今週
Hello, World!
It's finals week! We all know what that means: Hell. But before I get to that, check this out:
Heck, yes! I've gotten perfect scores on my last two Japanese tests! I'm proud of myself, though it probably made me a little overconfident about my Japanese final, which I had today. It was hard. The listening was particularly EVIL ifficult. There was one portion on the listening in which there was a map with unnamed buildings, and we had to figure out and label which building was which by listening to the teacher's directions, (ex. "The hotel is next to the hospital, which is in front of the post office," but in Japanese, of course.) While the teacher was giving the directions, I felt the urge to yell, "I can't even do this in English, don't expect me to get this in Japanese!" That was the only part in which I simply had to guess. The other listening portions were fine, I feel okay about writing and grammar, I OWNED kanji, and I think I did fairly well on culture. Overall, I think I did okay, but I guess we'll see.
Thursday I have my Journalism exam, which isn't cumulative, THANK GOD. Thursday I also have to turn in a short story and a serious of edited poems to my Imaginative Writing teacher as my final exam, which is simple enough, I suppose. Friday is my International Studies final, which I'm terrified of. The class itself has been pretty easy, especially because exams were simply essays; I, a master bullshitter, am therefore good at essays. I somehow managed to pull an A on my world peace essay, even though I had less than an hour to write it. I didn't even have time to edit it. I'm still shocked I managed an such a good grade. Back to what I was saying, though: I'm terrified of my International Studies exam. Why? The most hellish, ambiguous multiple choice questions ever in existence. It's one of those "Which Answer Is the Most Correct"-type of tests. I'm not feeling so great about it.
Lately I've been thinking about switching over my minor from Asian Studies to International Studies. I like Asian Studies an' all, but I think I'd rather expand my knowledge of the world. I've realized that I actually really care about people, and I'm more than concerned about the well-being of our world. I think International Studies would help me more as a journalist than Asian Studies would, especially because I want to focus on international happenings. Recently I've gone from wanting to focus only in print journalism to wanting to do broadcast journalism, too. I want to make documentaries. I would love to work for PBS Frontline or National Geographic. Lately, Seth and I have even been talking about working together as a backpack journalism duo (if that makes any sense, as backpack journalism is sort of a "one-man band" type of thing) making documentaries about issues that we think are important. I really just want to help the world, and this is one of the best ways I can think of.
Along with some changes (kind of) in my life, not long ago I decided to stop working/writing Slipping Between My Fingers... at least for the time being. I realized that I've been forcing it the last couple of years, and it's time to take a break, because nothing substantial or worthwhile has come from it. I've decided to go back to my Original Story, which was lamely titled Millennium Star, then retitled Scars to Stars also lame). Besides realizin SBMF going nowhere, the reason I'm picking this story idea up again is because I am currently obsessed with stars, and the fact that everything we know is made of stardust. That thought gives me the warm and fuzzies. I am amazed how closely interconnected we are with our universe without realizing. Just knowing that our physical bodies were once part of a star (even several stars) gives me the sense that I truly am part of something infinitely larger than myself. In a cheesy way, it makes me feel kind of special.
Originally Scars to Stars was a, dare I say it, fanfiction (I'm sure it can be found somewhere online with lots of typos and grammar mistakes and shittiness galore!). I'm going to take out, you guessed it, Seto Kaiba, and put in some other character that has similar personality traits. I'm also going to replace the goofy magical girl thing goin' on with more cosmos-y, place-in-the-universe shit. And more than it being a goofy love story, I want to concentrate on character growth throughout the story. I've already written part of the first chapter, but it's not so great.
The holidays are here, and that means as soon as my last exam Friday is over with, I'm going home! My sister is also returning home from her semester abroad in China. I haven't seen her since mid-August, and I can't wait. She is my sister, after all, no matter how much she annoys me. I'll be so happy to see her! She seems to have had the best time of her life in China. It makes me want to go there--alas, my eyes are set on Japan. The summer after next I'm going on a five-week long study abroad trip in which I travel across Japan, sightseeing and experiencing the culture while taking a few classes. Then that fall I'm going back to study abroad for a whole year, most likely at Saitama University, but my other options are Hiroshima Jogakiun University in Hiroshima, obviously, and Nanzan University in Nagoya. I can't tell you which I'll pick in the end, but I think any will be fine.
While remaining on this topic, but also going back to the change in minors; I'm not sure if International Studies minors are even eligible to study in Japan. I think one must be either an Asian Studies major or minor in order to study abroad in Japan. If that's the case, I'm not sure what I'll do. D8
Also, I no longer have a paid lj account. ;__;
Happy Holidays!
