Homework for the Overactive Brain

Today's Quote--"Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me..."

Thursday, October 09, 2003

 

Despite today's quote...I'm doing well. Tired, of course, but I guess that's just normal. Ahh, how I long for a nap...;) This weekend is Hokusei's festival, so I don't have class again until next Wednesday...Monday is a national holiday anyway...and the school calander has Tuesday being a festival day, but the committee decided that they only have enough stuff to fill two days...so nothing Mon or Tues. YEAH for excessive holidays! Tomorrow I'm planning on going to Otaru (think pretty seaside town) with Okaasan, one of her friends, and two of my BCA friends...(okay, so the word for study abroad student in Japanese is Ryugakusei, and a group of people is indicated by adding tachi...so two of my Ryugakuseitachi friends and I...sorry, but you are all going to have to learn Japanese because I just can't keep everything straight sometimes in one language or the other. :) Think that means I'll be fluent someday? Nah, probably not! ;) ) Sunday I'm going to come to school for the festival and tea ceremony...and go to Bunryaku (puppet theater) that evening. Monday I'm probably going to an SGI meeting (yeah), and Tuesday I've got to pick up my Alien Registration Card (Look Mom! I'm a Registered Alien...ha, ha ha;) ). So, those are my plans for the long weekend...kinda busy, huh? Hmmm, yeah. Not to mention lots of homework...! Of course, it's really nothing in comparison to the homework I'm used to...Just a lot of doing things in Japanese. Yes.

New paragraph...must make this easier to read. Hmmm...So, interesting things of note...My friend Keith (Ryugakusei-tachi no tomodachi) asked an interesting question the other day...When it starts to get really cold...what do the Japanese school girls do? I mean, hiking your skirt up to underwear level on a warm day is passible...but when it's many degrees below zero? Hmmm...My theory is that when they're outside they roll them down and pull their socks up...but back in the heat, roll the skirt up, push the socks down...but, we'll see. ;) I love watching them go by in the morning at the train station...there are so many different uniforms and everyone is wearing theirs differently. There's the goody-two-shoes group that wears their skirts to their calves and pulls their socks up to cover any remaining skin (I think they're the smart group when it comes to winter weather!)...Then there are the girls who just want to be cool, but probably will never quite make it (kinda like me) who wear their skirts about mid-thigh, but have the neat socks pulled up to their knees...Of course the bad girls are easy to spot...lots of skin...;) No, really, not bad necessarily, but think of American popular girls...skirts pulled up high with big, thick, bulky schrunch socks pushed down, but still managing to get to mid-calf. And then there's your average hardworking girl, the only one with her skirt to her knees and socks pulled up to mid-calf--what they're all supposed to look like. Hmmm...yes, people watching is immensely interesting. Especially when there are so many people to watch.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I've fallen in love with public transportation. I love being able to go anywhere in the city (hell, the whole country if you really think about it) without depending on someone to drive me. I'm really liking that sense of freedom, that hey, if I want to go out, I can go whereever I want, whenever I want (except of course when the trains stop at 12:07 and don't start up again until 6AM) But even then I can take a taxi...of course my house is in a great spot...if I want to go to the entertainment (achem...red light) district, I only have to go one stop on my normal subway ride (I love that stop!!!! SOOO many interesting people!) and if I decide to stay out late drinking, I can walk home in about 20-30 minutes (depending on how lost I get). Not that I have decided to stay out late...but I could if I wished to. Ahhh...freedom. I guess that's one thing I miss at SUA. And I don't go much for driving anyway, so at home I'm kinda stuck too. Not really, but there are mental boundries.

Speaking of mental...Although I'm normally kinda crazy, lately I've been getting worse...going off on philisophical tangents...developing a serious eye twitch...hearing voices...you know, normal crazy stuff. ;) Maybe, I'm just tired. And being in a foriegn country, you're always tired. The eye twitch is from a guy in my class...and being tired. And hearing voices...well, when everyone else speaks a different language, sometimes you're not sure if you're thinking or if someone is talking near you or there are neurons mis-firing. Yeah. Soooooo....Um...I guess I don't have a point. I should really start writting down my interesting Japan discoveries so I can put them here when I actually write (speaking of which, I'll be AWOL until next Wednesday). Oh yes...started working out at the gym with my fellow Ryugakusei-tachi (now, have you memorized what that means yet? There will be a quiz later on this, you know!). J/S/A...Have you started walking yet? Japan is a mess of stairs, long walks, and more stairs, so get yourselves in shape!!! I've definately lost weight (yeah, yeah, I know, I don't need to...don't really want to either, I was just starting to get a nice kooshy butt to sit on...Oy, now I'm back to bony-ass and hard sitting). Between healthy food, lots of stairs and walking, and working out...Whew...I'm going to be miss buff legs. Yep...of course if my pants would stop falling off of me, it might help...oy. ;) Okay! Off to challenge the world...or something...;)

GL 10:32 PM