FREAKS!

I got a lovely little package from miss jac the other day. Brightened up my day, but I realized how much I really miss my Japan freaks...err friends. I miss you guys a bunch! Things are going well here. I am in the process, along with a few other people in the campus greens, of organizing a week long event on my campus of movies, speakers, presentations, discussions, voter registration, and practice voting. We are calling the week "Voting Awareness Week." We have been working our tails off, but the positive feedback we are receiving especially from the faculty is really a morale booster. I have been keeping busy with other stuff as well. Model Arab League is next week and I am acting as Environmental Commitee Chair...which means I get to yell if I want and maybe even chuch my gavel at someone. I'm always game for gavel chucking. Ryan and I are running a 5k in 2 weeks and I have been trying to train a little bit for it...but not too much of course. Time to meet with my blind couple...ta ta.

Look! I'm positive!

Because all my past posts have been less than positive, I've decided to completely blow you away by writing something very uplifting and lighthearted. I know, don't crap your pants just yet...this won't happen all the time. But for now, I shall act like a cracked-out tellatubbie who is slightly more coherent. Slightly. yabaa gaa rbla!
So everything is going really well this quarter. I am looking forward to my trip to the Middle East. Learning Arabic is kind of tricky, but after taking Japanese I have a different approach to languages, not to mention Spanish now seems like I joke (and when people complain about how hard Spanish is, I shake my angry fist at them). My schedule has been filled from about 8am to midnight everyday with class, homework, work, organization meetings (students against sweatshops, greens, model arab league, etc.), and exercise! I have been going to the gym everyday, taking yoga classes and playing basketball fairly often. Genki genki! I'm lovin it!
I've noticed that since I've returned from Japan, I am now more aware of spending time with people I care about. Picking up and going to Columbus last weekend to see Phil was great. Additionally, being back in Toledo for the weekend with my family feels wonderful. Its great to spend time with them, especially my mom.
This quarter I have also found that I have a new appreciation for cold weather and snow. I actually embrace it now! Before I used to grumble at the cold and stay inside. Lately I have been doing the opposite by saying to the weather "you aren't going to stop me!!" So I don't let it. I run outside frequently, still play basketball outside, sit outside to eat instead of inside. I am also loving the snow! We have been hit with two big snow storms since I've been back. My hometown (where I am right now) just got 10 inches of snow a few days ago. Woo hoo! Yay for snow! Tomorrow I am going cross-country skiing with Ryan in Cleveland. It will be my first time...I can't wait. I kind of feel like this blog is becoming just a bunch of tangents. That and I'm really tired. For those two reasons, its time to hang up my jersey and retire. peace, I'm out.

Raging vomit with a side of culture shock. super size it.

boo for fat americans. ra for food i have been craving for the past 4 months of my life. boo for consumerism. ra for donating a bunch of clothing that I do not need. boo for gluttony. ra for starting my detox soon. ok enough of this boo-ra-ness. on to the beef (or the juice as I like to say...)
so i'm back in the united states. yeee haw! kind of. it's great to see the family and friends and all but DAMN i'm experiencing culture shock at its worst. Here is my outlook into the travel situation in the U.S. right now:
People who end up traveling to not so western countries are those who are already questioning the U.S. way of doing things or are at least open to external systems. Those people return to the U.S. with sometimes less faith (as in my case) or at least with a different outlook on the American system and way of life. granted I too look at some U.S. policies in a new, much more positive light (such as treatment of women in comparison to other countries), but for the most part the past week has consisted of me wanting to hurl on the faces of all the white, economically well-off, ignorant people of this country. And damn, that's a lot of vomit that I cannot produce, thusly I did not execute my plan. nevertheless, fear my chunks of rage!
Additionally, there are those in the United States who truly need to be dropped in some of the poorest countries in Africa or the Middle East just so they can see how non-Westerners live. Sadly, these are the people (ahem, like my family) who only travel to places like the Caribbean because it is safe and identical to the rich U.S. bubble they have gotten used to. I am sick of a country filled of people who like to be served, enjoy wealth, and frankly don't give a damn about 95% of the world.
I went to the mall with my mom the other day to return something she bought and I was appalled by the scene. The line between want and need does not exist in this country. Perhaps it exists, but the one is mistaken for the other far too often...
to end on a happy note, yay for being home! Yippie!

sappy-ness. tooootally

Yay for my boyfriend. Seriously, he rocks. And I've realized that there is such a difference between compromise and changing a person to be what he/she is not. When I'm with somebody who accepts everything about me, I know I've found somebody special. I love you Ryan!!

