January 2010
56 posts
The Last Few Days of Studying Abroad: Sunday
I’m skipping Saturday.
Today I was packing, cleaning, and doing my final load of laundry. Cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming around the house one last time. I hate this feeling. Feeling attached to a place I’m about to leave. I suffered this exact same feeling as I left New York in July, when I left DC in August, and basically every time I leave HNL. This was a bittersweet half a year...
The Last Few Days of Studying Abroad: Friday
Friday was spent at home, for the most part. I frantically began packing and throwing stacks and stacks of paper away.
I successfully collected a nice group of friends and family for my last hoorah. Very sad that I’ll be leaving in a few days, but it was so rowdy and full of laughter that I was very content. Very content that I was able to spend time with the besties.
Marichan and Norisan...
Rejection.
angeldecierdo:
Have you ever worked really really hard for something that you want only to be disappointed in the end?
I honestly hate that feeling. I hate having to prove myself “worthy” of something every single time. After being rejected so many times in the past 6 months, sometimes I wonder if trying for anything else is going to be worth it, when in the end I’ll just be getting another...
I could trust a John Bowe →
Mixed feelings about this article. I think I need to sleep on it.
By his words, love is a luxury and an overshot commodity. I agree that everyone’s unique stories about heartache and dream-like love episodes are rich and unanticipated. The continuous pursuit for happy endings continue.. I mean if happy endings end, then it wouldn’t be very happy anymore would it?
I genuinely hope he...
The Last Few Days of Studying Abroad: Thursday
Oh my god it’s actually been Friday for an hour and a half.
Today I walked the dog and went straight to school. Had lunch with Minami and Jacob in bldg 3/9 depending on who you ask, and while they took their cinema final, I typed out 7 pages. I went to the administrative office to ask for my transcript to be mailed to UMD. They looked at me with a puzzled look and “AH! Ogawa...
Layout Harmony
Why I like my new layout:
It’s red.
Coffee is not the theme. bahaha
My name is sprawled across the top.
My picture is in a shape of a cross! What charm.
My facebook link is provided. Tumblr, thank you for being so witty. We always had tiny inclinations to check what Mark Carmen’s badass schedule looked like on Mizuki’s page. Oh wait, who is Mark Carmen again? (by the...
The Last Few Days of Studying Abroad: Tuesday
I woke up at 7 this morning, and Marichan picked me up at 8. Toshiesan was in the backseat with the dogs.
We drove for almost 2 hours to Lake Kawaguchi 河口湖.
What a dream. There were no clouds and Fuji was completely visible, top to bottom. Since we went during the middle of winter, the chill basically deters the clouds from accumulating- voila, a perfectly clear view!
We went to a hot spring...
The Last Week in Tokyo: Wednesday
Here I am in the library, sort of slaving away at McNeill and Matsuda’s paper. Jason Clancy stole my paper topic. He also has the McChesney book from the 6th floor of this building, WTF.
I’m a little relieved that his thesis is different from mine. I have an ego problem. I like hogging things like secrets. I’m gonna see if I can retrieve the McChesney book without Jason knowing....
The Last Few Days of Studying Abroad: Monday
Yesterday was my last day of officially held classes. In my first period, I wrote a four page final for Dr. Caprio’s Korean History class. It was about who I consider responsible for the current state of affairs in Korea- why it’s divided as such. Not a piece of cake, but I was familiar with Robinson’s argument for why it happened the way it happened, so I regurgitated as much as...
Hot Springs Heaven
Tomorrow (today) I am going on an adventure with Marichan and her mom Toshie san. We’re going to drive towards Mt. Fuji and soak with a view of the mountains. cheeeeeeeeeee!
Minami please read this →
In case you were wondering where we can be found when we rendezvous in the district, this is where we’ll be.
Shout-out to Mizuki →
Mom, I am sorry. Aerica, thank you for letting me have whatever I’ve been wanting.
"There's color." And there you have it. →
Nagisa & Naoki
“I’m not proud of some things I’ve done, but one thing I’m proud of is this- I was the first person to have fed you a bowl of instant ramen. You loved it, you were five years old. Your mother Kumisan on the other hand; I didn’t hear the end of it she was so upset with me. Your Papa though he didn’t care.”
Says 38 years old Nagisa in the red coat, single...
II. Minami's thought of the day
korenandesuka:
I’m starting to realize that I’m not that young anymore. I have friends who are turning 23, 24…even 25 this year. I’m turning 22 this year myself. …..damn. It really doesn’t hit you until you pass your 21st birthday. I need to get back on track and do something with my life..
just fyi, George Clooney is a hot old man.
