cliffhanger

Sorry to leave you all with such a dismal last post. Or at least it is dismal in my memory. Before I tell you about the rest of my vacation I have to regale you all with the tale of my dinner adventure. I realize this is specifically contradicting the theme of my last entry, but this is just a funny story and I promise not to complain about how full I am ;p

I couldn't find anyone to eat with (one friend gone, one in bed, one eating already) so I went to this place not far from my house. I had JUST arrived, thrown my crud in my room, and gone back out because I didn't feel like cooking even if there was something to cook in my apt; therefore, I was starving lol. Anyhow so the place had couscous and I was psyched about that because if you can't enjoy couscous then what CAN you enjoy? There were two guys working the counter who seemed very nice and asked if I wanted couscous to which I answered yes and pointed to what I THOUGHT looked good and what I thought was something to put on the couscous. Apparently it wasn't for on couscous, in fact apparently it wasn't good either. I'm still not sure what it was. They were wary about letting me have it but I foolishly said, "yes yes fine good great" or whatever you know, overconfident or perhaps just absentmindedly hungry. I think it was tripe or something. They said they would switch it for me if I didn't like it which was nice of them. I was really prepared for a bowl of animal guts and chick peas... It wasn't hot enough so I took it back up and decided to have them just change it. They laughed at me and said it wasn't for kids lol. It was really nice of them to switch it for me free of charge like that. Most places would have just watched you choke it down. I was leaving and the one who wasn't ringing me up said, "so TWO plates right?" and the other said, "No no she was the entertainment" haha :D Anyhow it was pretty good couscous when I finally got down to it lol and quite reasonably priced.

flash back!!!

so I didn't go to Marseille right? Well two seconds after I wrote that blog and was in the middle talking to one of my collection of Brians the owner of that net joint came in and it was a good thing my computer had sort of stopped working cuz I had just logged off. Gloria had been letting me sneak around if you remember...

They all think he is creepy and with Mafia ties.

Apparently there is a Mafia in Aix and they bombed some bar last year and took it over.

I dunno lol.

Let us recall what happened for the rest of my stay:

I'm gonna stop pointing out where I talk about food because to be honest we cooked a lot and it involved lots of onion cutting, chicken/salmon marinating, potato mashing, broccoli steaming, grocery shopping, cheese smelling, bread slicing, and teabag steeping. (Steeping right?) ETC lol Stephanie and I had a LOT of fun cooking together. Everyone morning we would go out shopping at the open market for vegetables and maybe some fruit. The day we did the salmon the fish market was closed and we bought our other meat at the grocery store too. It always depends on what time and day it is for where you go shopping. They have this great bakery called Banette. There were other bakeries too tho, equally good. Also a really sweet veggie store called Jardaniers.

So the plan had been to go to the beach that next day but that isn't what happened. It ended up that everyone slept in pretty late after the party and the bus ride was two hours each way, not to mention 8 euros (each way!!!) so we decided to skip it.

Did I write about that all ready? If I did I will laugh. I honestly don't remember when I wrote last. lol

donc euhhhhh voila

no just kidding

uhmmm...I guess the time sort of melted together. I do remember not calling my mommy on mommy day cuz I didn't have a phone card ;_; but I called her twice before that and I'm calling her when I get home :D

Oh and last night (my last night) after the salmon we went to go see The Taste of Tea. You know I think I enjoyed it even more the second time? I was so excited to see it again. Stephanie and Brian both liked it too. We laughed so loud. I bet the whole theater thought we were totally obnoxious (or just American...I dunno which is worse...perhaps they are synonymous...is that how you spell that?)

This morning I took some pictures somewhat halfheartedly before leaving so I could show everyone a bit of Aix. I'm really not much of a picture person. I mean I like having them, but the taking them is a bit of a pain.

Hmm...oh I did enjoy first class TGV. :D My seat was much better this time. I had a nice big window, spacious chair with a button to recline a bit, a boring magazine. Then there was a bar down the hall where I ordered a truly overpriced bottle of orange juice. It was sort of funny because all the people in first class seemed very businessy or very rich. I suppose tho that that is usually the case. Because even if you HAVE the money for first class, wouldn't you rather save it? I only got it because the ticket cost the same as my second class on the way down. Oh oh and the other cool thing was that it was a double decker train and I was on top :D I guess the other thing that I noticed was that it was much quieter in first class, probably due to the complete lack of children as far as I could tell...

Tomorrow is Rufus (wow xav and dion I am jealous of your Killers concert lol) and apparently I have to change something on my Grinder-Man ticket. They gave it to me without a seating arrangement and then called my cell to tell me to come in and fix it the day before I was leaving for Aix RIGHT after I left the MCJP. 6_6 The website is just http://grinder-man.com For this of you taking Japanese you can see that they will be in Paris, which is where I am seeing them ne? I felt so happy that I could read the Japanese and use it to see where else they are going. Small pleasures! Baby steps! I love Japanese!

I have a hard time figuring out when to move on...in my studies I mean ne? Japanese...subject change! lol Because since there are no tests or anything it's hard to figure out if you really know the stuff. Then of course even if you know it one day you probably won't in three weeks or maybe even the next day. I do remember how to say alien tho :D uchuujin! kowakute, roketto de tsuita uchuujin! seikatsu ga suki dattara, hashirou! (alien! a scary alien that came in a rocket! run for your life! <---my very loose translation lol how did i do?) i love japanese but i still have a lot to learn...anyhow my point was that i wasn't sure if i should move on...but i realized that if i never move on i will be on chapter twenty forever so i had to continue. there is always room for review!!! i did the exercises! i am genki! rar!! lol And let's all remember how to conjugate the passive because I'm really excited about it! I read an article about learning Japanese that said it is like playing with legos. While the article oversimplified a bit I do sometimes think of this simile fondly because it can be sort of like that. You take your verb stems and the conjugations are so easy!

In theory anyhow...

lol

That reminds me of how it took me like seven tries to get my verb right the other day at dinner. That was the other thing! We spoke so much French in Aix! It was so cool! I also decided that I need to get out and do more things. How much that will actually be followed through in is questionable at least till my dad shows up, but I'd really like to see some more parks and one day I would like to rent a bike...

OH

lol

My poor poor swimming suit has gone unused thus far. You may recall I didn't end up at the beach. To swim in the pool tho I need a cap...grr grr grr. It just gets so complicated. Amy said she would go with me but I would like to go early in the morning. I think that swimming at seven am would be a good way to wake up. I dunno if Amy would think that though...x_x lol Also I dunno how long I would keep thinking that for. And you know they charge you to swim as well. The whole thing give you a rather good excuse to just scrap the swimming. But it would be so healthy!!!!!! grr!!! I think I should go and at least try it. Even if it means buying a swim cap. Maybe it will clear my mind and enrich my soul...

Or I could just get chlorine in my eye...

lol

Hope everyone is doing well. The last thing I will say is that I have purchased a metal colander collander? DRAINING THINGY!!! :D not to drain things with, but to steam veggies and it better work because I could so not afford one of those big things they had for steaming stuff. I figure when I get back to the states I can get a real steamer but for now I just hope this will work. I got all spoiled on steamed carrots, mushrooms, snow peas, broccoli...yum yum yum...

OH and dude Stephanie has some really hardcore Japanese music and she gave me all the artist names. I may compensate for not going to the anime convention by hitting the local chapter of Book-Off...but only lightly I promise lol It's educational! Listening practice!! Yes! Culture enrichment studies!!! or something!

Oh wow I just remembered I am supposed to be doing my history paper! lol (I call it a paper...it's not really a paper...won't take very long...just a page...on a metro station...well i'm writing about a metro station anyhow...)

ok

tiz all

see you all soon! can you believe it's almost half way through may? some of my friends are going home in less than three weeks!!! o_o

To Beach or not to Beach (or to beetch about the beach)

Well I decided not to go to Marseille which was perfectly fine lol. I had a nice calm afternoon at the house and then Stephanie came home and we watched the Rurouni Kenshin OAVs which was super cool.

There was also a b-day party, white trash themed. They threatened to kick me into the street unless I dressed up so I ended up wearing these black capris with these weird pink shorts over it, plus these nasty look t-shirts (one with ties on the shoulder) and a hard rock café jacket. oh and also some boots...

We all looked like freaks. Also one thing I noticed was that once people are dressed like that...it makes them really look...trashy lol like we all looked horrible. I think maybe it's just the fact that partying isn't my thing... I ended up talking to a Chinese guy in French and then everyone went clubbing at 2 am. Stephanie was adament that I make sure to have fun at home and offered her supply of Japanese pop/rock piping through the headphones attached to her laptop. I had to pinky swear that I would be ok. Heh she was a bit drunk.

Man tho tonite at dinner tho people were trading drunk stories. I'm so glad I don't do crap like that!! :D Which is not to say that the stories aren't funny, cuz they are...but then you think wait this is REAL, not MADE UP and then you say hmmm glad I don't DRINK drink...

Speaking of tonite at dinner it was super. We tried out this potato pancake recipe I found in a Japanese cookbook and it was amazing and we steamed all sorts of vegetables and stuff. Only problem? I was SO NOT HUNGRY. V_V We snacked all afternoon and suddenly then we were eating dinner and I was like CRUD.

As for regional fare is concerned, today was a good day. I bought some navette cookies...which I really don't know anything about them. They are simple and wonderful. I also bought some spice bread which was all artisinal and made the real way and stuff like that...really truly wonderful and a bit pricy v_v so i have goodies

OH ha so we were supposed to go to the beach today (title of entry haha) and I wasn't going to pay the money and spend the day doing that if the weather was going to be cold like yesterday. (relative cold tho not really cold you see...) jenny was chewing me out tho and said i shouldn't have come if i didn't want to go to the beach and hang out with the people i was there to see. stephanie wasn't going to go either tho... anyhow it was super beau!!! lol so we both decided we WERE going to go and then it turned out to be 8 euros each way and take two hours (each way) and it was late cuz everyone slept in after the party...so we scrapped it and went shopping and stuff and cooked.

