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April Fools Day--Not Funny!

Please allow me a personal rant of about a paragraph long. I woke up at 3:30 AM today to sign up for classes for next semester. In order to get all the classes I wanted, I had to sign up at my allotted time slot and no later. Trouble is, that allotted time slot was March 31, 2pm ARKANSAS time. Dakara, I had to wake up at 3:30am April 1st my time in order to sign up. Good news? I has my classes. Bad news? I couldn't go back to sleep. So here I sit waiting on Ruth to finish class so that we can go to lunch, wishing that I had slept. My goal is to stay up as late as I can stand it (I never seen to be able to nap) and then go to bed at that time so that I don't screw up my sleep cycle too much. Still... Wish my time was earlier so that I could have signed up last night instead of this morning. Blarg.

That said, I should probably tell you the classes that I am taking, yes? I am taking Philosophy and Physics and Human Affairs + Lab, both of which are core requirements (philosophy is its own requirement and physics counts for a science). I am also taking Advanced Japanese Conversation so that my Japanese skills won't deteriorate too much and Popular Culture because I need another upper-level anthropology course. And lastly, I also have a core anthro requirement of taking History of Anthropological Thought, so I'm getting that little bugger out of the way too. This all amounts to 16 hours, plus working.

And now that I've said that, I come to the positive realization of today (and part of what was keeping me from going to sleep earlier). I may actually be able to graduate on time! This pleases me greatly! One less year of work and school at the same time. So, I'm sure you're wondering, is-ness, what are you going to do from here?

Well, provided I can get accepted, I hope to be back in Japan teaching English for the JET (Japan English Teaching) Program. This lasts for a maximum of 3 years and puts me in a rural area of Japan. Unfortunately, I'll get stared at more because most rural areas have a higher density of people who have never seen a foreigner before, but that also means that I'll have a steady job that pays well for 3 entire years. Well enough that I SHOULD be able to start paying off my student loans AND go visit the family during the longest break (whichever that is according to the Japanese school calendar). The goal? To have most of my student loans paid off, gain valuable teaching experience IN JAPAN, and to return to the US ready to start graduate school with a fresh financial background. Yay JET, because, you know, if everything works out, it'll be fantastic. UA usually sends 17 JET kids, so I have a pretty good shot at getting in. I be pleased. :)

Absolutely forgot about the visual anthropology midterm yesterday, and was considering skipping the class to go sakura viewing until I remembered (good thing I did remember, huh). So, that means I didn't study at all and guess what! The exam was insanely easy. I likes this.

And now it's time to tackle the multitude of April projects. They just seem to keep multiplying! It's just not fair!!

Other news: Hopefully there will be a new post on the because it's japan blog before Saturday (he never checks them until sunday anyway). The topic is art and entertainment in Japan and being the person that I am, I do not want to do traditional art or the stereotypical japanese art that americans think of (anime and manga) unless I do so with an interesting, strange, or quirky twist. Because I'm not stereotypical at all, nuh uh.

Midterms...

So, after returning from spring break (photos of kobe zoo and kobe port are on facebook--I will be going to kobe again, but not to the zoo as the zoo was a little depressing...), I just got finished with midterms. Yesterday was the speaking speaking exam, and today was the speaking written exam. I do not have any reading exams this semester because I dropped my reading class. However, I am not out of it yet, as I now have my afternoon classes to worry about...

And will someone please tell me who thought it would be a good idea to have my UA registration time be at 2PM March 31st local time?? Which means that I have to get up in the morning at 4AM on April 1st. Some April fools joke, ha ha, very funny.

And, in case you're curious, check out the "this month in Japan" for all of April's fun times... Seems to me the only good thing about next month is the Sakura. I am thinking of going to Ise to view them. We'll see. Depends on how much money I have.

Additionally, two new posts on the Because it's Japan blog, and only one new piece of news: I now has Kimono! This makes me very happy!

Halfway Through Spring Break

Well, it's halfway through spring break and you know how that goes. I succeeded in my mission to Kyobashi and am now only one Harry Potter book short of being caught up(they did not have the Deathly Hollows in paperback, and being the OCD psycho I am, it would annoy me to no end to have a set that didn't quite match). My weekend was thusly dedicated to Harry Potter. I can't help it--when I start reading, it is very difficult for me to put the book down until I'm finished.

I went to the aquarium yesterday (which was not as nice as the one in Chattanooga, TN, but was still a fun trip) where I saw a whale shark. I'm pretty sure it was a baby whale shark because I expected it to be much much bigger than it was. I also saw two asian small clawed otters (adorable), some sea otters (they were preforming tricks for food), a sloth, about a gazillion neon tetras and rosy barbs, which are apparently exotic in Japan, a manta ray (which was by far my favorite), some dolphins and penguins, and some fantastic jelly fish. Photos of the aquarium are up on Facebook. The most memorable part of the museum was actually the english guide, which was written in such horrible english that I consider it entertainment. For instance, it says on the front, "Ocean, you meet a whale shark." The rest of the english inside is so confusing and just... weird, that I've saved it as a more valuable souvineer than anything I bought in the gift shop.

