I got three postcards today and they SERIOUSLY could not have come on any better day!
1. Last night was intense for several reasons.
2. I've felt sick since last night...and today isn't any better.
3. I'm overwhelmed with school work.
4. Friend drama. Gross.
And to top it all off...
5. Today in class some guy did his presentation about suicide in Japan. Very depressing...but to make it worse, he showed a clip from the Japanese movie "Suicide Club" where about 10 school kids are shown excitedly jumping off the roof of their school to their deaths just because they thought it'd be fun. It was actually really graphic too. Yeah. That was terrible.
I think retelling that is making me feel sicker.
Anyways, then after that class, I went down to the mailboxes and checked my mail box and I had gotten a post card from Erika (my love!...sending me THREE postcards in one week!!), Kersten (from her NY missions trip), and Ann (of hello kitty sitting by a windmill...how perfect). I read each one like 5 times and just laughed at Ann getting grossed out by the thought of gyoza and pina coladas together...hahaha. A bit of home was just what I needed today.
Sunday, April 22, 2007 - "Whatever, man!"
School work has taken me over...and despite having all day today to work, I didn't get much done. Whoops. Umm...but I DID get to watch an episode of LOST and I discovered my new favorite quote.
"Let's look death in the face and say, 'Whatever, man!'" - Hurley
Hurley's my favorite. He's everyone's hope all the time. Yay!
Ok, time for bed for Claudia....that way I can get up tomorrow and work hard before another group meeting!! Ahh!
p.s. Thanks Abby for the music...love it.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Jeez. I practically had to prepare myself to write this entry. I feel like I haven't written anything of any real interest in quite sometime...so I figured I owed it to whoever actually cares to actually write something more substanstial. Yeah, pretty much since spring break I haven't really said a lot about what I've been up to here. Honestly, it's not much. All I've really been doing is hanging around...I'm super stressed with school work (classes that don't even matter). But I've been able to do at least one or two fun Japanese-y things since spring break.
A couple of weekends ago, my friends and I went to the Miyako Odori which is the traditional sakura (cherry blossoms) dance. I absolutely LOVED it! It is most definitely one of the best things I've ever seen/done in Japan...EVER.
Hmm...that same weekend was when I went to that club, which I lovingly call "Club Drama" now. It was an alright time, but like I said...too much high school drama, crying, and sketchy guys. I said I'd never go back, BUT ugh. Last night (Friday night) our friend Drea, who couldn't go last time, decided that we'd have a huge group head out to the same club again. Super. I really really was not wanting to go...mainly because I was so dead tired yesterday for some reason. And I really did not have a good time until about 15 mins before the night was over (sooo around 4:45am).
Hmm...what else...what else...I'm pretty ready to go home still. I'm having fun...going to Kobe again tomorrow which I am SOO HAPPY about! I love that city so much.
I'm running low on funds...well really I'm not completely broke, but I don't want to spend every single yen I brought...I need SOMETHING for this summer. At least, before I start working 2 jobs all summer long. I need to pay off my laptop to my parents and start saving for...other...things...I guess. I just need money.
Hmm...like I said, I'm at a loss. My words aren't coming as easily lately. I guess a lot more is going on than I'd want to write about on this public journal. I haven't even written in my own journal for the past month pretty much either. And I hate that....sooo much. Tomorrow, in Kobe, my plan is to catch up on what I can, but it's still not the same. There's another regret to add to the list. (Not as big a deal as other things though)
Oh! I could write about my skit/role play! Well....for Japanese we had to write a skit (in Japanese of course) and perform it for class. My group's skit took place in Tokyo Disneyland (guess who thought of that!!). It was HILARIOUS! Well, at least it was hilarious for those people that actually understood it. Most people just tuned out. But ours was pretty easy to follow. Two people went to Tokyo Disney for a date because the girl really wanted a picture with Mickey...they got there and had to buy tickets (from me...sooo funny...you'd only understand the humor in this part if you knew how store clerks and people like that speak in this country....hahaha....i'm a master at the "irassyaimase" voice....oh man)....and on and on...they ended up standing in line for Pirates of the Caribbean for a really long time, and in that time I (playing a different annoying little girl) taught the girl a dance from High School Musical. Then I took them on It's a Small World...and sang the whole song, of course, in Japanese. Then...in the end they got away from me (they hated me for taking them on It's a Small World), and they found Mickey (me, again). Anyways, it was cute. And really funny. And it was even better considering I had a girl that's afraid to perform and a guy who is ultra shy and normally talks in a whisper practically in class. They both were awesome! We had to vote for best skit and best actor/actress. A couple of people said they voted for me...but another girl won for her role in her skit that they videotaped. It was funny. My teacher, though, wrote on my critique sheet that I was her favorite actress. Cool.
Then for one of my psych classes, we had to write a role play and have it include a bunch of different topics that we talked about in class throughout the semester. It was kinda difficult coming up with an idea for the setting and plot...to include all of the different topics it was gonna be kinda choppy and weird anyways. We ended up deciding on doing an Olympics themed role play. It turned out to be really really funny. We had a bunch of little scenes, but before hand we were supposed to introduce who our character is thoughout the whole thing and tell about what topic we would be displaying. We all played different people/countries throughout the skit, so I just decided to become a news reporter/commentator to introduce each scene. hahah....I just randomly decided on a Minnesota accent and it turned out really well. My teacher was rolling with laughter!! Plus all of our scenes were just great! Opening ceremonies, Tennis (Japan v Denmark), Women's weight lifting & Men's figure skating (with reactions from a multicultural audience...Japan, USA, and the newly formed country of the Pacific Ocean...haha), Triathlon (Japan & USA in particular), Breakdancing!, and then the closing ceremonies. It was fun...and considering we practiced only one time, it ended up really good. So yay.
Ok. That was a lot of words. Sorry for the boring entry. My life isn't as exciting as you'd think it'd be here in Japan. Hopefully I'll get some Kobe pics up soon from tomorrow.
Have a fabulous weekend. Happiness to all of you that are just about finished with the semester! Good luck on final exams and papers!!!
Monday, April 30, 2007
oh em gee.
i'm currently avoiding a paper.
i already wrote one today.
but i can't get motivated to finish this other one.
ughhhhhhhhhhh
i want to go to bed.
but it's only 10:21.
did i eat dinner?
no.
i had ice cream with leah though.
she made me.
i need to finish this paper.
oh!
in other news.
i'm going to tokyo again.
akiko is coming home for a few weeks.
and since i won't see her again until january,
i'm going to see her.
and
of course
we're going to go to
TOKYO DISNEY
again.
yay.
i told her we have to.
i can't wait to see her.
SOMEONE FROM HOME!
even though it'll be about 10 days before i go home.
i'll take what i can get.
maybe i'll actually see mercedes this time too.
hmmmmm
i'm so excited for next semester.
yay.
oooo
and orientation is gonna be awesome.
happy.
i went to kobe yesterday.
There was some kinda rowing competition going on...intense. It was kinda cool to see loads of people gathered there to watch though. They had men's and women's...but the women only rowed one way and then they pulled them back to the starting line....what?!? Haha.
Umm...yeah and there was this dancing festival thing going on at the pier. We never really figured out what it was...but Leah and I were doing the dance along with them while we were watching and then some old man told the dancers to pull us out on the dancing area...it was pretty funny. The dance was freaking easy, but they kept trying to teach us. Haha. Good times.
so that was fun.
i love kobe.
like i've said.
hm...
back to my paper?
maybe.
blahhh
i just need to finish it.
and then i can just relax the rest of this week.
i'm going to the beach with my home-visit family on friday.
and spending the night at their house on thursday night.
it should be fun.
i'm kinda eh about spending the night there first.
but i've done it before
with more awkward people
so it'll be fine.
i'm sure.
so
my roommate's been gone for the past few days.
i love it.
i love having the room to myself.
i really like my roommate,
but
it's just nice to have a room to yourself,
ya know?
yeah.
i can't believe tomorrow is may.
one month until i'm home.
from today.
may 30th...
ahh.
i just need to get this junk done first.
and then i can think about that.
soooo
yeah.
speaking of getting things done...
i'll change the subject.
i had a dance break by myself today
to pump myself up.
n'sync 'i want you back'.
it did the trick for my first paper.
i tried again after ice cream with leah.
it didn't work that time.
i've written 2 pages,
but
i've only answered 1 of 5 questions.
technically this paper is due tomorrow,
but
he said we could turn it in on wednesday
since he won't even look at them tomorrow night.
i still want to have it done.
that way i won't have to feel pressed for time
like i do right now.
haha
ok
the weather is amazing here right now.
70s
and not humid.
yet.
yay.
i'm cherishing the weather
while i still can.
ok
this has gotten long.
hope you liked reading.
i'm gonna go try to get motivated.
the end.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Let's all be friends. We're all connected anyways. Everyone and their mom is stressed. So let's have a stress party! Wee!
I'm hosting it...at my place...tonight. Be there. Come over anytime! The door's open!
Bring a dish to share.
There will be games.