I'm so mad about the cooking and stuff. I cut up tons of things, mashed the potatoes, peeled them, slaved, and barely ate at all. Didn't really enjoy it. I'm going on a walk after this V_V

Grrr...so for eating we are not doing so hot tho...I'm only putting this in here cuz this is what I think about!!! I know I talk about food a lot. But if you think about it it is really hard to manage things! I'm not good at it yet. I buy stuff and then it goes bad cuz I don't know enough about food. One day you eat too much fatty stuff and the next day you eat too much sugary stuff!!! It's so hard to keep track of everything!!! I'm really psyched about vegetables tho. I wish I had a hardcore steamer like they do at their house. I will have to try to figure out a makeshift.

I was also thinking about this if I go to school in cali. I won't want to be a on mealplan! I'm so excited about learning to cook and grocery shop! Plus school food can be really not that great sometimes. I dunno...

*rambles about pointless things*

uhmmm so aix...let's see...jenny brought home ewe cheese and it was really good-- oh wait that's food...

i mean see? that is what life is like!!! grrrrrr and ok in the MIDDLE of the afternoon for no reason they made this delicious rice pudding-esque dessert and were like you HAVE to have some and i did but i can't have that AND ewe cheese within two hours of dinner! plus a banana milkshake an hour or so before that!!! today went poorly and i feel lousy about it...that is the last word on the subject i promise...i mean today's subject...

well i'm at another lab breaking rules. stealing net time...not quite the way to be but oh well. i make it sound more serious than it is...but it's true. I'm a net thief.

*sigh* wow that really WAS the day. i will go home after my walk and read or study or maybe watch a movie or Kenshin OK wait I don't know what I'm doing when I get home...lol there...

haha well if you made it this far you put up with all my borderline neurosis so congrats for that lol maybe i will go see if anyone is online... ...

Aix

Well I really didn't have to get to the train station early at all...lol. I sat there for a pretty long time heh...but the ride was pretty nice. About three hours...then I took a short bus ride from the TGV station to town and Bryan picked me up.

I totally love their house! It has way more character than the residence lol...cuz the residence's character is not exciting or cute or anything like that. Here you go up the stairs and there is a landing with some couches, one of which I sleep on and then there are all the bedrooms. Everyone has really nice windows that open up onto courtyards and stuff. I guess their building used to be a treasure of the city or something. It's pretty spiffy.

The first night I was the only guest and their Columbian roommates cooked dinner. Was super groovy but we ate too late lol Then on Thursday Jenny and Rachel arrived. Jenny is sick, which in keeping with my paranoia about sick people is driving me absolutely nuts but there's not anything I can do about it so I just try not to think about it. It's like the kid who kept coughing in the train like he was gonna die...just gotta put your headphones on and try to sleep lol.

Stephanie is super cool. She has like ALL of rurouni kenshin on her computer so we're gonna eventually get around to watch some OAVs. She also has this SWEET kanji dictionary. It's really alarming that I don't have one and have never used one. Definitely something to invest in when I get back to the states.

The weather is pretty nice. They have this Alpen breeze or somethingtho lol so it's really not as hot as Paris. But definitely sunnier :D It's scary tho cuz the air is full of dust or pollen. We all sneeze...

I also saw American Pie for the first time. I dunno if that was a good thing or not lol. I'm just taking a closer look at our culture...that's all...our poor poor culture x_x lol Nah some of it was kinda funny...even tho...some of it was far too stupid...x_x

Today I guess we are going to Marseille. I'm not sure why... I guess because we "might as well" I don't like doing stuff cuz of that tho. It seems like a lousy reason to do something you wouldn't do otherwise. Probably it's just my continuing aversion to site-seeing.

huckabees

yay i FINALLY saw it. you know i've been trying for three days straight...guess it's a good idea to look up the movie times before you go x_x i'm a dork

anyhow it was really really REALLY good and also better than Garden State...

which is not to say that Garden State was bad lol but out of the quirky existential comedies from last year i'd have to say that I *heart* Huckabees was better. I guess to qualify that...what can I say...why exactly did I enjoy it more...?? Uhm...well to be somewhat superficial maybe i enjoyed the cast a whole lot more...and maybe the sharper comedy was more to my taste...but that's not even really it. I guess what it really is is that I came out of Huckabees feeling good and I came out of Garden State feeling lonely and depressed lol.

I will definitely see it again sometime and the soundtrack WAS good lol

also i still think morning movies are super!! a nice way to start the day and get you out of the house right away (even if you come back later)

soooo let's see...i read for a bit at the MCJP which was nice...no pressure and i also reserved my ticket for the sutomu yamashita concert :D he's a really famous percussionist i guess...i'm psyched...

for the rest of the day the plan is basically laundry and packing...and probably some reading and studying...and a bit of cooking...altho i really don't want to have the same thing i had for breakfast for dinner...lol

i should also gather the info for my monument paper. i wonder if it really has to be a MONUMENT monument cuz i'd really like to write about the deepest metro station. apparently it takes 285 stairs to get down there but there is an elevator. i read that it's because of the mines or something to do with plaster of paris ne

gosh this makes me think what a bad reader i must be...i can't even remember what the deal was with the mines...

i think reading the book i am is sort of like taking a psychology class when you're going to an iatrist which i have also done...lol it just messes you up to learn about the theory when you're in the thick of it. i wonder why that is...

i feel fairly inadequate today now tho that is for sure

i think i MIGHT rate about a novice-high...

novice is a cooler word than beginner tho :D

i'm going to go try to keep occupied...i really don't want to be bored...last night i was...and i don't think it really helped my studies to force myself to go over stuff out of absolute boredom

technically i really SHOULD have enough stuff to do...i wonder what everyone is doing tonite...iiiii dunnoooo

this just in...

I got accepted to UOP!!!! My school in cali will HAVE ME lol I'm thrilled!!!

It's going to be weird though, basically kinda like being in France only in English. I've never been west before o_o and i won't know anyone and i'll miss everyone. on the upside i won't need phone cards to talk to people LOL so that will be nice!!!

Really the best part about it is that I am a REAL LIVE JAPANESE MAJOR now :D

whew!!

so today i watched indiana jones and the last crusade dubbed in french on tv with emanuel an dann. was pretty kickin' lol and we had curry which was pretty good too

and i slept a lot too which i guess is why i'm still up

it is important to sleep lol and i couldn't really get own to it last night

sometimes i think my dreams confuse me lol

oh and reblochon is some hecka good cheese

yes...i think i just did say hecka

for people who prefer not to use the hockey sticks LOL

wow

*yawn*

so i'm using emanuel's comp

he went to watch a movie at Cindy's house

I don't really know cindy very well

but she's nice and has a french boyfriend

*jealous*

i only meet the ones with gfs

oh hey the eiffel tower is sparkling over there

i didn't even realize you could see it from here...

man i am really going to miss paris

boy tho i don't want to think about that yet lol i have so much time left!!

what else...well i think the anime convention is right exactly the days when my dad will be here so i probably won't go...which is ok cuz i'll have tons of other stuff to do...

leaving on wednesday for my trip

uhm...

i feel like i say the same stuff everyday

but if i say it here it is only a fraction of the times it goes through my head ne

well i have to check my e-mail cuz apparently one of my friends just sent me shots of his new tattoo...

....

frustration

ok i know i shouldn't be complaining about summer weather or French pastry or street markets but I'm GOING to! so bear with me while i rant for like two seconds

so it has been very hot lately as i mentioned yesterday...it is really hot...like...my t-shirt is disgusting and the day isn't even half over...it's gross out...but last night i was trying to sleep and couldn't and then there was some party that went all night and they woke me up and i was so mad!!! and then i have some sort of tooth ache which makes no sense because i've been taking better care of my teeth than i have my whole life

speaking of which...dental floss is ridiculously expensive here...i spent 3.60 on a stupid little roll and it's not even DECENT!!! it BROKE last night! GRR V_V

ok so this morning i was like hmmm wake up read...go back to bed...i was too tired from freaking out about my teeth and not being able to sleep at four am...

so then i got up again...had lunch and was like oh i could go walking and grab a pastry and chill in a park or something...problem is it's new metro pass day which unfortunately also coincides with a summer weekend day which means Porte de Clignancourt (where i live ne) is a MOB SCENE cuz of the flea market. So first I stood for like a year in line for the ATM while this dude selling ice water yelled either kaloo kalii kaloo kalii or kalii kaloo kalii kaloo (i can't remember which) REPEATED like literally every two seconds!!!!! x_x and trying to walk down the sidewalk to a bakery was RIDICULOUS i'm so glad i don't LIVE on that streets because everyone and his brother is selling some kind of vegetable or egg or chicken or battery powered baby doll out on the sidewalk!!! and then there's the people with the strollers blocking everything and if they don't have a stroller they have a grocery bag cart thing so it's just impossible to go by. and they're all just out for a stroll you know...inspecting the potatos and whatnot

so i found a bakery and you know the pastry...it really wasn't a good idea...because when it's like 80 degrees out and you feel gross already...to stuff a big ball of sugar down your throat just makes you feel even more intensely disgusting. so i drowned it with a bottle of water...which in turn...makes your t-shirt nastier cuz you sweat it all out in about five seconds lol

and then finally the metro where i had to stand in another huge line to get the new month pass and then of course it's all gross on the quai and in the cars cuz there are people everywhere and it is just uber sticky lol

gosh tho it's not like i really need to be seeking out sugar. i run into enough by pure chance LOL

so there is the park next door but i'm wondering if after sitting in this plastic chair (sticky nasty sweaty) if i am really going to want to throw myself on the ground to study. my desk sounds EXCEEDINGLY more friendly. if i didn't have vegetable to eat up i would scrap the soup for tonite and go find a nice sandwich to eat or something but if i'm gonna leave on wednesday i really have to finish off the stuff in my fridge...or at least try my hardest...

grocery shopping is annoying for just one person V_V as is cooking...

and why is my tooth mad at me???

