I just wanted to blog. Give me a moment to form my thoughts together and figure out what to write about.
Well, it's May. About two months from now I will be arriving back in the US to restart live there. I am bound to enter a world of no money, no time, and lots of stress. At the same time, I will be doing something that will motivate and challenge me.
Today's one of those days that I can honestly tell myself that I am excited to leave here.
Admittedly, I had a few rough days last week in which I found myself underestimated and judged based on the fact I am not Japanese and I can't claim that doesn't happen sometimes. In the US I can be identified for who I actually am and I can work towards showing people who underestimate me just how wrong they are.
Today I talked to my supervisor and he is going to work out selling by car with the person I bought the car from. I also scheduled with him to discuss my plane ticket back to the US on Thursday (so I'll have an actual date soon.)
I know when the time comes, I'll probably be really sad to leave, but today I just feel excited.
Meanwhile, the weather has become very humid and rainy. It's already getting pretty warm and it shouldn't be too long before it gets to be hot. The reminder of how hot and humid summers are here makes me kind of glad I am not going to be enduring this one all the way through.
I need to start mailing some of my stuff back to the US. I need to get rid of things that I don't want/need. I need to start cleaning my place for the next ALT who will live there. I need to figure out where I will live back in California.
Two. more. months. :)
And in the meantime, this place isn't half bad.
May 23, 2010
May 16, 2010
Note to Japan
You're a great country and I really like you, but there's something you really need to understand. Not every Japanese person thinks this way, but there are enough that do to make things really annoying for a foreigner taking residence in your country.
You are a very unique country, Japan, as should be expected from a country that was isolated from the rest of the world for so long. Your language is very difficult to learn and many foreigners have a hard time adapting to your customs.
But, contrary to what some might believe, it IS possible for a foreigner to learn your language and understand your customs. I know that perhaps at some point in their education, many of your people decide that English is impossible for them and they conclude that it would be impossible for them to function in cultures other than their own. They come to believe that Japan is so completely different from other countries that understanding is impossible.
However, they're wrong.
Japan, you are not that unique. You are NOT that special. You just a country! Your people are human just as any one else on this planet. We can learn to understand each other. Your people have created unnecessary barriers that are both restrictive to themselves and annoying for the foreigners that end up having to try to deal with them.
Even in some English lessons, the content is laced with a certain feeling of impossibility and sometimes the English teachers do nothing but make it even more so.
Oh, and for the record, we have technology such as washing machines and computers in other countries.
So next time I am given unasked for, painfully obvious advice about technology, I will not be held responsible for screaming at the person who provides it in my native tongue.
OK, so the last sentence hopefully isn't true... ^^;
You are a very unique country, Japan, as should be expected from a country that was isolated from the rest of the world for so long. Your language is very difficult to learn and many foreigners have a hard time adapting to your customs.
But, contrary to what some might believe, it IS possible for a foreigner to learn your language and understand your customs. I know that perhaps at some point in their education, many of your people decide that English is impossible for them and they conclude that it would be impossible for them to function in cultures other than their own. They come to believe that Japan is so completely different from other countries that understanding is impossible.
However, they're wrong.
Japan, you are not that unique. You are NOT that special. You just a country! Your people are human just as any one else on this planet. We can learn to understand each other. Your people have created unnecessary barriers that are both restrictive to themselves and annoying for the foreigners that end up having to try to deal with them.
Even in some English lessons, the content is laced with a certain feeling of impossibility and sometimes the English teachers do nothing but make it even more so.
Oh, and for the record, we have technology such as washing machines and computers in other countries.
So next time I am given unasked for, painfully obvious advice about technology, I will not be held responsible for screaming at the person who provides it in my native tongue.
OK, so the last sentence hopefully isn't true... ^^;
Blog
I keep writing entries in my head that don't quite make it here. Even if I write them, I'm never quite happy enough with the outcome.
*sigh*
Oh, and I had a concussion for about a week. I think it's better now, though.
*sigh*
Oh, and I had a concussion for about a week. I think it's better now, though.
May 06, 2010
Time's Up!
Or rather it's been up for a while now...
I vaguely recall some indeterminable time ago dropping by this blog and seeing that there was about 6 more days left in the countdown I had off to the side. I made mental note of that, which apparently failed until today.
(I just checked my calendar, however, and noticed that I am only almost two weeks late. *pats self on back*)
A year has passed since I wrote this post and now it's time to share our results!
