Thursday, March 31, 2011

Last Post before Japan

This is officially my last boring irrelevant post! In about two hours, my parents will be here to pick me up and to take me to a hotel at the Pittsburgh airport. 10:30 tomorrow morning, I will be IN TRANSIT to Japan!! (Like a package? I don't know where I was going with that.)

I am going to miss my boyfriend so much, but I know I'm going to have so much fun. Going to Japan is my dream.

Packing was a nightmare... I have this one big duffel bag that I've completely filled with clothes. I ran out of room for some books I really needed to bring (grammar book, kanji dictionary, books for the plane), so I had to go through the bag and decide which clothes to bring and which to put aside. It was such a hard decision! (amg drama queen?) I'm ridiculously attached to some things sometimes.

Even after I emptied the bag of a couple things not to bring... it's still way too heavy. Hopefully I can still check it, and hopefully I can still carry it around. We'll see what happens =)

That's all for now, then. I had a great evening with my boyfriend consisting of a newly-bought Tangled (best movie ever) and some delivered pizza. And now I'm going to spend the rest of the night watching TV until my parents arrive.

Goodbye, America! <3

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

2 Days

Packing, packing, packing...

Finished. Kinda. What I did was completely pack for Japan (including all my make-up & haircare products, which I'll unpack again later) and then pack up what was left of my room, seeing as how I need to "move out" in May. Getting my clothes together and rolled into the suitcases didn't take me too long. I opted for bringing more clothes rather than my notebooks and stuff. I can buy notebooks when I'm there. I have a pile of things I still need to bring against the wall, but there's very little chance they're going to fit. All I have left is my two carry-ons - a bookbag and a purse.

But Tim Gunn keeps telling me to make it work, and I can't let him down!

Packing my room is almost done too. Got all my crap into boxes. All that's left is the rest of my clothes. Shouldn't take me too long, but I am exhausted, so I'll do that tonight or tomorrow.

Tonight I'm trying to go out to eat with my boyfriend. I want to go to ihop =] But we'll see what happens. We're both a little low on cash. I also need to buy Tangled, because I loove that movie. Also going out to Walmart to get slippers & body wash. Gotta get that done. Later. So... tired....

To Do:
- Everything previously mentioned.
- Also: call bank about me leaving country.

Oh man. Leaving for the hotel tomorrow night, and then Japan Thursday morning. So exciting. ^_^

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

3 Days

Only three days left - until I depart, anyway. Four days until I'm actually there. SO EXCITED AMG.

I got Sean's camera, so that's a big check. Got some luggage for my clothes, which are all clean =] Don't have any souvenir gifts yet, but that's only a matter of time.

It's bittersweet here. Kobi is at my parents house, which makes the apartment sad and lonely. On the other hand, Sean is being extra sweet and attentive and awesome, as we only have a couple days left. I love that boy. I'm going to miss him a lot.

My hair is cut and dyed. Not purple like I originally wanted. It's dark brown with some dark blue highlights. Not sure what went wrong with the formula xD but it's super adorable so I'm not complaining.

Got some new clothes last weekend too - also super cute. And I got pants that actually fit me. Kinda. My butt's still too big. Hopefully I lose weight over in Japan. Oh, and I also got new glasses. <3 love them.

Parents are going CRAZY with worry. They really don't want me to go... But it's my decision. And I'm 98% certain I'm going to have the time of my life =]

3 days, y'all!

I need to start wearing make-up again,
so I'm not so stoned-looking.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Er, yea.

New layout. Are you surprised? Before I promised I wouldn't anymore! Sorry!! I honestly forgot how much fun it was for me to make these things. They take up so much time and everything is completely drowned out while I'm working on it. Time flies so quickly.

I know you won't believe me if I say this will be the last time for a while... But it probably will be =] Spring Break is in a couple days. I'll be terribly bored during it, so I might add something or two to the blog... Who knows. I plan on eating sushi, going shopping, and getting my hair done. Maybe I can stretch that out during the entire week!

After Spring Break, I'll finally be so close to going to Japan! I'm leaving Wednesday night to go to a hotel in Pittsburgh with my parents, and then the airport Thursday morning. I am going to miss Sean so much. I'm probably going to cry all day Wednesday. It's going to be horrible...

Hm. I'm going to end this post by plugging my friend Chelsea! She's going to Japan with me, if I hadn't mentioned that before =D A fellow American on this trip to unknown lands! She'll be my savior xD. Anyway, I made her a layout today too, which inspired me to make this new one. I liked hers so much better! My old one didn't read very well - way too cluttered to be bloggy. But... it is fixed now.