GOSH

everytime i get happy it lasts for like five seconds and then the whole world decides that it's been too long and i get a whole bunch of crud again.

i hate going to the park by myself anyhow v_v

grr

grr grr grr

i was SO supposed to be motivated and happy today!!! intead i am mad and worried and frustrated!!! not fair!!! and then i try to cheer myself up and it totally backfires!!! HATE!!!! x_x

ok that was more than two seconds...

SUPER JAPANESE

oyakodon turned out MUCH better tonite :D i made the sauce from scratch this time, bonito flakes and all :D i felt like a grandma...cuz who makes soup stock from scratch ne? (i asked amy this and she said grandmas LOL "or really...cool...college students who...like Japanese stuff...") ;D

and wow Acts of Reading was much more interesting today. The last chapter I read was a bit over my head, being about neuroscience and all...the important part we learned was that it is better to work on kanji in the words they come in rather than just know the individual ones...which i guess i sort of knew already but now have attempted to understand the underlying neurological reason why...lol today tho it was more about how to set up a program. the author advocates about a hundred hours of class time just speaking and listening before introducing FIRST katakana and then hiragana and then starting kanji. he also made the good point that it really depends on what type of goals students have in mind. i guess back in the day before the business interest in japan grew it was mainly very "self-select" students who were self-motivated because they were actually interested in Japan and reading literature and stuff. I wonder if the anime/manga trend is helping steer more people into self-motivated areas like these rather than just adding Japanese as a help for your business career...

so last night was Kyôgen at the MCJP!!! how AWESOME!!! traditional Japanese comedy. Three short plays. It was sooooo good! The supertitles were more summaries of the story than translations, which for some reason once I saw them I went "oh yeah that's how it goes" but I dunno where I learned that that's how they do that. I was sort of hoping for translation so I could maybe pick out more of the Japanese. Also it was almost like studying cuz (another thing that triggered an "oh yeah" for no reason in memory) they spoke all in extra modest form which, for those who haven't been following, is what I am working on right now. Still tho I really didn't understand a whole lot. : / Reading the book that I am though realizes that it would be uncommon for me to understand any more than I did. I don't think I even have three hundred class hours! Japanese is a class IV language which means it takes WAY longer to learn than French or Spanish which is level I. it takes over a thousand hours to get what a French learner can get in 480 hours. This would be really easy to use as an excuse for laziness but I refuse lol I'm bringing my textbooks to the beach!!! oh...i'm digressing...the play...so the first story

the FIRST story: it was about a man with a melon patch and a thief who tried to steal them. eventually the man took the place of a scarecrow that he built in the field and ended up chasing the thief away.

the SECOND story: was an adaption of an act of another play. a man has guests coming for dinner and his wife makes him clean while she cooks. then he is starving and eats all the food while waiting for the guests, who are late, and the wife gets mad and chases him

the THIRD story: a wife and g-ma treat the husband like a slave because he is naïve. they write a list of things to do for him and he is doing laundry and stuff and loses a robe in the water. When his wife falls in trying to get it the grandma says he has to save her but he says hey it's not on the list!!! lol he saves her on the condition that they treat him with the respect the master of the house deserves. then the wife chases him and is mad...

these are pretty basic synopsi...ses??? si? i dunno lol

anyhow so one thing you will notice even from the summaries (hahaha...summaries :D) is that they all ended with people getting chased off the stage. it's funny and everyone yells lol

other things...there were three actors, all male. japanese theater is really expressive. they use specific voice techniques and their faces very well. also all the movements of their bodies are extremely specific and are really an art form in themselves. they stand a certain way and walk a certain way. it was so cool to see in real life! it's the type of thing you see on exotic culture tv shows lol but it was real Japanese theater RIGHT in front of me!!! how sweet :D

one thing i was wondering about was when people laughed. i know i caught myself laughing a couple times after reading the titles (hence not necessarily when the joke came). i know other people did this as well. then there was always a lot of laughter when the phsyical comedy was going on...but i wonder if maybe some of it was due to the sound effects. Japanese sound effects are pretty cool! For instance if I remember correctly, zuru zuru is the sound the saw made when the theif cut the bamboo fence. They have sound effects for EVERYTHING. You see them in manga all the time. Sound effects for mah jong tiles, rain, slicing vegetables lol but so my point was I wonder if the sound effects are their specifically for comedy or if they are their as just part of the play that seems funny to foreigners (of which many were present that evening) it wasn't a big deal tho cuz it was VERY funny. such good facial expressions too...in fact this smily ^_^ is usually associated with anime but i think it may go back even further to this traditional theater o_o because their eyes really do look like that o_o i was surprised!

on a final note about the play: the old man did a really awesome job playing the grandma! it was hilarious!!! he had this special walk that cracked everyone up! i wonder if his back hurt when he was done...in fact i wonder if all of their backs hurt when they were done...because the posture they take is kind of bent...it was weird to see them standing up all the way when they took their bows...

ok not final note...this is the final note...not only facial expressions were familiar. I recognized other things like the way the characters yelled or certain laughs they did too. It's cool. You feel like you know a little something about a culture when you can make connections like that! :D It's a good confidence boost and gives you endurance to continue your studies even tho kanji is scary!!! ^_^ *justice glimmer*

whoo in other news it is REALLY hot here lol also there was a scary drunk guy on the metro bugging amy. i told her to kick him lol but of course i was kidding. we just ignored him and i taught amy how to say something mean in japanese lol he thought he was very suave cuz he heard us speaking english and thought that if he could just mumble some english back at us he could pick us up!!! so handy that the train stops! you can switch cars XD

gosh tho it really is nice out. unfortunately there is a large population of gnats by the residence cuz of our nice hedge i think...a very nice hedge...but it attracts the bugs. also we have a tree that flowered but now is just sort of green...

hmmm well i should get going...dunno what i'm going to get up to tomorrow besides making miso soup. now that my dashi base is tasty it shouldn't be too hard tho :D of course i will study. unfortuntely the MCJP is closed ;_; i will only be able to go on Tuesday this week cuz i will be gone the rest of the time...and i only have four chapters left in my book! if i had ONE more day i could've finished it x_x i dunno if i'll get through the rest in one afternoon...

oh and the pool I FOUND IT! it's really close to my house...right across from the big huge flea market. it has been closed for a bit to empty it but i guess it opens up again on monday. maybe tho i will save the swimming for the mediterranean and wait till i get back and can go with amy to the pool. it's funny that the pool intimidates me but the japanese center doesn't lol

whoo! that was a pretty informational blog there...i promise that if we can find bonito flakes and the kelp and stuff that i will make tasty oyakodon for everyone when i get back! :D

oh which reminds me....does my grandma read this? i really want to learn to cook stuff this summer! lol i should ask her! i want to learn how to cut and use the right knife and stuff. lol my grandma is groovy and should be very helpful with things like this!! :D my food sometimes ends up tasty but it always looks a bit ragged. maybe i should ask my aunt too! man my family is cool XD

hey and shiitake mushrooms have NO calories!! (according to my easy japanese recipes cookbook) so it is a taste we should all acquire! (they really aren't that bad!!) XD mmm i bought a fresh bag...the texture is interesting but that is one of the fun parts about food ne...

the enlightening moment that accompanies this is that it is much better to obsess about cooking food and finding new types of food than how much of it you are eating! lol

ok it's too hot in here! gotta head out! i should've brought some water @_@ THIRSTY!!! lol

busy day etc

ok well for some reason i couldn't post the other day...but now I can...therefore

wow that movie was so good!!! i want to watch it with xav...Crustacés et Coquillages...ZANY TO THE MAX lol it's about a family on vacation and this kid's parents think he is gay but really only his friend is and then his mom's lover shows up and sneaks around and then there is a plumber who comes and wow it gets so insane and at the end everyone sings and dances. It's like a romantic comedy x 5 cuz at the end there are ten happy people living in the same summer house all as couples lol o_o

needless to say you feel a bit lonely leaving the theater BY YOURSELF ;_; lol

so let's see...yesterday was sukiyaki day but we actually made oyakodon. the groceries were rather expensive but it will be food for a while and it's not everyday you go japanese grocery shopping...

so Amy came along and we did that. it was fun. unfortunately the cooking part was a bit messed up because we realized when we tasted it that we were definitely supposed to dilute the sauce. very unfortunate. BUT we learn from our mistakes. Instant dashi was a bad idea anyhow...I'm going to go back today and buy bonito flakes and kelp or whatever you need and ACTUALLY make it. Round two is tomorrow, I'll tell you how it goes.

We also rescued some kittens that were outside the residence. They are living in Amy's shower at the moment and we're trying to find a shelter for them.

OK and the absolute worst thing is that I got sick last night from the quiche i had for lunch. I don't think I've ever gotten that sick from something I ate. It wasn't unmanagable but gosh I was mad. Esp cuz at the time it was so tasty!!! Luckily the dinner didn't make us sick...just dehydrated. So we drank lots of water at Amy's house while she ripped a bunch of my cds and I recovered from lunch.

it seems like there was something else to mention but i'm not sure. the japanese grocery store was really cool. I have to put myself on a budget now tho to make up for the spree. x_x

OH

apparently i will hear from california soon; they want to send a letter to my house in o-town

ALSO my problems are solved because even if i don't get the japanese independent study i will be able to keep my financial aid because i am going to get an independent study partially based on my original lit class through micefa. yay!

anyhow i am off to the mcjp to learn to make real dashi and read, then to the grocery store to get ingredients, then to my house to have dinner and wash dishes, then to amy's to give her back her pot and THEN

OH

speaking of pots...

