みんなさん、こんにちは。 (Hello, everyone.)
Wow, it's been over a month since my last post. Well, I'm almost done with my ENG 111 class - I just need to correct a couple of papers and hand them in on Monday. Then, on July 2, I start ENG 112. Fun fun.
I am now 17 years old. My birthday was yesterday. I haven't had my party yet, because I'm waiting until we move into our new townhouse (!!!), but I've already received a few gifts from my family. My sister gave me Kingdom Hearts - a video game, for all you non-gamers out there - a couple of weeks ago. Five minutes later, she came back and asked if she could play it. Ahh, that's my sister for you. My mom gave me money. My dad bought me a noren - a Japanese-style curtain - for my room. Ted gave me two things - his old external hard drive, and a bentou box imported from Japan. That made me very happy. :-)
The current closing date for our house is Monday the 30th. It was originally supposed to be the 19th, but they changed it about four times. Ugh. I think this is the final date, though, because if it goes into next month, it'll cost the bank more money. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, anyway.
Today, I went to Les and Lisa's wedding. Dad and I were late, so by the time we got there, the sanctuary was full. We sat in the basement, where they had set up extra chairs and a screen. The service was pretty nice. I loved the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses, and the little flower girls were so cute. ^^ I also liked that they had rings, unlike most Mennonite weddings. I really don't see the problem with rings. If we're allowed to wear watches, which serve a purpose by telling time, why not wedding rings? They serve a purpose too - they tell people you're already taken.
Anyway, Dad left right after it was over, so I went to the reception with Ted. The directions given at the end of the service were terrible. We thought we were supposed to go to Germantown Road, which is pretty near where we live, so we headed there and drove up and down it, looking for a farm with a bunch of tents set up. When we didn't find it, we went home, changed, and got the real directions. By the time we got there, we were half an hour late. So were about 5 or 6 other cars.
We sat under the pavilion for about an hour, waiting for the food to be ready. Finally, the bride and groom arrived, in a totally cute Model T car with white flowers on the back around a just married sign. After a little more waiting, dinner was served. The food was okay. I didn't really like most of it, except for the broccoli salad. The tea was incredibly disappointing. The whole time I stood in line, I was looking forward to getting sweet tea, and I finally got some, and it looked really good - it had a nice dark color. I took a sip. It was like drinking caramel colored water. Gag.
After we ate, we sat around for ages, waiting for the cutting of the cake and the open mic. This annoying guy with a guitar got up and sang a few songs. Finally, I left with Trippy and her parents. I did not feel like waiting around any longer. As soon as we got to her place, Trippy and I began making tea - real tea. As soon as it was done, Ted arrived to pick me up. We stood around for a few minutes drinking tea. Ahhh. Before we left, Ted and I, just for fun, served James and Janet tea in their own house. Then we came home, and now I'm writing this blog entry.
Earlier, while we were driving around, Ted gave me an excellent idea, which prompted the writing of this post. He told me to start a chapstick review blog, since I am so addicted to lip balm. So, here is my first review.
Chapstick - Classic Mint flavor
This was my favorite for the past couple of years. It comes in a twist tube, like all Chapstick, and is a nice cool mint flavor.
Pros: Easy to apply, smells clean, feels cool on lips.
Cons: Since it is applied directly to the lips, if you aren't careful, you can get bits of food in it.
Overall Rating: 7/10
The main reason I stopped using this flavor is because I got bored with it. For the past month or so, I have been expanding my lip balm horizons, trying various brands to see what's the best. Over the next few weeks, I plan to review these.
Next: Vaseline Lip Therapy.
それじゃ、またね。(Well, see you soon.)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
ひさしぶりだね。 (It's been a while, hasn't it?)
Well, in the past month, I've finished my first semester (actually just a half-semester) of college, started the summer term, acted in the school play of doom, and am now on the verge of finishing the school year of doom, otherwise known as the Faith Christian 2007-2008 school year.
Ok, that sounded lame. But I don't care right now. I just got out of my College Composition I class, and my head hurts. I think I'm getting sick. I'm in the cafeteria right now, killing time until my download finishes.
