Thursday, September 29, 2005
万歳 !! (Banzai!!)
Wow! Today was nothing but good news! Usually happiness comes in small doses but this afternoon I almost drowned in awesomeness.
The day started off well when I our teacher gave us a briefing on our upcoming midterm. There's going to be a separate conversation portion of the exam where we'll have to answer a few simple questions in Japanese, maybe respond with a few of our own. He gave us a list of twenty or so examples and said he'll probably ask ten questions similar to those on the list.
This seemed to worry some of my classmates but I think this is mighty generous of him! I remember I had to complete a similar task way back in middle school for French class and the teacher didn't really give us any briefing as to what we'd have to talk about. For him to reveal the direction of his oral examination is, in my opinion, very good news.
After class I had lunch with a girl named Maki. Kazu introduced us a while back and I see her from time to time. She's been abroad so her English is pretty good which eases the conversation burden from my shoulders a bit. Believe it or not, she actually studied in Wisconsin in the exact town my Uncle lives in! Pretty big coincidence, right? Not really? Whatever. The point of my story was I asked for her number and I got it.
I was determined to work out this afternoon but I didn't want to go straight from the dining room to the training room as it messes with my insides. I opted to check my e-mail and I got some really great news. Here's a hot excerpt:
Feeling jazzed but pressed for time, I hit the weight room as promised. Last time I went to the gym next to my dorm but this time I used the gym on campus. Unfortunately, I didn't learn my lesson from last time and I forgot to bring a towel, so I decided to keep things short so as not to make a mess. I was very happy to see traditional, weight-based equipment instead of the funky hydraulic shit I saw in the other gym. Most importantly, I had my first opportunity to weigh myself since I left New York. Anxious but optimistic, I stepped on the scale:
90.8 kg, a.k.a. 200 lbs! Somehow, despite eating a shitload of carbs every day and barely exercising at all (walking aside) I've lost thirteen pounds since I arrived. I can't believe it. What's different? Is it the walking? Does low-fat cancel out the high-carb? Am I simply riding some kind of residual wave of exercise from this summer? Was the nutritionist just wrong about everything? I don't know and I almost don't care! Imagine how much weight I can lose if I get back into the habit of working out every week. This rocks!
Besides my lack of a towel, I also didn't want to work out too long and miss an opportunity to practice shodô this afternoon. After Monday's single stroke rehearsal I spent nearly two hours writing 永 because it supposedly contains all of the "eight strokes" one uses in shodô. By my count that's only a five stroke character, but what do I know?
There's something eerie about writing "forever" over and over...
When I couldn't take sitting on the floor anymore I called it a night and went home. I can definitely see an improvement from when I started last week so I feel like this is a wholly constructive use of my time. All things considered, I'm in a pretty goddamn great mood right now. Dylan's coming to Japan, I'm still losing weight, I started working out again and I'm exploring a new cultural/artistic activity.
YES, play that VICTORY SOUND!!
\(^o^)/ w00t!!
The day started off well when I our teacher gave us a briefing on our upcoming midterm. There's going to be a separate conversation portion of the exam where we'll have to answer a few simple questions in Japanese, maybe respond with a few of our own. He gave us a list of twenty or so examples and said he'll probably ask ten questions similar to those on the list.
This seemed to worry some of my classmates but I think this is mighty generous of him! I remember I had to complete a similar task way back in middle school for French class and the teacher didn't really give us any briefing as to what we'd have to talk about. For him to reveal the direction of his oral examination is, in my opinion, very good news.
After class I had lunch with a girl named Maki. Kazu introduced us a while back and I see her from time to time. She's been abroad so her English is pretty good which eases the conversation burden from my shoulders a bit. Believe it or not, she actually studied in Wisconsin in the exact town my Uncle lives in! Pretty big coincidence, right? Not really? Whatever. The point of my story was I asked for her number and I got it.
I was determined to work out this afternoon but I didn't want to go straight from the dining room to the training room as it messes with my insides. I opted to check my e-mail and I got some really great news. Here's a hot excerpt:
Yup, rock out on the blog. The tickets are purchased. This is noThat's right, Dylan is coming to Japan in December! This is incredible news and completely unexpected. We haven't started talking about things to do or see yet but I'm super psyched at the prospect of hanging out with him so soon! I know he'll enjoy Japan's casual attitude towards drinking and smoking in public places.
longer a theory. I'm coming.
-Dylan
Feeling jazzed but pressed for time, I hit the weight room as promised. Last time I went to the gym next to my dorm but this time I used the gym on campus. Unfortunately, I didn't learn my lesson from last time and I forgot to bring a towel, so I decided to keep things short so as not to make a mess. I was very happy to see traditional, weight-based equipment instead of the funky hydraulic shit I saw in the other gym. Most importantly, I had my first opportunity to weigh myself since I left New York. Anxious but optimistic, I stepped on the scale:
90.8 kg, a.k.a. 200 lbs! Somehow, despite eating a shitload of carbs every day and barely exercising at all (walking aside) I've lost thirteen pounds since I arrived. I can't believe it. What's different? Is it the walking? Does low-fat cancel out the high-carb? Am I simply riding some kind of residual wave of exercise from this summer? Was the nutritionist just wrong about everything? I don't know and I almost don't care! Imagine how much weight I can lose if I get back into the habit of working out every week. This rocks!
Besides my lack of a towel, I also didn't want to work out too long and miss an opportunity to practice shodô this afternoon. After Monday's single stroke rehearsal I spent nearly two hours writing 永 because it supposedly contains all of the "eight strokes" one uses in shodô. By my count that's only a five stroke character, but what do I know?
There's something eerie about writing "forever" over and over...
When I couldn't take sitting on the floor anymore I called it a night and went home. I can definitely see an improvement from when I started last week so I feel like this is a wholly constructive use of my time. All things considered, I'm in a pretty goddamn great mood right now. Dylan's coming to Japan, I'm still losing weight, I started working out again and I'm exploring a new cultural/artistic activity.
YES, play that VICTORY SOUND!!
\(^o^)/ w00t!!
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Hey! I just wanted to let you know that Saturday morning, our Religion class is going to Inari Mountain and getting a tour .. I'm not sure by who, but the teach says its better then exploring on your own. Anywho, its cool to bring friends, so if you wanted to come with us, we are suposed to get there by 10am. I personaly was going to leave at nine and window shop and walk around on my own before meeting up with the class at 10. I guess its a 30 minute train ride there. But ifyou'd like to join me, you most deffinaly are welcome to. I'll be around or leave me a comment and we could meet up out side the dorms or at Makino station if you were interested.
I'm very interested, yes. However, I need to check my Saturday schedule first. There may be a conflict.
Gotta love a day like that. Don't pass up a chance to check out that mountain. Yikes I'd better start planning my trip to come see you!
Sounds like you're feeling all better today. Glad to hear it. You gonna have an awesome time when Dylan is coming. Have fun.
Hiking sounds great. I'm so jealouse!
コメントがあります？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.Hiking sounds great. I'm so jealouse!
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