I LEARNED THE SECRET TO GOOD STICKY RICE :D

you have to let it soak for a half hour before you cook it!!! i made it last night to go with the oyakodon (which also turned out well besides the sauce problem so i'm excited to try again...) and it turned out sooooo good! i rock!!

i think i'm going to ask for a rice cooker for my b-day tho. that would be hardcore!!!

o cry!

play tonite too that's the only other thing ONLY lol

hahaha

XD <---morale

o you know i should probably explain oyakodon...

since we had the imperfect version yesterday and will have round 2 tomorrow

it is chicken cooked in a sauce with onion and then you pour egg over it and cook that and then it is SUPPOSED to get tasty but our sauce was crummy lol and it goes over a bowl of rice and is supposed to be delicious...lol

simiarly to katsudon ne? i think tho that it is cheaper to eat out!! import groceries really hurt my bank account! lol

x_x

it's ok i can budget i really can!!!

really!!!

lol

"reading words is automatic and difficult to inhibit"

you know i'm not sure if that is the exact quote anymore cuz i read it a few hours ago, but it makes me want to call them up and see how exactly one WOULD inhibit someone from reading a word. cuz think about it...you never just SEE a word or just look at it. the meaning strikes you from the very first even if after that you admire the font or whatever. so i was reading Acts of Reading today...

lol

Gosh it feels so good to be studying!!! I haven't been in the zone for a really long time...like...HAHA SINCE SCHOOL STARTED. I study better when it's vacation :D Today the lady on NHK said "goran kudasai" so I did even tho it was baseball and I didn't really want to. She was just being SO polite that I HAD to watch it heh. They also had a story about the train accident. I guess 76 people are dead now. That is awful! I was proud of myself for understanding the kanji tho!! I'll have to look up the word later....Boy tho that book I'm reading is so interesting tho. It talks about all sorts of theories and experiments and things and then applies it to what the pedagogy should be. That is what I like!! It's so good when people try to figure out better ways to teach! If you teach me more efficiently I will be smarter!! XD

These two days I am making up for my missing of so many movies I want to see by seeing THREE. O_o I realize I can't make a habit of it but I really want to see them before they leave and none of these are American!!! :D I decided that I won't see anymore American or English movies (the obvious exception being STAR WARS cuz I will HAVE to see that ;D and maybe I "heart" huckabees cuz I missed it in the states...) you know if you go in the morning it's sometimes less than 5 euros :D which is ridiculous considering the student discount is usually 6.50 or higher :D

Last night I saw Léo...etc...I can't remember exactly the rest of the title and I dunno what they called it in English. The one with the white lion. ANIME :D and the VO which is so nice. Always the subs people!!! They roxxor!!! XD It was pretty good, but sort of alarming. Two little lions are born in the beginning the entire rest of the movie is spent killing EVERYONE off. I mean, seriously, just about. Lots of the death scenes were really bad too...at least the first few. Like you can't believe they're shooting the animal in the first place and you expect it to be sad but then it gets this crazy look on it's face and pops of the ground and falls really stupidly and you're like...but i thought that he was evil why is the shooting so fake? Luckily when certain other more important people die it is not sooooo lame. Altho...it was still odd lol

THIS MORNING I woke up early (which sadly yes 8 has become early but we're going to work on that...because now I study so the morning can be occupied like that) and went out to Bercy Village to see The Taste of Tea which is a REALLY GOOD Japanese movie. Really probably the best movie I've seen since Neverland. Very quirky tho. A very good way to spend the morning. It's just sort of a chunk of this family's existence I guess. Not really sure how to describe it. There is a awkward boy who likes Go and a little girl with a giant double of her who watches her when she is bored, a tendancy she seems to have inherited somehow from her uncle who is a sound mixer. The mom is a animator. There's a crazy rich mangaka and the dad is a hypnotist. The grandpa is really really strange lol but an animator as well. I would love to see it again. I'm sure I missed things. It was so awesome!! If it's playing where you are go forth and watch!!!! Or rent as I suppose the case may be...it's from last year...

Oh I was going to mention that I do think that Amy was indeed mistaken to the dismay of us all about the Hitchhiker's movie. It is just not coming out here. I checked yahoo cinéma and they don't recognize the french or the english title. I haven't seen any trailers for it here either or posters. There should be posters by now!! lol

Speaking of trailers...I saw the Ep III trailer at Léo yesterday!! How exciting! It looks awesome! I hope it will be *crosses fingers* For those of you who didn't know I was slightly disappointed with Ep II...I think that we're going to rent I and II before we go see III...according to Amy this is the plan. It opens a week after the Rufus concert which means a week after vacation is over!!

Yeah time is gonna fly. May will be half over by then!!! Star Wars is only a little over a week before the anime convention and I'm sure there will be stuff at the MCJP before then. And then if it's anime convention time it means my dad will be visiting and I will be switching apartments and wow it's all going to be OVER soon o_O lol

Just glad I'm studying again!!! :D

In an hour and a half I'm going to see (shockingly) the first French movie I'll have seen in theaters since I've been here. It's going to be really hard...reading French subs is one thing but trying to catch the words that just FLY out of these people's mouths is quite another!!! x_x I'll try hard. I heard this movie is great tho. I will let you know later...probably tomorrow!! XD

In other news it is RAINING. Temp is perfect. In fact earlier it wasn't raining and that was super glorious but now it is cloudy and wet...

So it goes I guess...

OH complaint!!! I bought some pocket pitas (they go really well with eggs or tuna) but holy cow they are NOT meant to be stuffing things in cuz they just fall apart!!! Unhappy! That was the whole point! Easy tasty sandwichs!! Point obliterated!!! *cry* lol

At the MCJP today I decided that my next reading assignment will be Keigo in Modern Japan. Hopefully this will be helpful or enlightening because that is what I've been studying!!! Honorifics! Tomorrow I have to copy some recipes that I think I can try because Thursday I have decided...is the day of SUKIYAKI :D ooh but i also have to go out to that evil library in the middle of nowhere and return those obnoxious books that are probably now overdue as well V_V grrrr

but wait!!! *flail* i need to end on a happy note!!!! X_O uhm uhm uhm *flail* I DUNNO!!! UHM...well i'm going to see the movie and then hopefully i will buy a phonecard cuz i forgot on the way here...maybe i will try to find one on the way to the movie and i will DEFINITELY get gummies! lol so there is your happy note! yummy gummy o_o

at last the guac

it was SO good. We all ate too many nachos and of course Napoleon was good too cuz how could it not be? TELL ME THAT lol how could it not be?

This morning I read and studied. It looks like I'm going to be doing a quite a bit of that. lol It makes me feel lazy though even though I am accomplishing things. I don't feel active unless I've been out. So I dragged myself here. I think I'm going to see a movie this afternoon.

I also need to buy a phonecard.

You see this isn't terribly interesting is it?

What did I study? Well, pathetically, I am only on Chapter 20 (starting from 19 you see...) so that means "extra-modest expressions" and "humble expressions." In theory this is easy enough, you just remember some verbs that mean the same as some verbs you already know and learn how to modify other things and stuff but I think in PRACTICE it will be horrendous. And honorific speech and things like this are the worst kind of mistakes to make. It's ok to like mess up a WORD but when you may be being really impolite or something just by using the wrong verb form NOT CUZ YOU MEAN IT but because you just aren't used to having ten ways to say the same thing...oh cry.

I'm also working on more kanji. Contrary to most Japanese programs ours decided to give us LESS kanji to work on the further we got...so I feel like this will be a weakness if I get accepted to california and take the placement test. I have a plan though so hopefully I will be able to learn a lot.

It's still depressing to study alone. x_x Not only is there no one to ask questions to but there is no one to talk to or comiserate with when we forget everything. Maybe I spelled that wrong...

I decided that Thursday is going to be the day I go Japaneses grocery shopping and get sukiyaki supplies. :D I hope it turns out ok and isn't too horribly expensive!!! I need to check out some of the other grocery stores. ^_^

hmmm

since it is Monday i can't go to the MCJP. I can't believe it is three o'clock! I have to quit waking up at ten. It makes the day go by alarmingly fast. Although on the other hand it's not like I have a terrible amount of things to get up to. I have put off the swimming pool though. I thought about checking out the one near the lab but it seems silly to do that when there is one somewhere very near the residence. I need to ask Brett about it...her mom is visiting tho v_v

It's weird to think I have only about two months left. My guess is that will seem like a very long time...until like the last week. I'm so used to everything. It will seem weird to go back to the states, but I'm looking forward to American school lol and everybody will be fun, and my PUPPY!!!!!! lol

free lime and garden state

emanuel gave it to me :D now i don't have to go buy one!

last night i did end up going to Garden State and they DID charge us an arm and a leg cuz it was saturday!!! V_V I wish i had the unlimited pass like some of my friends but you have to have a bank account and that seems like a lot of hoops to jump through. I don't want to putz with it. Plus I think if i had it i would probably just spend ALL my time at the movie theater lol

the movie was good. zack braff annoys me for some reason and the movie wasn't really sitting right in my head the whole time...if that makes sense...which it doesn't really. i mean it was good and the message was good...i think it was kind of constructed...which of course all movies are but it was constructed in such a way to make you think it wasn't? i think it was the idea that the comedy wasn't from jokes as such but from things you would find funny any day at any time and that theoretically you could come across. which in that it was good...that was amusing...i dunno...i guess i can't put my finger on it but something was bugging me the whole time. i did like it though, quirks and all i guess lol. wonderful but not amazing...that's what i decided

i wouldn't mind seeing it again either.

and you know i always forget to check who that guy is. he must be going for a best supporting lol cuz that's always where i find him...the guy who got back the necklace...let's find him...Peter Sarsgaard. Yeah he's groovy :D He's always an interesting character...