I've been really short on sleep lately. Last weekend I went to a sleepover Friday night, after having gotten far too little sleep the night before, and ended up staying up until around 5:30 in the morning. Which was fun. Saturday, I came home around 11 in the evening, and since I hadn't seen my siblings all weekend I stayed up until nearly 2 playing video games and watching anime with them. Who needs sleep when there's Rurouni Kenshin to watch?
Sunday morning I was planning on going to church. I got up and got all ready, then I realized I hadn't heard my brother get up. I went out to his room and he was still in bed. Figures. So after he got up I just sat around waiting for him, then about halfway through getting ready he said, "I don't want to go to church." "Me neither," I replied.
So we didn't.
Unfortunately, I still didn't catch up on sleep much. Sunday night I couldn't get to sleep until late. Monday morning I was so tired I either slept through my alarm, or I turned it off in my sleep - the world will never know which. But either way, by the time I got up, it was time to leave. So I stayed home. ^^ That afternoon I had my first College Composition class, which was interesting. The professor is a little hard to concentrate on, but I think I'm going to enjoy this class.
Tuesday, I went to prison, I mean school. I finished up an English PACE, got out of having to finish up a Greek PACE, and was all set to take the test today. Since it was the only thing I had to do, this being the last week of school and all, I thought I would just come in some time after 11, take the test, and head up to college. Ha. I got up at 9:30, half an hour later than planned. I did my college homework, which took at least half an hour longer than planned. I was starting to feel a little weird in the head, so I decided to skip the school part and head straight to college. I can take that test tomorrow.
So, I got to college, got to class, somehow made it through class lucid, and now I'm here. Next week we have Monday off because of Memorial Day. Wednesday I have to turn in my thesis statement for the first paper of the class. At least I have a week to do it.
And now, I shall leave you with a short warning: THIS BLOG POST NOT INTENDED FOR USE AS A SLEEP AID.
さよなら。 (Farewell.)
Well, in the past month, I've finished my first semester (actually just a half-semester) of college, started the summer term, acted in the school play of doom, and am now on the verge of finishing the school year of doom, otherwise known as the Faith Christian 2007-2008 school year.
Ok, that sounded lame. But I don't care right now. I just got out of my College Composition I class, and my head hurts. I think I'm getting sick. I'm in the cafeteria right now, killing time until my download finishes.
I've been really short on sleep lately. Last weekend I went to a sleepover Friday night, after having gotten far too little sleep the night before, and ended up staying up until around 5:30 in the morning. Which was fun. Saturday, I came home around 11 in the evening, and since I hadn't seen my siblings all weekend I stayed up until nearly 2 playing video games and watching anime with them. Who needs sleep when there's Rurouni Kenshin to watch?
Sunday morning I was planning on going to church. I got up and got all ready, then I realized I hadn't heard my brother get up. I went out to his room and he was still in bed. Figures. So after he got up I just sat around waiting for him, then about halfway through getting ready he said, "I don't want to go to church." "Me neither," I replied.
So we didn't.
Unfortunately, I still didn't catch up on sleep much. Sunday night I couldn't get to sleep until late. Monday morning I was so tired I either slept through my alarm, or I turned it off in my sleep - the world will never know which. But either way, by the time I got up, it was time to leave. So I stayed home. ^^ That afternoon I had my first College Composition class, which was interesting. The professor is a little hard to concentrate on, but I think I'm going to enjoy this class.
Tuesday, I went to prison, I mean school. I finished up an English PACE, got out of having to finish up a Greek PACE, and was all set to take the test today. Since it was the only thing I had to do, this being the last week of school and all, I thought I would just come in some time after 11, take the test, and head up to college. Ha. I got up at 9:30, half an hour later than planned. I did my college homework, which took at least half an hour longer than planned. I was starting to feel a little weird in the head, so I decided to skip the school part and head straight to college. I can take that test tomorrow.
So, I got to college, got to class, somehow made it through class lucid, and now I'm here. Next week we have Monday off because of Memorial Day. Wednesday I have to turn in my thesis statement for the first paper of the class. At least I have a week to do it.
