So the only reason I can keep posting is because it's summer.
And for some reason I'm oddly not being lazy.
Usually I try to blog and just give up. (Note, many first entries and then I just disappeared o: but... I came back!)
And oddly enough, I thought that, oh summer time, I'm too boring to be able to blog daily. I mean, I don't have anything happening, right, right?
Soo, while I prefer novels and short stories and things with lots of words, I also enjoy a manga here and there. And frankly, it's easier to read when it comes to Japanese because a) I love you furigana-san! and b) pictures if I don't understand words (and am too lazy to look them up... which is 99.9% of the time! Usually I only look up stuff if I can use rikai-chan - ah bad habits). Anyways, so of aalll the bajillion mangas out there, my favorite is SAYAONARA ZETSUBOU SENSEI. No, the title isn't really in all caps - of course not, it's in Japanese. But, I just had to emphasis it. Japanese name: さよなら絶望先生. I actually started out on the animu, because I saw an art piece of dA about it and it talked about the animu. So I watched first season and found out, there werez a manga! My luck of course, the manga was... in Japanese, and only a few chapters were scanlated. So I held off on it for a while, because my Japanese was like... かっ漢字?!@ I couldn't read kanji except for.. numbers. Of course, I still have quite a few kanji I look at blankly. Anyways, then I went to Japan, and bought all the volumes, because, even if I couldn't read it, it was still pretty. I'm still reading volume 7... but I will finish them all one day. And I'm barely understanding anything, but I feel like I do because I know how to pronounce everything with the the furigana.
Because of my love for SZS, I've been searching an English speaking SZS community... much to no avail. English speaking SZS lovers are few and far between. I suppose there's a good deal more that have watched the anime, but were I wanting to discuss anything about the manga... I would find myself lost. About the only semblance of a community I've seen is the SZS thread in /cm/.
Beyond my woes of finding English speaking ZETSBOUSHITA'ers, I keep turning back to Korean. Not that I've given up Japanese - that would be ridiculous (though I do make excuses that I'm studying more than I have just because everything I use is in Japanese). It's just... I see the little 한글 (Korean letters) and keep saying, awww it's so cute, I should be able to know what it's saying! In fact, just yesterday I probably added 10 blogs about Korean to my google reader (But they were in Japanese! That's my excuse....)
I've read the same page like ten times in Puchimon. Never getting time to actually hit the next button...
Nothing more interesting to add for the dayyy.
2009-07-29
2009-07-28
Reconsider my future?
Since I'm just a high schooler, fully dependant on my parents, I have only a vague notion of taxes, health care, and all the other things that go along with "adult life". It's something I ought to have a better idea about since I'm headed to that stage in life pretty soon.
But since last summer, I've envisioned myself going back to live in Japan - as I'm sure a lot of people have before me and will after me. Not immediately after college - well actually yes.
My minerature gameplan (likely to change since I'm young): 1. College, finish with double major in East Asian Studies and Chemical Engineering (or Chemistry, depending on the school). 2. Head to Japan to teach English for two or three years, most likely with the JET program (during this time, since I'll be in Japan; I would take advantage in order to improve my Japanese to a more proficient level). 3. Return back to the States, go to University of Washington and get master's degree (or.... double master's degree?) in Techincal Japanese and Chemical Engineering (or find a similar program at another university) 4. Head back to Japan and work. 5. Visit Ninshan, China for vacation ;D
Anyways, as for the part four, my grounds are definately... unknown. All I know is that I want to be working with Japanese people and be able to use Japanese as part of my job (and NOT be relying on English). To me, this lends itself to the idea I should be working for a Japanese company. I suppose I could work for an American company in Japan, but I haven't researched much into this (it's seven years away and I think I'll be able to put things more in prespective when I know more about the Chemcial Engineering industry). However, my mum thinks it's better if I work for an American company. I think I'm going to face challenges either way. First of all, being a female, I think I'll probably face challenges in just that aspect alone. But there's the idea of a glass cieling for females. I'm not sure how prominent this idea plays into being a scientist/engineer though. I'll admit I'm young and don't know much about the industry and how things work. But beyond that, working for a Japanese company would also present "anti-foreigner" problems. Again, I don't know how this plays out in the industry. Although depending on the amount of foreigners in these kind of positions, I think there could be some hostility. I know that there are at least a lot of Chinese students who come to study scientific things so if they continue their work in Japan, it could very easily been seen as a "threat".
