Blaaaaah, still waiting for Japan. Just got an email from Yatani (my Japanese professor)saying to be patient, and explaining the next steps. Apparently paperwork is being mailed to me (and also Nick). Once I get that, I drive to New York city to hand it in, fill out more paperwork, etc. Then there is ANOTHER few days wait til I gotta go there AGAIN and get my passport stamped. wtf. An email has been sent askink if I can just mail the stuff to them, cause that's just ridiculous.
Yatani also set us up with our travel agent-person, and she has emailed a "Hiyas, how's it goin?" kinda thing. It's nice to know that there is someone who knows the ropes that we ca turn to for flight arrangements.
So, how am I keeping busy? Well, last weekend I went to the mall, and then clubbing with Matt and his friend Anna. It was some goth club, so it was pretty laid-back. More like a bar with optional dancing lol.
Recently I started up again on Gaia. I've been focusing on getting money by playing the marketplace. Buy low, sell high, etc. It's pretty amazing that these little online communities have economics systems like this. There's fashion trends you have to look out for to see what sells high, I usually stock up on like of a popular item if the price is really low, then when it gets high again, sell them off 1 at a time (so I don't flood the market). Went from about 1000 gold to around 60,000 (throughout 2 accounts) in about 2 or 3 days. With about 10,000 more worth in the market curretly ^_^ I'm pretty happy about that.
Another cool thing about this site is that it's an anime, art, gaming, general cute stuffs community - my kind of place! Downside is that the average age is somewhere around 14 yrs old, so you get alot of immaturity....
The WoW account is now closed again (>.<) I don't need too many addicting things taking up my time, should study more Japanese...
And on that note, I found a great kanji workbook on the internet. One little download, a bit of printing, and presto! Just for the cost of ink (instead of $15-50) I can now learn 500 kanji fast and fun! ^(>.<)^ Yatta!
I've been recording on my new camcorder the fireman's carnival and parade to show the little kiddies in Japan what an American festival is like (if they care to see it). Mmmmm fried dough....
Sooo that's it for now, will post with good news when it happens!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
More paperwork and packing
Nice day of resting, planting, and packing today. As opposed to yesterday. Wednesday night Nick and I (the person I'm going to Japan with to teach) got an email saying that we needed more paperwork for the visa to go through, then everything will be all set. What we thought we needed was a scan of our diploma, and a "certificate of graduation." Wait, isn't that what a diploma? So I scanned the diploma and got up early Thursday morning to call registrar of Alfred University so see what that meant. They pointed us towards something called an "apostille" that sounded really official, and takes 4-6 weeks to get. Cue freaking out. A call was made to Yatani, and he said that something official that says we graduated should do. So I call registrar again, beg and plead to get an official transcript done yesterday, and drive down to pick it up. All this and a letter written by someone from registrar clearly stating that I graduated with an official stamp, just in case they were still in doubt, were sent via express mail to Japan, costing about $30. That night, Yatani called Japan, and apparently all we needed was a scan of the diploma. Yay. Crash.
While in Alfred, I stopped in to see Petra (study abroad director) to chat a bit and make sure we were on the same page. Seems like Yatani had been keeping her well-informed, so we just talked about what to expect when I go there, oo thats a shiny new phone, and Dutch people are tall.
Meanwhile, mom is freaking out a bit about what happens when Japan gets the paperwork, do I rive to the N.Y. embassy, do I get more paperwork done through mail, or do I just fly over? Who knows. It'll happen SOON, which is all I need to know!
Just packed the suitcases with what I think I'm taking, stuff MIGHT barely fit into 2 of them, I'm a bit concerned with that, because an extra suitcase is more expensive, and everyone's telling me to pack light. Well everyone else can actually buy clothes and shoes there, I'm kinda sunk in that department, so I have basically most of my closet in there.
Just to be really prepared, I got all the Yen I'm gonna need for when I go over (hopefully) from AAA earlier this week. As mom says, "It looks like play money." There's a little circular window in the middle that's usually blank, but when you hold it up to the light, a picture appears! Omg! Also, the 10,000Yen note is slightly longer than the others. Different, but makes sense.