What else is going on...oh after the movie we had ice cream. DID I NEED ICECREAM? Decidedly not lol but then Emanuel and I walked all the way home from les halles so i think it'll be ok lol and it was good!! and i also blame it on the movie for inspiring me to live life as it comes to me even if it is ice cream that is coming lol

thus far sunday has been one of those lazy putter about sort of days. i read a couple chapters of my book with surprisingly little use of the dictionary altho it may be that i just wasn't tenacious enough to look EVERYTHING up. Sometimes I look up words I more than half sure on and sometimes not...depends on my mood. Of course if I am less than half sure I look it up...unless I am feeling REALLY lazy and it looks unimportant. i got my thief killed in fire emblem this morning. i'm trying to beat levels without killing people but what i realized is that it wouldn't really have been the end of the world because i really have a lot of people. lol now i only use the strong people tho so it would be a shame to let them die...the afternoon plan is to study some japanese after i get sick of the computer and then whip up the guac to take to amy's for napoleon.

hummmmmmmm

i guess you're supposed to just hang around when you're on break lol ;D

oops

well i just had a blueberry muffin which a) defeats the purpose of packing dinner so i wouldn't have to buy food and b) defeats the purpose of brining movie cash and leaving my card at home...

FEELING SMART XD

not really...

it was a terribly worthwhile muffin tho does that help?

i dunno what the deal is with the babysitting interview...maybe she changed her mind...but she could've told me...i kinda planned my whole day around this...like i SKIPPED THE MCJP because by the time i was going to go i would've not had any time before i had to leave for the thing...

blah blah blah

i'd like to see Garden State...but there are more important movies to be seen...well that is my excuse...really tho i just don't want to go alllllll the way home to get more money...

maybe i could catch up with them later...

or maybe i should just study japanese

i was thinking it's going to be weird not to have classes next week...i will just be here jammin' around doing whatever...i mean i only have two now anyhow...but still...

i don't get this babysitting interview deal...i'm somewhat DISAPPOINTED in the lack of communcations here. i dunno why she didn't answer her phone...i left a message tho...but she still hasn't e-mailed me!!!

you can expect this from strange boys but not from potential employers!!! what the heck!!!

*chiyo flail*

yarg

So the first cool news is that I have an interview for a babysitting job in about an hour. The problem though, is that she was supposed to e-mail me the address and hasn't yet. That may be due to the fact that she called me while I was sandwiched in the metro with about a hundred other people and may not have heard my e-mail address correctly. I detest giving important information like that out over the phone in ANY case, even moreso when it's noisy as all get out...

The other news is that I did indeed find a swimming suit. The first two-piece in my memory so that is interesting...it's adidas and sort of a cheerful red, navy, sky blue thing. Unfortunately now that I have a suit I don't have a pool. It is around somewhere but not where I thought it was and I dunno where else to look...so...lol. I'll have to ask Datif.

Maybe I should call that lady and see...perhaps she misheard me and hasn't actually got my e-mail...

Hum. Anyhow the job is to watch a four year old boy three hours most days a week which sounds nice :D

AND TOMORROW IS GUAC AND NAPOLEON

Well let's see last night I got home and had dinner with Dann which was good. He put about fifteen different spices in some scrambled eggs and I brought salad and hummus. Tonite I have been invited to see Garden State as a sort of good-bye for vacation to Emily and Tara who I haven't seen in eons anyhow...

OH something that made me really irate yesterday was that I travelled all the way out to this library in the middle of a grand nowhere...which I mean...it's Paris so I'm sure that's not really true but still...AND they were CLOSED for like three days for some reason. All I wanted to do was return the books I had borrowed and they DIDN'T HAVE A BOOKDROP apparently we really ARE ten years ahead of France in the states as Datif has suggested to me, but really I think bookdrops have been around much longer than that...

I also hate my hair LOL When it dries inside without the breeze it gets really just...obnoxious...like it dries in one set wave. Grr my hair is so lame.

Tiz all...news on things later if they even occur...

chiiiii *spoilers for I, Robot*

So a fellow handed me coupons for Quick today. That may be an excuse to eat a couple of burgers in the upcoming weeks because they expire the 15th of May... You know though Quick isn't like Macdo. Their burgers are pretty thick lol

So here we go I'm gonna RANT are you READY? Do you have the patience to sit through this one? I'm sure some of you will agree with me!!! In fact I'm sure some of you are less lenient than me on the issue...but here goes: I saw I, Robot last night. Before you start criticizing my lack of resolution or whatever let me say first of all that it wasn't my fault. I was going to see why Brett wasn't in class yesterday and she wasn't at home so I knew she was probably at Clara's house and she was and they were watching the movie. Hence I missed the beginning so I hope that doesn't cloud my judgement. They explained everything. I watched from the part where SPOONER (ism? Like what kind of name is that? I'll save the complaining for later though...) is driving his car (MANUALLY FOR PETE'S SAKE O GOSH WHATEVER WILL THEY DO NEXT) and all the evil red robots jump on him and stuff. lol OK...the rule is always start with the good things before you sink in your poisonous fangs and shred it to pieces... Some of the action was good. I did rather enjoy watching armies of robots run amuck and trash the police station...etc. I also enjoyed the action movie dialogue such as *climax* "You SO have to die!!!" and "You shot at me with your eyes closed?" "Well it worked didn't it?!" (Yeah...she did hit the robot and not him...but still...heh) so yes redeeming qualities were present and I did not regret the experience on the whole. I can't still can't help feeling that if they were going to do Asimov they should've just DONE Asimov. I mean the robots are well and good and the three laws are cool but I miss the characters. I think The Caves of Steel would make a really great movie. I want to see Elijah Bailey!! You know Tom Hanks could've played him but maybe he's getting a bit old now. I don't remember how old Elijah was... Grrr it would've been so good!!! lol I don't like the silly "suggested by" business. You don't need a suggestion when you've got a movie right there!!! And Naked Sun would be really cool too. RAR RAR RAR RABBLE RABBLE

Today got off to a slow start because I woke up kinda late, well I woke up at 10:30 so I got 8 hours of sleep. Blah blah...I'm gonna go make a call on a babysitting job that is probably already taken and then buy a swim suit. Hopefully tonite I will go swimming but I dunno. Depends if it's open I guess...the pool I mean. It's smack next to my house so I might as well check it out. Supposedly it is cheap and o so healthy ne?

swimmingly

Things are ok but I have a bunch of stuff I want to accomplish and I dunno when or where or how. I really need a swimming suit because A) going to the beach B) going to the pool. I need to get in better shape!!! V_V Seems like this endeavor will have to wait for tomorrow tho...cuz I need to CLEAN MY HOUSE tonite and take a shower and do some reading and buy some vegetables.

The play last night was really cool, but very different. Props were thrown everywhere, the stage was a mess. Shoes, rocks, sand, rolls, forks, all sorts of things. They either talked SUPER fast or PAINstakingly slow. It was a bit hard to follow in fact because even the titles went by pretty quickly at times. It was in Japanese and French and actually the male actor was French which I hadn't known before. I guess I have to admit I didn't really understand it...I mean even beyond the language thing.

This last remark makes me think of my remaining lit class. The film/lit class. Cuz our teacher always throws in references to Heidigger is that how you spell his name? And Eisenstein and expects us to know what she's saying. It is really a pain. Always talking about critics and stuff that is way over our heads. And about history and asking us questions and when we have an answer she just keeps talking anyhow and when we don't she acts frustrated. I dunno...it's really annoying. I wish I knew more about lit theory and how to read stuff. You can only see things you are taught to read for...did I already talk about that in here? I think all the time people just expect us to know how to "read" but really we don't, at least I don't.

So I went and checked out the Japanese grocery today because I decided bento sounded good. I ate and enjoyed green beans...I should find out what they do to them...o_o In fact I was going to go to the MCJP to read and look up some recipes but really I don't think I will have time...and then even if I eat up the rest of my food I think it will be so close to vacation that it would be silly to go grocery shopping anyhow. That's kinda frustrating. I'm going to have to specifically concentrate on my vacation and not spend the whole time looking forward to coming back to grocery shop.

SPEAKING of which I found a really kickin' little bio store right by the Chatêlet exit...which I HAVE to go to. I didn't look at the prices for their bread but they have bread and alllll sorts of things. Gotta check it out when I go grocery shopping.

I finally got my passport today too that was the other news. Not like it was difficult or anything. Took like five seconds. Took longer to get into the building than for them to give me my stuff. I don't like the picture though and it's on ALL my ID...the same geeky pic. x_x

I wasn't in a lousy mood but I kinda am now...thinking about how ignorant one is tends to do that. I hate when our teacher doesn't explain anything and then when you ask questions still doesn't explain anything. I guess I'm also not really looking forward to cleaning. I guess technically though I could do that all night so maybe I should go to the MCJP this afternoon...

gay pigeons

did i spell that right? what a funny word. i dunno why but the pigeon it really did just look totally gay...like stereotypically of course. large pastel colored strolling through the flower bed...it was the first thing that came to mind...i dunno i just envisioned a portly fellow in a cream suit with an easter colored tie...and a pocket watch...but definitely also gay...i dunno...it wasn't just me tho...cuz once i brought it up my friends all agreed.

we had lunch today in the jardins de luxembourg. i had a Quick burger because i had to come straight from class. i found out i'm not going to england tho so i can afford it :D

SUNDAY we are having a Napoleon Dynamite party at Amy's with guacamole that I am in charge of and nachos and chicken :D SO EXCITED BECAUSE I LOVE THAT MOVIE AND GUACALMOLE AND THE IDEA OF THAT COMBINATION IS JUST THRILLING XD

haven't heard from california...it is making me nervous lol but i guess they are probably busy...

Tonite is the first Japanese play at the MCJP. I'm gonna dress up I guess altho it's too bad I don't have a better jacket to wear...>_< just my winter coat.

It turns out that while I am in Aix all the lunch club members will be in Nice so we are going to get together for at least a day. Maybe the day they do Monaco.