But these aren't really what are causing my wavering.
I've read a lot about the xenophobic attitudes, but I figure, I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. I'm going to be an outsider no matter where I go. I almost feel better about the idea of being an outsider in Japan, because I know they're not doing it because of anything other than that I'm not Japanese. Here in the States, I know that the reason I'm an outsider is my passive personality and horrible social skills (or at least, that's what I percieve to be the cause for my general outsider-ness).
Anyways, that still isn't it. But I just read an article about some new laws that are relatively restricting on foriegners (see: http://zichi.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-laws-for-foreigners-in-japan.html ). I'm almost worried when I get to Japan I'll be left out of the loop on something important and I'll end up getting kicked out of Japan. What if I overstay my visa by one day?
The future can be very intimidating. For now, I'll just take it one step at a time. Off to college it is... let's hope I can pass my exams.
But since last summer, I've envisioned myself going back to live in Japan - as I'm sure a lot of people have before me and will after me. Not immediately after college - well actually yes.
My minerature gameplan (likely to change since I'm young): 1. College, finish with double major in East Asian Studies and Chemical Engineering (or Chemistry, depending on the school). 2. Head to Japan to teach English for two or three years, most likely with the JET program (during this time, since I'll be in Japan; I would take advantage in order to improve my Japanese to a more proficient level). 3. Return back to the States, go to University of Washington and get master's degree (or.... double master's degree?) in Techincal Japanese and Chemical Engineering (or find a similar program at another university) 4. Head back to Japan and work. 5. Visit Ninshan, China for vacation ;D
Anyways, as for the part four, my grounds are definately... unknown. All I know is that I want to be working with Japanese people and be able to use Japanese as part of my job (and NOT be relying on English). To me, this lends itself to the idea I should be working for a Japanese company. I suppose I could work for an American company in Japan, but I haven't researched much into this (it's seven years away and I think I'll be able to put things more in prespective when I know more about the Chemcial Engineering industry). However, my mum thinks it's better if I work for an American company. I think I'm going to face challenges either way. First of all, being a female, I think I'll probably face challenges in just that aspect alone. But there's the idea of a glass cieling for females. I'm not sure how prominent this idea plays into being a scientist/engineer though. I'll admit I'm young and don't know much about the industry and how things work. But beyond that, working for a Japanese company would also present "anti-foreigner" problems. Again, I don't know how this plays out in the industry. Although depending on the amount of foreigners in these kind of positions, I think there could be some hostility. I know that there are at least a lot of Chinese students who come to study scientific things so if they continue their work in Japan, it could very easily been seen as a "threat".
But these aren't really what are causing my wavering.
I've read a lot about the xenophobic attitudes, but I figure, I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. I'm going to be an outsider no matter where I go. I almost feel better about the idea of being an outsider in Japan, because I know they're not doing it because of anything other than that I'm not Japanese. Here in the States, I know that the reason I'm an outsider is my passive personality and horrible social skills (or at least, that's what I percieve to be the cause for my general outsider-ness).
Anyways, that still isn't it. But I just read an article about some new laws that are relatively restricting on foriegners (see: http://zichi.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-laws-for-foreigners-in-japan.html ). I'm almost worried when I get to Japan I'll be left out of the loop on something important and I'll end up getting kicked out of Japan. What if I overstay my visa by one day?
The future can be very intimidating. For now, I'll just take it one step at a time. Off to college it is... let's hope I can pass my exams.
