I'm taking a break from study for my test of Tuesday to write a little.

Hello.

I haven't felt like journaling recently because I've been so busy. I have class everyday until 5:20 and then I go home, and spend around three hours with my host family and then three hours on homework and internet time, and then go to sleep. No matter how tiring, this has all been really worth it.

My only issue is recently the one year old keeps CRYING and he won't STOP. I swear, the past three days he's cried more than he's slept. I don't know what's wrong with him.. he's been kinda sick so he'll cough for really long periods of time at night. He hits his mom a lot when he's fussy and I feel so bad for her... she's so patient with him.

Speaking of my host mom, i LOVE her. We watch Mei-Chan no Shitsuji together (new Drama based off of shoujou manga) and swoon over Mizushima Hiro together. We exchange really interesting stories and she's always willing to speak slowly with me and explain things to me whenever I need it. The five year old has been fine. He's waayyyy talkative and has been reading me his dino and bug books recently. Then tonight, he tried to get me to play this game with him... his explanation made no sense, seriously. I had to put powerranger cards on these lego blocks or something... dunno.

Next week is spring break, and I'm excited for it! I get to spend some time with stefan and we're gonna go to Koya san to see the buddhist temples and then go around to Osaka's sites. After, on the 18th, I'm going to Miyazaki with my hostfamily and then to Kagoshima with them too for a wedding. I'm super stoked. Kyushu is GORGEOUS and the cherry blossoms will be blooming and it'll be warm and tropical there. We also get to go to this amazing hot spring and I get to see the ocean~ AHHH! <3

The weather has been nice here, kinda cold... whenever it snows all the australians go nuts because they've never seen snow before. lol us from the northern USA and canada are always like "BAH, we've seen enough effing snow.."

Other than that, life has been pretty typical I think. I've gotten used to riding my bike on the other side of the road everyday, and the Kansai ben is really nothing to scream about.. although I do love まいど！ and　ほんま！ My host family is not from Osaka so they don't speak it (host mommy is from Kagoshima, daddy from Miyazaki) but my speaking partner does and it throughs me off every once in a while.... (with all those hen's and crap).'

END

OMG I NEED THIS NOW:

http://www.amazon.com/Pressman-Toys-4123-04-Office-Game/dp/B001543B3S/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1227631341&sr=8-1

AND THIS:

http://www.amazon.com/Pressman-Toys-4123-04-Office-Game/dp/B001543B3S/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1227631341&sr=8-1

RULES:

-Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered...whatever you're comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

-If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

-Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ, or link to this post (it'll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.

-Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:

-If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free - do it.

You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call. There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just... wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

The List:

1. For my dad to get a job. Yeah, if that were as easy as wishing for it, that'd of happened a long time ago.

2. Someone to tell me they enjoy me as a person or friend. People here at school have been especially grating recently. I don't feel like I belong sometimes. It really sucks and I wish things would go back to the way they used to be.

3. To get a letter with cute stickers on it. Letters make me feel special lol. Especially when someone wastes their cute stickers on me.

4. A plushie of one of my characters. I feel so out of touch with most of my characters... school has been all consuming. It makes me laugh whenever I see my little kuu stuffed guy on my desk.

5. Vitamin PH. That's a photo book, filled with the most influential photographers from the last 5 years. AWESOME.

6. How I Met Your Mother seasons 2 and 3. AUGH DVD box sets! So expensive but I want them... lol

7. Art. Art is also all-consuming, so seeing more of it makes me happy, especially when its not my own.

8. A visit from friends. :< This summer sucked, and I'm going to Japan next semester, after only 2 weeks of a winter break. I hope someone can come visit me.. Edit: (this may have to include a trip to indian food and/or mitsuwa)

9. 30 Rock Season 2. Selfish DVD wanting. :< bad me.

10. Hugs and/or something to take with me to japan next semester to make me think of you. 8D




In other news, I won the 2D portion of our school's Juried art school with a series of photos I did.

Man, it's been 24 weeks since I last posted in here. That is a freakish amount of time. This semester has gone by really fast and has been, by far, the most work-intensive semester ever.

I'm kinda nervous/excited for the test I'm taking in December. The Japanese Language Proficiency Test number 3. Oh man. I've been studying soooo hard this semester for it, if I don't do well, I feel like my teacher will commit seppuku. She has given a ridiculous amount of time to helping me study for this test.

The end. Off to write my Japanese journal.

P.S: HAS ANYONE BEEN WATCHING THE OFFICE?! the last two episodes were FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC.

guh. not only am i sitting around while this world is going to SHIT, but i can't get a freaking JOB. I NEED A JOB. I need to pay to go to japan next semester!!!!!!! X<

I got a bunch of japan pictures printed from kodak online and it was awesomely cheap. 27 for 248 pictures. 10 cents a picture was the memorial day deal. pretty sweet.

