More than a month later...

So first off, let me apologize for not having posted anything in over a month. I just really had no motivation to write anything. I haven't done too much in the past month anyway. The past 3 weeks alone were pretty boring:

3 weeks ago: Week before midterms. Review review review, study study study.
2 weeks ago: Midterms week. Cram cram cram, write shitty paper.
1 week ago: Spring break! But I, of course, got sick (for the first time in about 3 years, might I add) right in time for this week. Therefore I spent most of it sleeping.

Going back to class this week was a little difficult, mainly because I needed to re-re-adjust my sleep schedule. It shifted almost 12 hours during spring break due to the odd hours I kept. But I think I've finally gotten it back on track.

I got my midterm grades back for my Japanese classes! Basically, I owned that shit IN THE FACE!
In my Spoken Japanese class I got a 96.4% WHICH! was also the highest grade in all 3 of my teacher's sections.
In my Reading/Writing Japanese class I got a 100%. Yes that's right, I am perfect.

As for my two other "classes":
Visual Anthropology of Japan: I got a 38/40 on the midterm. It was a stupid easy test, but since our teacher always tries to be funny, he tried to make jokes on the test. He also worded things in very strange ways. It was hella unfair to the plethora of non-native speakers of English. Also I have yet to finish most of the blog posts for that class. I have done 1 out of 5 so far. Yay me!
Globalization: Well, I have no idea what I got on my paper, because I didn't go to class yesterday. I took a nap in the afternoon, and I set an alarm. But when the alarm went off, instead of getting up I just went back to sleep. Oops!

Today after class I went to the convenience store and blew 2000 yen on various things; mostly gifts :D
Speaking of which! I tend to have difficulties finding good gifts for people. Therefore, I figured I would try and find things that would be useful to my friends. So if you could leave me a comment here or contact me via e-mail/Facebook/etc. and leave me a list of some things you use on a daily basis (at home, at school, at work, whenever). My goal is to find cuter versions of these things in your favorite color! So make sure you let me know what colors you like, as well.

So this weekend I am going to Kyoto for Ohanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing!!!!) I really can not wait. I know it's going to be amazingly beautiful. So be ready for lots of pictures! The RA's of this seminar house have put together this trip to go to two different temples and a park in Kyoto to view the Cherry Blossoms. And it is going to be at night (Yozakura, it's called) so everything will be lit up and sparkle-y. And to top it off, the school is going to pay for our admission to the temple! I'm really looking forward to this.


As far as life goes, I think I have decided that when I get back home I am going to apply for the JET programme (http://www.jetprogramme.org/). I think that it has recently become rather competitive, so should I get accepted, I will be back in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher as of next fall. So that would give me about a year in the US to work (part-time, or full-time. I dunno yet) and save up some money. I'm not really sure where I will be during the time I am back in the US, but I shall figure that out soon. I can participate in this program for up to 5 years. They pay for your airfare, provide housing (either free or hella cheap, I can't remember), provide health insurance, and pay you about 3,600,000yen for your year of work (about $38k). Doing just one year would earn me enough money to completely pay off my student loans plus leave me with money saved. I'm hoping to save up enough money so that Steph and I can start our own business. It's just kind of a random idea, but it's fun to think about. We want to have a café/bookstore that is home to books from all over the world as well as snacks and stationary type things from all over the world. It will possibly be in California. All we need is a ton of money to start it up and to learn how to start/manage a business! It's fun to dream...


I think that is about all I have for now. I will be sure to update more often from now on.


<3