Now, for me, hearing odd things and getting asked strange questions is far from out of the ordinary. I live in a foreign country and I am always around people who know very little about where I come from. On top of that, I always get questions from people who don't know much about Japan. I've become so immune to this that I almost forget to think anything of it.
So... here's what I got-
1) How is the weather in America? (I actually get asked this one a lot. I'm often tempted to put out a map of the US and start rambling about the weather in different regions.)
2) Are there any clowns in Japan?
3) Do you know where the Pokemon building is?
4) Do you even know how hard it is to get cheese from a dead cow? (asked by Akemi)
5) (I'm out of time, I'll fill this in later)
Comment with yours!!!
I vaguely recall some indeterminable time ago dropping by this blog and seeing that there was about 6 more days left in the countdown I had off to the side. I made mental note of that, which apparently failed until today.
(I just checked my calendar, however, and noticed that I am only almost two weeks late. *pats self on back*)
A year has passed since I wrote this post and now it's time to share our results!
Now, for me, hearing odd things and getting asked strange questions is far from out of the ordinary. I live in a foreign country and I am always around people who know very little about where I come from. On top of that, I always get questions from people who don't know much about Japan. I've become so immune to this that I almost forget to think anything of it.
So... here's what I got-
1) How is the weather in America? (I actually get asked this one a lot. I'm often tempted to put out a map of the US and start rambling about the weather in different regions.)
2) Are there any clowns in Japan?
3) Do you know where the Pokemon building is?
4) Do you even know how hard it is to get cheese from a dead cow? (asked by Akemi)
5) (I'm out of time, I'll fill this in later)
Comment with yours!!!
March 18, 2010
the present
I was going though my old myspace blogs again. I found quite a few that I enjoyed reading. I used to have so much fun blogging and they were so witty (sometimes) and fun to read. I wish I could bring that feeling back.
My wit and randomness has mostly found a home on my twitter account. Actually day to day things aren't really recorded anyone except in chats and emails. It's a shame, though.
Yesterday, I tweeted-
"So I just realized that my tweets are really weird without the context of... umm... the REST of my life. Oh well, you'll live. ;)"
and someone I don't know personally who has been following my replied-
"@Juuleeya Understandable or not, your tweets are entertaining. And that's the point, right?"
It was kind of neat to know that one of the accounts owned by someone I don't know is actually someone who enjoys my tweets and not just some random twitter bot.
I always really like it when other people can appreciate my "mind goo." :D
Anyway, I thought I would link to some of my old blogs that I really liked as I was skimming through this evening-
1) I LOL'd at this SHS drama related dream that I don't even remember having had before.
2) Reading myself wax poetic about curry amused me to no end. (I actually got tired of it after a while living here, but I still really like to eat it someitmes.)
3) I almost passed right over this blog because I don't even like to think about Annie Get Your Gun, but I ended up reading it and really liking what I wrote about it.
4) I just really love the part about the "Certificate of Appreciation."
5) I wish I remembered if I ever found out what this was about. Oh, and I like my lone comment on it. I think it was originally replying to someone.
6) Is it bad that I just realized how out-of-it this blog was this evening? I like the "Perhaps I'll be able to walk on my own soon??" bit.
7) And lastly (but not leastly?), I liked this blog a lot because it's along the same lines that I've been thinking about lately. :)
That was a fun, yet pointless, little blast from past, right?
Soo.... let's blog a little more about the present shall we?
Today in an English class I was co-teaching, there was an activity in the book where one person had to quickly ask the questions and the other person had to answer as quickly as possible. The teacher and I demonstrated with each other. We had to say "yes, I did" to all of the "did you...?" questions for the sake of the next question making sense.
This is how the conversation went when I was answering-
Teacher: What time did you wake up on Sunday?
Me: Noon. (This was true, I was at an open mic night Saturday night and got home at around 2:30. I didn't get to bed until 3:30-ish.)
Teacher: Did you study?
Me: Yes, I did. (Not true)
Teacher: What did you study?
Me: I studied economics. (Well, I have been studying that lately...)
Teacher: Did you play any sports?
Me: Yes, I did. (I most definitely did not.)
Teacher: What did you play?
Me: I played badminton. (went with the sport I like playing the best even if I hardly ever play it.
Teacher: Did you watch TV?
Me: Yes, I did. (...nope)
Teacher: What did you watch?
Me: I watched (at a complete and total loss) the weather.
The weather?? That's all I could think of?
Anyway, I thought that was a fun story.