I really want to see the Sex and the City movie. :

Ick... all of a sudden last night I got sick and cold and I just rolled around in my bed for hours and had trippy thoughts at 5 in the morning. then I took Tylenol at 7:45 so I'm feeling that fake, drugged up, better. It sucks because EVERYONE is gone this weekend. caitlin went to new york, melis has recording and her formal, other people are going home or going on brotherhood events. I all by my sick lonesome. :< and i wanted to do laundry and work out... office time.

Had my mandatory critique for art today. :P We stayed around for 2.5 hours to talk about everyone's art (4 majors, 1 major that's a junior) and 3 teachers. I went first. It was kinda nerve wracking.

TWO MOVIES I SUGGEST!!!! D.O.A (because it's AWESOMELY bad) and Fido! It's a zombie movie that's really funny and totally worth watching. Ask if you wanna know more. But I totally think anyone would love it. 8D

ああ。。ねたいよ。：＜　今日はびじゅつのしゅっぴんがあります。私のしゃしんを見せる。今しゅまつはいそがしかったです。金曜日はパーテイに行きましたから、セイントパトリックの日があります。たのしかったです。たくさんの人が来ました。でも、私の友達が病気になったので、いっしょにルーシーに帰りました。ブラクーくんはとても元気でした。わるかったです。。。そして、五時ごろねました。ざねんですよ。さあ。明日は雨がふるかな。。。

So..my freaking computer cord melted at a crucial part and now it will barely charge my mac. Luckily, I heard that that is a design flaw that they recognize, which means that my applecare should cover getting a new one. SOO, next week when I'm home I'll try to get my mac-y re-cased and a new cord for him. :D YAY! SPRING BREAK STARTS FRIDAY!!!!

Omg, so last night at freaking 4:30 in the MORNING, someone decided to play with the fire extinguisher and allow the fire alarm to go off so we ALL had to stand out side in the freezing cold and I had SHORTS on because I wanted to get our of there ASAP. GRRRR assholes!

今日はいい天気でした。晴れのち雨になりました。朝、ジュリアンでラブに行きました。やさしでした。ラブのあとに昼ご飯を食べに行きました。ラビオリを食べられました。くにがまえをべんきょしたり、しゃしんをとるのじゅぎょうに行きました。たのしですから、たくさんしゃしんを作りました。私はしゃしんをとるの大好きですけど、じゅぎょうは短いです。ざねんですよ。長い時間にしゃしんをとりたいよ。今、くにがまえをべきょうしたい。”君はべんきょうしたほうがいいですよ。”ボオくんと言いました。でも、べんきょうするのと思います。ぜんぶをおぼいていません。じゅようなじょほうはおぼいたい。終わる〜

Okay. That was just for fun and for practice, so i'm not looking for corrections, for those who see any... i want to do this more often. Just kinda talk about my day in japanese a little and then say whatever else I need to. Anywho. like I said, I GOTTA STUDY!

No, but really. This weekend has been AWESOME. Friday, we all drove down to Martinsville to test for Yellow Stripe in Tae Kwon Do and PASSED. Which, in retrospect is an obvious step but it's always so nerve-wracking to do. Then, Saturday I saw Vantage Point, which was really GOOD. I recommend! (Although the ending was a teensy bit cheesy, it was really intense up till then) Then Chels came and we played Melee and watched Meet The Robinsons and went out for Mexican~ Yum. Then, at 11:45 me, chels, stefan, and shep went to Blockbuster and bought BRAWL and played until 4 in the morning (which wasn't THAT hard considering we lost an hour in the process). Then this morning we chilled and had brunch and played gameboy and interneted until after D-Chi's chapter meeting and we went over to Senior Hall to set up for our super NERD party of Brawl. Which is going on RIGHT NOW. We have 17 people here in a basement playing two games of Brawl (so 8 people at a time) and eatting Marvins and being awesome. It is a well executed nerd party. I am so excited to actually have this go through!

Anywho. This is what I'm going to be doing ALL WEEK (since brock's coming and stefan's friends as well next weekend). And my spring break, in case anyone needs to know, is good friday till easter sunday! WHOO!!!

I just find this funny, but because I work with printing services, I have an 'in' with the help desk (which is where you get your id printed) and I can get it printed as many times as I want, in different poses and colors and ahahaha XD amusing. I got a new one just now but because I'm doing laundry, I'm wearing my juno shirt (which is white) so I kind of drown in the white of my shirt and the white of my background. BUT i'll go get another fun one some time. heeeee 8D

OMG i'm at work and i'm BORED and my stomach is making burble noises. 8<

But I did get to eat a chicken enchilada. Yum.

Yup. The former Prime Minister came to speak at our school today. I think the only good thing (that wasn't rather generic) that he said, was: "I was having a press conference with the French Prime Minister in French (which he preceded with that he wasn't the BEST at French) and someone asked me if I wanted to emulate the French Prime Minister's Policies and what I wanted to say was 'Yes, I desire to emulate the Prime Minister's many Policys' but instead said 'Yes, I desire the Prime Minister in many positions'"

Pretty funny.

