myself some more manga... I really have to stop buying books... my shelves are filled to the brim and there are books in my room I wasn't even sure were there! =_= For example when Ruo Lin came to stay over at the apartment with Adeline she just picked up a book from somewhere in my room and started reading it... I hadn't even noticed that I put it there!

Anyway, I jumped the story a little bit... that night we celebrated Aurelie's birthday at Liliana's dorm. Adeline and Ruo Lin helped me cook... omg I forgot the spelling??? KweTiaw? KueTiao? HAHHAHAHAH Anyway I cooked that as per Aurelie's request. Liliana cooked spaghetti, Mihaela cooked pancakes... and everybody we knew well were there... it was so nice ^__^We started cooking at 7pm (cooking while talking and playing around in the kitchen even.... we were so noisy) and then... We basically adjourned at 10pm after a round of singing in the kitchen... songs like.. "Unbreak my heart.... say you love me again" "I love you baby and if it's not okay I need you baby lalala lalala..." "All by myself.... don't wanna be all by myself..." "Take me home... country road... to the place... where I belong......" Okay we were crazy singing like mad in the kitchen until 11pm where after the big group we ended up being Aurelie, Adeline, Ruo Lin, Amin (Morocco), Liliana and just me... moving to the TV room to watch Ghost Hunt (anime) ahhaha... until exactly midnight... when me and the girls and Aurelie went back to Rokko by train (they stop running at 1am... Japan is amazing)... crawled back up to the apartment and finally KO'd there... this morning hahahah.

What a week.

Update!

It's been a while since I've been able to update. January 23rd was the last one so... well what has been happening lately?

January 23rd was the main week of my exams... It was either I had report deadlines, project deadlines, presentations or exams. Not a day of rest this week nu-uh. So on the 22nd I had to hand in my English report. I went up to Uni (I don't usually on Mondays) and printed it out, talked to the teacher and everything. It wasn't so hard... but I was also finishing up my powerpoint presentation project to be handed in the next morning. On Tuesday I also had a French test. It was about translating a piece of text so there really was nothing much I could study except to cram for vocabulary so I could translate faster. It was French to Japanese translation, the teacher offered to let me do it French to English but I pointed out that he wasn't very comfortable with English- gak! It was so rude of me, and I'm still so very sorry! But I was being stubborn about it and I said I would translate it to Japanese... then look what I ended up doing! There was the piece of text and I was scribbling the meanings of unknown vocabulary in either Japanese or English, and then in the blank space at the bottom of the paper I translated it to English and then in the actual answer space I answered in Japanese. ...I'm so silly, I should have just said yes to translate it to English if I was bound to do it anyway.... This is where being stubborn gets me.

Then came Wednesday! My presentation fo Japanese Communication class... my presentation... was on Oguri Shun! i.e. Hanazawa Rui from Hana Yori Dango (Japanese version) Haha... He's so cool! I made a mock-presentation in front of my Japanese friends to see how it sounded and let them correct me, and they were all laughing their heads off... guess I sounded too much like a fangirl... but Oguri Shun is SO kakko-ii ... coolnesssssss.

Thursday! Was when I had to hand in my other English report, which wasn't so hard really but I had an exam that morning about "the Science of Shape" or I guess that's the direct translation of it. That was definitely not my kind of class. I don't know what to do about that really... I've a feeling that I didn't pass. I think this was the toughest class I've attended yet really. Taking into consideration I had no Japanese friends I was familiar enough with attending that class. Trouble right from the start. But anyway... I did what I could.

Friday! That was when I had to give a presentation to Kelly's class (the one on Irish culture). I did one on Celtic-based Aquatic Mythological Creatures. (He asked me why I forgot to talk about the Irish faeries i.e leprechauns etc, but I said it was aquatic... so ha! -evil laughter- I know what I'm talking about. I specifically said aquatic too. Hee.... Then off I went! To Gaidai! I went and stayed over at Adeline's again hahaha... this week it was special, because they were celebrating Ruo Lin's birthday! (Have I ever mentioned Ruo Lin here? She's a girl from Malaysia and she and Adeline are just inseparable! hehehe Cute..) Adeline and a friend of hers had this idea of making Ruo Lin search for her present by doing Treasure Hunt. And birthday-girl plus friends (making a 10-strong group) went in search for clues and such throughout the entire of Gaidai for no less than 2 and a half hours! That was one loooong Treasure Hunt. But they said it was fun, and when it was all over... we just barely had time to rest and then! Out of simple spontaniety! We went to KARAOKE! All night long woo~~ I'd been dying to go for so long (even though my throat was sore and my nose was constantly blocking so I had to use this spray medicine once every 4 hours to clear it up haha... I really wanted to go)

The next day I woke up at almost noon... Then I had to go back to Kobe since I had a movie date with Aurelie to watch The Departed, which was by the way was nice, that night. Adeline couldn't resist the temptation of going to Kita-Senri (the train station closest to Gaidai) for lunch at the Semba Curry shop! Semba Curry rocks!