I just found out that my cousin in the military is going to EYGPY for three weeks in Sept and it sounds like a sweet deal. Lots of free time!!! Practically like a vacation! Sounds like a sweet deal but I wonder what her job is...

What else...so the church bells rang last night which I assume was for the new pope.

MMm and let's see...anything else...

Oh it's very green in the garden and you can smell the flowers even when your nose isn't stuck in them...that's nice. It is a little chilly today tho...I hope it warms up soon!!!

wow i am just random lol i should work on my FLOW lol my rhetoric score is ZERO lol

we're also going to see Hitchhiker's when it comes out next week annnnnd apparently we're having a Star Wars themed lunch club the week of Ep III

my friends are cool ;D

la grève

well lots of my friends don't have classes because their school is closed. I guess the anthropology dept was closed and all the anthropology majors have been making a bit too big of a fuss so they shut down the whole school. kinda nice i guess but also a pain o_o

so dann made quesadillas and they were indeed great...we are DEFINITELY going to do that again sometime. i bought pears yesterday and they taste like candy :D we had those too and some leftover salad...

i read a couple more chapters of Acts of Reading today at the MCJP...that was all i could get myself to accomplish unfortunately...the happy kind of evaporated overnight i guess...i still have time to study tonite tho. right now i'm at datif's. it's cool cuz he is in a good mood :D

is it really legal to hunt stray cats in wisconsin now? everyone i talk to keeps relating this news to me because i am one of maybe two people from wisconsin they know and they need to find out if i know anyone who would actually go shoot a cat...

brett says if it were dogs no one would've said yes so she's mad about it

the coolest thing is that i used up ALL my red change today to buy a baguette for 70 cents :D no more puny little 2s and 1s!!! yes!!! i have a couple fives but those you can use in the vending machines downstairs so i save them up. AND to top it off the lady wasn't even mad at me for unloading my change! she was just like, "that's seventy?" and i was like, "yeah" and then she didn't even count it :D how nice!

and FRENCH BREAD IS THE BEST BREAD IN THE WORLD!!!

*cry*

I'll miss it when I get back.

You know I read a really good quote today...must've been in that book...but I can't remember it. Oh it was something about how people are taught to read in certain ways and if you aren't taught to see certain things you just won't see them. Maybe that is my trouble with literature.

Today I was toying with the idea of doubling in English, because to be a good translator or interpreter you have to have a handle on BOTH cultures. Wow tho reading this book is really making it seem virtually impossible. I barely feel literate in English when I started reading about what it actually takes. I should pay more attn. Altho i did hear the church bells ring at like 12 after six. i guess that must've been the new pope? cuz i did just notice that...

hmm i am not one of those bloggers talented enough to give you news commentary lol

wow datif made me some really tasty tea...

loo loo well i guess that's all...still haven't heard from cali or my advisor...RUBBISH lol

MOAT et. al.

indeed. We have seen the moat. It was empty but nonetheless...it was a moat. I mean...unless there is a word that specifically means "empty moat."

So it was the Château de Vincennes by the Bois de Vincennes. Good stuff. :D They have a zoo there but I'm going to wait until later to go...if I do.

Gotta watch the cash...

CUZ I'm going to AIX!!!

Yes I finally decided. I may still be going to England too. But I'm for sure going to Aix...in fact I'm buying my ticket right after I finish writing this.

Until then I will miss Bryan...cuz he spells it with a y I learned...and Stephanie cuz they roxxor...

I went with them to the château today and also the mosque.

EVERYTHING is under construction. The garden at the mosque was totally ripped up and the towers of the château were coated in scaffolding.

Hmm but else. Oh well the other night we tried to rent Human Nature but instead got this weird French movie where in the year 2070 is Paris is a desert and this guy is there and meets his son who is a grandfather by then and they say they want to exist cuz the deal is his gf wants to have a baby but he doesn't really want kids. I didn't watch the whole thing...this premise was a little too...blah. lol I just wasn't into it lol. Belmondo was in it tho...of course he's kinda old now :D lol but it's funny cuz they had a pic in the movie of like the 60s model when he was slick and cool heh.

So anyhow yesterday Jenny went back and said YO You gave us the wrong flick and then we got the right one for free :D that was nice of them. Human Nature was a pretty cool movie. I would recommend it. The lives of a table manners obsessed scientist, a feral man, and a hairy lady coincide with entertaining results...

Uhmm oh dinner was 2.25 euros!!! I had a quichy thing with meat in it and half an order of fries!! ROCKIN' cuz at this café everything is 1.50 as far as the food goes...harcore!!

What else...oh we went to Quiz Night at "the frog and roastbeef" and i tasted Brian's aquarium which was realllly good. They supposedly have great nachos there so I might go back sometime. The quiz wasn't so great...kinda boring. Wow it was hard and we didn't win. Then the team name was supposed to be something that would embarrass the MC and ours was bad but an english team came up with a clever pun that was also bad so they won. My team is STILL bitter but I think the english team deserved it. (Don't tell them.) For the talent show Bryan sang a song and Jenny and Stephanie made out but a mechanical pig named Moo won...this was amusing, but yet again my team is bitter. We didn't win anything...lol.

That was actually before we watched Human Nature. Then I walked home at three in the morning in the rain cuz I didn't want to share a bed with three other people XD one of whom is coming down with a cold...

Tomorrow my plan is to get some errands done and then have lunch with Dann at noon. He has become skillful at preparing quesadillas which is something I can admire and so we will have salad and pears from my place and quesdillas from his... Then I'm gonna go to the MCJP and read/study/partake of more exciting japanese tv.

OH and so the play is on Wednesday...one of them...and then...OH...ha I just realized I have to be back here on the 29th...heh..for the other play!!! Yay!! And then my trip to aix is going to be the 3th or 4th through the 10th. Of May ne? Oyoy...i dunno i will have to book my ticket...

then i will just have to save a LOT of money :D

because all this vacationing will be expensive!!! (but certainly not as expensive as if it involved hostels o_o)

also bryan doesn't like bars EITHER :D it's nice to know that :D

hmmmm

wow i bet you can tell i'm in a good mood huh????!!!!!

for one thing...i had kinder country today (is that the reason? i don't think so!!! but it was still good!!!!) it's this candy with 5 grain crunchies in it and milk...kinder makes everyone happy!!! anyhow it was an example of a commercial educating the customer cuz i had always wondered what kinder "country" could be and just never picked up the box but then i saw the commercial and the kids were cute BUT THEY also announced to me the 5 grain crunchies which seemed to me to be a tasty thing...and so...i have them and it is!!!

also today a funny thing happened! i found greg in the métro!! well...actually he was holding the door for me as people sometimes do and when i looked up to thank him...it was him!!! i couldn't believe it...very surprising. we're gonna study japanese on friday i guess which sounds like a good plan :D i haven't seen him or heard from him for quite a while o_o

wellll i have to go do some other things and then catch the métro home!!! cuz i am SO not walking from here

!!!

castles and veggies

so i am feeling a little better

nothing has been resolved but i've been having some fun

and eating some veggies

i made a salad (with lettuce and tomato and carrot and i got this crazy mustard dressing that wasn't really that great...or maybe the lettuce wasn't that great...i dunno...it wasn't that great tho i guess HA)

and tonite there was exquisite guacomole ;D

i'm currently appealing for independent studies in Japanese Education and Japanese Folklore to replace the lit class...cuz that i know i could do for sure.

i guess i just won some award back at home for having high gpa...i really don't want to mess that up : /

no news from cali yet

ALSO today there were chateaux...we went to the loire valley and it was super fun and i met some groovy friends of Jenny's from Aix-en-Provence (and california) who we're gonna visit in may at the end of vacation

so tonite i think we're supposedly watching a movie

and wow tho that guac was the best

we always eat well i think

salmon pizza for lunch in this place called amboise where many of the houses are built into rocky hills...really cool looking...wish i had a house like that

i wish i would have gotten a reply from my advisor...that would have been helpful...

wow and i guess i was really really depressed the other day

tomorrow is lunch club and it's at renee's...i guess i am bringing bread...so that's easy :D

and i think i am going to a bar with jenny et. al. for quiz night...it's funny that i will be going to that for the first time with them and not emily and emanuel but i think it will be an interesting time

other than that...looking forward to break...

oh i spoke FRENCH today

imagine that...

(yeah that's kinda how i feel...sad isn't it?)

or not

ha so we're just gonna cook i guess...

so i can just sit here cuz i'm not really needed...

ugh

and so the anime festival IS actually in May

and i am going on the trip on saturday...altho i dunno why...i will probably hate it...just because it will be so touristy...

i dunno

jenny is going...so hopefully it will be cool

i guess i won't be keeping up with go class tho...between this saturday and vacation and other things...it just won't happen

so it goes

anyhow i guess i don't really have anything else to actually say

it's pretty boring to read depressing stuff anyhow...

i dunno what i'm gonna do at school tomorrow cuz i really don't have my OTHER thing done cuz i just don't know what to write about or what he wants or anything really...

this was such a bad idea...

i can't stop thinking how incredibly stupid this is

school wrecks everything

including your capacity to learn and your work ethic

a screw up

well maybe i am going to England after all...

i dunno

i probably shouldn't do anything. i should probably just try not to fail my lit class because otherwise i will for sure

i think i really messed everything up

i don't even remember how

wish i wasn't so depressed

i dunno even where it came from cuz i had new friends even tho it's hard to hang out with new people and i had good food even tho i probably ate too much of it and i had been having a pretty good week...

oh well

so much for that

guess the bottom line is i really don't deserve to go on vacation

cuz unfortunately intending to get work done doesn't get it done

i think intended entirely too much and forgot to actually do it

i was better off as a freaking perfectionist with no life

at least in middle school i got my work done and got straight As with over 100%

now i'm just lazy and stupid

somehow i managed to not even start my paper yet

i've been writing it in lists of things to do ever since i started school

and i tried to research once in a while

everything i do here is so pointless tho

why do i even need a french minor? why am i here?

i think living abroad is an awesome thing but school is horrible

i dunno if it's just this program or what but according to me studying abroad is just stupid...it's too hard to try to integrate yourself into another country's education program that has been training their students since day one how to fit in.

the other thing is that i barely ever speak french. i read in french but i don't speak it except with my french friends which are few if i even see them

ack

more later we're going to go eat i guess...i dunno why...cuz i already did...but we're going...

un oiseau dans la bibliothEque

yes there is supposed to be an accent there but we'll work with what we have for the moment...

so there WAS a bird in the library today, hopping down one of the lit aisles...very odd...

but cute

and so i made some more new friends last night...

how do you spell Macklin? Maclin? Maklen?

he was cool and they wrote an interesting homework assignment

we ate some tasty food and had some wine and chilled

was very nice...

saw some bollywood clips lol

very cool indeed.

i need to talk to anny about the trip cuz i think i will go

which reminds me that i will just get no sleep tonite because i have to go get my passport tomorrow finally AND uhm...crud what was the other thing...

oh! i have to go to MICEFA to sign up to go to the Loire Vally on saturday...it's only thirty five euros...

and i should take advantage...