Krys is still in boot camp now and I've been mailing her letters about once a week. It's funny, sometimes while I'm writing them, I think "wow, I can usually do this whole sit down and write a letter thing..!" but most of the time, I think I'm just blabbing. It seems like the words written in letters are so much more important than emailed words. Especially when email is out of the question right now. I miss chatting with her all of the time... although most of what I talked to her about was entirely pointless.
Anyway, I've been pretty busy these days and I've been enjoying life a lot.
I'm going to be going to Thailand soon. Hurray!
My wit and randomness has mostly found a home on my twitter account. Actually day to day things aren't really recorded anyone except in chats and emails. It's a shame, though.
Yesterday, I tweeted-
"So I just realized that my tweets are really weird without the context of... umm... the REST of my life. Oh well, you'll live. ;)"
and someone I don't know personally who has been following my replied-
"@Juuleeya Understandable or not, your tweets are entertaining. And that's the point, right?"
It was kind of neat to know that one of the accounts owned by someone I don't know is actually someone who enjoys my tweets and not just some random twitter bot.
I always really like it when other people can appreciate my "mind goo." :D
Anyway, I thought I would link to some of my old blogs that I really liked as I was skimming through this evening-
1) I LOL'd at this SHS drama related dream that I don't even remember having had before.
2) Reading myself wax poetic about curry amused me to no end. (I actually got tired of it after a while living here, but I still really like to eat it someitmes.)
3) I almost passed right over this blog because I don't even like to think about Annie Get Your Gun, but I ended up reading it and really liking what I wrote about it.
4) I just really love the part about the "Certificate of Appreciation."
5) I wish I remembered if I ever found out what this was about. Oh, and I like my lone comment on it. I think it was originally replying to someone.
6) Is it bad that I just realized how out-of-it this blog was this evening? I like the "Perhaps I'll be able to walk on my own soon??" bit.
7) And lastly (but not leastly?), I liked this blog a lot because it's along the same lines that I've been thinking about lately. :)
That was a fun, yet pointless, little blast from past, right?
Soo.... let's blog a little more about the present shall we?
Today in an English class I was co-teaching, there was an activity in the book where one person had to quickly ask the questions and the other person had to answer as quickly as possible. The teacher and I demonstrated with each other. We had to say "yes, I did" to all of the "did you...?" questions for the sake of the next question making sense.
This is how the conversation went when I was answering-
Teacher: What time did you wake up on Sunday?
Me: Noon. (This was true, I was at an open mic night Saturday night and got home at around 2:30. I didn't get to bed until 3:30-ish.)
Teacher: Did you study?
Me: Yes, I did. (Not true)
Teacher: What did you study?
Me: I studied economics. (Well, I have been studying that lately...)
Teacher: Did you play any sports?
Me: Yes, I did. (I most definitely did not.)
Teacher: What did you play?
Me: I played badminton. (went with the sport I like playing the best even if I hardly ever play it.
Teacher: Did you watch TV?
Me: Yes, I did. (...nope)
Teacher: What did you watch?
Me: I watched (at a complete and total loss) the weather.
The weather?? That's all I could think of?
Anyway, I thought that was a fun story.
Krys is still in boot camp now and I've been mailing her letters about once a week. It's funny, sometimes while I'm writing them, I think "wow, I can usually do this whole sit down and write a letter thing..!" but most of the time, I think I'm just blabbing. It seems like the words written in letters are so much more important than emailed words. Especially when email is out of the question right now. I miss chatting with her all of the time... although most of what I talked to her about was entirely pointless.
Anyway, I've been pretty busy these days and I've been enjoying life a lot.
I'm going to be going to Thailand soon. Hurray!
March 04, 2010
Hello March
Today was my last day to say goodbye to my graduating 3rd year JHS students. Some of them are really good kids and I am going to miss being their teacher. It makes me sad to see them go. It's funny that I can feel so attached to them when I don't really even know them well at all. Despite the fact I don't know a lot about them and considering how many students I have and how little time I had for each individual student, I learned a lot about their personalities and had fun interacting with them. I think, all and all, I made good use of the time we had together.
A big story in the news today back in the US is the protests of the budget cuts in higher education. I was surprised to hear the enormity of the protests and was sad to hear that so many students had been arrested because of them. I've been calculating how much money I have for grad school over and over these days, so I understood how terrible these students feel to have the impossibility known as "having money" get in the way of their dreams and what they want to achieve.
I think everyone should have a chance to be educated well and at least make an effort to get where they want to go in life. Of course there should be barriers- because, as they say, nothing is worth having that's not worth fighting for, but there's something wrong with the system if the barriers are simply too strong.
