Monday, March 29, 2010

Getting Ready for Sakura Matsuri!


These posters may look familiar if you are a WU student...I will be raiding campus with them!


The shirts that I've designed have also been delivered! Yay!

I'm really glad everyone likes the posters and the shirts! I've already had two people ask me if they could buy a shirt...! *^^*

Aieeee, I just might have to give up watching the movie, "Sherlock Holmes" and going to that Korean BBQ dinner on Friday night since I will be so busy doing preparations for Sakura Matsuri (along with finishing projects and studying for exams). But it'll be fun so I'll try not to get too overwhelmed by it all! ^^

P.S. I got hired by Willamette Integrated Technology Services!!!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Shock

I found out at dinner today that one of my Building Bridges member's boyfriend is 34 years old.

She is 19 years old.

Apparently, she met him from her part-time job at the bookstore and they have been going out for six months before she left for America.

After seeing my reaction, she asked, "Are you in shock?"

Well...yeah.

I only hear about little girls (and she is literally smaller than me) and older men dating in manga or movies. She asks if this age gap difference was normal in America. Um, I don't think so?

She tells me that it is normal in Japan and that her best friend is currently dating a 45 year old man. He used to be their high school teacher.

It is all very puzzling to me.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Economics and Love

In my economics notebook, I was rewriting the law of diminishing marginal utility:

"As you consume more of a good, a point is eventually reached when your total utility will increase at a slower rate because of a fundamental psychological tendency for one's ability to appreciate more of the good to diminish,"

when this new thought came to me. Doesn't this definition also apply to love?

Of course, I do not have much experience with love so I wonder: Is love a fleeting thing? When you have too much of the other person, will you start to appreciate that person less over time?

Saturday, March 6, 2010

You've heard me say that I'm busy before, but I am currently the busiest that I've ever been - so much that I even skipped class...for the first and only time in my life! D: I figured that since I didn't do homework, there would be no point in me going to class. All we do is sit for an hour and a half talking about the stories we're supposed to have read the previous night. It gets really frustrating at times, especially since the majority of our class is very quiet and the discussion isn't interesting. I also don't enjoy most of the stories I have to read for class.

The next few months will be busy, busy, busy! On top of classes with homework and exams to study for, I have Soran Bushi (traditional Japanese dance) practice on Monday nights, JSSL meetings on Tuesday afternoons and Tahitian dance practice on Tuesday nights, Shodo Club on Wednesday afternoons and Taiko Club on Wednesday nights, Sakura Matsuri Committee meetings on Thursday afternoons, and Sanshin lessons and Kobudo lessons on Friday afternoons. On top of all that, I also do have the occasional Asian Student Association meeting and Hawaii Club meeting to attend, as well as Hawaii Luau Committee Meetings every weekend. I am also a Building Bridges leader, so I have obligations to hang out with TIUA students every week (haha, not that I am complaining about anything...! :D)


This past Wednesday, I had my first Sanshin performance for Hina Matsuri (Girl's Day). I have to continue to practice for my second performance at Sakura Matsuri. I thought about dropping out of Kobudo, but Miwa sensei says she expects me to do a Kobudo demonstration at Sakura Matsuri as well (!!!)
There were many times I felt like dying, but I know that it was my decision to be involved in all of this.


I've been exhausted...yet my friend still managed to convince me to go on an overnight stay at Thetford Lodge 45 minutes away from campus. We left on Friday night and returned Saturday afternoon. We did not do much, but I really enjoyed myself. There were only seven girls, including me, so it was like a slumber party. I am really glad that I went because it was a nice, relaxing break from the stress of campus life.

Next week, I will be volunteering at a local elementary school and sharing Japanese culture with the students there. Apparently, it's their "reward" for being good in class, haha. Wow, a presentation by me? :D I feel flattered, haha.