No, the subject has nothing to do with anything, it's just in my head at the moment.

Lunch meeting with Miyake today. A "de-briefing" of my thesis.

... yes, yes, it scares the shit out of me. Especially because she felt the need to point out that it was "low stress" and "nothing to worry about."

....

SHE'S GOING TO GOUGE OUT MY EYES.

And show me all the marks she made... on my final draft. Bawwww. D:

In other news.

JET: please to be telling me when my interview is, thanks. I'm freaking out over, admittedly in a completely unfounded manner, that I only got that series of three e-mails by mistake.

Unfounded? Yes. Enough to give me indigestion/heartburn? ALSO YES.

And in conclusion.

Takahashi has been sent mad by the department.

She came to my dorm room.

At 9:45pm on a Sunday.

In a flurry.

To pick up the answer sheets I had drawn out.

That weren't as vital as she initially thought, because she got her second year and first year schedules mixed up.

Because she was "coming to Pomona anyway."

... BUT WRY SENSEI? D:

I need to get over this melancholy shit.

Because man, it don't fly.

Especially because I'm 2級 certified, bitches.

That's right.

Certification o' my skills.

... that means nothing since it's not 1級. Le sigh.

... WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT THE MELANCHOLY?!

It would help if I didn't keep bugging Takahashi with needless shit, especially considering she's offering to help me prep for the JET interview. Bawwwww.

Way to guilt trip my ass, お母さん. |D

Long story short:

I got letters back from my host family after sending them a nice long letter and new year's present of TEA. MOUNTAINS OF TEA.

お父さん　and Yukine write me back nice, short letters saying thank you and asking how I am, that sort of thing. お父さん wrote me a whole page, but Yukine's got shit to do. I respect that.

But お母さん. No, she tells me about how she worried after not getting a letter for so long (DX).

She also asked about my boyfriend and how we're getting on. XD Aawwwkward.

But she ended the letter with 日本の母... which kinda made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

You only had me for a semester and you care about me. ;_;

And apparently they all liked the tea. XD I was worried it'd be a horrible gift; just because I like bags and bags of tea at my disposal doesn't mean everyone does. But apparently, I chose well!

Or they're just being REALLY goddamn polite. :/ VERY POSSIBLE. THIS IS JAPAN.

But yea. I also got a very beautiful card with a calligraphy New Year's greeting on it. It also says how they're praying (practicing Buddhists) for me to get into JET. |D I don't care if it's hypocritical, I'll take it in spades!

It also makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The card is up on my wall above my bed now. :3

AND FINALLY THE SCANDALOUS NEWS.

Takehiro, the cake-store owing お兄さん whose singleness worried お母さん is now married. And not just married. THEY HAVE A KID.

I left in May. I knew nothing about him even dating a woman. Admittedly, we didn't see him a lot, but お母さん likes to talk. I think I would have heard.

Amusing, but still, very nice. Especially since now お母さん has that grandkid she always wanted. XD I just can't help but wonder if I didn't know, or if he just... reeeally liked this woman.

Now, I must purchase myself some stationary. X3

(And the sad news: no word from or about Asashi, or sexy お兄さん. :( WRY, SEXY お兄さん?)

WHO HAS AN INTERVIEW?

YA THAT'S RIGHT.

MEEEE.

A whole week early in the notification too. Way to go, Japan.

Now, I just have to wait to schedule it.

As I am in the third tier of schedulers. :/

Because apparently, there are an exorbitant amount of applicants who applied through the LA-Phoenix section who (a)don't live in the country and (b) don't live in the LA-Phoenix Area.

... as New Mexico and Nevada are covered by Colorado, and everything north of probabably... Monterey is covered by San Francisco? I don't know who's in the (b) section.

Because the northern half of Arizona is reservation, meaning there are approximately 5 people per square 100 miles.

But whatever. Maybe they're just being slow in general.

The important thing is.

I GOT AN INTERVIEW! :D

(Even though they said that the number of interviewees they accepted was substantially reduced this year.. I hope that's a good sign for my future?)

