Entries this day: AMAZING! Class Killing_Me_Softly annie's_good_advice

AMAZING!

12:57pm JST Tuesday 15 April 2003

Wow!!! I got THREE (3) three!!! packages today!! Two from Janette - a CD and COOKIES and one from Gail - MORE COOKIES!!! and little rubber frogs!! I'm not sure what the frogs are about, but they're cute and I can maybe use them as decorations or props in Nova.

Three packages in one day!!!!!!!! I'm so so so so lucky it's just unbelievable. Wow. So awesome!

Class

12:59pm JST Tuesday 15 April 2003

I attended my first Japanese class today with two women instructors and six students, all women. Sitting across from me was Olivia and Karly. Karly looks like the Swiss Miss girl - attractive face, blonde hair and a long braid on both sides.

She was wearing a blue sweater that kinda showed cleavage and I was briefly distracted each time I looked over at her while she was talking. It mostly did not affect my Japanese intake, but I definitely noticed.

I walked back to the train station with her even though it would have been faster for me to just walk to my house, which is where I needed to go to get my wallet, which I forgot when I left the apartment today. Took the train to my station and then walked back to my apartment.

Here's a map:

S ----- O ====== A ====== T ------ W


(not to scale)

We walked from S to O (school to Okuraiyama (the local train station)) and took the train to T (Tsunashima (my local station)) and she continued on to W (wherever) and I walked back to A (my apartment).

I looked for things to toss her off my list, but didn't find anything blatant. She's probably too young (early 20s) though.

- - - -

During class, we learned shit like Ohaiyogozaimas ("howdy") and Watashi wa Rob des ("my name is (what?) slim shady") and plenty of other stuff that I won't benefit by writing in romanji. I benefitted from knowing hiragana, and from having practiced a bit of katakana, but they ended up writing most things in romanji anyway, which some of the girls read instead of the hiragana, whcih (I think) made them sound more fluent than I sounded. Not that I'm fluent, which I'm not.. Yet.

I'm going to review some. I look forward to having a way to actually write hiragana in here instead of spelling the shit out in romanji.

I definitely need some index cards to make some flashcards.

Killing Me Softly

6:29pm JST Tuesday 15 April 2003

Killing Me Softly is a ridiculous movie.

Here's the bottom line: don't marry someone that you've known for 2 days. Don't break up a relationship for someone who you've known for an hour.

This character Alice is a ridiculous woman. Who the fuck would do what she's doing in this movie? (Why am I continuing to watch the movie?)

- - - -

Andrew and I are watching it; the movie is probably half over. This character Adam is damn creeeepy.

7:01pm

Summary: Andrew is fired from choosing movies.

annie's good advice

10:00pm JST Tuesday 15 April 2003

hey rob
been following your adventures since you left for japan.  i totally
feel you with the being stuck in your room.  italy would make the 8th
country ive lived in and i cant even count how many countries ive
visited.  so here is what i know about myself when im living or
visiting a foreign country, and i thought id tell you, cause maybe
itll help.  when i first get there, i can walk around town, looking at
stuff, and its all lovely and wonderful and everything is beautiful
and new.  then, a bit later, days, weeks, i realize that im not
looking at a big painting, but that i actually have to interact with
this scene.  so then i realize i dont speak the language.  then im
like HOLY SHIT ON A STICK I CANT COMMUNICATE!  and i freak out.  and i
get stuck in my room.  and i make excuses, like, im too tired, or im
feeling sick, or the weather is bad outside.  and then i find the
easiest way to live possible.  i go to the shops where i dont have to
talk to anyone.  i try not talking to too many people.  and then
months later, i kick myself for being so silly.  getting out there is
hard, even in your home town.  getting out there in a foreign country
where you dont know the language is intensely scarey and so
frusterating at times.  dont feel bad that you afraid, but dont let it
get the best of you.  dont be hard on yourself when you fuck up, cause
youll do it alot, and if you get mad at yourself everytime, then you
are just going to be mad at yourself all the time.  for me, it feels
like im running into brick wall after brick wall after brick wall
sometimes when im in a new country, but i just have to take a breath
and forgive myself.  and then i can be really proud of small
accompishments.  you have no idea how happy i was when i finished my
first load of laundry at the laundry mat in Italy, or when i
distinguished between the women and mens bathroom in Indonesia for the
first time.  
so i guess this email of unsolicited advice will end in this: get out
there and fuck up.  fuck up bad.  you will always learn more from
getting yourself out of messes than you will buying your dinner at the
same place every night cause its easy.  and dont worry.  you can do
this, it just takes work and tears and courage.
love
annie

Thank you, Annie. Thank you. Thank you.