Ch Ch Ch Changes

So its pretty late right now but I had the urge to blog. yes, the urge to blog. Currently eating dried banana chips and I find it amusing that the moister chips are in fact more delicious. Wouldn't you think that the drier the dried banana chips the better? Well you are wrong. again. It makes me think that if the moister banana chips are in fact the tastier ones, then why the crap am I not simply eating a extremely moist, not dried banana right this second?!? The answer is I should be. But I'm not. Damn the "I get brown in less than two days time" Japanese bananas.
Well, now that I'm done talking about banana chips, I can move on to more important and mind blowing topics. Just kidding!! we all know my conversations are pretty superficial afterall!!!
The weekend was great. Amazingly fun times occurred (which at some point in the future I might describe, but for now thats going to be a no-go). The most important part about this weekend was gaining a sense of belonging. This weekend was the first time I felt at home completely here. I didn't feel like a foreigner, I didn't feel like a tourist, I didn't feel lost or like there was a language barrier (even though there still was), and I felt at ease completely. Between hanging out with some awesome friends, spending the weekend at an art show (I had my own art in), seeing an Iranian film at a small hole-in-the-wall movie theatre, and experiencing enlightening conversations with native-Japanese speakers in English at coffee hour, I felt extremely alive and for once in a long time, a lot like myself (who I truly am back in the states, not the "will have to settle for the best" Japan Kim). I met some very motivating people this weekend that have changed my whole outlook on perhaps why I am in Japan currently (as I was questioning this a lot this past week). Additionally, I'm slowly starting to get those "oh crap I'm leaving soon" moments during the day. Weird how when everything clicks into place, it is then that I must leave.

Yay-ness!

Happy birthday Emily!! Rockin'. Hope your day is filled with clowns and other creepy-ass stuff. JUST KIDDING! tehehe.

Naked Michigan

So the title might be misleading, but basically those are the best words to describe my weekend. Since I am extremely lazy right now, and am seriously writing this post just because it is on my list of things to do (is that sad? yea, you're right), this is going to be a really short blog. oh and by the way traveling alone is the way to go. Its not that I hate people...ok, it is. A summary:
leave nagoya. arrive in hikone. walk down main street. enter awesome jazz cafe. eat curry pizza (yes. really. and it rocked). speak broken japanese. find out there is nothing to do at night in the town. oh well. find random hotel to spend night. walk to beach. walk along beach. realize i've been walking a long time when i hit next town over. turn around. come upon university (japanese university of michigan studies...or something like that). enter. meet crap-loads of americans. get asked to stay for barbeque. chat. eat various cooked meats. play cock-rock (don't ask...or maybe you should...hint hint). leave well after dark. walk back to town along scary path. buy ice cream. eat ice cream. wish i would have bought a different kind of ice cream...errr cough. yea. arrive at hotel. go to room. spend 5 minutes trying to figure out how to turn lights on in room. sleep. wake up early. check out. walk around still asleep town. realize i dont have money and atms don't open for another 2 hours. walk around. walk. walk. admire some swans and an artist drawing. pick up a quality convini-breakfast. go to atm. get money. tour castle. eat elderly couple's lunch (they insisted, i swear). walk across train tracks to try to find sento (public bath). eat mcdonalds. feel funny being american and eating mcdonalds. realize its ok when i look at the portions. find sento (meaning realizing it is right behind the mcdonalds...after i asked). enter sento. get naked. enter baths. feel the need to giggle because everyone is naked slowly fade after 2 minutes. leave baths feeling extremely relaxed and happy. leave hikone. arrive back at nagoya.

so that wasnt a short post, but yea. The highlights of the weekend were hanging with really fun Michigan-ers and exposing my naked body to the world (or at least 10 random Japanese women...good enough). yay! thats it.