And I am happy. And it will stay this way. =] ~ Ttyl!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Residence Hall

Woke up this morning to find more earthquakes in Japan. They also seem to be getting closer to Nagoya... But, they are getting smaller and smaller. My parents are a little bit more than freaked out by the entire scenerio, but I'm confident it'll be okay in the days to come. I still have two weeks until I leave!

The good news is I also woke up to find information on my residence hall at Kinjo! And let me tell you, it looks so cute. I am pretty happy with it. =]

Isn't it adorable?!
I am on the third floor, which looks like the top floor?, which is both good and bad. 1) Penthouse FTW! 2) No elevator. Eh, it'll be okay. I wouldn't take an elevator to go three floors anyway, but I'm kind of freaking out about my luggage... I'm an extremely weak individual xD

Each room has it's own kitchenette, washing machine, and bathroom. Awesome!? I was scared I'd have to revert to living in a dorm-like room again. With - none of the above. Oh, also a veranda, which I know is typical of all/most Japanese rooms, but I'm ecstatic. I'm going to have to dry my own clothes!


The rooms also come with dishware, so I won't have to worry about that. "Each room is self-catered, equipped with desk, chair, bed, kitchen, washing machine, refrigerator, microwave oven, air conditioning, closet, shoe cupboard, cooking utensil and dishware, prefabricated bath (PB), veranda and internet support (optional)." And a rice cooker.

I love how Japan is so Japanese. Can't wait!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sorry! ><;

No more new layouts! I promise!... maybe. I just.. didn't think the other layout was decent enough to be a blogging layout. Not very easy to read, I mean. =] But this one should be good. It should be the end of my layout-making spree. ... maybe.

Can you tell I really like butterflies? ^^;

So, today to get ready for traveling to Japan, I am going to be getting my notebook ready! I'm going to organize which Japanese notes I should take, and which ones I could do without. I'm running out of room like crazy in my binder, so I think organization is a great idea at this point. Especially considering I need to find a place to pack said notebook.

I also plan on figuring out Sean's digital camera. He's letting me borrow it cause mine is unnecessarily large. And old. I plan on taking lots of pictures with it!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

New Layout Again Lol!

Oh my gosh. I have been sooo bored the past couple days... I've decided to waste time delving into my old passion: web design. So, I made my blog this new layout. It's pretty cute I guess. I'm probably going to make a new one - yet again - sometime later. But hopefully this one will stick.

Again, if anyone wants their own little layout, I'd be happy to whip something up. Only 3 more weeks until my schedule is full =] so get on those requests!

I should really be studying Japanese before I leave... I have forgotten... everything. It's kind of depressing. But I've been so lethargic and bleh lately. Big consequence of not doing anything all day. Guh, you should see how much weight I've gained...

But all this has nothing much to do with Japan, so I'll leave it at that ^^ Talk to everyone later!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Earthquake in Japan

Earthquake in Japan =[ 8.9 - a Tsunami too. Hard to get too much information about it because CNN is mostly concentrating on Hawaii and the West Coast. My prayers go out to each and every person in Japan right now, and I dearly hope you're home safe and sound. I know there's a body count of 300+ in Sendai right now, but I can't really make myself watch the news anymore. The video footage is really depressing.

For inquiring minds, this shouldn't impede on my trip too much. The major catastrophe was in North Eastern Japan - bless them. The airports I'm flying into are relatively fine, runways are apparently clear. But there is a "Travel Alert" I got in my e-mail from the Dept of State, urging travelers to not go to Japan for "non-essential business" that remains in effect until April 1st. This is due to the large number of aftershocks Japan is expected to experience. But I'd say education is fairly essential, wouldn't you? =]

Again, my thoughts go out to the Japanese caught by the catastrophe... <3

Friday, March 11, 2011

New Layout

I got sick of the old layout... so I decided to make a new one! Damn, I used to be so good at html & Photoshop. But I guess I forgot like, all of it ><; All the good stuff anyway. So, the layout is pretty simplistic, but it's cute ^_^ Very flowery ♥

If you guys like it, lemme know. I could make you one if you want! =D I have a lot of time on my hands haha.

Hopefully my next post will be about my departure from the States! 3 more weeks!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Forms Sent: Checkkk!

Ahh, yay! Forms have been sent off to Kinjo! Finally! And I spent a little extra for priority - otherwise it would have taken 2 weeks to get there. I don't have 2 weeks! But it's all good. $14 was a fair price to pay, methinks.