*cry*

my poor budget needs to be redone...

i think i spend too much on groceries...i have to learn what are the good things to eat...

or something...

i dunno

i feel like everyone i know is cooler than me...and better at living in paris...

news of the day is

my classes are driving me insane

and are hard

AND are giving me a break at the end of NEXT WEEK

RED ALERT

WHO has not even STARTED that stupid evil paper yet? oh yes that would be me...i tried...these books are just too hard to find...tomorrow afternoon tho i will just live at the freaking library and take notes and read

that is the problem right there....they aren't books you can look at part of...they are normal books with chapters so i have no idea what is important and it's not like i have time (nor would i ever have time) to read the whole thing(s)

CRUD BUCKETS

not knowing what's important tho

that is a theme because i feel like that in all my classes

"all"

my whole three classes

this semester is so horribly messed up

i'm just glad that europe is so great and the people are cool and the food is ridiculous

i ate ethiopian today...did i spell that right? it's so sad....

but no the food! it was very intersting...sort of...different little piles of mush that you scoop with what seemed to me like a sour-dough tortilla...spongy...and kinda sour tasting...maybe that was just part of it i dunno...but it wasn't like regular bread...but there were split peas and chicken and hard boiled eggs and then other mushy things like other kinds of meat or something...and some salad....very interesting food

jenny is addicted...

oh oh oh

that is why today was expensive...cuz of ethiopian AND the fact that we went out for bento for lunch...we FOUND the place!!! and had bento...and it was DELICIOUS and i didn't explore the grocery store yet because i decided to leave with my friends and also because i cannot go buying things until i eat up all the food that has been sent to me....that is the rule...i am only allowed to buy perishable items which is soon to be a shame because i will run out of cereal...also i already broke the rule by buying rice cake things...but those are like really cool and remind me of being little

jenny has one of those uber awesome comforters that is super puffy

i like those...

her bed is nice

her APT is nice

and macklin (?) has an even BETTER apt...tiny has two floors really interesting and in a cute neighborhood

the best thing about meeting new people is finding new places and eating new food

annnnnnnd free couscous or mussels....

depends on what night you go i guess but there is some cafe that gives you free food if you buy beer which seems rather backwards to me but fine...i think i would make someone else drink my beer tho cuz i really don't like beer....

that's the problem with going out tho...you have to get something because you can't just loiter but if you buy juice or soda for like five euros you feel really really gipped and with good reason lol but cocktails are expensive and beer is gross and drinking is overrated so i dunno i'm gonna have to come up with a strategy lol cuz i don't mind GOING out but i don't really like spending money on things that i don't really want lol even if it's only juice or something...they should sell candy bars in bars or something...haha candy...bars...ha...but they should...then i could just go to a bar for dessert...even if they overcharged you and made you pay like three euros it would still be better than five euro juice...

we saw some very expensive designer stores today in our history class...

supposedly there WILL be a test at the end contrary to what i have previously been told by other people

this is unfortunate because it's REALLY impossible to tell what is important...

i hope there isn't a test for my lit class because that would be even more impossible...probably most impossible...he just goes on and on i dunno what they could even ask us...i would have trouble writing questions for a test like that because none of it really seems very important...at all...

ha...

kind of like allll my classes right now

tomorrow is film...i will pack a sandwich...because after class and everything i MUST MUST MUST (!!!) return to that infernal library where you can't check anything out and SIT THERE and RESEARCH until i fall over

which is basically what happened today i was REALLY tired...

which bites cuz technically i got enough sleep

oh and i get to talk to datif tomorrow about the OTHER paper that is actually due on FRIDAY and which i will cry about but not until six thirty at night so i will have to do it all after that...which is awful...and i will cry

cuz i want to see if he knows what the assignment is that i apparently didn't do well enough last time...

well this has gotten exceedingly long...i don't think i left anything thrilling out tho so that's it...

again with the jackets

school is boring and i should've brought a sweatshirt.

LAST night tho I went to Jenny's house. I officially met her at MICEFA when I went to turn in my paperwork. We watched Hedwig and the Angry Inch which was uber cool. There were some other people including a kid's mom who made homemade burritos with tortillas from scratch. Was amazing. Unfortunately it was also after midnight but hey...

oh well

so I stayed up till like 4 and talked to Dann for a while. He likes it better with two Ns cuz it balances out his last name which also has four letters.

Then I went to bed and like I said school is boring and i should've brought a sweatshirt.

Xav has taken an interest in Eurovision...this is interesting. I haven't gotten the chance to hear everything yet...

Oh, I also got invited to go to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague over vacation. We'd be really slummin' cuz we're both broke. But not really cuz hostels are usually pretty nice...altho I wonder if you need the card. I dunno. I don't have a backpack either. Chris might let me use his...

I dunno if I will go. I would like to, but it's during one of the plays and the anime convention...but then I am in Europe so it seems like maybe I should take advantage of the fact and save the Japanese things for Japan...

Ho hum...

I'm in a lousy mood.

too sexy for my jacket

man the weather is annoying me. last week and this morning i was stupid and went out without a coat and lived to regret it...had to go home and grab it and waste all that time. Today it wasn't too bad cuz i had to go home for lunch anyhow...the problem is that the hour I spent at my house was the hour that it warmed up so now it is almost too warm for even my sweatshirt and I'm carrying this big winter coat around...grr!!!

i guess i can go pick up my passport tomorrow so that is good...

i should wash some socks tonite...

this afternoon i am planning on accomplishing some things but i still hate thinking about the all work i have to do...wish I could just take my coat home and go study kanji in the park. Tomorrow I am allotting time for satellite NHK at the MCJP!!! :D

sooooooo the eurovision song contest video and audio clips are finally up so everyone should go watch them

http://eurovision.tv

how exciting! romania's song is the best of the one's i've heard so far...altho which is the one with the girl with the bow and arrow? brett actually liked that one BETTER than romania which i think is a bit much lol but it was good :D

there is a smartcar parked across the street http://www.thesmart.co.uk/index.html it's black and silver...what funny things they are. I wonder if you automatically die if you crash in one of those. Small cars are cute but they don't seem very safe o_o

and the one true victory of the day is that i found chocolate soja at MY grocery store for ONLY a euro fifty. this is much cheaper than amy has been buying it for and much closer than a bio store. altho i would still like to go to a bio store to see if they have better yogurt...

hmm...

my vocab is improving! cuz i've been reading so much...which is nice...i don't have to look up words like "soulagement" or "angoisse" anymore.

...

yeah so really there's not that much going on!! the week can be over now!! XD

lonely 2s

yeah that's the grade i got on my first summary...which to be fair is cuz i wasn't sure what he was looking for...but that doesn't mean that my next one will be any better

the in class one is THIS friday

i was wrong

and the anime con is the end of THIS month

not may

i don't think...

uhm

blah

soooooo friday was long and crummy

but i saw sergey...that was nice. he is leaving on his internship soon

saturday was good. we had japanese but not bento because oddly enough the place was nonexistant? or something? the address they gave seemed to go to an apartment building...but we went to a different place. I had katsu don which is pork, onions, and egg fried in something tasty on a bowl of rice. brett had miso ramen but hated it so much she didn't eat it...O_O i thought it was fine but i was sooo full. i felt bad that we left it there...

then go class was so hard!! that game is crubazuby...simple rules but soooo complicated to actually play. there are so many spots i never know where to go...i guess you get better with experience!!! hopefully i will improve o_o the teacher guy was pretty nice...but they scold you if you make same mistake twice...but it's helpful. you feel so dumb you could NEVER possibly want to do it again. there was one sorta kno-it-all so i dunno why he went with the total beginners and then his dad was there and these two other people. first they went through the rules and then the teacher played all five of us at once. i lost horribly the first time and won the second time but i dunno how i managed to do that and probably it was because he helped me a few times...heh. and of course we are all playing on a four stone handicap cuz we are beginners...

the movie was soooo depressing...SO depressing....Ukigumo or Floating Cloud. It was good but so sad. This girl meets this dude during the war while they are stationed in indochina and he is supposed to get divorced for her and doesn't and they have this sort of tragic pathetic episodic thing for a while and she is miserable and leading a dead-end life and ends up going back to the guy who raped her and treated her like a prostitute for three years while she lived at his house and etc etc then she finally begs tomioka (the guy) to take her with him to his new job on an island cuz she can't live without him so he does and then she ends up getting sick and DYING and he realizes what he could've had but wasted and by this time his wife and other side girl are both dead too and i dunno...everyone died and/or was miserble...and i'm reading the book now!!! gosh so sad...

uhm lunch club was at my place today where we had soup that was too big for the pot so i have a HUGE mess to clean up...and the crepes were messy too...GOSH lots of cleaning

and then homework...

nothing too much going on this week

all my french friends are off doing other things seems like so i'm just kinda doing my work and reading and trying to find time to chill...i guess

saturday is go class and probably more japanese food...so i'm looking forward to next weekend

then next week i get to go see a play at the MCJP

altho i think i picked a seat too far forward...the supertitles might give me a neckache...x_x i should've known better

so it goes!! i'm sure it will be really cool!!

basically i just can't wait until next weekend...and i hope i can get my research going more...getting these books is such a stupid thing...i'm just frusterated with everything and my grades for my lit class are coming out lousy so far so i dunno what to do. i just want school to end...couple months and then things will be better. i hope my exams are early so i have lots of time to just chill and enjoy the beginning of summer.

stressed out and other things too

This morning was chilly. I still didn't wear a coat though. Between being here and then if I move to California I will become a total wimp. You will see me at Christmas and laugh while I cry over the snow and the freezing.

