(no subject)
Well, I'm back! It feels like forever since I've been on a computer. Even though the ice cream up in the UP (Michigan) is the most amazing thing I've ever tasted (or close to it) and the fishing is back, I'm so glad to be home.
Yeah! Like I said, the fishing is back in the UP. We fish for northern pike and for the past 4-5 years they've just been.. gone. But this year we caught a TON of babies (and someone caught a 40 incher where we were staying) so they're coming back! Also, I think (I didn't realize until later the stripes on it were vertical verus horizontal) I caught a Muskie which is really special because they're so territorial. In an area where there are hundreds of northern pike, there's usually only one muskie so it's literally like picking a needle out of a haystack. Sure, it was also a baby but it was still a muskie so it fought A LOT and was bigger than pike babies. Just google images of muskie. You'll see why I had trouble with it. It was a really fun week.
And I visited St. Norbert College. I LOVE IT. This makes three colleges I adore to pick from. It's the most gorgeous place with grass and trees everywhere and ivy growing on the building right next to a river. Definitely the most gorgeous campus I've seen so far. http://www.snc.edu/ There. The main page has a view of it from the river. Everyone was so nice, the teachers I met were enthusiastic. I think I got interviewed but no one told me I was being interviewed so I completely didn't watch what I said. I must've said "like" a million times and "um" a few dozen. It didn't occur to me until afterward that it was probably an interview. I was not prepared for "What was the most recent movie you've seen?" though. They said I'd definitely get accepted though, so I guess I did okay.
It's a very small school, a little more than 2,000 students. But.. it seemed right for a small school. Like, I thought it'd be way too small but it didn't feel "small" it felt "comfortable" and "homey." They have this amazing program IBLAS, or International Business and Language Area Studies, which combines International Business and the language you're studying into this.. AMAZING major which is so much more than either of the others. What's better? They have a great Japanese program. Why does a small Catholic college in Wisconsin have a great Japanese program? Don't ask me. I still have no idea.
Anyways, with IBLAS you get to actually run a business on campus with merchandise that's purchased overseas as a senior. It's a nonprofit store thingy that's open right next to the college bookstore and about 15 students a year are able to successfully get to the point where not only are they basically studying two majors, but also putting them to work and doing business, selling merchandise, buying from overseas, then debating how to use the profits (either putting them back into the store or donating them).
I also met with the Japanese teacher. That was fun because she was Japanese and when she'd try to find something to show us or thinking of the words to say she'd start mumbling in Japanese. That got be really excited because I understood it and it was much more real than studying out of a book or even a drama. If it wouldn't have looked weird, I would've flipped out when she first met me and accidentally started speaking Japanese and started with "Kinbaree-san ga." Then when she realized I actually knew what I was talking about she got really excited and started speaking Japanese to me. I think it was a little awkward for my parents when we were speaking Japanese to each other and they had no idea what was going on. Oh, and she said she uses anime to help teach. How cool is that? Sure, I'm much more into the dramas than the anime, but still. I'm down with that. And she offered to send me stuff I should study if I wanted to test out of 101 and 102. I'm not sure yet if I should do that, but I might want to. I was skimming through book 1 of the textbook they use and I understood almost all of it.
Study abroad is required, so I'd definitely get to Japan by my senior year. There are two universities in Japan I could go to. Sophia University, which is an American school in Japan, or Nihon University, which is obviously a Japanese school. The former is a slight immersion while the latter is a full immersion for more developed speakers. I'm hoping if I go to St. Norbert's I'll be able to do the full immersion.
Well, it's still a far ways away. I'm just really getting excited. I guess I really liked St. Norbert University because even the other schools I really liked didn't have me going on about them like I am now.
Now I'm going to go watch a dorama. Probably Pretty Girls because I really need to get it off my harddrive and I refuse to burn it until I figure out if it's good or not.
Yeah! Like I said, the fishing is back in the UP. We fish for northern pike and for the past 4-5 years they've just been.. gone. But this year we caught a TON of babies (and someone caught a 40 incher where we were staying) so they're coming back! Also, I think (I didn't realize until later the stripes on it were vertical verus horizontal) I caught a Muskie which is really special because they're so territorial. In an area where there are hundreds of northern pike, there's usually only one muskie so it's literally like picking a needle out of a haystack. Sure, it was also a baby but it was still a muskie so it fought A LOT and was bigger than pike babies. Just google images of muskie. You'll see why I had trouble with it. It was a really fun week.
And I visited St. Norbert College. I LOVE IT. This makes three colleges I adore to pick from. It's the most gorgeous place with grass and trees everywhere and ivy growing on the building right next to a river. Definitely the most gorgeous campus I've seen so far. http://www.snc.edu/ There. The main page has a view of it from the river. Everyone was so nice, the teachers I met were enthusiastic. I think I got interviewed but no one told me I was being interviewed so I completely didn't watch what I said. I must've said "like" a million times and "um" a few dozen. It didn't occur to me until afterward that it was probably an interview. I was not prepared for "What was the most recent movie you've seen?" though. They said I'd definitely get accepted though, so I guess I did okay.
It's a very small school, a little more than 2,000 students. But.. it seemed right for a small school. Like, I thought it'd be way too small but it didn't feel "small" it felt "comfortable" and "homey." They have this amazing program IBLAS, or International Business and Language Area Studies, which combines International Business and the language you're studying into this.. AMAZING major which is so much more than either of the others. What's better? They have a great Japanese program. Why does a small Catholic college in Wisconsin have a great Japanese program? Don't ask me. I still have no idea.
Anyways, with IBLAS you get to actually run a business on campus with merchandise that's purchased overseas as a senior. It's a nonprofit store thingy that's open right next to the college bookstore and about 15 students a year are able to successfully get to the point where not only are they basically studying two majors, but also putting them to work and doing business, selling merchandise, buying from overseas, then debating how to use the profits (either putting them back into the store or donating them).
I also met with the Japanese teacher. That was fun because she was Japanese and when she'd try to find something to show us or thinking of the words to say she'd start mumbling in Japanese. That got be really excited because I understood it and it was much more real than studying out of a book or even a drama. If it wouldn't have looked weird, I would've flipped out when she first met me and accidentally started speaking Japanese and started with "Kinbaree-san ga." Then when she realized I actually knew what I was talking about she got really excited and started speaking Japanese to me. I think it was a little awkward for my parents when we were speaking Japanese to each other and they had no idea what was going on. Oh, and she said she uses anime to help teach. How cool is that? Sure, I'm much more into the dramas than the anime, but still. I'm down with that. And she offered to send me stuff I should study if I wanted to test out of 101 and 102. I'm not sure yet if I should do that, but I might want to. I was skimming through book 1 of the textbook they use and I understood almost all of it.
Study abroad is required, so I'd definitely get to Japan by my senior year. There are two universities in Japan I could go to. Sophia University, which is an American school in Japan, or Nihon University, which is obviously a Japanese school. The former is a slight immersion while the latter is a full immersion for more developed speakers. I'm hoping if I go to St. Norbert's I'll be able to do the full immersion.
Well, it's still a far ways away. I'm just really getting excited. I guess I really liked St. Norbert University because even the other schools I really liked didn't have me going on about them like I am now.
Now I'm going to go watch a dorama. Probably Pretty Girls because I really need to get it off my harddrive and I refuse to burn it until I figure out if it's good or not.