2009-07-27
Podcasts
Books are pretty cool.
I've always been a bookworm.
When I was 5, I would have a bunch of books all in my bed, and just sleep on top of them.
Before I could read books like the Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, I used to take them and flip through them and show off to my sister that I had read them ;) Then she asked if there was a character named Aslan in Narnia - and I thought she was trying to trick me, so I said no. Haha.
My room currently has over 500 books in it. (Yes, this is a lot for one room - I have one large bookcase, a small bookcase, two bookshelves in my closet, and two stacks of books in my room). This does not include books I have moved into the attic/ given to my mum for her classroom. And I can add one more to that number, having just purchased the Tale of Genji (a beautiful copy too, even the cashier thought so).
Anyways, while I wish I had all the time in the world to read more books, I don't. So what I've been using as a quick fiction fix is podcasts. I've listened to a few for a while now, but I haven't had anybody to share my enthusiasm. (I could join the various forums associated with them, but ehh, I'm not a big forum person.)
So the first podcast is Escape Pod (http://escapepod.org/). This was pretty much my first delve into the online short story world, I think anyways. Escape Pod is a science fiction weekly short story podcast. It used to also deliver fantasy, but branched off. Anyways, I've listened to every single episode, but I first tuned in around episode 70 I think? This past week they just released episode 208, so they've been at it for several years now. But I really enjoy listening to the escape pod stories. This past week's episode was really entertaining for me. I'm trying to think of how I found it, but my mind draws a blank.
Spinning off of Escape Pod are Podcastle and Psuedopod, both under the same company (?) Escape Artists. I now also subscribe to both of those feeds for fantasy and horror stories, respectively. Also great short story podcasts.
Beyong Escape Artsists podcasts, I tune into Drabblecast (http://web.mac.com/normsherman/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html). It's super quirkly and wayy out there. But really, if you're weird, quite enjoyable. Besides the main feature story, episodes usually include a "drabble" (100 word story) or a piece of drabble news (with "interviews"). One of the great features I really enjoy in the Drabblecast is the background music. The host, Norm Sherman, knows when it's right to add in some music. Just like music adds to movies, this music certainly adds to the podcast. Norm Sherman also adds in some of his own quirkly music too sometimes - another treat.
So these four podcasts pretty much make up for any lack of fiction in my week.
I also subscribe to a literary magazine, Cicada, which comes out every two monthes.
Sadly, during the school year I'm not able to get much reading done. Whenever I set out to read I usually end up falling asleep by the end of the second page because I'm so tired from lack of sleep (read: 5 hours every school night). And lately, I've been avoiding English novels like the plague. But my Japanese isn't good enough for novels. And well, I could be reading in French, but with such bad memories related to French, I can't bare it.
I'm going to suck up my fear of English for the next while though as I read the Tale of Genji (: A long journey is ahead of me...
I wish I could find a list of classic Asian literature, but it's not so easy to find. I'd really like to read something from South-east Asia if I could find something. But let's face it, when I'm searching Wikipedia to find Asian literature, I'm a bit at a loss. I'm also not sure how much literature from South-east Asian countries has actually been translated. While there are quite a few people translating popular langauges like Chinese and Japanese, I'm not meeting anybody who can converse in Laotian or even Thai. Perhaps that'll just be another reason for me to learn those languages ;) But for now I have to get past Chinese and Japanese before I'll let myself tackle another language (but Korean keeps creeping in... even just today I was looking at a website in Korean.) After I hit the major three, I'll be free to go wherever else I wish, linguistically speaking.
While the section on wikipedia is relatively poor in the Literature in Thailand section, I just checked to find there's not even a Literature in Malaysia section... now I have absolutely no clue where to go.
Ah well, I still have a whole Tale of Genji to get through before I need to work about finding a new book to read. And probably that'll be next summer. It won't stop me from picking up a few other books though I'm sure.