Sunday, May 06, 2007 - Looong.
Ok, well I got a request for an update on my life...soooooooo here it is!!!!
A close and intimate look at Claudia's life currently...taken from her personal journal...with all the personal stuff taken out! Woo! (P.S. It's random...just like my thoughts normally)
May 2, 2007
So weird that it's May. And I'm mad that I let my journal go this long without updating. I have more on xanga and lj than in my journal...
I think I'm getting really tired of being here. I'd rather stay in my room or hang out around town by myself than do anything with the huge group anymore. Maybe I'm just tired of them. I know I still feel out of their loop - uninvited to things - except only by Leah. Blah.
Apparently Amy and Katie (Orientation directors) still need like 20 more OAs...so Abby and I took charge and started inviting loads of people and making an OA event. Haha. I hope more people join. I know Colin is gonna do it! So yay! I hope we get more people!
I can't wait to go home and see people and have it be ok to hang out by myself...in my room...or cook in my kitchen or hang out with my mom. Go shopping - in a car! Shopping with my non-existant money...
I'm sick of being looked at like a novelty here in Japan. Japanese people don't look and STARE at each other, but they STARE at us. ugh.
I made myself some gyoza last night to celebrate being done with a psych paper. Only 5 more papers before the end of the semester! Jeez...that's so many...blah.
I'm meeting Adam tonight. I dunno what we're gonna do, but I need him to sign a statement saying I can have my housing deposit put into his account here. But we'll hang out too. I duno what we're doing, but we're meeting at Kyobashi and then doing something. Probably dinner or something.
OMG! Akiko is coming home to Chiba for a couple weeks and I'm gonna go see her!! I'm gonna get up there - somehow - and SEE HER!!!! And go to Tokyo Disneyland again. Yay! I can't wait! Hopefully I can stay at her house, but if not, I'd stay at Sakura or something. I just can't wait to see her! Someone else that I know and that I know loves me!
Soo...Leah's really braggy...but tries to act like she's just throwing random facts out - like, "Yeah, I did this and then like immediately like 4 people wrote back and were saying how they're so impressed with this and that and that I'm so great and I was like, 'Thanks.'" Ha. But seriously - that's pretty much verbatim something she said to me yesterday. Sick of it.
Gotta go to class.
May 3, 2007
I'm on my way to Shizuka's house (home visit fam) for the night and then we're going to the beach tomorrow! I really hope it's warm like today. It's soo nice out! Yay!
I would have been with Leah and all the girls going to "Orange County" as I call it. It's the orange capitol of Japan with onsen (public baths) and other cool things. Unfortunately they didn't invite me until they had already made the reservations - and I had just confirmed with Shizuka. Oh well. I like being away from them right now. I'm sick of Leah and tired of the group. Time away will be good.
Woo! I'm lucky I got a seat on this train. It's from Tennoji to Shizuka's house...because it's golden week everyone is out doing things. So it's crazy busy! The park outside of the sem house was full of families - it looked so fun! Just to lay out there...I will once school's out. Soon soon!
I'm ready to go HOME! Can't wait!
So I'm really sick of all the people here staring at me. And they don't stop until I stare right back at them. And I do. I just did it on the train to this station. But SERIOUSLY PEOPLE!
Omg. I'm tired.
Last night was so fun! I went and hung out with Adam in Kyobashi. Neither of us had been. I bought him his dinner for his bday. We had okonomiyaki, beer, and chu-hi. It was sooo good! We just talked and hung out - then I wanted to do purikura with him...so we DID and they're SO FUNNY!
Wow. I got here fast today. My host mom won’t be picking me up for another 1/2 hr. Oops! I’ll write on the platform.
K, here I am. Totally a 1/2 hr early…I’m awesome. I didn’t get lost at all this time! Omg, it’s so nice out! I’m sitting here, eating pocky, writing and drinking water and it’s just great! Ahh…
I wonder what we’re gonna do tonight…I brought my laptop so I can show them pics and play them music and stuff.
Colin’s in Osaka. I have a feeling I’m not gonna get to see him though. L Unless on Saturday I get back from my Buddhism field trip early. I hope so! He’s gonna be an OA!! Because I asked him to!!!
So Sam’s being awesome and picking up Abby and my stuff from the basement of Pieters for us! She’s the best!
What else is there to talk about for 10 mins?…think think think…umm, ok, well I guess I’ve got nothing. I’ll have to pack up now and go meet Mrs. Shizuka’s mom. Ha…no clue what her name is. Sister = Eri, dog = Irina, mom and dad = ?? Ha! Oh well!
WISH ME LUCK!