Today is a rather sappy day in which I keep getting myself upset over things. Sorry if this blog goes off the emo charts.
A big story in the news today back in the US is the protests of the budget cuts in higher education. I was surprised to hear the enormity of the protests and was sad to hear that so many students had been arrested because of them. I've been calculating how much money I have for grad school over and over these days, so I understood how terrible these students feel to have the impossibility known as "having money" get in the way of their dreams and what they want to achieve.
I think everyone should have a chance to be educated well and at least make an effort to get where they want to go in life. Of course there should be barriers- because, as they say, nothing is worth having that's not worth fighting for, but there's something wrong with the system if the barriers are simply too strong.
Today is a rather sappy day in which I keep getting myself upset over things. Sorry if this blog goes off the emo charts.
February 25, 2010
Opening up?
It's always been very difficult (if not impossible) for me to talk about the things that are really really close to my heart. When I do, I often either make them sound less important than they really are or exaggerate humorously. If it's something I'm really passionate about, I don't like people knowing it. I don't like letting people know what's really important for me because I feel like that gives them the power to destroy it.
But they don't have to have this power. I keep reminding myself of this. If I hold true to what I want and believe in, it won't matter what other people say or do.
Once I start grad school, something I'm very passionate about will be out there in the open. Even now, talking about grad school with everyone I know, I end up opening the door just a crack or a little more letting people know what I want to do... but still very rarely why or how much.
If I am going to be who I want to be, I am going to have to pull that door open and let anyone who would listen know what I am really about.
But these things aren't easy. I feel the door opening gradually at a speed that I can almost call comfortable.
...............
My name is Julia and I will be starting to work on my Masters degree in the fall. I will be entering the International Policy Studies Program at Monterey Institute of International Studies with a concentration on International Conflict Resolution. If time and money permit it, I also want to work towards getting a certificate for Nonproliferation Studies. I want to do this because I dislike the idea of innocent people losing their lives and having to live feeling that they are unsafe. I want to make the world just a little bit safer. I'm especially interested in nonproliferation studies because I've visited Hiroshima and decided that I never want to see that happen again to anyone in the world in my lifetime. I don't need to be an important or well known person, but I just want to make a difference.
Still, beyond this, there is so much I want to do. I think that getting into JET gave me a little taste of what it feels like to really succeed and I am not sure when exactly I will stop wanting more.
.................
Hmm... well, that wasn't much but it's a start.
Because it is so difficult for me to open up to others about what's really important to me, you can imagine how hard it was to up the courage to even apply for this grad school program.
It's all going to be worth it.
I just it's ridiculous that I got over such a barrier and now suddenly I'm constantly obsessing over something as ridiculous as money.
Oh well, MIIS will happen even if I have to get (a) loan(s).
(this blog kind of deteriorated....)
But they don't have to have this power. I keep reminding myself of this. If I hold true to what I want and believe in, it won't matter what other people say or do.
Once I start grad school, something I'm very passionate about will be out there in the open. Even now, talking about grad school with everyone I know, I end up opening the door just a crack or a little more letting people know what I want to do... but still very rarely why or how much.
If I am going to be who I want to be, I am going to have to pull that door open and let anyone who would listen know what I am really about.
But these things aren't easy. I feel the door opening gradually at a speed that I can almost call comfortable.
...............
My name is Julia and I will be starting to work on my Masters degree in the fall. I will be entering the International Policy Studies Program at Monterey Institute of International Studies with a concentration on International Conflict Resolution. If time and money permit it, I also want to work towards getting a certificate for Nonproliferation Studies. I want to do this because I dislike the idea of innocent people losing their lives and having to live feeling that they are unsafe. I want to make the world just a little bit safer. I'm especially interested in nonproliferation studies because I've visited Hiroshima and decided that I never want to see that happen again to anyone in the world in my lifetime. I don't need to be an important or well known person, but I just want to make a difference.
Still, beyond this, there is so much I want to do. I think that getting into JET gave me a little taste of what it feels like to really succeed and I am not sure when exactly I will stop wanting more.
.................
Hmm... well, that wasn't much but it's a start.
Because it is so difficult for me to open up to others about what's really important to me, you can imagine how hard it was to up the courage to even apply for this grad school program.
It's all going to be worth it.
I just it's ridiculous that I got over such a barrier and now suddenly I'm constantly obsessing over something as ridiculous as money.
Oh well, MIIS will happen even if I have to get (a) loan(s).
(this blog kind of deteriorated....)
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