Jesus, you'd think I'd gotten it already. XD

No, you'll hear the sonic boom for that one in Calcutta. (Provided I get it of course. :/)

BUT YEA. It was for this reason that I was practicing interview answers in bed last night until something like 3 am. Woot.

And then had a nightmare about it. Already. XD I was late because someone tried to get me to go in my jeans and I had to change... but then I spoke Japanese better than my Japanese interviewer. O_o Who tried to convince me to use である　instead of です when speaking. And the other guy was Flueckiger.

IT WAS WEIRD.

EDIT- Finally got the interview scheduling e-mail. Luckily, on Friday, so I didn't have to spend the whole weekend worrying about it.

HOWEVER.

We don't actually get to schedule our interviews. We get to pick a preferred day, and AM or PM. Then a second choice.

... HOORAY.

Also, we don't find out when the interview actually is until February 12th, apparently. (Possibly earlier, but I doubt it.)

... the fact that there are so many people applying in the LA consulate that such extremes are necessary... freaks me out a bit. :/

No updates since coming back to school? Well. Probably because I don't particularly want to be here, but what're you gonna do.

Being a grader for second year Japanese? Makes me realize how fuckin' LAZY some of these kids are. I mean, holy shit. Whole sections, skipped. For what, shits and giggles? Because you were too lazy to look up the grammar point in the book? COME ON.

If Takahashi gave me point-docking power, I WOULD BE DOCKING POINTS, FUCKERS.

Unfortunately, all I get to do is choose between an X, triangle for half-credit, and nothing. It's a hard toss up sometimes.

And I probably write far more comments than I should bother to. Being a perfectionist is not, unfortunately, a good quality for a grader.

But for $8.75 an hour? I can see my way to explaining why they fucked up that sentence. Even if payroll hasn't e-mailed me yet, and I can't log the 8+ hours I've already worked. THAT'S A LOT OF CASH FUCKERS.

(If I get JET, I'm gonna buy myself a niiiice coat. 's all I'm saying.)

Also, I need to get over my social maladjustment. Because I am seriously not happy about the field trip my seminar is taking in May.

... admittedly, I may have to ask for a reprieve due to thesis presentations, but still.

Yech.

And admittedly, dropping Historical Linguistics and keeping the seminar (Gay & Lesbian Ethnography) may or may not have been a mistake... because the more I read this book for Wednesday, the more I think it's total bullshit.

Oh well. Life's tough that way. And technically, this is better for my graduate career...? Probably?

Since we all know that getting a doctorate in Japanese Linguistics fucks you up real good. :/ WAY TO BE, JAPANESE DEPARTMENT.

... whenever I listen to this song now, I think about presenting my translation of it... and then invariably Armstrong. GOD DAMNIT. I LOVE THIS SONG YOU HORRIBLE WOMAN.

I have a big-person purse now, suitable to carry into interviews. :D

Yaaay.

It only took me walking around the store for twenty minutes to decide upon it. Ultimately wound up asking the clerk for her opinion.


DECISIVENESS FOR THE WIN?

... Kind of embarrassing, really. I hate being indecisive.

BUT I HAVE IT. It is nice and black and professional. Big enough to hold my shit, but small enough to be manageable. Of course, when I say "hold my shit," I mean my car keys. Because they're really the problem.

...It's not my fault my keys like to accessorize. DON'T STOP THEM FROM BEING FABULOUS! D:

I could also probably fit my DS in there. And my PSP... though I'm paranoid about taking my PSP places now since I dropped it on the way back from the JLPT... (AKA IN THE FUCKING POMONA PARKING LOT.)

Regardless, something to do while waiting... wherever.

This is all assuming I get the interview.

AAGGGHHH FUCK ME. X(

Spirit Tracks spoilers, if you care. Only if you hit play, though.



Because even if the final battle DID drive me insane, I do love the music in this adorable game.

And fuck yes (edit) BIWA.

(Also. Byrne is kinda strangely sexy and I really wanted to see him without his mask on damnit. X3)

Oh... what the hell.

And Takahashi just canceled my independent study.

I mean, she has perfectly understandable reasons. With Miyake on sabbatical, she has way too much shit dumped on her this coming semester, and just doesn't have the time.

... that doesn't stop me from being selfishly upset about it, though.

