*wheeze*
I did it! I finally finished that bugger of an Environmental Politics paper that plagued me all weekend long. I also gave my last oral presentation for my language class today, which means, in case you're keeping score, that I am finished with two of my four classes this term. Tomorrow, I will give my final oral presentation for yet another class, at which point I will only have my gender studies seminar essay left to write.
And, exactly one week from today, I will be on a plane headed home, to Portland. Did I mention that?
What this means is that I'm close. What this means is that I'm not even near to being ready to leave. The spectre of this gender studies essay has been plaguing me all term long. My professor told me that the paper should be "as long as it takes" to make my point, which I would like to believe means that if I write a concise, well-argued 5-page paper, I will get an A on it. However, we are talking about a professor who wrote a doctoral dissertation that is 700 pages long, and who still didn't manage to say all the things she wanted to say in that space. I don't think concise is going to cut it with this professor.
Not to mention all the practical things I have to do on top of that. I'm going home early today (which, by "early," I mean "before 11 p.m.") so I can start packing up my room. I have to get my suitcases ready by Friday so the moving company can send them to the airport, and figure out which of my precious manga are not coming back with me in my suitcase, and put the things I can't send back with me in boxes to be mailed. I have to close my bank account, cancel my cell phone service, pay the last of my health insurance, and send my alien registration card back in. I have to hope the money my parents sent me gets here in time to do all of this. And all this on top of that blasted gender studies paper, and wanting to see my friends before I go, and... argh! it's just too frustrating.
What I dislike about this program (and oh, there are so many things) is that it gives you no time to relax after you're done studying. If I were in charge of this program, I would arrange it such that classes would have ended... oh, about two weeks ago. That would give the students all the time they needed to pack up, tie up loose ends, and spend the last days of their time in Japan in the company of their friends and host families. But no, that is not what I get. All my work is due on Friday, then I have to wake up on Saturday morning for the graduation ceremony, then I have two days (during which, I might add, the banks, post offices, and government offices are closed, and therefore not available for necessary business transactions) to get all the logistical and emotional things done, and then BAM! off I go.
Annie, I don't know if Wednesday will work. I'll probably need to use the spare time to run errands and do academic work. If things look up, I'll let you know. Otherwise... it's not ideal, but... perhaps at some point on the weekend? You probably couldn't come to the graduation ceremony on Saturday, but maybe to my program's farewell party around noonish, and then we could do some afternoon hanging out? I'll keep you posted. =/
I have some other, deeper things floating around in my head-- more reflective thoughts on the end of my stay here in Japan-- but I really need to get off this computer and get home, and at the moment I just want to update and vent about all the shit I have to get done. Look for something a little more substantial later this week.
And, exactly one week from today, I will be on a plane headed home, to Portland. Did I mention that?
What this means is that I'm close. What this means is that I'm not even near to being ready to leave. The spectre of this gender studies essay has been plaguing me all term long. My professor told me that the paper should be "as long as it takes" to make my point, which I would like to believe means that if I write a concise, well-argued 5-page paper, I will get an A on it. However, we are talking about a professor who wrote a doctoral dissertation that is 700 pages long, and who still didn't manage to say all the things she wanted to say in that space. I don't think concise is going to cut it with this professor.
Not to mention all the practical things I have to do on top of that. I'm going home early today (which, by "early," I mean "before 11 p.m.") so I can start packing up my room. I have to get my suitcases ready by Friday so the moving company can send them to the airport, and figure out which of my precious manga are not coming back with me in my suitcase, and put the things I can't send back with me in boxes to be mailed. I have to close my bank account, cancel my cell phone service, pay the last of my health insurance, and send my alien registration card back in. I have to hope the money my parents sent me gets here in time to do all of this. And all this on top of that blasted gender studies paper, and wanting to see my friends before I go, and... argh! it's just too frustrating.
What I dislike about this program (and oh, there are so many things) is that it gives you no time to relax after you're done studying. If I were in charge of this program, I would arrange it such that classes would have ended... oh, about two weeks ago. That would give the students all the time they needed to pack up, tie up loose ends, and spend the last days of their time in Japan in the company of their friends and host families. But no, that is not what I get. All my work is due on Friday, then I have to wake up on Saturday morning for the graduation ceremony, then I have two days (during which, I might add, the banks, post offices, and government offices are closed, and therefore not available for necessary business transactions) to get all the logistical and emotional things done, and then BAM! off I go.
Annie, I don't know if Wednesday will work. I'll probably need to use the spare time to run errands and do academic work. If things look up, I'll let you know. Otherwise... it's not ideal, but... perhaps at some point on the weekend? You probably couldn't come to the graduation ceremony on Saturday, but maybe to my program's farewell party around noonish, and then we could do some afternoon hanging out? I'll keep you posted. =/
I have some other, deeper things floating around in my head-- more reflective thoughts on the end of my stay here in Japan-- but I really need to get off this computer and get home, and at the moment I just want to update and vent about all the shit I have to get done. Look for something a little more substantial later this week.