But really. Waiting in the FREEZING RAIN for 50 min was not awesome. What else wasn't awesome, was waiting two hours for him to speak, because they closed the doors an hour before he started. BOO.

Today has been the nicest day since fall. People are walking around with sandals and shorts. It's gorgeous. I really love this weather. It's the not-too-hot-not-too-cold weather that makes me really feel like accomplishing things. This winter has been so depressingly cold. I just want to sit inside and sleep because I never seem to have enough layers on to stay warm. Right now though, I really feel like school has started and I want to learn. Weird.

Saw the Opera today. I've never been a huge fan of the play-within-a-play but it was pretty good. 8D

I think that the pens that work the best are the pens you steal off of a desk or find on the floor somewhere. hehe.

I'm actually doing a follow-up on this.

It was fun and an interesting experience indeed. For yellow belts, there were A TON of girls, while only 4 guys (and 2 of them were from our club) so it wasn't as hard for Stefan and Ian to place as it was for me. I didn't place in forms (i did our tough one. the Chung-dou ii-don) and I lost in my first round of sparring. It kinda sucked, I was up against this girl who had a weird way of blocking... she'd run at you with her arms straight down in front of her and half of the time she was trying to push me out of the ring. I guess the score was pretty close because the girl who coached me said so and so did rob. The thing that really sucked is when I kicked and my foot got kinda stuck under her arm and it twisted and I had to pause the match for a few seconds to collect myself. It wasn't the same after that, and my ankle really got in the way for the rest of the match. :< But I'll go to another tournament. I'm really proud of Stefan though. He got 1st place in forms and got 3rd in sparring. ^^ <3 good times.

After all that at IU we went out for Korean food with everyone and we got to watch Seig's adorable son play with his sticky rice (he's like 2 or 3) and try to stick chop sticks into seig's drink. 8D Fun day. it is now time to take a BREATHER and chill with a movie.

But before I get off, I must say. I saw Fools Gold last night. It's not really worth seeing, in my opinion. I guess it was worth the dollar but.... >__> kinda lame. It was funny at parts but then they DID NOT take death seriously, AT ALL. This guy BLOWS UP and it's used as comic relief. And it's not like a bomb blow up. He get's crushed and mangled in a dangerous cave near a coast where water crashes against sharp rocks and shoots out like a blow hole. it was a little terrifying.... the end.

The 29th! Oh No! IT DOESN"T EXIST THREE OUT OF FOUR TIMES!

Tomorrow is our TKD tourny. WHEEE!

I forgot a few things. I was gonna post this song for Chels: Love Song

And also, I was listening to the juno soundtrack and so... here are too songs from juno: All I Want Is You This is the song from the opening.
and Vampire for Keithy. 8D ahaha. so silly.

This is my favorite season of all. Winter? You ask. NO. CADBURY SEASON. 8D



This is the cutest thing at my desk right now, btw.





ANd this is my lovely bruise. YUMMY. I don't know if I'll be able to go to the freaking tournament still. :< It hurt like a bitch today and it was rainy and slushy outside too.

I fell really bad on my foot the other day while doing a switch kick in Tae Kwon Do. It made a huge cracking noise... and I probably won't get to play in the tournament next Saturday.... 8<
I got an x-ray and they wrapped it up. ALSO, on a more exciting note, I got to run my FIRST figure drawing session tonight. It was fun. We had three other people there to draw and then we got to go to Jazz at the duck to watch Brett and Austin~ It was fun. We played a trivia game and ate spin dip.

now I feel icky. Night.

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=E68D381D56B95DC1

Link to song, since I forgot how to make a link right now. It's from Across the Universe. They sang it during the grammies last night.

BOREING. I'm just copying CDs of pictures right now and doing homework. :< Dull Dull Dull. I want mini corndogs. Gurhg. Tomorrow is lame because I get up for two hours of work, go to three hours of class, and come back for four hours of work before my day is ended. 8P

I bought my spiffy tae kwon do patches today so my uniform doesn't look quite so lame and rejected. Whoo. I really need to go to the bank so I can send a letter to nihon and a thing into TeenVogue so I can get a subscription. It's only 10 bucks for 2 years. I figure that's worth it to see a bunch of cute clothes. Anyone know what postage is these days? I thought it was like... 41 cents. I have some 39's I'm pretty sure won't cut it.

I really want a stuffed animal that works as a light up speaker. 8< Caitlin has one. They're called iflops. They go crazy with lights on their headphones and play music decently loud. Oh! And she downloaded this neat program where you can DJ with your own music and do all these neat effects and stuff. She used it for the rave last Friday. It was pretty pro. 8D