It's that time again--time to update the internet on what I've been doing for the past couple months. Because the internet cares about me. It does, dammit >_<

These are all under cuts because otherwise this would be obscenely long and take up half the FL.


My classes, with the exception of two, are all really tedious, really boring one hour blocks of bullshit that I am required to take if I ever want to graduate with that nice, shiny degree in International Studies. I.e., Cultural Anthropology, Biology, and Regional Geography. That's a lot of ology-ies. Both Anthro and Bio have multiple online assignment that I always forget to do, and Geography is the single most worthless class I've ever taken (and being a former English major, I've taken a lot of worthless classes). Examine the following.

Me: (freaking out about the midterm, as I am often wont to do) Oh god oh god oh god. I'm gonna fail. Hard. I've got one night to study a half a semester's worth of information and it's already 9 o'clock.

My roommate: Calm down. What class if this for?

Me: Geography. I think. Or was that Geology...? No, definitely about places. I took rocks last semester.

Roommate: Okay...What kind of Geography?

Me: What kind?? What do you mean, what kind? There are multiple kinds??? o_O;;

Roommate: Yeah, like regional geography, general geography, cultural geography (PERA PERA PERA PERA) Which is it?

Me: @_@

Roommate: -_-;; What's the class about, then?

Me: ....I have no idea.

This is in early October. I still can't tell you what the class is about.

Aside from that, I'm also in Creative Writing II and, naturally, Japanese III. Those are okay. Not saying that Japanese doesn't involve a hefty amount of bullshit itself, but that's to be expected. Still, it remains one of the only classes I'm genuinely interested in (not to mention challenged by), and the people are as wonderful as ever. It was really great to see everyone again after 6 months/one year of separation--most of us only spent one year together before Holman shipped us overseas, lol. Getting back together again was nostalgic. Like a family reunion, lol.

Speaking of Japan--and I never thought I'd say this--but I'm really starting to miss it. The more we talk about it, the more I realize how great it was, and how much I missed out on in my fits of depression. Don't get me wrong--I was miserable at the time, but now that I can look back and reflect on it, I realize how much shit I just didn't do . All of my classmates have these amazing stories, and I'm like--uh...I went to Tokyo Tower? And Disney Land? -_-;;; The one thing I really wish I had done was just talk to people more, mortification be damned. I don't know why I didn't just go for it. I'm not a shy person. I don't have any reservations with talking to strangers. I should have been able to just plunge right in and not care what I was saying right and what I was saying miserably, horribly wrong. They understand. We're all just gaijin to them anyway. But no--I had to be all embarrassed and reluctant and the results are that a) I have no cool Japanese friends to speak of and b) my host family probably hates me.

Another thing I wish I could have done: forge a better relationship with them. After all, isn't that why I went? To make lasting friendships with people who I could write to and hopefully visit someday?

Ahh.....regrets.

Can't do everything right, I guess.

Anyhow...


Ha ha! I have a job that ISN'T at Lambert's Cafe!! Share in my triumph, internets! No more Mr. Bojangles or Tambourine Man or Song of the South! Praise Jesus Hallelujah Amen!

No, I've given up the life of serving giant piles of grease and sodium to whole tables of overweight families. Now I serve CANDY to overweight families! ^_^;; And underweight people, too, naturally. And middle weight people. To everyone, because really--who doesn't like candy? And, of course, with a new job comes new annoyances, but most of these now have to do with kids who try to stuff their pockets with Pixie Sticks when they think I'm not looking.

Oh, and by the way, you--yes YOU: I'm always watching. *shifty eyes*

Other than that, it's a pretty sweet deal (pun intended--deal with it). And I get free (or severely discounted) candy. The benefits of that--well, they're debatable. Delicious chocolate? Check. Gaining ten pounds? Also, unfortunately, check.

This is why I'm trying to start martial arts again. To counteract the temptation. It's my mission to try and find a system to start over in because 1) it's been almost four years since I quit and 2) I think I might have outgrown Youn Wha. It's not that I don't like Youn Wha: in fact, I like it very much. But I'm at such a high rank there that I'm obligated to teach--and I think we all know how I feel about children. So far I've checked out Mizzou's oldest supported karate club: Sho Rei Shobu Kan. I liked the idea of being in an actual karate class (with real Japanese words and everything), but they didn't make such a great impression on me. I don't mean to sound elitist (because Youn Wha, when I started, certainly didn't have gilded toilets or anything), but their facilities are...less than desirable. Read: they train in a stable. No. Really. It's called the Livestock Center, and their training ground is right smack dab in the middle of the rodeo--poop and all. Well, they clear the poop out before class. And the poop doesn't bother me so much as the dirt. I mean, their uniforms are white, and I already hate doing the amount of laundry that I do (twice a month, if I can get away with it--I have a lot of T-shirts). With that amount of grime floating around, I'd be running a monopoly on the washer and dryer--and they look about ready to explode as it is.

Also, they didn't actually do a lot of training while I was there. I saw a few stances (which I recognized, even with the mangled Japanese--and don't get me started...hiDAAAreeeeee *shudder*), but really they spent the majority of the time running around the damn building in a display of "who can last longer than who" and after that they spent another 45 minutes on stretching and catching their breath. I didn't see any kicks or punching drills. They devoted about 20 minutes to a drill in which they tried to knock each other over....a balance drill, maybe? I don't know. It looked silly to me. No forms. No sparring. Kinda boring, actually.

Well, despite all that I am going to give it a try. I mean, it's pretty cheap ($20 a semester and first semester's free), and if it gives me a workout, I can't complain, right? We'll see how it goes.


Halloween is coming up. Me and the roomies are planning a party. We've invited a fair number of people, but I think it'll be pretty tame--most people are just gonna make an appearance and jet. And that's fine with me. I've never really had a party before, I don't want this to get out of hand. The last thing I need is for the police to come knocking, especially since at least three of the people coming are under age. I'm gonna try and limit the amount of alcohol they can get their hands on, but I'm not their mom, and I don't think they'd listen to me, anyway. So. Here's hoping for a nice, calm party that's fun without getting crazy wild.

And I have the best costume ever. Serious props to my mom. Serious. Props. I am the best jester/harlequin ever. It was so amazing I wore it to Renfest. People wanted to pose with me. This might have been my one taste of fame, folks.



Isn't that coat AMAZING. I love my mother.

Anyway.

That's all from me, I guess. Isn't my life fascinating?