To relax a bit today (and because mom is really good at guilting me into doing things) I spent a bit of time planting flowers in the garden. Mmmm, mud. Also, there are random chunks of charcoal in the garden! They're from the bonfire we had this spring, and they write just like soft charcoal sticks. This makes me happy.
Lately I've bee addicted to Japan blogs like
Myargonauts who talks about being a JET ALT, teaching, and Japan in general. I bow down before him for how useful he is.
Also Tokyocooney is worth a watch, although he can be a bit too negative at times, but his comedy is generally good, talking about life in Tokyo.
Cooking With Dog is a really good Japanese cooking Youtube channel I found by accident, its traditional Japanese food as cooked by a Japanese lady (gasp!) and narrated in English by a talking dog with an accent. The bentou video is really good, although that is waaaay too much work for one meal lol.
That's all for now, it's late and my book is calling.
While in Alfred, I stopped in to see Petra (study abroad director) to chat a bit and make sure we were on the same page. Seems like Yatani had been keeping her well-informed, so we just talked about what to expect when I go there, oo thats a shiny new phone, and Dutch people are tall.
Meanwhile, mom is freaking out a bit about what happens when Japan gets the paperwork, do I rive to the N.Y. embassy, do I get more paperwork done through mail, or do I just fly over? Who knows. It'll happen SOON, which is all I need to know!
Just packed the suitcases with what I think I'm taking, stuff MIGHT barely fit into 2 of them, I'm a bit concerned with that, because an extra suitcase is more expensive, and everyone's telling me to pack light. Well everyone else can actually buy clothes and shoes there, I'm kinda sunk in that department, so I have basically most of my closet in there.
Just to be really prepared, I got all the Yen I'm gonna need for when I go over (hopefully) from AAA earlier this week. As mom says, "It looks like play money." There's a little circular window in the middle that's usually blank, but when you hold it up to the light, a picture appears! Omg! Also, the 10,000Yen note is slightly longer than the others. Different, but makes sense.
To relax a bit today (and because mom is really good at guilting me into doing things) I spent a bit of time planting flowers in the garden. Mmmm, mud. Also, there are random chunks of charcoal in the garden! They're from the bonfire we had this spring, and they write just like soft charcoal sticks. This makes me happy.
Lately I've bee addicted to Japan blogs like
Myargonauts who talks about being a JET ALT, teaching, and Japan in general. I bow down before him for how useful he is.
Also Tokyocooney is worth a watch, although he can be a bit too negative at times, but his comedy is generally good, talking about life in Tokyo.
Cooking With Dog is a really good Japanese cooking Youtube channel I found by accident, its traditional Japanese food as cooked by a Japanese lady (gasp!) and narrated in English by a talking dog with an accent. The bentou video is really good, although that is waaaay too much work for one meal lol.
That's all for now, it's late and my book is calling.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Funky little music vid I found (English song). I never actually listened to the song yet, the movie is just really entertaining and very artsy, but still really cool. Check it out.
Youtube vid
Youtube vid
Friday, May 22, 2009
lazy
So I said I'd write about what I've been doing in terms of Japan, but I'm having a bit of a lazy afternoon (blame it on the hot weather). Chillin before I have to clean up my room and then possibly hitting the gym.
As a parting gift, an anime reccomendation: http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-524962/shangri-la-1/ (Shangri-La)
and if you are a girl, whether or not you like shoujou, watch http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-509916/skip-beat-1/ Skip Beat. First ep is meh, but it gets better and better.
Ciao for now
As a parting gift, an anime reccomendation: http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-524962/shangri-la-1/ (Shangri-La)
and if you are a girl, whether or not you like shoujou, watch http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-509916/skip-beat-1/ Skip Beat. First ep is meh, but it gets better and better.
Ciao for now
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Just rewatched Schindler's List. I remember it being disturbing, but more so now that
I'm older and understood the movie better. Had to play freecell on the side because I couldn't just straight-up watch it. They tried really hard to make the end a tearjerker. They succeeded, I haven't cried at a movie in a looooong time (if ever).