Today I finished reading Learning to Bow FINALLY I had to take a bit of a break...because there was no time to go to the MCJP. Now I MAKE time. I also started Acts of Reading which is a book about reading in Japanese for natives and then about the experience for students of the language and strategies for teaching. It is very interesting...even tho I only got through the introduction. When I walked downstairs there was a calisthenics segment on the NHK tv...

Tonite I will study kanji and read in French. I also really need to collect some sources...quite a few actually. Meaning...well...all of them. For some reason I'm having a really hard time getting this project going...I think the libraries do not help. Tricky libraries... v_v Hmm so I will do that while I am here...look up the books I will try to reserve tomorrow and then gather some websites. I dunno. This paper is really scary.

I also need to eat. Class today was so boring but afterwords I got a banana. Dinner will be couscous and tuna and possibly carrot salad.

I can't wait for Saturday. If I can get through tomorrow everything will be great. BENTO!! I can't believe it.

ALSO to my EXTREME ECSTASY there is going to be a huge anime convention here in Paris at the end of May. Right before my daddy (HAPPY BIRTHDAY :D) is coming to visit!! For this reasn I will try to spare ALL unnecessary expensive EVEN MORE than I already am so I can go and have a good time. I have to go check out the website. It will be my FIRST CON EVER!!! :D

I have moved on in my métro reading to a book about the educational and therapeutic uses of Go which is interesting. It's written by a 9th dan (which i THINK its the highest level...altho I'm not sure...) professional player who went to various institutions with a simplified version of the game. He is Japanese but the book is translated into French. He talked about how even the little five year olds would stay calm and just play Go; they really got into it. I hope there will be little kids in the class I go to on Saturday. That would be so cool! I wonder if there will be mostly French or Japanese people... Probably I will be the only American...lol.

Hmmm...I'm trying to think of anything else interesting going on. I saw Dr Kinsey last night with Emily, Clara, Dann (he has informed me it includes two ns), and Miguel. I was just getting home but it didn't take much to get me out to a movie lol. It was SUPER cheap too!!! Only 4€90 because they are having this deal where if you buy a ticket you get a coupon. I have two more coupons because my friends both have this unlimited pass so they don't have to pay but they still get the discount things so they gave them to me. It's so easy to save money sometimes.

I realized I need to find a shirt to go with my pants from Express. I have a really cool sweater but here I think it is too warm to wear. Luckily I still have a couple weeks to consider this...

Well I have to go website hunting so that will be it...

hungry blue rain glasses

but not necessarily in that order?

why is my font italic? i think this computer must be strannnnnnge

it looks like i'm talking to you out of a fuzzy dream edge (like on tv)

but actually your mind has fuzzy dream edges too...i forget how far your "mind's eye" can see...

hummmmm

so the réserve centrale is ACTUALLY a reserve...unfortunately i became enlightened a bit late in the game lol so i will have to go tell my prof here is a list of books i have ORDERED from the library so i can write my rought draft of the first two pages in my paper the night before it is due...*cry*

i bought tickets for japanese plays!! i'm excited

also i'm going to go class on saturday :D

AND there was this free mag with all the Japanese grocery stores listed and one of them serves BENTO o_o (Japanese box lunch) OHMYGOSH

ooh i like that better that OMIGOD lol it conveys the same WOW without the 13YEAROLDGIRL

hahaha

no no so i'm gonna go eat bento on saturday and then go study go and then go see a FREE movie because we love the MCJP

i want to eat pizza tonite...

and then i want to eat everything i have at home as fast as possible so i can go buy IMPORTED JAPANESE RICE!!! YES!!!

§§§§

looks like tadpoles :D

lol

§§§§

§ it's the paragraph sign...

my prof drew it on the board the other day

i have a summary to write for him...

i finished looking up all the words this afternoon but i was too tired so i took a small nap and then a shower but then i was too hungry lol

hmmm

lol i sense a little NOT WANTING TO DO FRENCH HOMEWORK: tooooo bad.

lol

i will have to finish when i get home!!!

and then look up some words in my novel

tomorrow i have to order library books annnnnnd read more

i'm reading a book about go in the subway...it's in French....

Go is the oldest boardgame IN THE WORLD. It's from probably China but got really popular in Japan and that's how it spread around. It would be cool to get good at that.

So I was reading my book but my stop was coming up and this guy was like, "You play Go?" only in French and so we talked about it for a while. Apparently he was a student where I had class today. He said I should learn Chinese as well as Japanese and Vietnamese or Korean too. I said ok LOL LOL LOL but of course I'm gonna SPECIALIZE...none of this sector crud. Then he said he studied like 3 or 4 or 5 or some amount of languages...sounded like near east i think...i don't remember...he said them really fast...but something like that. AND THEN he was like "well good luck" and KISSED MY HAND...that was scary...who goes around kissing girls' hands they meet in the subway??? x_x

ODD

so i have to leave but i hope everyone is having a good day ^_^

the return of lunch club

today was at amy's house and she made chicken and couscous and vegies and it was SUPAH good

i was a dork and forgot the milk to make crepes with so we're putting them off for the second week in a row x_x

there was also this AWESOME cheese and bread and strawberries

yay

we went for a walk and blah blah

oh but last night i went out even tho i didn't really want to

we had some sushi and then went to this karaoke bar which was kinda boring but ok

there were some people with really good voices

and then there were some people who didn't know what they were doing :D

i didn't sing so i can't really talk hehehe

i should actually go out for yakitori and sushi sometime...I only had a snack last night but it made me want more Japanese food...when i get back to the states I'm going on a hardcore Izumi's run LOL

wheee i need to do laundry so bad but i'm out of soap i just realized so i will have to put it off till tomorrow

aiiie!!! lol

californiaaaaaaa, californiaaaaaaa

here we coooooooome

well not quite yet...i guess lol gotta get accepted first...

www.pacific.edu

anyhow so i wish i could upload the rest of my app for rochester too but that's not working...in any case if i get in a pacific i will most likely go there. the crummy news is i will probably have to start just about, if not all, over because the japanese program at uwm, as intensive as it sometimes SEEMS, is really not at all...

>_<

it will be worth it tho!! (in terms of happiness and knowledge lol...paying for school bites lol or rather...it WILL bite...when i am a poor translator!!! XD at least i will be a translator...or something...you KNOW i'll be SOMEthing)

so there are many interesting things going on:

the manga café is nihongo only...just raw stuff lol so even tho i trekked out there lugging my french dictionary i didn't read anything...i found a really good looking café tho...i gotta go back there sometime...

i checked out an anime store...it was really happy looking at all the posters and things!!!

the mcjp was groovy...and their new schedule is out...there is some famous percussionist guy coming in may who i definitely want to go see...concerts and things there are only 9 euros cuz i'm a student!!! o_o

i got my book for lit...it's pretty short and the print is HUGE so hopefully it will be not tooooo hard. it's called, "Le Chasseur Zéro" It's about a girl who is...haunted by a kamikaze?? or she's insane? both? i'm not sure lol should be interesting tho

i got my package from my aunt sue and there is ALL kinds of happy food in there! between what my mom sent and what she sent i will only have to shop for fruit and meat lol

ching chi-ching ching chinnng chinnng

uhm...well we didn't see a movie last night...but i talked to mojikun :D that was fun

tomorrow i HAVE to do laundry...or maybe tonite...

banana!!!! XD

ha

well ok i read the date wrong...it's due the fifth of may lol

i still have a lot to do tho but now i'm motivated

i like having nice teacher because then not only do you want to do well for yourself and your grade, but also for your teacher who is so cool and smart and expounding every week for all of your young benefits lol i dunno...maybe the rest of the class doesn't feel that way...lol

but i do :D

so today in a flurry of word-processing which i will hopefully never have to equal again...i completed everything that was really supposed to be done today. quality may have suffered a bit, which is something i regret to my very core, so i really am going to work harder. also my french is abominable sometimes lol.

i need one of those japanese classroom signs, only it has to say

Let's spell correctly and use the right prepositions when we do our French homework!!! ^_^

please let me not fail!!!

lol

plans for the weekend include a MUCH anticipated return to the MCJP and maybe a trip to a place or two from the Japanese culture article i read the other day...like maybe the manga cafe or something...

maybe i will see a movie...but i will DEFINITELY go find the book to read for my report and start it and

DEFINITELY start doing my homwork for next friday...it's nice tho...i cuz i have no pressing homework for my other classes...in fact for my film class i have nothing except a couple make-up movies next week so is cool. i COULD theoretically work on my paper for my history class but it is certainly not due in any way lol and even if it were it would just be the second part not a big deal...

this lit class is first year but it is technical and challenging as heck and really in depth...i'm just totally not used to it...it's really interesting tho when i can follow what's going on...most of the time i have at least a vague idea but today i was a little beyond vague... >_< lol

ching! i think hopefully tonite emanuel and i and maybe dan or someone i dunno will rent a french movie and chill altho not till later...i wonder if i will even be awake lol