First day of school
goddamn it! I didn't realize today was the last day to register to vote for next month's primary here in CA (15 days before the next election). I just moved so I need to reregister. I've only been here a little over a week. I was sort of counting on someone with a clipboard rounding up registrations on campus to approach me today, the first day of classes. But if I had known today was the last day, I would have just gone to the post office. Oh well. The year is young and there are still more elections to come, including the big one in November. So who do you want to be the next US president? (Is this a loaded question?)
Anyway, yeah, first day back at UCB after a very loooooong time for me. Today, I had Japanese 159: Contemporary Japanese Literature, focusing on Oe Kenzaburo this term. The class readings will be both in Japanese and English and promises to be a hard class. And also extremely depressing and dark, according to the professor. Half my brain is shouting, YAY! dark and depressing! And the other half is flashing danger signs. But NO, I will not get depressed. I refuse! >.< If I had been here last semester and had taken J155: Modern J-Lit, I would have gotten to study nothing but Mishima! Nuts! Oh well.
My other class today was J 180: Ghosts and the Modern Literary Imagination, as it pertains to Japan of course. This could potentially be one of the coolest classes I ever take. haha I love ghost stories like nobody's business. They've been among my favorite things to read since I first learned to read. So when I saw this class on the schedule, it was like the first thing I registered for. XD The reading list looks pretty awesome. Plays, like Yotsuya Kaidan (Yotsuya Ghost Story), essays about the fantastic, short stories etc. Aside from the course reader, our books are Japanese Gothic Tales by Izumi Kyoka, Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Ranpo (get it? Edgar Allan Poe?), and Masks by Enchi Fumiko. I've already read and written a paper on Masks but that's okay. I sometimes use the name "masugami" to register for things online. It comes from Masks. It's the name of a Noh mask that is usually used to represent a young, mad woman. ehehe. And the name literally means long hair, which I have. :) On top of all this, next week we're watching Ghost in the Shell and towards the end of the semester, Ringu and Ju-On! I also love horror movies. Somebody woke up one day and said, hey let's make a class just for vanessa! All that's missing is some darkly tinged music, preferably from the late 70s-80s. XD "Prof. O'Neill, there's this Japanese album called 13-kai ha..." Nah. ^^; I'm excited. Can you tell?
Tomorrow will be a fourth year Japanese language class that is either just right or might prove to be too easy, grammar-wise at least. We'll see. And East Asian Languages and Culture 105: Dynamics of Romantic Core Values in East Asian Premodern Literature and Contemporary Film. Same professor as the Oe class. Wow, a class that isn't just about Japan. Now we've got China and Korea. Woohoo! Incidentally, it looks like the book for Japan is, surprise, surprise, The Tale of Genji.
I love reading but...gah so much now. A sharp change from my no studying at all lifestyle back in Japan. ^^;; And in the end I'll probably become an accountant.
Anyway, yeah, first day back at UCB after a very loooooong time for me. Today, I had Japanese 159: Contemporary Japanese Literature, focusing on Oe Kenzaburo this term. The class readings will be both in Japanese and English and promises to be a hard class. And also extremely depressing and dark, according to the professor. Half my brain is shouting, YAY! dark and depressing! And the other half is flashing danger signs. But NO, I will not get depressed. I refuse! >.< If I had been here last semester and had taken J155: Modern J-Lit, I would have gotten to study nothing but Mishima! Nuts! Oh well.
My other class today was J 180: Ghosts and the Modern Literary Imagination, as it pertains to Japan of course. This could potentially be one of the coolest classes I ever take. haha I love ghost stories like nobody's business. They've been among my favorite things to read since I first learned to read. So when I saw this class on the schedule, it was like the first thing I registered for. XD The reading list looks pretty awesome. Plays, like Yotsuya Kaidan (Yotsuya Ghost Story), essays about the fantastic, short stories etc. Aside from the course reader, our books are Japanese Gothic Tales by Izumi Kyoka, Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Ranpo (get it? Edgar Allan Poe?), and Masks by Enchi Fumiko. I've already read and written a paper on Masks but that's okay. I sometimes use the name "masugami" to register for things online. It comes from Masks. It's the name of a Noh mask that is usually used to represent a young, mad woman. ehehe. And the name literally means long hair, which I have. :) On top of all this, next week we're watching Ghost in the Shell and towards the end of the semester, Ringu and Ju-On! I also love horror movies. Somebody woke up one day and said, hey let's make a class just for vanessa! All that's missing is some darkly tinged music, preferably from the late 70s-80s. XD "Prof. O'Neill, there's this Japanese album called 13-kai ha..." Nah. ^^; I'm excited. Can you tell?
Tomorrow will be a fourth year Japanese language class that is either just right or might prove to be too easy, grammar-wise at least. We'll see. And East Asian Languages and Culture 105: Dynamics of Romantic Core Values in East Asian Premodern Literature and Contemporary Film. Same professor as the Oe class. Wow, a class that isn't just about Japan. Now we've got China and Korea. Woohoo! Incidentally, it looks like the book for Japan is, surprise, surprise, The Tale of Genji.
I love reading but...gah so much now. A sharp change from my no studying at all lifestyle back in Japan. ^^;; And in the end I'll probably become an accountant.