free web tracker soliloquies: 05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006

soliloquies

so・lil・o・quy/- n. [C,U] a speech in a play in which a character talks to himself or herself, so that the audience know the character's thoughts.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

orientation on cambridge

A busy day once again.

This morning, I had to go take this test on traffic rules and stuff at my driving school. My deadline is closing in and I must finish my course ASAP....I never expected myself to be like this when I first began this fruitless "conquest".

After successfully passing the test filled with questions asking me about the smallest, most meaningless details, I went back to Yokohama Station and headed for Mita Campus where an orientation for my summer school program was going to take place.

The orientation had an introduction and some of the usual yada-yadas related to the program, but it was also my first opportunity to meet and interact with people that composed our "delegation". Most of the members were in their sophomore years and that fact comforted me greatly. People were from various faculties and it was a fresh experience for me, since my social relationships were mostly with people majoring law.

Believe it or not, I voluntarily accepted being the group leader for the whole delegate...now, I must create some chances for people to interact prior to the program, so everyone won't end up not knowing everyone in Britain.

Mr. Armour's presentation was fantastic. He was one of the professors in Keio University who graduated from Cambridge and he gave us a presentation on all the facts and knowledge on Cambridge.

Anyway, I did have some chance to talk to and know some people today, after the orientation. Since my friend had some friends, I was able to make friends who were friends of my friend. A confusing sentence, but you know what I mean. Additionally, I got some cell numbers and e-mail addresses from about 10 people.

Today's orientation gave me a lot more anticipation toward the program than any other previous events. Although I did say I felt that time was accelerating, upcoming 2 months are probably going to be one of the slowest ones in my life. I just can't wait!! :)


And if I lose it all
There'd be nothing left to lose
And I would take the fall

Friday, May 12, 2006

a great day out

One of the reasons why I was gloomy for the past few days is because of the dark, cloudy weather that had continued on for a while. The forecast is reporting some more additional days of cloudy weather, but fortunately, I was able to feel some warm sunshine today during daytime. For me, the weather determines the way I feel that day. I felt great today.

Classes were basically the same as any other Fridays. My fluency was unacceptable in my English class probably because of my drowsiness resulting from my international conversations I had with an Australian friend of my friend with a friend mine from the States. Also, I must not forget the fact that I had an English essay to finish for this class late night, as well.

In psychology, the professor gave the class an interesting question which will automatically give that student class credit if answered correctly. In Japanese, two characters that are used to express the word "nerve" means "God" and "path". The question asks us why this translation was adopted when Genpaku Sugita translated a Dutch book on anatomy in the 18th century.

Friday's 3rd periods are usually off for me, but I substitutionally took notes for my friend's political science class using my laptop. The class gave me a minor flashback of last year's political science class I took with all the concentration and effort I had put into it.

Last but not least, the information processing class. We used this advanced, statistical analysis software to program a few syntax to automate calculations. Was a bit interesting, but the procedures were simple and easy. In a way, my friend and I were bored to death. lol

A soliloquy. Why am I observing unintentional, coincidential "matches" when I have written it without a previous referral??


Just a day,
Just an ordinary day.
Just tryin to get by.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

claims??

I can't believe the degree of acceleration I am seeing with "time". Year after year, the sense of agility I feel toward time is growing...time really flies and there's no doubt about it.

Basically, I categorize my in three. My preschool life in Japan before 6, my life in the States and my life after my return to Japan. Some precise details regarding my preschool life are lost, but one thing I can say for sure is how time flowed much slower than today. Same thing can be said with my life in the States. Seven years are about to pass after I moved back to Japan, which technically, is about the same span of time as my life in the States, but time went by A LOT more slower then than now. Of course, New Jersey's natural, quiet environment could be one of the causes for this phenomenon, but even with it, seven, dramatic years in Japan were instantaneous.

On my way to the airport, my friend's dad explained me why this sort of acceleration is present with his own interpretation. He told me while a year only accounts for 1/20 of a 19 year old's life, it accounts for 1/2 of a 1 year old's life and gradual decrease of this ratio is the root cause of that sense. I was really persuaded by this explanation and that's probably the reason why I am able to recall it right now. The amount of stuff I do now is incomparable with the amount of stuff I used to do when I was 10 and that's probably an additional factor which contributes to this feeling.

I have A LOT of stuff I must accomplish and my To Do list is growing every second. My hectic life made me rethink the reasons why I'm rushing all the time for everything. Anyway, why is everyone around me all blue and gloomy lately? 21st century was supposed to bring us unprecedented prosperity...but the reality is this.

Why can't everyone be happy with all the scientific achievement our ancestors have brought us? Cell phones allow us to communicate whenever we want, wherever we are. Nonetheless, we are having a lot of difficulty understanding each other. Everyone's suffering from their internal concerns...an ethical problem to be sure.