I also road one of the world's largest ferris wheels in the world. It is the fourth largest in Japan at 110 meters. The largest one at the moment is in Singapore, at 165 meters and two more are to be opened in 2009, one in Berlin at 185 meters and one in China at 209 meters. The largest in Japan right now is actually in Fukuoka, but I figure that if China's building one at 209 meters, it won't be long before there's one at much larger proportions in Japan. Japan/China rivalry, you know how it goes.

Anyway, I personally was duly unimpressed with the Tempozan ferris wheel because it gave a rather annoying running commentary and the view wasn't that great because it was starting to get foggy when we road it. But, I can say I've been on one of the largest ferris wheels in the world, so I guess that counts for something.

So that was my day out on Tuesday. I was going to go to Nara today but it's doing the usual Osaka thing of "torrential downpour" to use Heather's term, and I don't really feel like going further than the Makudo two blocks from my house to upload pictures. But tomorrow is Kobe, so I hope it rains for all its worth today so that tomorrow is sunny.

Lastly: Updated the other blog. There are now two more photos of kitkats. Enjoy.

White Day

I suppose if I put White Day as a Japanese holiday in my "This Month in Japan" section, I should probably explain what it is, yes? White day is March 14, exactly one month from Valentines day. Remember when I said that Valentine's day was for girls to give all the guys in their lives some chocolate? Well, White day is when a guy who GETS chocolate on Valentine's day has to return the favor. The return gift does NOT have to be chocolate (hence the sudden explosion of womens underwear in all the malls across Japan). I personally shall not be receiving anything on White Day because I was did not bother to give anyone any chocolate on Valentine's Day. So there.

Spring Break

So! Spring Break has officially begun for me (YAY!) and now is the time to think about how I'm going to spend my week of freedom. Since I am obviously NOT spending my time in Tokyo, I plan to trapize all around Kansai Area. So far, either tomorrow or Sunday afternoon I plan on going down to Kyobashi Station. I'm looking for a book and I need it in English and the largest bookstore I know is in Kyobashi. If that doesn't work, then Amazon.jp. Sigh. Monday is still unplanned, but I'll think of something productive. Possibly a trip to Nara. Yeah, that sounds fun. I am going to spend my Tuesday in Osaka, eating mexican food, going to the aquarium and shopping. My Thursday will be spent at Kobe. Friday is the 21st, which means that Toji Temple is having their temple market (cheap junk!) and I plan to show up when it opens, have an all you can eat indian lunch at Shijo, and probably go shopping there too. And Saturday and Sunday should PROBABLY be spent studying for my midterms coming up as soon as spring break is over...

In other news:

1) Yes, I have gotten into Harry Potter. That is one of the reasons I am going to the bookstore in Kyobashi.

2) I'm getting tired of the repunzel look, so I might even be so adventurous as to cut my hair this spring break. Photos will be posted if I do indeed embark on this sort of quest for an english-speaking hair stylist.

Just incase I DO manage to get bored over the spring break, I have devised a plan (mwa ha ha). I actually got inspired off Deviantart. Many artists are doing a challenge called 100 Words. Put simply, you think of 100 words in no particular order and your job is to draw an entire art piece depicting each one of them. No time limit and you don't have to do them in order either. The whole purpose is to give you some art practice. Soooo, I put together a list of 100 words and will be starting on them during the days when it's too nasty and rainy and dull outside and I don't want to go out. Whee, art! :)

Bored

So, it's the week before spring break and I'm stuck studying for midterms that occur immediately AFTER spring break because I don't want them interfereing with my spring break as it happens.

Last weekend I was supposed to go to Osaka Peace Museum and Osaka Castle. I did not go. ALL my jeans were in the wash and I woke up late. I was not pleased. My jeans were STILL in the wash on Sunday, so I did not go to church. Again, not pleased.

So, in light of having a dull weekend, I have a lesson test tomorrow to study for, some readings to do before Spring break gets here, and preparation for my two Japanese exams (spoken and written exams for my one japanese class). Sigh. This week looks to be dull.

Spring Break is also going to be different than my original plan. My original plan was to go to Tokyo, but that fell through, so I am no longer going. In all honesty, I'm still not sure what I am going to do, but I might be going to Fukuoka. If not, I will be spending my week exploring the Kansai area with Krissy who is also stuck without much a plan after the 17th. There's lots to do in the Kansai area, for instance I can go to Kobe, Nara again, and explore the area nearby. There's plenty to do, so maybe this spring break isn't totally lost. We'll see.

And now I have homework. G'night.