I've always been a bookworm.
When I was 5, I would have a bunch of books all in my bed, and just sleep on top of them.
Before I could read books like the Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, I used to take them and flip through them and show off to my sister that I had read them ;) Then she asked if there was a character named Aslan in Narnia - and I thought she was trying to trick me, so I said no. Haha.
My room currently has over 500 books in it. (Yes, this is a lot for one room - I have one large bookcase, a small bookcase, two bookshelves in my closet, and two stacks of books in my room). This does not include books I have moved into the attic/ given to my mum for her classroom. And I can add one more to that number, having just purchased the Tale of Genji (a beautiful copy too, even the cashier thought so).
Anyways, while I wish I had all the time in the world to read more books, I don't. So what I've been using as a quick fiction fix is podcasts. I've listened to a few for a while now, but I haven't had anybody to share my enthusiasm. (I could join the various forums associated with them, but ehh, I'm not a big forum person.)
So the first podcast is Escape Pod (http://escapepod.org/). This was pretty much my first delve into the online short story world, I think anyways. Escape Pod is a science fiction weekly short story podcast. It used to also deliver fantasy, but branched off. Anyways, I've listened to every single episode, but I first tuned in around episode 70 I think? This past week they just released episode 208, so they've been at it for several years now. But I really enjoy listening to the escape pod stories. This past week's episode was really entertaining for me. I'm trying to think of how I found it, but my mind draws a blank.
Spinning off of Escape Pod are Podcastle and Psuedopod, both under the same company (?) Escape Artists. I now also subscribe to both of those feeds for fantasy and horror stories, respectively. Also great short story podcasts.
Beyong Escape Artsists podcasts, I tune into Drabblecast (http://web.mac.com/normsherman/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html). It's super quirkly and wayy out there. But really, if you're weird, quite enjoyable. Besides the main feature story, episodes usually include a "drabble" (100 word story) or a piece of drabble news (with "interviews"). One of the great features I really enjoy in the Drabblecast is the background music. The host, Norm Sherman, knows when it's right to add in some music. Just like music adds to movies, this music certainly adds to the podcast. Norm Sherman also adds in some of his own quirkly music too sometimes - another treat.
So these four podcasts pretty much make up for any lack of fiction in my week.
I also subscribe to a literary magazine, Cicada, which comes out every two monthes.
Sadly, during the school year I'm not able to get much reading done. Whenever I set out to read I usually end up falling asleep by the end of the second page because I'm so tired from lack of sleep (read: 5 hours every school night). And lately, I've been avoiding English novels like the plague. But my Japanese isn't good enough for novels. And well, I could be reading in French, but with such bad memories related to French, I can't bare it.
I'm going to suck up my fear of English for the next while though as I read the Tale of Genji (: A long journey is ahead of me...
I wish I could find a list of classic Asian literature, but it's not so easy to find. I'd really like to read something from South-east Asia if I could find something. But let's face it, when I'm searching Wikipedia to find Asian literature, I'm a bit at a loss. I'm also not sure how much literature from South-east Asian countries has actually been translated. While there are quite a few people translating popular langauges like Chinese and Japanese, I'm not meeting anybody who can converse in Laotian or even Thai. Perhaps that'll just be another reason for me to learn those languages ;) But for now I have to get past Chinese and Japanese before I'll let myself tackle another language (but Korean keeps creeping in... even just today I was looking at a website in Korean.) After I hit the major three, I'll be free to go wherever else I wish, linguistically speaking.
While the section on wikipedia is relatively poor in the Literature in Thailand section, I just checked to find there's not even a Literature in Malaysia section... now I have absolutely no clue where to go.
Ah well, I still have a whole Tale of Genji to get through before I need to work about finding a new book to read. And probably that'll be next summer. It won't stop me from picking up a few other books though I'm sure.
2009-07-26
I gave up on Korean
It's a bit tragic (not).
