It is amazing how things can change in a short period of time, in the space of a day or even in an hour! This might sound strange, even I am not sure what I'm actually trying to write here.
Let's start with a recap since my last post.
1. I've finished my DALF! YES! Although I didn't do very well, in my opinion, but no point being down when there's nothing more I can do.
2. I bought my air ticket between Florence - Paris. Hmm, revising some countdowns:
Africa: 16days, Florence: 50days, Paris: 61days! Some things to look forward to, yippie!
3. I've decided to perform a short version of Hagoromo, a Noh play, on stage. Well, this is the target that I've set with my teacher as to not disappoint him, and to show the effort that I've put in. Let hope it goes well.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is out! Johnny Depp was here for it, and a friend of a friend was his translator, lucky girl! Oh it has been announced that Tokyo will host the world premiere of Harry Potter ^_^ If I'm still here when it comes out, I definitely want to go! I wonder if Daniel Radcliffe would be coming? The BBC might cover it, I should be nice to the bosses....
That's my random thought(s) of the day.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
random stuff
It's been a nice warm day today. The weather is finally starting to be nice! I'm thankful that the evenings remain cool, no need for air-conditioning but not too cold that I have to use the heater... just swell!
So what progress have I made lately?
no.1 Today (or more like yesterday according to the clock), my translation professor gave me the OK to start on my individual project pieces.
no.2 I finally bought my air ticket for Europe! However something went weird during the booking and somehow my first and last name got mixed up. *sigh* Got to ring up KLM office tomorrow to sort things out. Bugger!
no.3 I can now start all my flight countdowns...!! Countdown Africa: 22days; Countdown Florence: 55 days, Countdown Paris: 66 days. I am ignoring all the return flights... LOL
no.4 I've finally made up my mind on what I really want to do for my graduation paper - comparing multiracialism and multiculturalism. NOTE: Not the same thing!
no.5 Negative countdown: less than 6 months to get my thesis completed, OUCH!
Oh yes, I do have round 2 of DALF this Sunday. Can't be bothered anymore, seeing that I did well bad enough in the previous Sunday... *sigh*
My current emotion: caught between two sides of the coin, but still not neutral!
So what progress have I made lately?
no.1 Today (or more like yesterday according to the clock), my translation professor gave me the OK to start on my individual project pieces.
no.2 I finally bought my air ticket for Europe! However something went weird during the booking and somehow my first and last name got mixed up. *sigh* Got to ring up KLM office tomorrow to sort things out. Bugger!
no.3 I can now start all my flight countdowns...!! Countdown Africa: 22days; Countdown Florence: 55 days, Countdown Paris: 66 days. I am ignoring all the return flights... LOL
no.4 I've finally made up my mind on what I really want to do for my graduation paper - comparing multiracialism and multiculturalism. NOTE: Not the same thing!
no.5 Negative countdown: less than 6 months to get my thesis completed, OUCH!
Oh yes, I do have round 2 of DALF this Sunday. Can't be bothered anymore, seeing that I did well bad enough in the previous Sunday... *sigh*
My current emotion: caught between two sides of the coin, but still not neutral!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Music of the week
What's on my playlist lately:
From the Heart (Another Level)
Shadows of You (Nakashima Mika)
Hitoiro （一色） (Nakashima Mika)
Carpe Diem (Alderbert)
La complainte de l'ex-fumeur (Alderbert)
Kuroi Namida (黒い涙）(ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi' NANA)
Can You Feel My Word (Wang Lee Hom)
You've Got A Friend (Hirai Ken)
Sakura Biyori （桜日和）(Hoshimura Mai)
Let Go (M-Flo feat. Yoshika)
Home (Angela Aki)
The Nearness of You (Norah Jones)
Nakashima Mika's voice is so beautiful, I really wish I could sing like her. Can't stop listening to her songs, they are quite addictive!!
From the Heart (Another Level)
Shadows of You (Nakashima Mika)
Hitoiro （一色） (Nakashima Mika)
Carpe Diem (Alderbert)
La complainte de l'ex-fumeur (Alderbert)
Kuroi Namida (黒い涙）(ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi' NANA)
Can You Feel My Word (Wang Lee Hom)
You've Got A Friend (Hirai Ken)
Sakura Biyori （桜日和）(Hoshimura Mai)
Let Go (M-Flo feat. Yoshika)
Home (Angela Aki)
The Nearness of You (Norah Jones)
Nakashima Mika's voice is so beautiful, I really wish I could sing like her. Can't stop listening to her songs, they are quite addictive!!