Guess what…I was supposed to get here at 6:00 NOT 5:00 – so I’m stuck here for an extra hour to wait! Oops again! Haha…I just went exploring a bit and I think I’m gonna buy Mrs. Shizuka’s mom some flowers. They’re cheap and really pretty. So yay! Uh oh. I think taxi man thinks I need a ride – whoops. Haha…I keep messing up! At least most of the time it’s funny….
Oh journal. You’ve missed all my ups and downs here…When I reread I’m gonna wonder what I missed! Happy about miyako odori – the cheery blossom dance – probably one of the best, if not THE BEST, thing I’ve done in Japan. It was beautiful, I could understand some of it – it was just so cool! Plus it was gorgeous out!…
Umm…we went to PURE again. That night Alex broke up with reindeer before she even left the sem house. Ugh. Then she was trashed before she even came and then just fell all over the place and cried. I was so over it. So yeah…that was the whole night at PURE. I just didn’t want to be there. It was stupid. I’m not going back again. Wasted night. Seriously. Not my idea of a good time. I’ll do karaoke with people that like to sing and have fun = Nico, etc – but not crabby girls. So yeah. No more wasting $$.
On that note, I’m gonna go get flowers and wait! Bye!
May 4, 2007
That was SO much fun! Last night went well with just me, Eri, and Mrs. Mom for dinner. I got to cook w/ Mrs. Mom. We made this sukiyaki tasting stew, salmon (which I ate half of and would have tried for more if it wasn't more the bones :\) but they remembered that I don't like fish. So yeah. Then Mr. Dad came home and we hung out while he ate. Then I took my shower/bath. Sooo nice! I swear, I'm having an ofuro (japanese style bath) in my house when I'm older - for sure! It was so nice!
Then Shizuka finally got home from work at the movie theater. She said it was super busy b/c of Golden week and Spiderman coming out. Makes sense! Then they were asking me some questions about Indiana so I figured it was a good time to give them their gifts. The Indiana book was the family gift...then tea for Mrs. Mom, a tie for Mr. Dad, and skittles, an Indianapolis pen, and bracelets for Shizuka and Eri. They liked them. And Mrs. Mom really liked her tea! She was drinking it all day today at the beach!
So yeah, after gifts they said they liked my English pronounciation so they wanted me to read a book for them that Shizuka had gotten in England. There were words in it that I didn't even know though! And it was a children's book! Crazy! We stopped on the 4thish page though b/c this little mouse's name was Hunca Munca and I was like "WHAAAT?" So then that led to discussions about onomatopoeias in English and in Japanese. So fun!
Finally around 12:15ish we went to bed. I got my own room with the butsudan. I think they're either Nichiren or Sokka Gakkai b/c they have the scroll thing that Nichiren did in it...that's it. Seriously. It was completely plain. Interesting.
Anyways, so I got my own room w/ a nice futon and a terrible pillow, but it was ok. I got about 6 hours of sleep. We had to get up early and leave by 8:00. So around 7:00 I got up and got ready. I ate breakfast with them...yummy too. Toast, plain yogurt with little sweet jelly thingys in it...so good, salad, and milk tea.
After we packed the car we went and picked up Grandma and Uncle. He's such a kid! He reminded me of Uncle Jimmy! Seriously! So funny!
We drove for a while and then they discovered they kinda went the wrong way - to they switched drivers and drove another 2 hours. It was AMAZING though! Because we drove through/over/around the most BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS EVER! I should have taken pictures! But I was dumb and waited until we were going home and it was all cloudy. The mountains in the sun were just breathtaking!
So we finally got there and it definitely wasn't beach I'm used to. It was ALL rocks. Up the shore...and spikey rocks out to sea. Grandma and Mr. Dad spend the whole time (after our bento lunches) fishing for things...sea urchins, snail things, and fish.
I went in the water with gma...exploring and looking at the wildlife. Little fishys and hermit crabs and sea urchins. I felt bad because I was afraid I was gonna step on some fish or hermit crabs and not know! I probably did. :\ But it was nice out.
After a bit I went and staked a spot on this rock - I like to think of it as a little mermaid rock because that's what it was like. I laid down and napped for - I don't even know how long! it was so nice - until it got cloudy and col. But Shizuka and Mrs. Mom brought over blankets and a jackets for me. :)
K, I'm almost to Kyobashi!
~~~
So that's the end of my journal entry for now...but I'll finish here. So after we finally went home, we changed and cleaned up and then went out to dinner at a place called "Bikuri Donkii" or in English "Surprised Donkey." Hahaha...so funny. It was a hamburger place...but not on buns and stuff. It was more like salisbury steak made different ways. It was good. :) Then we took pictures with our ginormas size small drinks...