So after the movie on Saturday I rested pretty well at night, and then! Sunday! I went to a concert... if a concert one calls it. It was a choir, lead singers, and an orchestra. Yup, the conductor, the violins, trumpets, flutes, organ and everything! Haha... It was really nice and relaxing. One of Aurelie's Gaidai teachers, a teacher I'm very familiar with too, was singing at that concert. This was one weird day. I can't remember exactly what Aurelie and I were up to this day but we were going around so much! The concert ended around 4... so we decided to go to... Sannomiya I think to go do a little shopping. Oh yeah! It was to buy a new lamp for the kitchen (which we did find and it was pretty nice too)... but then we walked off to the Shopping Gallery in Motomachi too... this is pretty long... I would suppose that the Gallery that extends from Sannomiy to Motomachi should be about 3km or longer. Maybe longer. I think it is longer. 3km or so and shops left and right... a pretty typical scene in Japan. Hmm... then again I think the Gallery of Sannomiya-Motomachi might not be as long as the one in Tenjimbashi-suji 6-chome in Osaka... and definitely not as long as the Honmachi-Namba Galleries, but it was long and interesting enough. We went to this bakery she liked that was apparently baking bread exactly like the one in France. It was nice (insert heart icon here) I love croissants!

Anyway, so we head back to the apartment after a brief stop at La Pausa, Sannomiya (for a light snack), then! We walked all the way back down to Rokko-michi (15-20mins downwards slope) and had sushi! And who did we meet there? Chris! This guy from Poland who was off to meet this dentist friend of his. And what did we decide to do just then? Karaoke! Hahahaha.... It wasn't exactly two days in a row of Karaoke but it felt like it, but since we only stayed for an hour and a half, my voice was spared.

Monday was not so busy. (Finally a mini-break!) THEN came Tuesday.... when we went to karaoke... again! Oh my goodness we are all crazy. 3 times out to karaoke within the span of a week. This time my voice really did break. It was horrible and scratchy after that. But then what ho! When Wednesday came! ... actually I think I stopped coughing so much by Wednesday... haha. Thursday wasn't so eventful either. (Thank goodness! It had been one long week since exams started... Is this what one calls balancing work and fun? Hahah... weird).

Friday! February 2nd... was nice. It was the day of my French oral test... and after the last of Kelly's classes the girls in my class, actually we all just kind of accidently bumped to each other and then all of a sudden we all ended up grouping in the cafeteria... studying French all afternoon long. It even snowed! Actually it was the first snow this Winter! That should tell you how weird winter is this year in comparison to last year's! Last year it first started snowing in mid-December... I think? Oh no, I think it was more like late-ish December, but it was in December! And now it's February! It snowed last Friday, and it feels like Spring weather now! ..... Global warming?? Oh dear I hope summer this year won't be as hot as it was 2 years ago too... Last year it was at least bearable... considering it gets hotter than Brunei here too.

Anyway! So we had our French test and we were all supposed to go out to a French restaurant but! It was cancelled because of the snowing. Snow on not so-cold days = melting + lowing temperatures during the night = freezing = ice = slips on roads = car accidents etc. The teacher lived pretty far away and he was using a car so he couldn't stay too late at night or else he wouldn't have been able to get back at all. *refer to snow turning to ice on roads theory. So, we couldn't go. But! Kyoko (this really good friend of mine) said she just couldn't feel satisfied with the outcome so we dedided to go out to an Izakaya. Izakaya = Japanese pub. Hmm I wouldn't know how to explain what an izakaya is and how it differs from other types of pubs because I haven't been to any other pubs before... but it's your basic restaurant, but you have dividers? Um... there are these walls and stuff keeping you isolated from other customers (way to keep privacy) and it's always noisy. But it really just boils down to your basic restaurant. But the food was so good... Fried garlic potatoes. Heee. It was so fun, we stayed till nearly 11pm and then we decided to adjourn. It was only 7 of us girls there though... the 3 guys didn't want to come and one of the girls had to get back early. But it was so fun! A true experience with a group of Japanese people! It really was so nice because it really felt that I was assimilating well with them. You know the whole problem they always talk about foreigners not being able to assimilate well into Japanese society.

I've been wondering about that lately really. Is it because I have an Asian mentality which is why I think that I've assimilated alright enough? I mean assimilation into groups in Asian societies have different priorities and criteria than other societies... right? Well that's what I think really. Hmm... But it was so nice to be a part of a group again.

Adeline was over for the weekend! It was fun. I was trying my best to get myself in the mood to write this one report I had to hand in on Monday (yesterday) on International Relations. But I just couldn't get in the mood. I ended up sleeping at 4am on Sunday after I finished my English draft and then woke up and left for Uni a little after noon... then continuing to the computer lab of the Foreign Students centre to type for nearly 3 hourse straight everything into Japanese... which I finally finished to do by 4pm. Then I ran to my campus, bought a stapler since I lost mine (again), photocopied the newspaper article which was supposed to be my reference, met a friend who was finishing up hers too.... then handed it in at half-past 4... The deadline was 5pm... so... phew. I am never going to do that again! It's so stressing to do things at the last minute... =_= then again if you're not in the mood to write... you're not in the mood. It's so haarddd! I wish I had a switch I could flip easily!

And now here I am about to read some books for tomorrow's exam.... on Culture and Economic Exchange... I guess you could call it. I know what essay I'll be writing about roughly already... but I still need a little bit more material... Life is weird. I'm planning to go over Adeline's place this Friday (since my last exam is on Thursday... and I have one more report deadline on the 15th, but since I already have information on that, and it's Kelly's class so I'm supposed to write it in English anyway!). I have no more classes! Wee....... ehehhe~

Over and out. Holidayyyy~~ come to meeee~~~ *dances*