Friday, May 18, 2007
Moving to the airport...
At least this is how I feel, when I think about the number of times I've been going to the airport this year, and will be going to!
Let's recap...
January: came back from Paris; Feb: went back home for CNY; March: came back to Tokyo; April: send mom off. In May I would have been at the airport too, but opted to not there to send my friends off.
What about the future? Let's see, LOL.
Next month I'm heading over to Africa to visit my folks. Just a short, slightly over a week trip to dad's place in Uganda, and then stopping over Kenya for a quick safari before heading back. It'll be well cool to visit Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile. How nice to go for a cruise down the Nile too, but that's not going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately!
On to possible airport visits... In July I'm heading back to Europe! Yes YY, I so love it over there... hehe. This time because of school I can't stay for a very long time, but long enough to do a short language course either in Florence or Paris. In any case back to the airport again in August... hehe If not, going back to Narita again in September, as my folks come over for a visit!
Conclusion? I should have gotten a year pass for the airport...!!!
Let's recap...
January: came back from Paris; Feb: went back home for CNY; March: came back to Tokyo; April: send mom off. In May I would have been at the airport too, but opted to not there to send my friends off.
What about the future? Let's see, LOL.
Next month I'm heading over to Africa to visit my folks. Just a short, slightly over a week trip to dad's place in Uganda, and then stopping over Kenya for a quick safari before heading back. It'll be well cool to visit Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile. How nice to go for a cruise down the Nile too, but that's not going to happen anytime soon, unfortunately!
On to possible airport visits... In July I'm heading back to Europe! Yes YY, I so love it over there... hehe. This time because of school I can't stay for a very long time, but long enough to do a short language course either in Florence or Paris. In any case back to the airport again in August... hehe If not, going back to Narita again in September, as my folks come over for a visit!
Conclusion? I should have gotten a year pass for the airport...!!!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Kyoto in the Spring
Yes, it is not Spring, it is Summer, as far as Japan is concerned. We didn't have Spring, Winter left and Summer came instead! Just when the weather was well warm and everything beautiful, I had such a cold day (like yesterday). Well, whatever it is let's recap a bit of the lost Spring.
Lunch at Gion - really yummy!!
Maiko dancers at the annual festival in Kyoto
Mom was here for the lovely cherry blossoms. We even went all the way too Kyoto for it, on a day trip (two night buses in a row, it really kills!). Kyoto is and will remain my favourite Japanese city. I love how one can never get lost, how there are always quaint and ancient things to discover, how although throngs of tourists stamp their mark there every year this little city strives to stay unchanged.
Ryoanji Temple, the Zen Garden
Canal Cafe
What a wonderful day Friday is!
Today I met an old friend whom I had not seen for months. It was really lovely to meet again. We had lunch sitting on a bench under the trees on campus. It was well nice, but if only the wind was not that strong! Because we were in the shades we were quite cold although the sun was out, it was really funny!
Friday evening is the day I have my DALF preparation class at the French-Japanese Institute in Iidabashi. After two hours of intensive French, one's brain can just die from exhaustion. Good thing I had dinner plans after that! After class I met up with a photographer friend that I met during my internship with the BBC, and went for dinner at an Italian restaurant by the river in Iidabashi! FYI, there are rivers in Tokyo you know. It reminded me so much of the Seine, and my friend agreed too (he's French). It was really a lovely time, with pizza, pasta and a bottle of lovely red Italian wine. Just what I was craving after the doc told me to stay away from alcohol for a few days after I had my yellow fever vaccination jab. The restaurant was really lovely, it had an outside terrance by the river, where one can just enjoy a nice meal, or even do a bbq party if one wishes so! They also provided cute red blankets to keep us warm. It was a pity that the blankets were a little small. Because it was so cold, I wished they had turn on the heaters instead.
Now I am back in my place, dressed in a thick sweater as I defrost myself. Time for bed soon as it is past midnight, but just wanted to record things down.
Welcome, the weekend!
Today I met an old friend whom I had not seen for months. It was really lovely to meet again. We had lunch sitting on a bench under the trees on campus. It was well nice, but if only the wind was not that strong! Because we were in the shades we were quite cold although the sun was out, it was really funny!