On a somewhat related note, the actor for Schindler = main actor of the new movie Taken. He get some good roles.
Sleep time.
I'm older and understood the movie better. Had to play freecell on the side because I couldn't just straight-up watch it. They tried really hard to make the end a tearjerker. They succeeded, I haven't cried at a movie in a looooong time (if ever).
On a somewhat related note, the actor for Schindler = main actor of the new movie Taken. He get some good roles.
Sleep time.
Kitty Kloset!
The same person of whom I'm babysitting her chillins was looking for someone to look after 5 kittens as the family went on a weekend vacation. So of course I had to take them in ^_^ I cleaned out my walk-in closet, put down newspaper, set up a litterbox (which they MOSTLY used), some food and water, and dumped the kittens in. They were (and still are) sooooo cute. There's 4 completely black longhairs 4 weeks old, and one black and white short hair 3 week old. But the best part of this: we had to bottle-feed them ^_^
Sure, it sounds cute. And it was. However, the bottles kept getting stopped up because of the canned food we mixed into them. You had to make sure the kittens were sucking and not chewing the bottles, and that they weren't on their backs. And if you don't have 2 people doing double-duty with a bottle in each hand, then goodness help your poor legs, because the ones that had to wait to feed would start crawling up your bare skin with their claws in attempt to get food.
The little rugrats soon learned how to crawl directly up the couch, and soon it was their favorite nap place. This was adorable considering they all bunch together in one big mass when sleeping, and whenever they needed to get off for something, they suicide-jumped the 3 ft to the floor with a nice big thud.
Meanwhile, Mom and I were on momma-cat watch because there was a VERY pregnant momma cat in the basement of the other house which we checked in on 2 or 3 times a day. Saturday night when we went, we were surprised with 4 new kittens! There was a beautiful calico, an orange one, a black one, and a black one with the most interesting white stripes ever. I'll post a picture, but he has a double cross on his back, and more very geometrical and symmetrical markings on its tail, face, etc. Unfortunately, one kitten didn't make it, but it looked like it had died a long ways ao, it wasn't very developed, more like a cat-shaped sack of parts.
Mom and I cleaned up the blood, put down fresh bedding, fed the very hungry momma, and alerted the family to its new additions. And took a few pictures, of course ^_^
The 5 that were in my closet:
the babies:
Sure, it sounds cute. And it was. However, the bottles kept getting stopped up because of the canned food we mixed into them. You had to make sure the kittens were sucking and not chewing the bottles, and that they weren't on their backs. And if you don't have 2 people doing double-duty with a bottle in each hand, then goodness help your poor legs, because the ones that had to wait to feed would start crawling up your bare skin with their claws in attempt to get food.
The little rugrats soon learned how to crawl directly up the couch, and soon it was their favorite nap place. This was adorable considering they all bunch together in one big mass when sleeping, and whenever they needed to get off for something, they suicide-jumped the 3 ft to the floor with a nice big thud.
Meanwhile, Mom and I were on momma-cat watch because there was a VERY pregnant momma cat in the basement of the other house which we checked in on 2 or 3 times a day. Saturday night when we went, we were surprised with 4 new kittens! There was a beautiful calico, an orange one, a black one, and a black one with the most interesting white stripes ever. I'll post a picture, but he has a double cross on his back, and more very geometrical and symmetrical markings on its tail, face, etc. Unfortunately, one kitten didn't make it, but it looked like it had died a long ways ao, it wasn't very developed, more like a cat-shaped sack of parts.
Mom and I cleaned up the blood, put down fresh bedding, fed the very hungry momma, and alerted the family to its new additions. And took a few pictures, of course ^_^
The 5 that were in my closet:
the babies:
Springtime, for Nicole, in Amerrrrica~ *sings*
Whew, long time since I posted last. To quote the old saying, "spring has sprung." Okay, by this point, all the leaves have filled into the trees and the spring flowers have already died. But now everything is so green!