Finish year #21 first, please. One day at a time....
Richard is a trustworthy name.
Aerica: Dennis doesn’t sound like a good name. Well, I don’t know anyone named Dennis.
Me: I know of a Dennis. Facebook Dennis. can’t think of his last name. Pretty sure I’m friends with a Dennis though.
A: See what I mean?
M: Dennis the Menace? What is a legit name anyhow?
A: Justins or Jasons aren’t very trustworthy. Scott.
M: They’re too new, as if their...
Short (not shocking) catch up with the one & only...
Mizuki: Feb 1st Chris! i'll be seeing you then
Chris: yeah that would be great
Mizuki: as usual i can't tell if that's real enthusiasm or not
BUT that's the glory of howell-isms
Chris: but of course it is
Mizuki: can't wait
Chris: IS THIS BETTER?!?!?!
Mizuki: hahahaha
i miss this
Chris: YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
MIZUKI IS COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!
Mizuki: marc christian....
i appreciate your enthusiasm, however- i haven't called umd home in ages.
Chris: hahaha
fair enough
Mizuki: where are you living?
Chris: courtyards
Mizuki: haha
Chris: with jayson and landry
Mizuki: surprised.
surprised again.
i'll be in DC
Chris: still goin to umd tho right?
Mizuki: i have classes tues-thurs only so i thought i might as well stay in the city unless i have to go to school
yeah i'm hoping i'll graduate in may
Chris: ah
nice
Mizuki: eh, but not so nice
Chris: alright
Mizuki: hahaha
much to catch up on,
i'll see you in a few weeks!
Chris: yup
Mizuki: aloha
broha
Chris: see you then!
haha
peace!
Mizuki: peace!
Charnelle does not miss life in Japan
Charnelle spent the fall semester studying abroad in Akita, Japan. I asked her if she missed being here.
Mizuki: so do you miss being here?
Charnelle: too be honest...not so much
im already used to being back in OR
if anything i miss home the most
i didnt like not competely understanding everything...its sucked!!!!
but i loved it while i was there
but now looking back on it....it was hard but fun at the same time!
i hate being minority
Mizuki: i love this
Charnelle: of course you do!
but tokyo is so international compared to where i was!
we stuck out like sore thumbs
Mizuki: i know
Charnelle: oh well....
it was bound to happen!
Mizuki: it's good to be a minority sometimes
I mean, aren't you a minority at Oregon State?
Charnelle: not really
I can blend in with the haoles : )
Influentials.. tsk tsk →
I highly dislike this on so many levels.
I desperately need to catch up on NYT’s Weddings & Celebrations.
I have the floo.
Today I suffered from stomach flu.
Minami's thought of the day
korenandesuka:
Something you never hear in most college campuses in the US: clicking of heels. Girls wear heels. Period. (but if you can’t walk in em, don’t wear them…its embarrassing to watch)
Something you never hear in Japan: ringtones
have you noticed? Everyone has their phone on vib everywhere they go. I mean it’s manners, duh.
INVESTED
INVESTED, my headline says.
Yasutsugu Oitsu tells me “I have a date with my girlfriend, I can’t join you guys tonight. Sorry.”
I respond, “So it means you’re invested, then”
What does that mean, exactly?
Investing money in something is to make a purchase.
Investing feelings is not necessarily a purchase, but can be explained through business and cooking vernacular.
It’s not as if you’re...
“Maggie: Headed to Shinjuku now… but we’re going to nomihoudai. Did...”
– “late” night drunk texting with Margaret Eckl, aka Maggie.
Again, As Time Goes By
Please excuse the lame title.
Yesterday, Aerica and I found out (correction: I found out via Aerica when we met up in the computer lab) that McNeill wasn’t holding class but was holding office hours.
Until I found out that McNeill was in the teacher’s lounge in Bldg 10 almost two hours later (yes it was Aerica I don’t care if you insist you didn’t take that long. It was...
“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that...”
– Chuck Palahniuk | Submitted by: theculture (via quote-book)
Who are we? More importantly, who am I?
I am absorbent of the world around me, I am a product of my parents, I have become the choices I have made.
I am a hypocrite and I cannot put the past behind me, no matter how hard I try.
“there’s only moving forward”
How easily said than done. I’m not ready for this, and I’m not made for this. I really am sorry.
I am sad and blown and am sinking deeper and...
“How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a...”
– Up In The Air (2009) (via chocolate-cigarettes)