Friday evening is the day I have my DALF preparation class at the French-Japanese Institute in Iidabashi. After two hours of intensive French, one's brain can just die from exhaustion. Good thing I had dinner plans after that! After class I met up with a photographer friend that I met during my internship with the BBC, and went for dinner at an Italian restaurant by the river in Iidabashi! FYI, there are rivers in Tokyo you know. It reminded me so much of the Seine, and my friend agreed too (he's French). It was really a lovely time, with pizza, pasta and a bottle of lovely red Italian wine. Just what I was craving after the doc told me to stay away from alcohol for a few days after I had my yellow fever vaccination jab. The restaurant was really lovely, it had an outside terrance by the river, where one can just enjoy a nice meal, or even do a bbq party if one wishes so! They also provided cute red blankets to keep us warm. It was a pity that the blankets were a little small. Because it was so cold, I wished they had turn on the heaters instead.
Now I am back in my place, dressed in a thick sweater as I defrost myself. Time for bed soon as it is past midnight, but just wanted to record things down.
Welcome, the weekend!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
the 100th post!
Wow, my 4th? 5th? year posting, and finally I reach the 100th post. Took me a while to get here, it did indeed.
I have been feeling blog-ish lately. Wonder why. The advantage of a blog is that it lets you let out your feelings, thoughts, stress, anything, you name it. I feel great after blogging, there's a sense of achievement, which coming from Ms.Procrastinator (me!), it is a BIG achievement, *laughter*
There has been much progress in my studies. So glad that I've got my presentation dates fixed. Need to concentrate on my graduation paper as well, so once I get all the other annoying, time consuming school stuff out of the way I can concentrate better. At least in 2-3 weeks' time my DALF exam would be over, and that will be one big relief, I must say. Regardless of the results, it will be done with as far as I am concerned. Turns out to enter graduate school in France one does not really need the DALF certification. bugger. I guess if I want a pursue a second degree there it would well come in handy...
There's big progress with my lawsuit too. Recap: We're suing our ex-landlady for incompetence, basically. We're submitting the papers to court next week, and then all we have to do is to wait. Finally after months of preparation (no thanks to one, but big thanks to the Foreign Students' Office), we are ready. I am now keeping my fingers crossed and pray that our ex-landlady will completely ignore the court order, hence the court will just rule according to our request, and then she just pays us. Now, if everything is a fairytale, life would be well nice!
Oh, I had the nicest Turkish lunch yesterday with the ACCU Culture department staff. They treated me to a farewell lunch at a Turkish restaurant. It was really yummy! Apparently the restaurant took part in the Aichi Expo 2005 at the Turkish house. They even have the Turkish ice-cream, the "hot and cold" one! Definitely going back there for that. Comfort food indeed.
I have been feeling blog-ish lately. Wonder why. The advantage of a blog is that it lets you let out your feelings, thoughts, stress, anything, you name it. I feel great after blogging, there's a sense of achievement, which coming from Ms.Procrastinator (me!), it is a BIG achievement, *laughter*
There has been much progress in my studies. So glad that I've got my presentation dates fixed. Need to concentrate on my graduation paper as well, so once I get all the other annoying, time consuming school stuff out of the way I can concentrate better. At least in 2-3 weeks' time my DALF exam would be over, and that will be one big relief, I must say. Regardless of the results, it will be done with as far as I am concerned. Turns out to enter graduate school in France one does not really need the DALF certification. bugger. I guess if I want a pursue a second degree there it would well come in handy...
There's big progress with my lawsuit too. Recap: We're suing our ex-landlady for incompetence, basically. We're submitting the papers to court next week, and then all we have to do is to wait. Finally after months of preparation (no thanks to one, but big thanks to the Foreign Students' Office), we are ready. I am now keeping my fingers crossed and pray that our ex-landlady will completely ignore the court order, hence the court will just rule according to our request, and then she just pays us. Now, if everything is a fairytale, life would be well nice!
Oh, I had the nicest Turkish lunch yesterday with the ACCU Culture department staff. They treated me to a farewell lunch at a Turkish restaurant. It was really yummy! Apparently the restaurant took part in the Aichi Expo 2005 at the Turkish house. They even have the Turkish ice-cream, the "hot and cold" one! Definitely going back there for that. Comfort food indeed.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
What have I been up too lately?
Well, before you decide to gang up on me and bash me for not writing, please note that I do have a good reason - BUSY - to keep me away from my blog! Come to think of it, half of you are also out there working your arse off so don't go calling the kettle black... although I do admit that you probably are a more faithful blogger than I will ever be...