It's finals week! We all know what that means: Hell. But before I get to that, check this out:
Heck, yes! I've gotten perfect scores on my last two Japanese tests! I'm proud of myself, though it probably made me a little overconfident about my Japanese final, which I had today. It was hard. The listening was particularly EVIL ifficult. There was one portion on the listening in which there was a map with unnamed buildings, and we had to figure out and label which building was which by listening to the teacher's directions, (ex. "The hotel is next to the hospital, which is in front of the post office," but in Japanese, of course.) While the teacher was giving the directions, I felt the urge to yell, "I can't even do this in English, don't expect me to get this in Japanese!" That was the only part in which I simply had to guess. The other listening portions were fine, I feel okay about writing and grammar, I OWNED kanji, and I think I did fairly well on culture. Overall, I think I did okay, but I guess we'll see.
Thursday I have my Journalism exam, which isn't cumulative, THANK GOD. Thursday I also have to turn in a short story and a serious of edited poems to my Imaginative Writing teacher as my final exam, which is simple enough, I suppose. Friday is my International Studies final, which I'm terrified of. The class itself has been pretty easy, especially because exams were simply essays; I, a master bullshitter, am therefore good at essays. I somehow managed to pull an A on my world peace essay, even though I had less than an hour to write it. I didn't even have time to edit it. I'm still shocked I managed an such a good grade. Back to what I was saying, though: I'm terrified of my International Studies exam. Why? The most hellish, ambiguous multiple choice questions ever in existence. It's one of those "Which Answer Is the Most Correct"-type of tests. I'm not feeling so great about it.
Lately I've been thinking about switching over my minor from Asian Studies to International Studies. I like Asian Studies an' all, but I think I'd rather expand my knowledge of the world. I've realized that I actually really care about people, and I'm more than concerned about the well-being of our world. I think International Studies would help me more as a journalist than Asian Studies would, especially because I want to focus on international happenings. Recently I've gone from wanting to focus only in print journalism to wanting to do broadcast journalism, too. I want to make documentaries. I would love to work for PBS Frontline or National Geographic. Lately, Seth and I have even been talking about working together as a backpack journalism duo (if that makes any sense, as backpack journalism is sort of a "one-man band" type of thing) making documentaries about issues that we think are important. I really just want to help the world, and this is one of the best ways I can think of.
Along with some changes (kind of) in my life, not long ago I decided to stop working/writing Slipping Between My Fingers... at least for the time being. I realized that I've been forcing it the last couple of years, and it's time to take a break, because nothing substantial or worthwhile has come from it. I've decided to go back to my Original Story, which was lamely titled Millennium Star, then retitled Scars to Stars also lame). Besides realizin SBMF going nowhere, the reason I'm picking this story idea up again is because I am currently obsessed with stars, and the fact that everything we know is made of stardust. That thought gives me the warm and fuzzies. I am amazed how closely interconnected we are with our universe without realizing. Just knowing that our physical bodies were once part of a star (even several stars) gives me the sense that I truly am part of something infinitely larger than myself. In a cheesy way, it makes me feel kind of special.
Originally Scars to Stars was a, dare I say it, fanfiction (I'm sure it can be found somewhere online with lots of typos and grammar mistakes and shittiness galore!). I'm going to take out, you guessed it, Seto Kaiba, and put in some other character that has similar personality traits. I'm also going to replace the goofy magical girl thing goin' on with more cosmos-y, place-in-the-universe shit. And more than it being a goofy love story, I want to concentrate on character growth throughout the story. I've already written part of the first chapter, but it's not so great.
The holidays are here, and that means as soon as my last exam Friday is over with, I'm going home! My sister is also returning home from her semester abroad in China. I haven't seen her since mid-August, and I can't wait. She is my sister, after all, no matter how much she annoys me. I'll be so happy to see her! She seems to have had the best time of her life in China. It makes me want to go there--alas, my eyes are set on Japan. The summer after next I'm going on a five-week long study abroad trip in which I travel across Japan, sightseeing and experiencing the culture while taking a few classes. Then that fall I'm going back to study abroad for a whole year, most likely at Saitama University, but my other options are Hiroshima Jogakiun University in Hiroshima, obviously, and Nanzan University in Nagoya. I can't tell you which I'll pick in the end, but I think any will be fine.
While remaining on this topic, but also going back to the change in minors; I'm not sure if International Studies minors are even eligible to study in Japan. I think one must be either an Asian Studies major or minor in order to study abroad in Japan. If that's the case, I'm not sure what I'll do. D8
Also, I no longer have a paid lj account. ;__;
Happy Holidays!