My College Experience: A List

My friend Ashalyn did something like this and I decided to do it, too, because it's an awesome idea. So, here is my list of things I did in college (that are noteworthy, anyway), in no particular order.

1. Held Full-Time Jobs. Three of them, in fact: Macys in summer 07, King County Jail Health in summer 08, and King County Public Health in summer 09. I will probably be back at public health for part of this summer, too.

2. Studied Abroad in Japan. I spent four months of 2008 in Kawagoe, Saitama going to TIU for my study abroad. Clearly, I loved it because I'm going back to Japan in July.

3. Lived with roommates. I lived with the same roommate for two years, then went abroad, and I've lived with Annie ever since.

4. Wrote a thesis. Okay, so I'm still working on this. But a week from today I will definitely have successfully written my senior thesis.

5. Had a boyfriend.

6. Made friends.

7. Voted from a foreign country. I was in Japan during the 08 presidential election, voted by mail, and hung out in the second-floor lounge at TIU with their wireless internet to get the election results.

8. Had my wisdom teeth removed. It sucked.

9. Got detained at customs. This also sucked. Fortunately, it was only for about 15 minutes, but I didn't enjoy it.

10. Got into reading feminist and critical race theory. This is an on-going process. I still have a lot of books to read.

11. Went to a couple of anime conventions.

12. Went to a funeral. For my friend Yasu, last fall. It was a tough time, in a lot of ways, but I'm glad I went to the funeral.

13. Got H1N1. Another of those things that I probably could have done without.

14. Sang with the women's choir here at WU every semester.

15. Completed NaNoWriMo. So, I successfully wrote 50,000 words of original fiction in November. The novel needs some hardcore work before I would even consider showing it to anyone, though.

16. Went out drinking. I suppose you could count karaoke in Japan along with more domestic happenings.

17. Got into the JET Program. My next adventure!

I'm sure I could think of more, if I really wanted to, but this seems like a pretty good list. So I'll leave it at that. This was a good four years, I'm happy with what I did with them.

I'm Blogging A Lot Lately

I think this can be attributed to my thesis and other "important" things. The more I have to do, the more likely I am to distract myself with the internet. I haven't updated my blog very consistently this year, anyway, so I'm sort of making up for it.

Anyway, today I got some kind of bad news from home. Apparently, my family's dog, Max, has developed a degenerative retinal condition, so he's losing his sight. It's not something that can be treated and it's just one of those things that happens sometimes to older dogs. The vet said that it's not preventable and it isn't due to anything we did, so it's not anyone's fault. He also said that it could stop at any time, which means Max might be left with weak vision, or it could continue until he's completely blind. So that was hard to hear. It could be worse, like cancer or something, but it's still sad.

So I'm finding things to do that don't involve brooding over things that can't be helped. Like reading for fun and studying kanji. Exciting stuff, I know.

Actually, on the kanji front, I said I was going to try Heisig's method, yeah? Well, after hearing a few times about my friend Katherine's success with it, I really did get his book Remembering the Kanji 1 off Amazon and I'm pleasantly surprised. I admit, I was a little sceptical at first because it's a kanji book with no Japanese at all aside from the kanji themselves (no readings or use explanations or anything), but it's a really good method. His idea is that you should first learn how to write all the characters, with their meanings (so all English), and then learn the readings afterward to apply them to what you already know. It sounds kind of weird, because it's totally different from every Japanese class ever, but I'm doing really well at it so far. Each kanji has a little story (sometimes silly) attached to use as a mnemonic device, based on what the character looks like. The kanji for "old," for example, looks like a tombstone (it's a box with a cross on top, basically), so that's how you can remember it.

I don't know if it works this well for everyone, but I at least am already retaining more than I did by the traditional method of learning the stroke order, meaning, and readings all together. When I finish the book I'll get the follow-up to work on the readings. So, if you, like me, struggle with internalising kanji, check out Heisig.

Thesis Time

I mailed off my JET acceptance today. Along with my criminal records check and an IRS form related to my upcoming foreign residency. On Thursday, I have my physical and then, as soon as I get that form filled out, I'll send it off to JET and be all set for getting placement! I could know in as little as three weeks what my placement is, which is just enough time for me to be reduced to a ball of nerves. Again.