I'm now volunteering at the elementary school across the street from me a few times a week in their enrichment clusters. What that means is 2 other teachers and I take about 22 1st-2nd graders outside to weed flowers, plant some, admire nature, etc. Pretty fun actually, even though I know more about the plants than at least one of the teachers there ^^; We found a few frogs our first day out, and the kids crowded around them, fascinated. So cute.
I've also started babysitting 2 adorable children, their mom is part of G.R.A.S.P. (see side link) and a friend of my mom's. Hands-down easiest babysitting job ever. Pretty exhausting though, I spent this past Saturday night chasing around giggling girls, and playing "doctor," and catch.
In order to split this up, I'll make a few other posts about the cats and Japan ^^ But for now, pictures of spring.
I'm now volunteering at the elementary school across the street from me a few times a week in their enrichment clusters. What that means is 2 other teachers and I take about 22 1st-2nd graders outside to weed flowers, plant some, admire nature, etc. Pretty fun actually, even though I know more about the plants than at least one of the teachers there ^^; We found a few frogs our first day out, and the kids crowded around them, fascinated. So cute.
I've also started babysitting 2 adorable children, their mom is part of G.R.A.S.P. (see side link) and a friend of my mom's. Hands-down easiest babysitting job ever. Pretty exhausting though, I spent this past Saturday night chasing around giggling girls, and playing "doctor," and catch.
In order to split this up, I'll make a few other posts about the cats and Japan ^^ But for now, pictures of spring.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Trips
So just got back from Boston...AMAZING trip ^_^ Thursday while visiting Alfred, Savannah and I decided at dinner that we should visit sean in boston. we left the next morning. lol. It was fun times, got to tour boston university, inner city (where a huge mall was, and the cheesecake factory was delicious!), the fine arts museum, and got a small taste of city living. it was only a 6 hour drive, plus the 1 hr train ride to seans place after parking at another part of the city.
When we got bored, there was the 37 inch monitor to play with, and much nerd talk that had to be talked. We only went to see the monitor. Which got me addicted to the tv series "The Big Bang." *watching 2nd season right now* ^^;
In other news, the trip to Japan is official! Everything's worked out, and now i just have to sign a few things, and sit on my hands for another month till i get to go. Got to meet Nick in japanese class last thursday, which was nice, good to know who im going to be spending at least 10 months with lol. Also great to see other people like Jason, Liz, etc.
Now the house is in super-clean mode, since Oma and Opa are coming up for easter this friday. Meanwhile, Mom has a nasty cold/flu/bug thing, Eric's still in school, and Dad's at work in pennsylvania.
New flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/jenccb
Also found this awesome site, it's for a podcast, but has the most random funny bits in the summaries: http://planetjapan.org/
nite all!
When we got bored, there was the 37 inch monitor to play with, and much nerd talk that had to be talked. We only went to see the monitor. Which got me addicted to the tv series "The Big Bang." *watching 2nd season right now* ^^;
In other news, the trip to Japan is official! Everything's worked out, and now i just have to sign a few things, and sit on my hands for another month till i get to go. Got to meet Nick in japanese class last thursday, which was nice, good to know who im going to be spending at least 10 months with lol. Also great to see other people like Jason, Liz, etc.
Now the house is in super-clean mode, since Oma and Opa are coming up for easter this friday. Meanwhile, Mom has a nasty cold/flu/bug thing, Eric's still in school, and Dad's at work in pennsylvania.
New flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/jenccb
Also found this awesome site, it's for a podcast, but has the most random funny bits in the summaries: http://planetjapan.org/
nite all!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Not getting rid of the cat that easily...
So today the lady who's interested in Blossom (our foster cat) was supposed to come today. So I spent a few hours making the kitchen/family room spotless, then made some blueberry muffins since I figured mom wouldn't have time to make dinner. Tasty muffins. Starting to really like baking.
