has it really been 3 years already? ^_^
i remember that it was around february to march three years ago when i started getting really interested in arashi. to be more accurate, it was around that time when i started downloading their songs and videos. by april, i chose an on-the-job training in school because it is a collaboration between our school and Japan Radio Co. yes, there is that "Japan" word so i chose it. april to may was when i discovered the fast internet connection in the research labs, unlike the slow connections in the openlabs. it made downloading all the more easier and fun. needless to say, i stayed in that lab for my thesis and spent my last year in college mostly downloading everything i can about arashi (and doing my thesis on the side XD). in my first year of arashi obsession, i was also able to make fans out of my two thesis-mates.
i graduated the next march, and then worried where i can get my downloads from then on since i still dont have a dsl connection at home during that time. by april i had decided to pursue masters studies in the same school, in the same thesis, and in the same lab. i have to admit now that the biggest come-on for me to get my MS was the internet connection, so that i can continue my arashi videos downloading. i just can't imagine life without arashi.
on my first year of MS, i managed to get an internship in SG. i lived there for 4 months, and those 4 months was a major catalyst for my arashi obsession. finally i can buy original, japan ed. singles! and there are magazines, too! and the singaporean fans are very active in lj, and it was so nice to know that there are a lot of fans like me in the same city! i started buying arashi stuffs online and in kino and hmv, and by the time i went back to my own country, i have an arashi collection that's already worth (for me) a small fortune.
my MS scholarship gave me an allowance that still allowed me to buy arashi singles online even back home. i have never missed buying the LE of all their recent singles, and if my budget allows, i buy the RE,too. when budget's tight, i ask my fellow arashi-fan-thesis-mate for help, and thankfully he fully understands my obsession. actually for the recent releases, i have to order for two copies because he wants his own copy, too!
it was in may last year when along with my thesis mates, i applied for the monbukagakusho scholarship. i didn't have any intentions of going for PhD at that time, but i tried anyways. i was very surprised when i passed the test and interview, and got recommended for the scholarship. seems like my dreams of seeing arashi in person can actually come true. shikashi!!! (dnoarashi style ^_^) i wasn't able to secure a letter of admission from any japanese university, and so there is a possibility that in the end i won't be given the scholarship. months of waiting followed, until december came and there's still no news. I checked the embassy's website and saw that the results will be known by february, so that's another two months of worrying for me. january came and i received an email from NAIST that a professor has already accepted me as his student but i will still have to wait for the final results from the embassy. i was relieved, at least there's some progress.
it's february now and i haven't heard from the embassy yet. HOWEVER, i received an email from Osaka University about my schedule for the language training this april! it seems like i really am japan-bound already!
in the words of yuckie-chan, "i am wherever i am now because of arashi" (or something like that). i can definitely say the same for myself. i have a future destination, and tracing back, i can see arashi at the root of it all. XD whatever challenges are ahead of me, i hope i can still enjoy the future because of arashi.
my three years of fandom was made possible by people who allowed me to "understand" arashi - the fansubbers! over the past three years, a lot of subbers came and went, and these times are like the golden times for arashi fansubbing because there are a lot of subbers contributing to the fandom. i am happy for that, we always say we gotta spread the JE love around. however, i feel like i have to specially mention several people who laid the foundations for me - nyanchan, yuckie-chan, techni-teddy, winky-chan, aatash, the earliest members of Stormy Team, xiaowanzi of arashian.com, i heart aiba of aibakaland, and many more. they made arashi's power all the more stronger. XD i should say, JE should be thankful to them for making Arashi and all the other JE-boys loved by international fans.
in retrospect, i'm glad that for the past three years i have been steadily moving forward. it's nice to know that arashi is part of the force that's pushing me on. it's a fandom that i'm proud of, and i hope that i can be a part of it for still many years to come.
p.s. to my cousins and sister - please don't tell my parents that i'm doing all this 'studying' because of arashi. as i said, arashi is just "part of it" ^_~
i graduated the next march, and then worried where i can get my downloads from then on since i still dont have a dsl connection at home during that time. by april i had decided to pursue masters studies in the same school, in the same thesis, and in the same lab. i have to admit now that the biggest come-on for me to get my MS was the internet connection, so that i can continue my arashi videos downloading. i just can't imagine life without arashi.
on my first year of MS, i managed to get an internship in SG. i lived there for 4 months, and those 4 months was a major catalyst for my arashi obsession. finally i can buy original, japan ed. singles! and there are magazines, too! and the singaporean fans are very active in lj, and it was so nice to know that there are a lot of fans like me in the same city! i started buying arashi stuffs online and in kino and hmv, and by the time i went back to my own country, i have an arashi collection that's already worth (for me) a small fortune.
my MS scholarship gave me an allowance that still allowed me to buy arashi singles online even back home. i have never missed buying the LE of all their recent singles, and if my budget allows, i buy the RE,too. when budget's tight, i ask my fellow arashi-fan-thesis-mate for help, and thankfully he fully understands my obsession. actually for the recent releases, i have to order for two copies because he wants his own copy, too!
it was in may last year when along with my thesis mates, i applied for the monbukagakusho scholarship. i didn't have any intentions of going for PhD at that time, but i tried anyways. i was very surprised when i passed the test and interview, and got recommended for the scholarship. seems like my dreams of seeing arashi in person can actually come true. shikashi!!! (dnoarashi style ^_^) i wasn't able to secure a letter of admission from any japanese university, and so there is a possibility that in the end i won't be given the scholarship. months of waiting followed, until december came and there's still no news. I checked the embassy's website and saw that the results will be known by february, so that's another two months of worrying for me. january came and i received an email from NAIST that a professor has already accepted me as his student but i will still have to wait for the final results from the embassy. i was relieved, at least there's some progress.
it's february now and i haven't heard from the embassy yet. HOWEVER, i received an email from Osaka University about my schedule for the language training this april! it seems like i really am japan-bound already!
in the words of yuckie-chan, "i am wherever i am now because of arashi" (or something like that). i can definitely say the same for myself. i have a future destination, and tracing back, i can see arashi at the root of it all. XD whatever challenges are ahead of me, i hope i can still enjoy the future because of arashi.
my three years of fandom was made possible by people who allowed me to "understand" arashi - the fansubbers! over the past three years, a lot of subbers came and went, and these times are like the golden times for arashi fansubbing because there are a lot of subbers contributing to the fandom. i am happy for that, we always say we gotta spread the JE love around. however, i feel like i have to specially mention several people who laid the foundations for me - nyanchan, yuckie-chan, techni-teddy, winky-chan, aatash, the earliest members of Stormy Team, xiaowanzi of arashian.com, i heart aiba of aibakaland, and many more. they made arashi's power all the more stronger. XD i should say, JE should be thankful to them for making Arashi and all the other JE-boys loved by international fans.
in retrospect, i'm glad that for the past three years i have been steadily moving forward. it's nice to know that arashi is part of the force that's pushing me on. it's a fandom that i'm proud of, and i hope that i can be a part of it for still many years to come.
p.s. to my cousins and sister - please don't tell my parents that i'm doing all this 'studying' because of arashi. as i said, arashi is just "part of it" ^_~