And, you know, projecting that this doesn't bode well for my year in general. Because, CLEARLY, not having my independent study means I won't get JET, and will then plummet into an alcoholic depression which will lead to my untimely death in a gutter at age 23.

(I'm giving myself a whole year after college to survive on the fat stores in my ass.)

... But yea. Whee. I also just went back and beat Omega Weapon in FFX... in three hits. So there's a little anti-climax there for me as well. Although admittedly on an ENTIRELY different scale. I mean, really.

(It also doesn't help that I've already translated two pages worth... sigh.)

Hur, hur, I got an A in Miyake's portion of thesis. 8D

I have gone into the dragon's lair... and come out unscathed.

BOO YA.

And this semester's straight A's made my GPA climb a bit. Huzzah~

Although, really. If an A- is less than an A in terms of GPA, why isn't an A+ more? The hell is with that, Pomona. Piss me off.

Whatever.

MEME Leave a ONE WORD comment that you think best describes me. It can only be one word. No more than one word. Then copy & paste this post to your own journal so I can leave a word about you.

Um. Apparently, there was a massive onslaught of New Year's posts. Was there a circular or something? I don't remember getting it.

I was probably too busy playing Spirit Tracks. And. Uh. Playing Spirit Tracks.

(I need a Zelda icon.)

Oh well, the 2nd is good enough for you, 1.5 readers. (Yes. FRACTIONS of people read this. IT'S TRUE.)

In other news.

I continue to freak out about JET on a daily basis. Just for those keeping track.

And I made ぜんざい today. The soup bit was tasty, but, due partly to my own laziness and (probably) not-quite-right flour, the mochi were kind of a disappointment. But that's ok, because you drown them in azuki and it's all right.

Aaaand now my head's starting to hurt. Good sign that it's bed time.

Aaand I just had a sudden oh-god-I-hope-I-get-JET freakout moment.

SHIT.

Someone's going to need a sleeping pill.

... or three hours of Scribblenauts and krakens.

OH GOD WHY.

Well, Japan may not have robbed me of my holidays this year... yet nevertheless I'm strangely let down.

Although admittedly, it's probably my own cynicism getting me. You hit twenty-one, and the holidays lose their magic, possibly?

...A supposition which would hold a lot more water if I hadn't been feeling this way for years now. X3

It's just more of a let-down than anything, really. Too much build up and not enough actual emotional pay off. Anticlimactic. And, you know, family members that bitch about stores being open on Christmas and how we don't say grace any more before eating. That'll kill the mood right there.

Which is aggravating, because hey, I'm the one who knows the truth about how the Catholic church arbitrarily chose December the 25th as their winter holiday to combat the pagan rituals that took place on the solstice, and then decided, again arbitrarily, that hey, Jesus being born sounds like a good, fictitiously dated foundation upon which to base this holiday, eh?

But I digress.

And I'm bitter, so that's no good.

I just need to play my video games and be happy. And also take some tums, possibly. Massive amounts of food never rest well. :/

I think a part of me feels guilty for not being more excited about all of this. But, well, that's what I get for being (a) agnostic and (b) super-special cynical.

I did watch my Muppet Christmas Carol yesterday, though, so that's all right. Despite the fact that half the family belittles me for it. IT'S MY HOLIDAY MOVIE GODDAMNIT.

Ok, ok, really, done with the ranting and raving. Now I will go play me some more Scribblenauts, because that games amuses me utterly. Admittedly, I probably shouldn't laugh so hard when I accidentally kill my little dude, but hey.

(That's an PISSED cynical face, by the way. Know that my eyebrows are nowhere near that angry.)

So, I actually turned in fucking thesis today.


CAN WE SAY DONE? :DDD

Hur.

And I actually sat on it for a couple of days so Miyake couldn't fuck me over with a "well, because you rushed it..." grading.

BECAUSE I DIDN'T FUCKING RUSH IT.

I JUST DO THINGS QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY.

Christ.

Anyway.

DONE, what??

Going home tomorrow. Hopefully won't forget something. Again. Like I always do when traveling.

BUT GODDAMNIT I'M DONE AND THAT'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT.

... 119 pages later. HUUUR.