So, back to the big question that is on the title...
I have been working my arse off, what else is there to do anyway in this no-life of mine? Ok, ok, I should be more detailed. I am right now doing an internship with the BBC; to be more specific BBC News Tokyo. They officially offered me the spot after the two week trial with the Chinese premier, in which my Chinese came in handy and well earned me some points! It is a well interesting job, as you know that the BBC has both radio and TV, and since we are such a small team we handle both. This is really nice since I get to learn how to do live broadcasts and radio interviews, getting in touch with London and Singapore via satellite, on-site reporting etc. We have been busy in April, with the murder of a British girl Lindsay Hawker in March, and the Lucie Blackman verdict that came out end of April. (I even made front and second page on the Japan Times, unintentionally! Page 1 at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070425a1.html and page 2 at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070425a6.html. It was well cool!!)
Being a British corporation (if you haven't figured that out from the name yet...), we focus mainly on UK or UK related news like Japan-UK news; although we do work on interesting and big events like Wen Jia Bao's visit, the Live8 concerts etc. I've learnt how important teamwork is, how crazy the media world is, and best bit? I've well polished up on my British accent LOL
My stint with ACCU will officially come to an end today. I've opted for an "early retirement" from my volunteer duties (ha!) since I really need to work on my graduation paper,hence I'm moving on to mainly part time jobs at ACCU when they come in. I am going to miss this place though, I've been here since last October, how time flies!
Other than that, I am doing well with my teaching jobs, working myself to death of course! The good thing is that I've cut down my number of class times (I can see Marc nodding to this one...). Well, if the Euro drops, then I don't have to kill myself working and saving for the summer.
Last bit of news: I've found a job in Tokyo with a Japanese firm (oh no!), which means that I will be staying here after graduation! It's a weird contradiction (and I've been told!) since I would like to move to Europe, but I guess God has his plans that are beyond me. But grad school is not out of the picture, I will go back to grad school, I will move to France (or Italy, if that ever happens!) and pursue what I want (don't ask me to elaborate, it's forever changing...)
That's all for now, I guess. Satisfied with this long update? No complains will be entertained but your valuable comments are most welcomed!
So, back to the big question that is on the title...
I have been working my arse off, what else is there to do anyway in this no-life of mine? Ok, ok, I should be more detailed. I am right now doing an internship with the BBC; to be more specific BBC News Tokyo. They officially offered me the spot after the two week trial with the Chinese premier, in which my Chinese came in handy and well earned me some points! It is a well interesting job, as you know that the BBC has both radio and TV, and since we are such a small team we handle both. This is really nice since I get to learn how to do live broadcasts and radio interviews, getting in touch with London and Singapore via satellite, on-site reporting etc. We have been busy in April, with the murder of a British girl Lindsay Hawker in March, and the Lucie Blackman verdict that came out end of April. (I even made front and second page on the Japan Times, unintentionally! Page 1 at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070425a1.html and page 2 at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070425a6.html. It was well cool!!)
Being a British corporation (if you haven't figured that out from the name yet...), we focus mainly on UK or UK related news like Japan-UK news; although we do work on interesting and big events like Wen Jia Bao's visit, the Live8 concerts etc. I've learnt how important teamwork is, how crazy the media world is, and best bit? I've well polished up on my British accent LOL
My stint with ACCU will officially come to an end today. I've opted for an "early retirement" from my volunteer duties (ha!) since I really need to work on my graduation paper,hence I'm moving on to mainly part time jobs at ACCU when they come in. I am going to miss this place though, I've been here since last October, how time flies!
Other than that, I am doing well with my teaching jobs, working myself to death of course! The good thing is that I've cut down my number of class times (I can see Marc nodding to this one...). Well, if the Euro drops, then I don't have to kill myself working and saving for the summer.
Last bit of news: I've found a job in Tokyo with a Japanese firm (oh no!), which means that I will be staying here after graduation! It's a weird contradiction (and I've been told!) since I would like to move to Europe, but I guess God has his plans that are beyond me. But grad school is not out of the picture, I will go back to grad school, I will move to France (or Italy, if that ever happens!) and pursue what I want (don't ask me to elaborate, it's forever changing...)
That's all for now, I guess. Satisfied with this long update? No complains will be entertained but your valuable comments are most welcomed!
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