And now, I shall leave you with a short warning: THIS BLOG POST NOT INTENDED FOR USE AS A SLEEP AID.
さよなら。 (Farewell.)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
おっす！みんあげんき？
Well, I've been busy the past few days. On Sunday, I went to church in the morning, went shopping in the afternoon, went to church in the evening, and went over to Nina and Trippy's afterward for snacks and to copy some stuff to Nina's laptop. Church that evening was a panel discussion on the headship veiling. I thought it was a little boring. It wasn't really a discussion. People were just saying the same thing for every question, and most of it was stuff I already knew. I know it's important to go over this stuff, but I think they needed someone to play devil's advocate, to look at this stuff from a non-Mennonite perspective.
Yesterday was really weird. The whole day I felt like I never really woke up. On top of that, my sister was sick, and Trippy didn't come to school, so I didn't really have anything to do all day. After school, I got home and ate, then I wanted to play my new game I got on Friday, but I was so sleepy I just curled up on my bed and went to sleep until ensemble practice.
Practice. Don't even get me started. That was torture. This is our last real practice before our performance, and we only had one before this. Bad, bad idea. We spent a whole hour or more on a single song that people just could not seem to get. I was starting to go crazy. If I hear that song right now, I probably will go crazy. We are so not ready to give our performance.
After practice, Nina, Trippy, Susie, and I wanted to go get Caribou Coffee. We were afraid it would be closed, but we drove up anyway - that was around 9:30. It was closed, of course. So then we drove over to SuperTarget to see if the Starbucks in there was open. No luck. So we got chocolate, and checked out about 5 minutes before they closed. So then we went to McDonald's. >.< Actually, sometimes eating disgusting food with friends can be rather fun. While we were eating, some girls came in speaking what I think was German. So we talked about exchange students on the way home.
Today was interesting. Everyone at school was doing achievement tests, except for Trippy and me. We were exempt because we took the SAT in January. So we spent the whole day goofing off in the library. That was quite fun. It was like having S Privilege again, when we could work back in the nursery. We listened to Viens and the King Singers and talked the whole morning.
I left for college around one. Class was interesting, as usual. We discussed change and creativity. Near the end, we did a creativity exercise. We split up into groups of two or three, and each group tried to come up with ways to finish the saying, "Life is like..." After 5 minutes, each group read what they had. Our group had... none. >.< Suddenly I feel rather pathetic... Anyway, class got out about 45 minutes early, so I went downstairs to the counseling department to get my registration for summer classes started. I think I'm taking College Composition I and II, in the first and second six weeks, respectively.
So anyway, now I'm sitting in the cafeteria killing time while I wait for stuff to download. I should probably go home soon to work on my presentation. And get food. I'm starving.
バイバイ
Well, I've been busy the past few days. On Sunday, I went to church in the morning, went shopping in the afternoon, went to church in the evening, and went over to Nina and Trippy's afterward for snacks and to copy some stuff to Nina's laptop. Church that evening was a panel discussion on the headship veiling. I thought it was a little boring. It wasn't really a discussion. People were just saying the same thing for every question, and most of it was stuff I already knew. I know it's important to go over this stuff, but I think they needed someone to play devil's advocate, to look at this stuff from a non-Mennonite perspective.
Yesterday was really weird. The whole day I felt like I never really woke up. On top of that, my sister was sick, and Trippy didn't come to school, so I didn't really have anything to do all day. After school, I got home and ate, then I wanted to play my new game I got on Friday, but I was so sleepy I just curled up on my bed and went to sleep until ensemble practice.
Practice. Don't even get me started. That was torture. This is our last real practice before our performance, and we only had one before this. Bad, bad idea. We spent a whole hour or more on a single song that people just could not seem to get. I was starting to go crazy. If I hear that song right now, I probably will go crazy. We are so not ready to give our performance.