I've essentially made it a habit to update this blog whenever something study-abroad-relevant occurs, however insignificant. So. That's it! =D

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Visa: Check =D

Ugh. What an awful morning. To think I was worried about the actual X-ray report retrieval - instead I should have been worried about the journey to the actual Records office. Y_Y Well, I was originally going to get a ride from my good friend Amanda, but her car was being awful, and she was unable to. No problem!, I thought. I'll just ride the Shuttle!

The shuttle at my apartment is... extremely "flighty" in its scheduling. I haven't taken it at all this semester, due to my friend taking me to Japanese by car, so I wasn't sure what the schedule was exactly. So, I figured, I could just show up and wait. It was a nice day =]

Long story short, I get up to the bus stop, see it driving away, sigh a little bit, then decide to wait for another one / for it to come back. 15 minutes later, an office lady comes out and tapes a sign on the door: Only One Bus Running. 40 Minute Schedule.

Er, okay. I can wait. So... I wait. Meanwhile, my boyfriend Sean has been waiting patiently at the hospital for me. I feel really bad that I'm dragging him along for just a report retrieval, but I'm honestly so ridiculously lost without someone to help me with directions (see previous post). He helps me more than he knows. Plus, I didn't think it was such a big deal. I'd meet him at the hospital, we'd get the report, and leave. Easysauce.

Except once the bus came - 40 minutes later - the driver stepped out and said she was on break for the next hour. So typical! I knew there was a reason why I was the only one waiting for her...

So I go back to the apartment, call Sean, and like. Cry. Because I felt so horrible for making him wait this long, even while I already felt bad for dragging him along. Not to mention I had very little sleep last night. I tend to cry when I'm grumpy. o.o. But yeah, decided I'd just wait for the next bus, because he wasn't coming home anytime soon anyway - there was no one to pick him up from downtown.

40 minutes later again I'm finally on the bus. Poor Sean is tired and hungry and ever-so grumpy, so it was a silent trip to the Records office, getting my report, and waiting for the bus to take us home (omg). Worst morning.

On the BRIGHT side, I finally have all the papers I need to fill out and send, and that'll be done and over with and omgosh. So happy. I also got my Visa in the mail once I got home - 50 cheers for me!

So hopefully, no more stress for a while now. Or until later on when I get that stuff in the mail. Only thing left to do is work on getting a Japanese cellphone ^_^ Oh, and maybe study the language a little bit too. Maybe...

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Chest X-ray: Half Check?

What a frustrating day. Trying to find Radiology at WVU's hospital, only to forget to get myself registered, and then having to find Radiology again. I am so lucky I had Sean with me or I'd be crying in a corner, so absurdly lost. If you don't know me, you should know that I am so awful at directions, the "You Are Here" arrow in my brain is non-functioning, and the slightest corridor with only 2 adjacent hallways would have me so turned-around and confused... (Worst analogy ever. Hey, I tried.)

I don't know how I'm going to go 4 months in Japan without a boyfriend to cling to and tell me where to go. Especially when all the signs are in kanji!

Blah, whatever. I had a tough time explaining to the nurses that, Hey, I need the report of this to send to the school. It's for a physical. They didn't understand the concept of "paper copy" until the end of the procedure, when the mentioned it so offhandedly that I must have looked at them funny. "Oh, but if you want a physical copy, just go down to the records office Monday morning and sign a release form." ... THANK you.

I was kind of hoping to get everything done today and relax this weekend, but - it can wait for Monday or Tuesday, I guess.

To Do List:
  • Phone. Figure out how Skype's 2cents a minute works. And also find a cheap cell.
  • Money situation. Gonna try to make a bank account ASAP when in Japan, but got to figure out how dad's going to wire money over to it. Anyone know is US checks work at Japanese banks? <-- probably more trouble than it's worth.
  • Send everything in amg! I need that x-ray report so I can finally send everything over to Kinjo.
  • Get a haircut =] so I can look super cute
  • Stock up on necessities. I don't know how prevalent chapstick is in Japan, but I'm definitely buying like 10 before I go. (I have a pretty depressing addiction to chapstick.)
  • They mentioned bringing "American" things to show my Japanese friends (hopefully I can make some~). So... I'll buy a magazine or two before I leave. This might be done last minute at the Airport...
But aside from all that, I'm pretty much done! Which is such win. Just need that report. Please, please, please don't be a hassle to get! D: