Sorry for the delay...
A week or two after this quarter started a girl named Claire from my Japanese class realized that we actually live on the same floor in Lander, my dorm on campus. We'd never spoken before, as she tended to keep to herself in her room most of the time, so I hadn't even noticed. Since people who can speak Japanese are actually pretty rare at the UW (it's all koreans or chinese..), we started studying for tests together and occasionally helping each other with essays and projects for the class.
She was a pretty nice person, but more then anything she was good at Japanese! so I finally had someone I could practice with. Over the next month or two we became friends of a sorts, but she was just a sort of study-budy - first and foremost a good way to get more practice speaking Japanese.
That changed a little bit about a week ago when, while doing some assignment for the class, she said somthing kindof quietly to the effect of "so there is this guy I was thinking about giving a valentine's day gift to..." but she dropped the topic pretty quickly and we finished the homework a short while after.
My first reaction was fear; "Oh god she's dropping hints - does she like me or somthing?!" After thinking about it for a little while later that night, my line of thinking changed more towards "Hey, her liking me might not be all that bad." Over the course of the next day or two, accompanied by a few more comments during class about how much she liked chocolate etc., I came to the realization that I might actually like her back - even though before I'd never thought of her as much besides a really great way for me to improve my Japanese.
Luckily, Valentine's day was right around the corner. I decided to act as if I wasn't planning on doing anything then suprise her with something, and picked up a small box of chocolates at a nearby Borders.
On valentines day she came to Japanese class wearing a pretty pair of earrings, but as we were walking out of the building after class she said "I saw the person I was going to give a valentine to on the way to school, but I don't think I'm going to give it to him any more..." I was planning on giving it to her a little later while we were walking back to Lander, however since she was apparently pretty dissapointed with me I decided to give it to her a little earlier then I had originally planned.
What she said upon recieving it, besides the usual thanks, was "I really didn't think you were going to get me anything.."
Since she had work in 30 minutes or so, we walked back to lander talking - partially about how much of an ass I'd been to her before I realized that she actually a person instead of just a Japanese-capable study assistance organism.
Later that night, after she was done with work, I went to her room to talk and help her practice for a presentation she had the next day, and after a while she mentioned that there was a misunderstanding she had to clear up. Apparently, there was some other guy named terry that she was planning on giving a valentines day gift to.
;-_-
Needless to say I was pretty amused by this point, as she continued to explain that it was more of an apology-filled thank-you note for being the first person to really treat her nicely since she started at the UW then it was a valentine. After saying that, she tossed the letter she'd written aside and gave the gift to me.
Score! Take that, terry!
While she went home for the weekend, the past four days have been simply amazing. Claire doesn't open up to many people, but when she does she is the most sincere, considerate, and simply incredible person that I've ever met. I've never had such honest, interesting, and deep conversations with anyone in my life. We are so completely different, and yet at the same time we have so much in common that it's been frigntening. Every she gets excited and I have to tell her to tone down the volume a few notches (a.k.a. my poor roommate is trying to sleep), it gives me the most ironic feeling ^^
She is someone I can open up to completely, because she doesn't hold anything back. She is intensely intelegent, and puts so much thought into things that I've never even considered.
I can't wait to get to know her better, to play more DDR (damn you V, we'll get you next time), to go rock climbing, to play tennis, to FINALLY getting around to playing through xenogears with her by my side.
Selective hearing FTW
She was a pretty nice person, but more then anything she was good at Japanese! so I finally had someone I could practice with. Over the next month or two we became friends of a sorts, but she was just a sort of study-budy - first and foremost a good way to get more practice speaking Japanese.
That changed a little bit about a week ago when, while doing some assignment for the class, she said somthing kindof quietly to the effect of "so there is this guy I was thinking about giving a valentine's day gift to..." but she dropped the topic pretty quickly and we finished the homework a short while after.
My first reaction was fear; "Oh god she's dropping hints - does she like me or somthing?!" After thinking about it for a little while later that night, my line of thinking changed more towards "Hey, her liking me might not be all that bad." Over the course of the next day or two, accompanied by a few more comments during class about how much she liked chocolate etc., I came to the realization that I might actually like her back - even though before I'd never thought of her as much besides a really great way for me to improve my Japanese.
Luckily, Valentine's day was right around the corner. I decided to act as if I wasn't planning on doing anything then suprise her with something, and picked up a small box of chocolates at a nearby Borders.
On valentines day she came to Japanese class wearing a pretty pair of earrings, but as we were walking out of the building after class she said "I saw the person I was going to give a valentine to on the way to school, but I don't think I'm going to give it to him any more..." I was planning on giving it to her a little later while we were walking back to Lander, however since she was apparently pretty dissapointed with me I decided to give it to her a little earlier then I had originally planned.
What she said upon recieving it, besides the usual thanks, was "I really didn't think you were going to get me anything.."
Since she had work in 30 minutes or so, we walked back to lander talking - partially about how much of an ass I'd been to her before I realized that she actually a person instead of just a Japanese-capable study assistance organism.
Later that night, after she was done with work, I went to her room to talk and help her practice for a presentation she had the next day, and after a while she mentioned that there was a misunderstanding she had to clear up. Apparently, there was some other guy named terry that she was planning on giving a valentines day gift to.
;-_-
Needless to say I was pretty amused by this point, as she continued to explain that it was more of an apology-filled thank-you note for being the first person to really treat her nicely since she started at the UW then it was a valentine. After saying that, she tossed the letter she'd written aside and gave the gift to me.
Score! Take that, terry!
While she went home for the weekend, the past four days have been simply amazing. Claire doesn't open up to many people, but when she does she is the most sincere, considerate, and simply incredible person that I've ever met. I've never had such honest, interesting, and deep conversations with anyone in my life. We are so completely different, and yet at the same time we have so much in common that it's been frigntening. Every she gets excited and I have to tell her to tone down the volume a few notches (a.k.a. my poor roommate is trying to sleep), it gives me the most ironic feeling ^^
She is someone I can open up to completely, because she doesn't hold anything back. She is intensely intelegent, and puts so much thought into things that I've never even considered.
I can't wait to get to know her better, to play more DDR (damn you V, we'll get you next time), to go rock climbing, to play tennis, to FINALLY getting around to playing through xenogears with her by my side.
Selective hearing FTW