After practice, Nina, Trippy, Susie, and I wanted to go get Caribou Coffee. We were afraid it would be closed, but we drove up anyway - that was around 9:30. It was closed, of course. So then we drove over to SuperTarget to see if the Starbucks in there was open. No luck. So we got chocolate, and checked out about 5 minutes before they closed. So then we went to McDonald's. >.< Actually, sometimes eating disgusting food with friends can be rather fun. While we were eating, some girls came in speaking what I think was German. So we talked about exchange students on the way home.
Today was interesting. Everyone at school was doing achievement tests, except for Trippy and me. We were exempt because we took the SAT in January. So we spent the whole day goofing off in the library. That was quite fun. It was like having S Privilege again, when we could work back in the nursery. We listened to Viens and the King Singers and talked the whole morning.
I left for college around one. Class was interesting, as usual. We discussed change and creativity. Near the end, we did a creativity exercise. We split up into groups of two or three, and each group tried to come up with ways to finish the saying, "Life is like..." After 5 minutes, each group read what they had. Our group had... none. >.< Suddenly I feel rather pathetic... Anyway, class got out about 45 minutes early, so I went downstairs to the counseling department to get my registration for summer classes started. I think I'm taking College Composition I and II, in the first and second six weeks, respectively.
So anyway, now I'm sitting in the cafeteria killing time while I wait for stuff to download. I should probably go home soon to work on my presentation. And get food. I'm starving.
バイバイ
Thursday, April 17, 2008
こんいちは！そひてすみませんでした。
Sorry I haven't posted in the past few days. I got a sore throat Saturday, which turned into a sore everything on Sunday, which from there degenerated into a bad cold which I am mostly over by now. I wasn't at college on Tuesday, so I shall upload the pictures from the Sakura Matsuri today.
Or not. I'm getting an error when I try to upload them. This is truly not my week.
Ok, I'll just talk for a while and hope that fixes the problem. I missed church on Sunday, and I missed school Monday and Tuesday, but I went back yesterday. Just in time for PE. Gag.
Actually, it wasn't as bad as usual. It was really nice outside, and we played softball. I think I actually got a sunburn on the back of my neck. Time to break out the tanning oil. ^^ Today is really nice too. Perfect weather for swimming. Ahhh, I want to go swimming.
I... ran out of things to talk about. Time to try uploading the pics again.
"The image has failed to upload due to an internal error."
I give up.
さよなら。
Sorry I haven't posted in the past few days. I got a sore throat Saturday, which turned into a sore everything on Sunday, which from there degenerated into a bad cold which I am mostly over by now. I wasn't at college on Tuesday, so I shall upload the pictures from the Sakura Matsuri today.
Or not. I'm getting an error when I try to upload them. This is truly not my week.
Ok, I'll just talk for a while and hope that fixes the problem. I missed church on Sunday, and I missed school Monday and Tuesday, but I went back yesterday. Just in time for PE. Gag.
Actually, it wasn't as bad as usual. It was really nice outside, and we played softball. I think I actually got a sunburn on the back of my neck. Time to break out the tanning oil. ^^ Today is really nice too. Perfect weather for swimming. Ahhh, I want to go swimming.
I... ran out of things to talk about. Time to try uploading the pics again.
"The image has failed to upload due to an internal error."
I give up.
さよなら。
Saturday, April 12, 2008
こんばんは！さくらまつりはすごいです！
The Sakura Matsuri was awesome. It exceeded my expectations. I'm definitely going again next year.
We were going to leave around 9:30 this morning, depending on the weather, but it looked like it would be stormy, so we waited a while, and the forecast got better. Then we were going to leave around 10:30, but somebody (i.e. Ted) didn't get up until it was time to go, so we ended up leaving around 11. We picked Nina up and headed to the metro station. It was Dad, Esther, Ted, Nina, and me going to the Sakura Matsuri, and Mom came along to go to a museum.
The metro up was awful. It was so hot in there, and there were so many people, and it stank, too. We got off at the Smithsonian and headed towards Pennsylvania Avenue, where the festival was. The first thing we saw when we got there was the traditional dance and drums. We watched that for a few minutes, then went in search of food.
Oh, glorious food. There were so many stalls there that we had a hard time deciding what to eat. Eventually we saw a stall where they were selling taiyaki (たいやき), a fried pastry filled with sweet bean paste that is very common in anime. Even though it's not really a meal, we had to try some. It was awesome.