I didn't really give up on Korean. It still tempts me every day. And my google reader now has its own section dedicated to Korean/Korea. However, I'm being much more reasonable by "giving up Korean". I plan to come back to it later. After I master Japanese (that is to say, can read all the novels stacking up in my room/favorites folder), I will come back.
I made a website. http://fuyuhakansou.namidaame.com/
I've wanted to make one for a while. I made one three or four years back and gave up on it. I'll probably give up on this one too. But for now, it's just nice to look at. I had been putting off making a website for the last two years because I didn't want to have to go figure out how to code it all again. I took web design my last year of middle school, and then a web design II class my freshman year - but I got out of it halfway through because... everybody in my class was really scary? I sat next to some kid who talked about the gang he was in. And the other side of me, the kid talked about spending his weekend being high on drugs. I really wasn't fit to be in the class. It was mostly a joke anyways. We had a book and we just copied the code right out of it and made a few changes and it was "done". I studied CSS the entire summer before for absolutely no reason (it was to skip web design I, but I really didn't even need to study CSS). Anyways, back from my tangent, I finally made one because I found some cute templates that were really what I wanted. I never really learned to make frames (my teacher from middle school gave me a rundown on them before my Web Design II class, but it was pretty brief and that was four years ago). So when I found the templates, I just manipulated it to fit what I wanted. And ta-da! I have my current website.
And I know have a kanji-ified name. That is to say, I have a fake name I can use. 萎冬葉（しょうふゆは）, which... means withering winter leaf. And according to WWWJDIC's name dictionary it's a real name. Well a real surname and real given name.
I also found out what I'll need sent to me in care packages when I'm living in Japan (see: distant future). Cheese. I'm sure the stores will have maybe cheddar cheese or a few other select varieties, but not all the varieties I enjoy. Considering how many times I've eaten something with Cheese in Japan... I think I had a total of zero times? Maybe once. And in China, zero.
Back to my volume of ぷちモン.
また、
冬葉
I didn't really give up on Korean. It still tempts me every day. And my google reader now has its own section dedicated to Korean/Korea. However, I'm being much more reasonable by "giving up Korean". I plan to come back to it later. After I master Japanese (that is to say, can read all the novels stacking up in my room/favorites folder), I will come back.
I made a website. http://fuyuhakansou.namidaame.com/
I've wanted to make one for a while. I made one three or four years back and gave up on it. I'll probably give up on this one too. But for now, it's just nice to look at. I had been putting off making a website for the last two years because I didn't want to have to go figure out how to code it all again. I took web design my last year of middle school, and then a web design II class my freshman year - but I got out of it halfway through because... everybody in my class was really scary? I sat next to some kid who talked about the gang he was in. And the other side of me, the kid talked about spending his weekend being high on drugs. I really wasn't fit to be in the class. It was mostly a joke anyways. We had a book and we just copied the code right out of it and made a few changes and it was "done". I studied CSS the entire summer before for absolutely no reason (it was to skip web design I, but I really didn't even need to study CSS). Anyways, back from my tangent, I finally made one because I found some cute templates that were really what I wanted. I never really learned to make frames (my teacher from middle school gave me a rundown on them before my Web Design II class, but it was pretty brief and that was four years ago). So when I found the templates, I just manipulated it to fit what I wanted. And ta-da! I have my current website.
And I know have a kanji-ified name. That is to say, I have a fake name I can use. 萎冬葉（しょうふゆは）, which... means withering winter leaf. And according to WWWJDIC's name dictionary it's a real name. Well a real surname and real given name.
I also found out what I'll need sent to me in care packages when I'm living in Japan (see: distant future). Cheese. I'm sure the stores will have maybe cheddar cheese or a few other select varieties, but not all the varieties I enjoy. Considering how many times I've eaten something with Cheese in Japan... I think I had a total of zero times? Maybe once. And in China, zero.
Back to my volume of ぷちモン.
また、
冬葉
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