Anyway, in the meantime I'm trying to finish my thesis and it's... going. I'm on page 12, of a required 20-25, and that isn't including an introduction because I haven't written one yet. I'll make at least 20 pages easily, so that's not a concern, it's just that I still have to write them. I also have to seriously edit the first 10 pages that I wrote because there are a lot of problems. My thesis adviser pointed out that I kind of don't really have a central focus. I mean, I am arguing something, but there's no strong "so what" yet. Instead, I've been sort of toying with three or four possible reasons for even writing this paper. Aside from, you know, my intense desire to graduate on the 16th. So, when I get the whole thing written, I'm going to have to go back through it and edit, reorder some parts, break a few paragraphs up and shift the content around, because I shouldn't structure them the way I did, and refine it all to fit a more central idea. That I don't quite have yet. It'll happen.

I'm just burned out and bored, honestly. I'm so close to being finished, and so close to going back to Japan, and so close to doing something I've dreamed of for a long time that it's hard to maintain enthusiasm for my thesis. Or anything else I have left to do to attain my degree.

I'm down to my thesis, a final 7-10 page paper for Apocalyptic Lit (that I haven't started - it's on the agenda after I make more thesis progress), and a group presentation for art history. And all of that will be turned in and completed by 4 May. Then I'll chill for a week and a half, graduate, and head back up to Washington until 24 July when I peace out to Japan. That's it. I'm thisclose.

Also, I will definitely be moving blogs. I made an account over at Wordpress and am planning to migrate over there this summer, probably in July a little before I leave the country. Blogspot has served me well for the past two years, but I'm due for a change of scene and I like some things Wordpress has to offer.

And that's about it. I don't have a lot happening, just a few things that are kind of big. My only other news is maybe that I decided to get James Heisig's book Remembering the Kanji to try his method. I'll let you know how that goes for me.

Busy Busy Busy

Here, have a JET to-do list:

• Get a chest x-ray
• Get a physical
• Get fingerprints taken
• Request an FBI criminal records check (cost $18)
  
• Send reply form, proof of criminal records request, and medical stuff to Seattle (by 4/23)
  
• Fill out a tax thing (cost $36)

And that's just the preliminary stuff that has to be done ASAP! It's partially because it's a government job and partially because Japan is really worried about TB and whatnot and requires extensive medical screenings in order to get a visa. I got up way too early this morning to walk over to Salem Hospital and get my chest x-ray, I'm getting the fingerprints done this afternoon at a place that is really far out of the way (thanks for that, City of Salem, I appreciate it), and I have the physical next Thursday because it was the soonest I could get in to be seen. I've already emailed the JET person in Seattle to tell her that my medical stuff will be a couple of days late, because I was just a little too late to get an appointment for this week, or even the very beginning of next week.

But my packet got here today! My mother had to overnight it to me because JET stuff goes to our permanent addresses. This means I can actually read the instructions myself, rather than have them relayed to me over the phone. I will do this as soon as I go to the mail center and pick the damn thing up.

I'm also thesising and trying to finish up my last two-ish weeks of undergrad, so I can graduate. I am so ready. Also really psyched about Japan and getting a little twitchy about getting my acceptance stuff in so I can find out what my placement is and start preparing for departure.

Oh, and I depart on 24 July, which is sooner than I'd expected. I'll let y'all know when I find out where I'm going to be living. Keep your fingers crossed and send good thoughts for me to get somewhere in Saitama or Gunma (my top two requests).

JET ゲットだぜ！

So, I changed up my blog layout. Except that's not important right now because I'M GOING BACK TO JAPAN. Yes, you read that right, I made the shortlist for JET, which means I have a post-graduation job as soon as I accept the contract. Which I will do as soon as I get the paperwork. There are about 890432 things I have to do before I go (like graduate and get an FBI criminal record check), but I made it through the interviews and life is awesome. I won't find out where my placement is until sometime after I accept the contract, but I will be letting everyone know as soon as I do.

It was kind of ridiculous when I got the email this afternoon. I flailed and got this massive adrenaline rush and may or may not have shouted "yes!" really loudly in my empty apartment. I was actually shaking a little bit when I called my family to tell them.

Anyway, the thing I was going to blog about before I got the best news of the year is that I decided to make a header with my almost non-existent graphics skills (it's a stock fashion photo, I did very little to it aside from add text), but am probably going to make a new blog sometime after graduation. Since I'll be moving on to Japan and things that aren't being an undergraduate student, a fresh start will be good. I'll be sure to properly notify everyone.

Other than that, I'm just working on my thesis and trying to get everything done in time. Graduation is 16 May - we're getting really close now.