We wandered around a little more, then got in line for takoyaki (たこやき) - fried octopus. The line was incredible. Just for that one stall, it stretched down the street past several more stalls. While we were standing in line, Ted left and came back with nikuman (にくまん), meat-filled dumplings, another anime staple. Those were great as well. I don't know how long we stood in that line, but I actually didn't get bored. It was interesting watching all the people around us, seeing cosplayers, people in kimonos, and so many cute kids. Eventually we got to where I could see the Japanese-language menu for the takoyaki stall, and I had fun trying to read that. I could actually read most of it, except for the kanji and the katakana. The guy in front of me heard me talking about it, and sounding out the words, and when we were almost there he turned around and asked me, "How do you say that? Okonomiyaki?" That made me feel special. ^^
We finally got up there, and Ted and Esther got takoyaki, and I got okonimiyaki (おこのみやき), a fried pancake with cabbage and meat. The takoyaki was good, but I didn't really like my okonomiyaki, but I think that's because in Japan that's usually a restaurant food, rather than a street vendor food.
Okay, so that's it for food. ^^ After we got our food, we wandered around, and eventually found the J-POP stage, where there were a bunch of cosplayers doing a contest. We saw a really good cosplay of Rukia from BLEACH, and an okay cosplay of Nanao, also from BLEACH. And of course, about 70% were from Naruto, and most of them I didn't recognize. I don't know why that anime is so popular.
After the cosplay, we looked around that area for a while. There were a lot of shops with manga and anime, and we found a really neat shop with a bunch of t-shirts and bags and plush toys and things. Esther and I both got Fullmetal Alchemist t-shirts and plush toys of the two main characters. We saw them, and just had to. ^^ Don't worry, I'm not in the habit of buying plush toys. Right by there was a stall where you could get your portrait drawn anime-style, but there was a huge line, so we didn't, even though we wanted to.
The next area we went to was the arts and crafts, or so I would assume. There were a bunch of little stalls with purses, earrings, kimonos, and other stuff. That was maybe the most interesting place. I got a fan, and some sakura-flavored teabags, and some sakura "bath herbs," which I'm not sure what I'm going to do with yet. Nina and I found a stall with a bunch of really cute purses made out of kimono fabric, but at that point I only had $30 left, so I couldn't get anything. :-( Those purses were so cute. I wanted one for church so badly. But oh well.
Anyway, at that point we headed home. Fortunately, the metro on the way home was not nearly as bad. After we got back to Vienna, we ate at Pei Wei, and I got a really good chicken sesame salad that I split with Nina. I also taught Nina how to use chopsticks. Yesssss!
Anyway, when we dropped Nina off we stopped for a while, so I could install VLC Media Player on her computer, and borrow her camera, which, unfortunately, she forgot to bring on the trip. So sadly, I don't have any pictures of the actual festival, but I took pictures of Esther and me in our shirts, and of all the stuff I got, so I'm putting these up here for all to see. Unfortunately, our connection is terrible, so I can't do that right now. I'll post them on Tuesday at college. ごめなさい。
So anyway, that was my day in a nutshell. A very... big... nutshell. それじゃ！
The Sakura Matsuri was awesome. It exceeded my expectations. I'm definitely going again next year.
We were going to leave around 9:30 this morning, depending on the weather, but it looked like it would be stormy, so we waited a while, and the forecast got better. Then we were going to leave around 10:30, but somebody (i.e. Ted) didn't get up until it was time to go, so we ended up leaving around 11. We picked Nina up and headed to the metro station. It was Dad, Esther, Ted, Nina, and me going to the Sakura Matsuri, and Mom came along to go to a museum.
The metro up was awful. It was so hot in there, and there were so many people, and it stank, too. We got off at the Smithsonian and headed towards Pennsylvania Avenue, where the festival was. The first thing we saw when we got there was the traditional dance and drums. We watched that for a few minutes, then went in search of food.
