vincent gallo...

in Glassjaw's Cosmopolitan Bloodloss video. (2002)

advice i liked from penelope trunk:

[... focus on finding work that has payoff on a daily basis since you can never know what will come next in your work life. Make each day one where you learn and have fun because putting that off for some maybe-payoff (like making partner at a law firm, or getting a fat paycheck) will make you feel like you’re not being true to yourself. Also, don’t be derailed by the cynicism of older generations. There is no rule that says they see the world more clearly than you do. ]

i like to keep stuff like this in mind when telling my gramma i'm quitting nursing to travel.

yay!

takeshi and i had our first meeting tonight! i received a meishi (!) and the realization that my nihongo is horrrible. will keep you all posted.

i am sick as a dog. at least was, i think i'm turning the corner today... we shall see - i thought the same yesterday. i believe its the flu: chills, fever, GI symptoms you wouldn't believe if i told you - and would scold me if i did. it all seems to add up to the flu. i've already missed 3 days of class which is unfortunate.

but there is some good that has come of this week. i've found a japanese speaking partner! i was lead to an announcement from my sensei and was the first to respond (probably the only who would have anyway, to be honest). we meet up tomorrow and will see how things go from there. his name is takeshi and he's 35, and his conversational english is much better than my japanese, so we'll see how it turns out.

more movies!

trainspotting

syriana

casino

Less Than Zero
(for those that may remember, i read the book in the fall, and i highly discourage
the watching of this movie -- it's terrible and completely rewritten)

spring break = movie watching!

here's a list of what we've watched again and some for the first time:

cape fear

memoirs of a geisha

brokeback mountain

swing kids

taxi driver

gangs of new york

yojimbo

annie hall
juno

blood diamond
rescue dawn

finsihed! [finally]

definitely worth the time it took to read.

ejercicio tiempo!

in light of spring fast approaching, i'm gaining the motivation i was lacking during the winter months.

i've decided to be more focused on a healthier-self. i'm trying to put together an exercise routine consisting of yoga, pilates, and the elliptical-trainer we have. (i also would like to lift weights like i vowed to do in the fall... but first, baby steps.) hassell and i made tentative plans to run together this spring, so that is basically what i'm conditioning myself for on the elliptical. i miss running so much and i'm glad to have a partner finally!

my interview experience:

i found this gem here. (david namisato)

last thursday i headed down to the Japanese Embassy in Washington for my interview.

overall, i feel that i did well. most questions i was asked i feel like my answer knocked the ball out of the park. there is one thing, however, that i'm not sure of what they thought; my "perfect English intonnation, rhythm, and projection skills." as i was so hyped up to providing good answers, i let down my monitor for my "umm's" and "like's" and my overall quick speech. we shall see what their opinion of everything was in the end. now to begin the waiting game.

walking in, i was greeted by some limited security. i had to present my ID and a "JET voucher" which was e-mailed to me and printed out (not very high tech). was scanned quickly by a metal detector wand and sent on my way -- "second door on the right, past the water fountain". in the waiting area there were more staff who collected my voucher permanently and tried to keep everyone in general order. there were refreshments and old photo books of previous JET's experiences laid out - the result, for me at least, was an even more solidified desire to get over there. i sat quietly and eyed my competition trying to measure, totally based off of first impression, if these people had what it takes. i was set at ease when not one, or two, but three people hurriedly came into the room and quixotically hoped to be allowed permission without bringing their all important JET vouchers.

now, is there any reason whatsoever that this piece of paper with a picture affixed can't be filled out while waiting to be called? no. but i think it is an exercise in following directions. written at the bottom of this printed out document was the stern warning: "You will not be allowed to enter the Embassy or interview if you do not have these items." so sitting there revved up about being interviewed by an important diplomat, scrutinizing my every detail, i felt a little more at ease: at least i was better off than those people.

the remainder of my competitors seemed to be a mix of anime otakus and quiet keep-to-themselves types. most were guys, of the 20 or so of us sitting there, only 3 of us were girls. and thanks to this advice, i think i was the best dressed in the room ^_^. shortly after my name was called and i was escorted back to let the games begin.

my panel (like all panels) consisted of 3 professionals, one at least of whom is Japanese. my interrogators were: one American - former JET of one year, now involved in administrative aspects of the program (i believe he is one of the application reviewers); a Japanese - principal at a Japanese high school; a Canadian - previous JET, not sure what she does now. i was assured before hand not to sweat it. "interviews are nothing more than [the company] trying to get to know more about you. treat it more like a conversation - just tell them a little about yourself..." unfortunately, it resembled a firing range of questions more than a "conversation". nonetheless, i feel that the experience went smoothly. they seemed to render me more as a nurse than a linguist which i found to be annoying, but thems the breaks i guess.

here are some of the questions i was asked:
1. why japan? why JET?
2. what is your view of the Japanese people?
3. what aspect of the English language do you expect to be the hardest for students to understand?
4. what 3 things would you pack in your suitcase to show students some culture of the US?
5. what do you plan to do in your free time in Japan?
6. what from nursing do i expect will help in my role as a teacher? (i believe the phrase "bag-of-tricks from nursing" was used) t_t
7. what is your favorite holiday? -- How would you teach that holiday to students who had limited English ability?
8. why do you want to leave nursing?
9. describe your previous teaching experience.
10. how do you think you will handle culture shock?

unfortunately, the entire interview was conducted in English, i really wanted to bust out some nihongo and wow the crowd. i shall save that bag-of-tricks for another day.

quick thoughts:

i. i want the world to know that Jioio's pizza is the best.
ii. i have 28 work days left at CHP
iii. i am finished with my 1st JET interview and will comment on it further when i have sufficient time
iv. i met up with Chen Hang today for the first time since his move to NYC
v. here are some pics from me and mei yun's day off together:

even the boys let us grab a picture

spring cleaning

i'm changing up the blog a little bit, tell me what you think!

this is the first time really manipulating code, so if you see something coded wrong, let me know! i based this off of the standard template "this-a-way rose".