The lady came, while blossom was on my lap, and saw how adorable she is. But the lady and her friend were so loooud and quirky (but in a good way)...Blossom wasn't too happy about the loud stranger. So she drew blood. Alot of it. The lady might not be so interested in her anymore....^^;;; Ah well. Off to catch up in watching bleach (watching, not reading). Why isn't Kenpachi here yet??!! -.-
The lady came, while blossom was on my lap, and saw how adorable she is. But the lady and her friend were so loooud and quirky (but in a good way)...Blossom wasn't too happy about the loud stranger. So she drew blood. Alot of it. The lady might not be so interested in her anymore....^^;;; Ah well. Off to catch up in watching bleach (watching, not reading). Why isn't Kenpachi here yet??!! -.-
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Disturbed, school, volunteering
Long time no blog.
Last weekend I went to see Disturbed in concert with Trevor, Jason, Nate, and mt up with JJ, Johnny and friends there. It was AMAZING. The first act was alright, screamer band-like, good warm-up. The second band, Skindred, was great, a really nice surprise. A band from Britan, they combine Jamaican-style vocals with Metal yelling etc, and great instrumentals. I bought a CD of them from FYE the next day, my first CD since Josh Groban :P
Jason and Nate came over for Saturday and Sunday. which was pretty cool. Always nice to hang out with friends from Alfred, esp. when one is my BF ^_^ We hung out at the mall Sunday (I picked up that CD and Kingdom Hearts, Jason got a stack of games) and watched much Beverly Hillbillies :P
So today I went to the Spencerport schools. I'm trying to see if I can shadow the ESL teacher, to pick up some teaching skills amd such before May. Went back this evening for orientation, filling out forms and learning that hitting the little buggers was bad, and I can't drink or smoke on any campus. There goes all my fun. Turns out they also need volunteers for watching elementary school kids in the pool to make sure they don't drown during the 4th and 6th grade "Lets teach these kids how to swim." sounds like fun, hope I can get some swimming in too ^_^
So I've started walking during the day. Okay, so it's not jogging or whatever, but I don't feel comfortable jogging in front of complete strangers passing by in their cars. Trying to get out half an hour-an hour a day, if nothing else for the meditative aspect of it. Also trying to play tennis with adam, which has been proving difficult lately cause of the snow. Tennis courts when wet are slippery as soap!
So here I am, watching Dog the Bounty Hunter (and Densha Otoko) and telling myself to get off my butt and do something. Ha. I like chocolate. And cheese. Cheese is good.
Last weekend I went to see Disturbed in concert with Trevor, Jason, Nate, and mt up with JJ, Johnny and friends there. It was AMAZING. The first act was alright, screamer band-like, good warm-up. The second band, Skindred, was great, a really nice surprise. A band from Britan, they combine Jamaican-style vocals with Metal yelling etc, and great instrumentals. I bought a CD of them from FYE the next day, my first CD since Josh Groban :P
Jason and Nate came over for Saturday and Sunday. which was pretty cool. Always nice to hang out with friends from Alfred, esp. when one is my BF ^_^ We hung out at the mall Sunday (I picked up that CD and Kingdom Hearts, Jason got a stack of games) and watched much Beverly Hillbillies :P
So today I went to the Spencerport schools. I'm trying to see if I can shadow the ESL teacher, to pick up some teaching skills amd such before May. Went back this evening for orientation, filling out forms and learning that hitting the little buggers was bad, and I can't drink or smoke on any campus. There goes all my fun. Turns out they also need volunteers for watching elementary school kids in the pool to make sure they don't drown during the 4th and 6th grade "Lets teach these kids how to swim." sounds like fun, hope I can get some swimming in too ^_^
So I've started walking during the day. Okay, so it's not jogging or whatever, but I don't feel comfortable jogging in front of complete strangers passing by in their cars. Trying to get out half an hour-an hour a day, if nothing else for the meditative aspect of it. Also trying to play tennis with adam, which has been proving difficult lately cause of the snow. Tennis courts when wet are slippery as soap!
So here I am, watching Dog the Bounty Hunter (and Densha Otoko) and telling myself to get off my butt and do something. Ha. I like chocolate. And cheese. Cheese is good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)