Oh, glorious food. There were so many stalls there that we had a hard time deciding what to eat. Eventually we saw a stall where they were selling taiyaki (たいやき), a fried pastry filled with sweet bean paste that is very common in anime. Even though it's not really a meal, we had to try some. It was awesome.
We wandered around a little more, then got in line for takoyaki (たこやき) - fried octopus. The line was incredible. Just for that one stall, it stretched down the street past several more stalls. While we were standing in line, Ted left and came back with nikuman (にくまん), meat-filled dumplings, another anime staple. Those were great as well. I don't know how long we stood in that line, but I actually didn't get bored. It was interesting watching all the people around us, seeing cosplayers, people in kimonos, and so many cute kids. Eventually we got to where I could see the Japanese-language menu for the takoyaki stall, and I had fun trying to read that. I could actually read most of it, except for the kanji and the katakana. The guy in front of me heard me talking about it, and sounding out the words, and when we were almost there he turned around and asked me, "How do you say that? Okonomiyaki?" That made me feel special. ^^
We finally got up there, and Ted and Esther got takoyaki, and I got okonimiyaki (おこのみやき), a fried pancake with cabbage and meat. The takoyaki was good, but I didn't really like my okonomiyaki, but I think that's because in Japan that's usually a restaurant food, rather than a street vendor food.
Okay, so that's it for food. ^^ After we got our food, we wandered around, and eventually found the J-POP stage, where there were a bunch of cosplayers doing a contest. We saw a really good cosplay of Rukia from BLEACH, and an okay cosplay of Nanao, also from BLEACH. And of course, about 70% were from Naruto, and most of them I didn't recognize. I don't know why that anime is so popular.
After the cosplay, we looked around that area for a while. There were a lot of shops with manga and anime, and we found a really neat shop with a bunch of t-shirts and bags and plush toys and things. Esther and I both got Fullmetal Alchemist t-shirts and plush toys of the two main characters. We saw them, and just had to. ^^ Don't worry, I'm not in the habit of buying plush toys. Right by there was a stall where you could get your portrait drawn anime-style, but there was a huge line, so we didn't, even though we wanted to.
The next area we went to was the arts and crafts, or so I would assume. There were a bunch of little stalls with purses, earrings, kimonos, and other stuff. That was maybe the most interesting place. I got a fan, and some sakura-flavored teabags, and some sakura "bath herbs," which I'm not sure what I'm going to do with yet. Nina and I found a stall with a bunch of really cute purses made out of kimono fabric, but at that point I only had $30 left, so I couldn't get anything. :-( Those purses were so cute. I wanted one for church so badly. But oh well.
Anyway, at that point we headed home. Fortunately, the metro on the way home was not nearly as bad. After we got back to Vienna, we ate at Pei Wei, and I got a really good chicken sesame salad that I split with Nina. I also taught Nina how to use chopsticks. Yesssss!
Anyway, when we dropped Nina off we stopped for a while, so I could install VLC Media Player on her computer, and borrow her camera, which, unfortunately, she forgot to bring on the trip. So sadly, I don't have any pictures of the actual festival, but I took pictures of Esther and me in our shirts, and of all the stuff I got, so I'm putting these up here for all to see. Unfortunately, our connection is terrible, so I can't do that right now. I'll post them on Tuesday at college. ごめなさい。
So anyway, that was my day in a nutshell. A very... big... nutshell. それじゃ！
Friday, April 11, 2008
こんにちは！きょうはいいねえ！
Ahh, what a great day! It is so nice outside right now. Then why am I inside, you ask? Because I'm a nerd. ^^ Hey, I have the window open. That's a start, isn't it? Anyway, I'll probably go out soon, but I wanted to post. So I am posting.
Today I went to school. I know, so unusual. へんね？ I spent my day there compiling a dictionary of all the Japanese words and phrases I know. Ah yes, things to do when you're bored at school. ^^ I have about 130 entries so far, and I'm nowhere near finished. Of course, that really isn't very much, but considering I've only been learning Japanese for about four months, and I haven't taken any actual classes, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. There is this Japanese language proficiency test you can take which has four levels. The lowest level requires that you have about a 300-word vocabulary. So I'm not that far away! Of course, I have to study the grammar a whole lot more - having a large vocabulary doesn't mean much if you don't know how to use it.