Valentine's Day

happy valentine's day to all my friends in Nippon. here's a look at how they will be celebrating the day: Valentine's Day in Japan. slightly different than what Hallmark had in mind, ne?

cookies of your dreams.

these are the first vegan cookies i ever made! they are from a recipe from Em, who in turn got it from postpunkkitchen. these are fabulous and i don't like chocolate! here's the recipe, my lovelies:

3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 teaspoons almond extract

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds
1/2 cup soymilk

2 cups all purp flour
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coconut

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a seperate large bowl mix together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla and almond.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and coconut and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Chinese New Year!

Mei Yun invited James and I to celebrate Chinese New Year ( 春节 ). I honestly did not know what to expect but, we were greeted with a feast! it was all seafood - most of which still had eyes looking at us - and it was fabulous! i even called Chen Hang in New York to wish him a happy new year in Chinese!

we had: roasted duck, alaskan king crab, squid, another huge crab - deep fried, lobster, shrimp, clams, various sushis, fish (which no one knew the english name for), rice, singapore rice noodles, and many heinekens ^^! [i wish i got more close-ups of the preperation, everything looked great! some of the dishes weren't out yet and aren't pictured, ainiku...]

Xin nian kuai le!!

my sister on her 7th birthday

the thumbs up is my favorite part

exciting news!

i got accepted for the first wave of interviews for JET! ^_^ wish me luck. i'm about to do a world of researching of what they are looking for. the interview will take place in D.C., however, i do not know the date yet. now for the task of telling my family i've applied...

私が作たの。

today was a pretty eventful day.

james left for the detroit auto show today and will be caravaning with some friends of ours.

found out my sister is buying a house (and will be closing the next few weeks).

met up unexpectedly with hassell-san.

stumbled upon a lovely presentation/celebration of Coming of Age Day (成人の日, seijin no hi) complete with oragami and mochi rice.

attended a seminar given by my 日本語先生 onthe role of L1 in the acquisition of Aspect in L2.

this and that

2008 brings many new and exciting tidings.

first of all i received a confirmation letter that the japanese embassy got my JET application. i will know next month whether or not i will have an interview. on the same note, i'm continuing my nihongoing and am in the second semester of year 2 nihongo. i have also purchased this book (Essential Kanji) to upgrade some of my kanji skills. (i currently hold about a 1st grade reading level... maybe a little less, i know about 185 kanji.) it's a little outdated - it is based off of the touyou kanji list organized around the 1940s in efforts to standardize kanji teaching to lead to greater literacy in japan. the revised standardized list - the jouyou kanji list was organized in 1980. the newer list contains about 90 different kanji; the total sum, however, remains about the same ~~ 2,000. i bought the older book because it still has maintained good reviews, was a little cheaper, and i liked the design better than any other cheezy kanji books i've seen. anyways, this is what i'm going to be working on a great deal this year. i hope to achieve a 3rd grade reading level or better by the time i (hopefully) go to japan. we shall see.

on a sadder note, over the christmas/new year holiday Mei Yun and the Sushi Boat crew all headed up to NYC to spend time in Chinatown with friends and relatives. while up there, Chen Hang (my student) decided to remain in NY to attend school in Chinatown (seeing as he was getting nothing from our lovely chinese-free pittsburgh public schools), so as you can guess, i lost my student.
i am actually quite sad about all of this. i had prepped lessons over break and was currently developing a review game when i heard the news. i didn't get to properly end our sessions and i feel a lack of closure, but its the best for him, he was not getting anything out of our schools. our english sessions, however, had been going phenomenally. he retained almost all of our previous lessons and showed enthusiasm for learning new vocab (structure was not quite so).

presently he has a grasp on:
*20 or so irregular past verbs (make/made, eat/ate, drink/drank, etc.)
*can formulate past/present/future sentences (proper use of -ed/irregular umlaut form, +will for future)
*basic prepositional phrases (above, below, between, behind, under, etc.)
*formulate past/present/future negative sentences with "do" insertion and "did" marking past tense (i will not go, i do not go, i did not go)
*possessive pronouns (my, mine, his, her, your, etc)
*subject pronouns (i, he, she)
*object pronouns (me, him, her)
*general new vocabulary (emotions/feelings, family members, adjectives, etc.)
*just started to work with comparatives/superlatives (good>better>best, big>bigger>biggest) although, i'm not sure much of this sunk in
*pronunciation/spelling improvements

i wish i had more time, but i'm grateful for the experience i was able to attain. hopefully it will help me if i get accepted to jet. i can imagine it will be even easier because basic concepts and explanations can actually be said instead of always referring to an electronic translator.

in other news, i was originally planning on taking a graduate level second language acquisition class (SLA) but eventually bagged the idea. i sat in on one of the classes. i realized that the majority of the class are students seeking out TESOL certificates, which isn't a bad thing, but then found out that literally half of the classes were going to be peer taught (a student would have to present an article and lead a discussion during an entire class each week). one article, surmised by some TESOL kid. not even a PhD hopeful, with undoubtedly much more useful insight. so i decided i would buy the recommended book for the class and read all of the presentation articles on my own. i basically wanted to tune up my thoughts/experience with SLA, but i think i can do a better job of that on my own, at my own pace. the professor was a pretty kawaii older japanese guy slipping up with jinglish throughout the lecture which was interesting, but alas, i won't be going there any more.

oh, one last note: Luna bars are very very oishii! (from the makers of Clif bars)

Em & Jay's Christmas Party

we tapped it early in the night and let the good times flow