I believe human minds are not evolving fast enough to catch up with technological accomplishments. Since the Industrial Revolution, science bloomed, enriching out lives. On the other hand, humans haven't evolve that much biologically which as a result, created a gap. Without the proper ethics, we can't exercise our technologies as efficiently as we should. That's where all of our present day problems lay.

I have no idea why I blabbered on like this today...I guess I'm all blue and depressed as well.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

wednesday

Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to update my blog last night...blogger's server was down or something. I know I had some stuff to write about that had no significance with yesterday's events, but unfortunately, I can recall that topic now.

Today was like any other Wednesdays I had this academic year, although I did explore the Shintoshi/Sky Building complex, located on the east side of Yokohama station, prior to my classes since I had some spare time. I walked in and out of boutiques and shops inside these two buildings and skimmed through some travel books. Afterwards, I walked around the building, scavenging for some new findings.

I left Sogo at noon when the toy clock hanging over its underground entrance notifies the pedestrian with a joyful tune of "It's a Small World" and headed for school. My classes weren't any different either. I went to bank in Hiyoshi, purchased my last textbook and took the Constitutional Law class.

Then, joining others, I took the Civil Law class, made some corrections to my schedule and headed home with my friend from high school. Actually, I did end up in Yodobashi Camera in Yokohoma before getting home since my friend wanted to get himself an iPod nano. This is my 5th time seeing someone buy some sort of iPod...

I'd better request some advertising fee from Apple. lol That will definately help me out greatly.


Because maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me ?
And after all
You're my wonderwall

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

nostalgia

A strong sense of nostalgia is gradually taking over me. This feeling probably derives from sometime in 1996-1997 period. Believe it or not, I am actually pulling out all these obsolete N64 cartridges out of my closet and chucking them in the machine...I've collected 45 stars today in Super Mario 64. It was a great time then... I was about to become 10 when I got my N64.

What sort of stuff were going on a decade ago? 1996 was the year of the centennial Olympics in Atlanta and I remember watching the Olympic torch passing by Route 10 with all the Coca-Cola trucks following the runner, selling bottles of coke to everyone. Pokemon was a social phenomenon in Japan 10 years ago while Tamagochis were selling like crazy in the States.

I was a 4th grader then and it was one of my most memorable years in elementary school with a great class and a great teacher. I still remember those days in her class. Meanwhile, I had a transfer to a new Japanese weekend, having difficulty adjusting to its new environment. Eventually, us 5 became best friends, but it was pretty tough in the beginning, being the only newcomer.

Musically, Los Del Rio's Macarena was a huge hit and everyone was doing the Macarena dance at whatever parties you went to. On TV, Dawson's Creek was really popular with it's song, "I Don't Want To Wait" starring Paula Cole. This period overlaps with the time I began cherishing American culture over its Japanese counterpart. In the box office, Titanic was the greatest hit of the year, or better said, of the decade. It received 11 Oscars and I remember watching it thrice in the theaters since my mom adored it so much...the social reaction toward that film sort of resembles the "Hanryu boom" that swept across this country a while ago.

Two posts ago, I declared putting my past away once and for all, but this artifact I found in my drawer triggered and reverbrated my nostalgia once again. In a deep melancholy once again, I must find myself a more effective therapy to get myself out of this tough, but comfortable quicksand once again. Nighty night.

Monday, May 08, 2006

techinical support

For the past few days, I have been giving some technical assistance to my friend from the States, currently residing in Hyogo prefecture about iPod nano and blogging. He has decided to begin an English blog of his own which I think is a great thing, since this is one of the only ways you can actually exercise your English ability.

At the same time, I talked to my friend from high school who is going to Cambridge with me this summer. We talked about how excited and anticipated we are toward the program and joked around a bit, guessing the airline that is going to bring us there. Coincidentally, my friend from the State also applied to a foreign exchange program as well. I guess most returnees have some sort of attribution toward foreign countries.

Because of this long chat, I was a late sleeper this morning. Well, some nights like these are acceptable on certain occasions, right? With my homework done, I am all set and ready for school tomorrow. Basically, I need stuff to do to have an efficient, productive life. Besides, I've got plenty of spare time as a student and Golden Week was not really necessary at the moment. I'm not going to have any long holidays for a while (until July), but things will be just as fine.

No time to waste...I've got a lot to study ahead.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

indian summer...no, indian tsuyu lol

Lately, the weather is like as if we are experiencing tsuyu already.

For those of you who needs an explanation, tsuyu is the name of a rainy season we have in June when two huge chunks of different types of air collide high above the Japanese archipelago. Meteorologically, tsuyu ends when the chunk of air which derived from the south successfully pushes the other one up north, triggering the Japanese summer.

I know some of you may find this entry really boring, since this is a common knowledge to most Japanese. But through my visit to the States this winter, I found out how explanation skills are necessary for a smooth, intercultural communication.

FYI, today was yet an another ordinary day at work with a lot less orders than I expected.


I'm walking away, from the troubles in my life
I'm walking away, oh to find a better day
I'm walking away, from the troubles in my life
I'm walking away, oh to find a better day
I'm walking away