Mama's Dissertation
There is a bloody severed arm pinned to the wall above my bed.
It's one of the changes Daniel and I made yesterday in honor of Apartment-Wide Cleaning Day, during which Chris scrubbed down the bathtub and emancipated the drain from its curly, hairy, gunky fetters, Daniel actually folded clothes, and I hung up some decorations in our room. Unfortunately, it's pretty Japan-biased, with the Tanabata wall-hanging, shoudou, and handmade uchiwa my Cheers girls gave me....so I also thought that the fake zombie arm my mom threw in the Halloween box would be a good addition. Hey, it's self-expression.
In other news, the apartment is now quite clean, and we finally have mats in the bathroom. Only drawback is that now all the kitty litter is embedded in the mats rather than just being scattered on the linoleum -- at least before we could sweep it up easily.
The bookstore gig is looking up...Latest developments on that front include the huge impression I made on the director of commercial affairs on campus when he popped in for a surprise visit -- and all I did was use the customer service knowledge I've been taught over the years. Translation: I said "hello" and "goodbye" to him, and apparently this is something that never happens at the bookstore. So he commended me personally to the admins at the bookstore, and everyone's sending kudos my way. Personally, I find this quite sad, but perhaps I just worked in industries where customer service was so ingrained that...well, I mean, I basically just think the whole thing is sad. End of story.
Nothing new on the school front of great import, other than that I've changed my academic standing to a double major in Japanese and Anthropology, and probably won't be graduating till 2009. On the other hand, Daniel's toying with the idea of going back for a second degree, or at least taking some classes before going in with me for a master's somewhere....It's a long way off, at any rate. I just decided that I really do want to study Japanese folk religion, and this is the best way to go about it. I liked teaching, but I don't want to make a career out of it other than as a professor of something. At any rate, it's not like I'm going anywhere in Alaska.
Can't think of anything else major happening...just got out of my poli sci midterm, and that was one mother-bitch! Having gotten my first B's ever while in Japan (two of them! Eeek!), I think I've begun to allow myself slightly lower standards; imagine the test I just took will come out as a high B+, but I think I can pull that up by the final, in addition to all the other classwork (which I've been acing to date). Also have to take into account that I was majorly sick this last week -- ah, the joys of the season's first flu!
It's strange, adapting again. I find myself missing Sendai more and more with each day; just last night, out at a nice restaurant with the Malen's, Beth's karaoke song came on the radio and, without realizing why, I just began to sing along and cry. It wasn't till the refrain, "Somewhere only we know" that the full impact hit me. Ha, yes, Sendai and I had a mutual dislike for each other while together, it seemed, but we were attached in a rather gruff way. Tough love, you could call it. Wonder how Mukkie's doing...
It's one of the changes Daniel and I made yesterday in honor of Apartment-Wide Cleaning Day, during which Chris scrubbed down the bathtub and emancipated the drain from its curly, hairy, gunky fetters, Daniel actually folded clothes, and I hung up some decorations in our room. Unfortunately, it's pretty Japan-biased, with the Tanabata wall-hanging, shoudou, and handmade uchiwa my Cheers girls gave me....so I also thought that the fake zombie arm my mom threw in the Halloween box would be a good addition. Hey, it's self-expression.
In other news, the apartment is now quite clean, and we finally have mats in the bathroom. Only drawback is that now all the kitty litter is embedded in the mats rather than just being scattered on the linoleum -- at least before we could sweep it up easily.
The bookstore gig is looking up...Latest developments on that front include the huge impression I made on the director of commercial affairs on campus when he popped in for a surprise visit -- and all I did was use the customer service knowledge I've been taught over the years. Translation: I said "hello" and "goodbye" to him, and apparently this is something that never happens at the bookstore. So he commended me personally to the admins at the bookstore, and everyone's sending kudos my way. Personally, I find this quite sad, but perhaps I just worked in industries where customer service was so ingrained that...well, I mean, I basically just think the whole thing is sad. End of story.
Nothing new on the school front of great import, other than that I've changed my academic standing to a double major in Japanese and Anthropology, and probably won't be graduating till 2009. On the other hand, Daniel's toying with the idea of going back for a second degree, or at least taking some classes before going in with me for a master's somewhere....It's a long way off, at any rate. I just decided that I really do want to study Japanese folk religion, and this is the best way to go about it. I liked teaching, but I don't want to make a career out of it other than as a professor of something. At any rate, it's not like I'm going anywhere in Alaska.
Can't think of anything else major happening...just got out of my poli sci midterm, and that was one mother-bitch! Having gotten my first B's ever while in Japan (two of them! Eeek!), I think I've begun to allow myself slightly lower standards; imagine the test I just took will come out as a high B+, but I think I can pull that up by the final, in addition to all the other classwork (which I've been acing to date). Also have to take into account that I was majorly sick this last week -- ah, the joys of the season's first flu!
It's strange, adapting again. I find myself missing Sendai more and more with each day; just last night, out at a nice restaurant with the Malen's, Beth's karaoke song came on the radio and, without realizing why, I just began to sing along and cry. It wasn't till the refrain, "Somewhere only we know" that the full impact hit me. Ha, yes, Sendai and I had a mutual dislike for each other while together, it seemed, but we were attached in a rather gruff way. Tough love, you could call it. Wonder how Mukkie's doing...