Anyway, ensemble practice last night was good. I like three out of the four songs we're singing. Chipotle was good as well. I looked in Barnes and Noble, but I couldn't find a kanji dictionary that had what I wanted. I saw a grammar book there, but I didn't buy it because it was written in romaji, without any actual Japanese writing, but now I wish I had. Oh well.
Tomorrow is the Sakura Matsuri! I can't wait! Although, it looks like it might rain tomorrow. But... I still want to go. ^^ Marissa and Nina might come with us, so I'm hoping they can. That will be fun.
So, I guess that's about it. さよなら。
Ahh, what a great day! It is so nice outside right now. Then why am I inside, you ask? Because I'm a nerd. ^^ Hey, I have the window open. That's a start, isn't it? Anyway, I'll probably go out soon, but I wanted to post. So I am posting.
Today I went to school. I know, so unusual. へんね？ I spent my day there compiling a dictionary of all the Japanese words and phrases I know. Ah yes, things to do when you're bored at school. ^^ I have about 130 entries so far, and I'm nowhere near finished. Of course, that really isn't very much, but considering I've only been learning Japanese for about four months, and I haven't taken any actual classes, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. There is this Japanese language proficiency test you can take which has four levels. The lowest level requires that you have about a 300-word vocabulary. So I'm not that far away! Of course, I have to study the grammar a whole lot more - having a large vocabulary doesn't mean much if you don't know how to use it.
Anyway, ensemble practice last night was good. I like three out of the four songs we're singing. Chipotle was good as well. I looked in Barnes and Noble, but I couldn't find a kanji dictionary that had what I wanted. I saw a grammar book there, but I didn't buy it because it was written in romaji, without any actual Japanese writing, but now I wish I had. Oh well.
Tomorrow is the Sakura Matsuri! I can't wait! Although, it looks like it might rain tomorrow. But... I still want to go. ^^ Marissa and Nina might come with us, so I'm hoping they can. That will be fun.
So, I guess that's about it. さよなら。
Thursday, April 10, 2008
みんあさんこんにちは。
I skipped school again today. There was an all day field trip, and I had class in the afternoon, so I decided to just stay home. I wanted to go - they went to the courthouse and toured the jail. That would have been interesting.
Anyway, I got to complain about my school in Psychology class today. ^^ The professor asked for examples of what could make a group not work together. I immediately thought of my school. Since it's not only an all grades school, but a really small all grades school, we have to do a lot of activities with the whole school, which totally does not work, because of the different maturity levels - in both body and mind - of the elementary students and the high school students. Ah yes, psychology is fun stuff. ^^
Well, I guess besides that, there's not a whole lot to say. We have ensemble practice at church later, for the first time since our Easter performance. I wonder what new songs we will be singing. So anyway, I'm just sitting here at college for a while, then I'm going to go to Barnes and Noble to look for a good kanji dictionary, and then get something to eat at Chipotle ^^, before I head back for practice. チポトレはおいしいです！
So I guess that's all.
バイバイ！
I skipped school again today. There was an all day field trip, and I had class in the afternoon, so I decided to just stay home. I wanted to go - they went to the courthouse and toured the jail. That would have been interesting.
Anyway, I got to complain about my school in Psychology class today. ^^ The professor asked for examples of what could make a group not work together. I immediately thought of my school. Since it's not only an all grades school, but a really small all grades school, we have to do a lot of activities with the whole school, which totally does not work, because of the different maturity levels - in both body and mind - of the elementary students and the high school students. Ah yes, psychology is fun stuff. ^^
Well, I guess besides that, there's not a whole lot to say. We have ensemble practice at church later, for the first time since our Easter performance. I wonder what new songs we will be singing. So anyway, I'm just sitting here at college for a while, then I'm going to go to Barnes and Noble to look for a good kanji dictionary, and then get something to eat at Chipotle ^^, before I head back for practice. チポトレはおいしいです！
So I guess that's all.
バイバイ！
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