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!!!

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.

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?

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.

This past weekend, he finally introduced himself to me! And I just had to have a carrot in my mouth at the time! Argh!

I've been meeting so much new people these past few weeks! ^^ I don't remember ever having to say, "My name is...nice to meet you!" so many times, haha. But it has been fun! I'm trying my best not to be my usual awkward self.

Last Friday was The Black Tie Affair. It really was like prom all over again! It was an okay night. I borrowed my roommate's dress because nothing at the mall fit me (the smallest size they carry is 3! How can that be? D:) My roommate's dress was XS so it fit me better, but it was still a tad bit loose. I had to do some sewing to tighten it and then it fit perfectly. ^___^ The funny thing is that I look exactly the same as I did during my high school senior prom night. I had my hair done in curls, my make-up the same, and my dress dark blue.

On Saturday night, I went on an ice skating trip from 8pm - 12am. By 11pm, I was so pooped that I spent the night talking to the TIUAs than actually skating. I still remember the time I fell on my bum so hard that I developed bruises. I was deathly afraid of the ice and of falling. >_< My friends were great and held hands with me, though. I felt touched. <3

On Sunday, I asked Aska to be my language partner! She is really adorable. She looks like she popped out from an anime or manga. We are also both left handed, but use our right hand to write calligraphy (!!!) I also learned that she is from Mitaka and that she is a big Ghibli fan!!! She met Miyazaki himself when she was in elementary school! It was on the opening day of the museum so the man himself was there to shake hands with people and take pictures. I am so jealous~! <3 It seems so appropriate for a cute girl like her to be from a cute town like Mitaka. If I lived in Japan, that is where I would want to live. It is a very peaceful, quaint, and charming town. And if I ever start to miss the crowds or the city-like atmosphere (like Harajuku), it is easily accessible by train. ^^ Anyway, we spent quite some time squealing about Ghibli together.

In Japanese class today, we started learning transitive and intransitive verbs. The teacher gave the lesson in English first to serve as an example, but I had a difficult time understanding it (!!!) D: I think I might need to go borrow an English grammar book before attempting to learn Japanese grammar.

Happy, happy, happy!

I feel very happy and fortunate right now. Life has turned 180 for me because it sucked this past week. I felt alone, lost, and overwhelmed by all the work I had. When I am alone, I start to generate many negative thoughts. But many happy things happened to boost my sense of self!

First of all, I received praise from both my art and creative writing professor on my work. I am not highly confident in either area, but it makes me happy that they like it. On Tuesday, a naked pregnant lady came in for drawing. In the beginning, I was like, "Oh my gosh, she's going to be naked naked naked." But it wasn't a big deal at all and I actually enjoyed it very much! I always feel like the short stories I write are crap, but Professor Powers always writes nice comments about each one! I don't know if she sincerely meant them, but I will believe what she writes! Haha.

Second of all, somebody told me today that he respects me! This comment was a casual remark made by someone I just met, but it sent me soaring through the heavens above earth toward cloud nine. I shouldn't have, but I got really excited about it. Excited enough to run to my friend's room across campus to do the happy dance and tell her all about it! Maybe I got excited because 1) He resembles one of my favorite actors and 2) I really respect him as well. He is a very easy person to talk to, which also makes me very happy. There are just some people that are much easier to approach and it feels great to meet people I can easily converse with. It doesn't happen too often!

Someone else has also recently told me that he respects me. However, I did not get as excited about this. Perhaps it is because I feel that this is undeserved respect. I was really surprised because this person constantly bothers me online, but never actually talks to me when he sees me. My friends tell me that he does not approach me because he is shy. He should not be intimidated by me! It is because he doesn't know me that he probably formed the wrong impression of me! Haha.

Third, a close friend told me last night that I am an awesome person to talk to and another friend said the same thing tonight!

And last but not least...my crush came to taiko practice tonight and shared a drum with me! He is seriously the best looking guy and the best dresser I've ever seen in my entire life. He is more attractive than all of the boys in Hawaii. He is more attractive than all of the boys I've seen in school here. He's plain HOT.

Although it was his first time playing, he is very good and had powerful strikes! I hope he comes again and again! I will never miss a single taiko practice this semester!

I am so happy! ヾ(^▽^)ノ

Kayla says I should direct all this happy energy I have toward studying for my economics exam on Friday, but you can see that I got distracted by blogging instead. XP

But I will ACE that exam!