Yup. Then they dropped me off at the station and I headed home. Ahh.
(This next part is choppy, mom and dad b/c I had pics, but I'm too lazy to put them up on here now...)
The next day (yesterday) I went to Arashiyama on my Buddhism field trip. It was coooool. The temple we went to there is run by this American who became a Japanese citizen and then a Rinzai Zen priest. It was sweet. We did zazen for 25 mins...tough stuff...but it actually went a lot faster than when I did it for 15 mins on the high school trip.
It's closed to the public now...so we got a close and personal look at everything...it was cool!
It was all dusty and old...I liked it so much better than the rich looking temples that are all we see nowadays.
Ok, well then me and Nico and his girlfriend, Cody, and I went wakling around Arashiyama...it's SOO PRETTY!!
We ate lunch across the river and then walked around, climbed a mountain, and took pics. It was awesome.
So that was my long weekend. Good times.
Oh, new news. Akiko isn't coming to Japan anymore. She has to stay in America for visa stuff...boo. But that's ok, because instead of going to Alaska for YWAM, she's going to Western Sem at Hope!!!! So she'll be around all year next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm soooooooooooooo HAPPY!!!!!!!! :):):):) YAY! So that's sad that I don't REALLY have an excuse to go to Tokyo Disneyland anymore...but Akiko's gonna be in America next year!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!
Ok, I need to study for my Japanese test apparently...sooooooooooo I'm gonna get on that. I hope that was a good enough update for you, ANN!
Monday, May 07, 2007
I danced around at school today...out of super happiness! My pen pal RULES!
And then I went shopping after school...I got a sheet for real cheap so that my friends and I can go hang out in the park more. It was gorgeous out today! And it's gonna stay nice all week!!! Yay! Actually, that's probably a bad thing because I'm gonna get nothing done..........
So yeah, I went shopping...I bought more spring clothes, because it's HOT here and I have mostly only fall/winterish type things. Bad. But I'm excited about my new stuff...and that I actually found stuff that fits correctly in Japan! Haha...it's sooo difficult. Let alone the sizes, the body structures are just completely different. Plus, I'm sorry to say, some of their fashion ideas are absolute crap. But what do I know? I'm not all fashion-y like Ann...but some of the stuff they wear here just....doesn't....work.....
Ok, so I should be doing work...but I'm not.
My Japanese test went well, Abby. No worries. It was super easy actually...way better than I expected.
Umm...I need to find the Apple store here...because something is breaking on my computer. No good.
So I got a carton of peach tea at the store a while back...and I just opened it today. Did you know that peach tea can expire?? Apparently it expired 2 days ago...but it tastes fine to me! Yumm...it's actually really really good. Yay!
Omg, so it was really nice out today right? Sooo I bought all this fruit and veggies...and I was gonna go sit in the park and eat my little Japanese grapes (I totally paid 720 for them, Ann...because we both know they're AMAZING!), but I got too distracted when I was shopping. But I'm gonna totally do it tomorrow...unless I'm studying...which I really should do....ick. But yeah...then I made a rockin' salad for dinner...omg it was so good. There's nothing like a meal like that on a warm evening like tonight. Ahh...I just wish we had a deck or something we could go outside and eat at.
I just got super duper excited for the summer. Seriously. I don't know why. It's gonna be sooo busy...I'm gonna be exhausted. But it's just gonna be GREAT! :)
I need to stop thinking about summer though b/c I really really really really really really have stopped caring about school at this point...blah. Gross. And now that Akiko isn't coming to Tokyo, I have no motivation to get things done early....even though that would just be awesome to do. But who does that? Really? Haha. Especially not with this weather. It should rain more...no, I take that back. But maybe it should so I actually stay in and do things...boo.
I need to actually start some research for my paper that's due on Thursday....umm....yeah. That'd be good.
Lululu....ok, if I've gotten to the point that I'm writing noises, then I'd better stop this entry!
Bye, folks!
May 7 (again)
So I just did a fashion show for Abby...so now you all get to see my new clothes. Hehe!
Juicy News Happy Hour
Then I had a fashion war with Brian online....this was his shot...
But I'm pretty sure I won with this...
It says my school name and then one of the Japanese alphabets...on the back is the other alphabet. Freaking sweet...except I never wear it...the color is terrible on me. Ew.
But yeah...we had to show our study abroad pride. :) Japan rules...! Err...yeah.
Ok, that was some more not-doing-homework fun! Wee!