Next semester is going to seem incredibly anticlimactic after this shit.

Yoinked from murasaki_kaze. Though I feel bad now for not giving you a V-gift, senpai... X3 Sorry!

( Because I can't resist text boxes of memes. )

In other news.

Miyake wants to end me. With thesis. But wishes to give me hugs while my brain explodes and tears pour down my cheeks.

Did we discuss this?

JLPT WUUUUT?

Aka: waste of my Sunday afternoon. In the middle of the END OF THE (academic) WORLD.

I dun wanna go. D:

I have been, however, convinced that I'll do fine and pass, thus my lack of major stress.

As in, my stomach only started hurting this morning.

Because I have issues.

... well, the only MAJOR stress I have at the moment is that I'm wasting that aforementioned Sunday afternoon.

Hence the reason I am not currently cramming kanji into my brain rapid-fire.

... I was doing that yesterday. >_>

Oh well.

ARRGH I HATE TURBULENCE.

And I've been worrying about dad getting back all right for a while.

He's landed...

But apparently something went wrong, because it's at the wrong airport and mom has to go pick him up.

HE'S WELL ENOUGH TO USE A PHONE. So this is a good thing.

In other news.

... I'm still kinda shaky from the flight over. About 2 and a half hours ago. If that tells you anything.

But, you know. I'm also a wuss. And my dad tries to lie about broken legs so as not to worry people.

So clearly he is more suited to small plane flight than I.

Which is good, as he's piloting the damn thing.

In yet other news.

Still wrestling with thesis. Fucker WILL NOT DIE.

Also. Miyake needs to write legibly if she wants me to take her comments seriously. Because, what the hell. I am not trudging through four pages of chicken scratch to read about how "I need to talk about setting"... WHEN I'VE SAID FIVE TIMES THAT SETTING DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER AND I'M NOT ADDRESSING IT.

Fuck shit.

This woman is trying to end my soul. And here I thought that after Kurita, it was somewhat safe.

... but yea. I'll submit these re-writes, and if it was that important, she'll make me re-write again. No big deal.

Except, HA HA, I have two and a half weeks before it's due.

Also.

Writing thesis will make you hate writing. Just saying.

Because sweet jesus I hate having to explain every little goddamn thing. If my readers are this fucking stupid? Honestly? I fucking DISOWN them.

... I'm just going to be a little bunch of happy for the rest of the semester. Which is why I brought back a box of sleep-aid tablets. And every sickness-preventing measure known to MAN to keep me from falling behind again. Son of a BITCH.

... Ok, I'm done. For now. Mainly because I'm running out of creative ways to say dirty words.

Goddamn stress indigestion won't go away.

So. Anyway. Other than that. Finally feeling somewhat human again.

Which is AMAZING considering I didn't get to sleep until after 5 this morning.

WHY, YOU ASK?

Because I convinced myself that I had acetaminophen poisoning. And couldn't fall asleep due to the fear that I would wake up DEAD. (Or. You know. NOT wake up.)

Because I took Excedrin (containing small amounts) at around 6, and then Sudafed (containing, again, reasonable amounts) at around 1.

.... BECAUSE THAT TOTALLY MAKES SENSE FOR POISONING LEVELS.

Goddamn internet, making me a hypochondriac.

In other news.

I WANT TO GO HOME.

(Oh, and for those interested, I didn't go to Dir. BECAUSE MY BODY FAILED AND CAUGHT ME A FLU FOR MY VERY OWN.)

So.

My body fails.

And gets me sick THE DAY OF THE DIR CONCERT?!

Fucking SHIT.

It was like the one brilliant ray of happy sunshine in this month!

GOD. FUCKING. DAMNIT.

... and now I realize I am indeed sick... because my arms tired from typing this out. Hoooo fuck.

GODDAMNIT I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE SENT IT UPS.

WHERE'S MY APPLICATION.

SFDKJNFDSKJNJNFDKJDNFkjnfkjsdnfkjndkjN#UH(@$#Y(*#&Y&#HRNDSNDiun

Yoinked from murasaki_kaze and her text box of happiness.

( Wheeee.... )

103's a weird number to end on.