free web tracker soliloquies: 05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006

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 27, 2006

toeic, tomorrow

Far out, I can hear the rumbling of fireworks explosions...according to some sources, there is a festival in Odawara today which is a city that is about 50km away from my house. It's surprising that such auditory phenomenon is observable here.

I had work today like any other Saturday. Since my training session on Monday, I am on my own with phone calls. I wish this fact will bring me closer to a raise I am really anticipated toward to. My contract is supposed to be renewed in June, so this timing sort of makes sense, right? lol

From exhaustion, I slept really early last night...I think it was around 9. Tomorrow's a big day for me...sort of. I am going to have a trial round of TOEIC in Miura city. Their problems are renewed from this round and I would like to know where my English skills are, compared to my last attempt in 2001. TOEIC score is crucial for your accession and I would like to get the highest score I can possibly get with my current English skills.

My score from my previous try is still valid, but I strongly believe that I can do even more better with my current English ability. BTW, my last score was 920 and I was in the top 1 percentile or something. Personally, I am hoping to get around 950 this time and will try to reach 975+ before my employment season that begins in junior year.

I absolutely adore the expression "none of your business". Perfect example, eh?

Thursday, May 25, 2006

democracy

A recent placement of myself in big responsibility is making me understand how difficult it is to exercise direct democracy in real life. Theoretically, it is a fascinating system and there is no doubt about it. Everyone equally have the right to express his/her opinion to make decisions and that decision will probably reflect every participants' benefits. Nevertheless, frankly, it is basically impossible to effectively exercise this sort of decision making protocol, even when that mass is a lot smaller than...let's say, a local municipality.

Currently, there are over 200 nation-states in our world. Out of these 200 sovereignty, Switzerland exercises a system that is the closest to a direct democracy. Along with a representation in the federal senate, they often utilize referendum to decide critical matters. Even though the citizens are a lot closer to the government with this system, a referendum is a referendum after all. Whenever a referendum is declared, each electorate is given a pamphlet with an intensive explanation of the act and the options for that act. Voters are given the right to place a vote on one of the available options listed up on that pamphlet.

The reason why I'm blabbering on about democracy is because of my current status as an organizer for my summer school program. I am trying to be as democratic as possible in planning for a convivial meeting, but a lot of people are abandoning their right. Not only that, they are slow in their responses and I am having a great difficulty in deciding when to hold that meeting. I don't want to be an autocratic organizer, deciding everything on behalf of my convenience.

Even when the group is composed of only 60 people, direct democracy fails to operate. I must wonder why those Greeks were successfully exercising Demokratia in the ancient times. They must have had more than 60 people in their assembly...I guess this proves the diversity of personal interests that reigns in our world today.

It is nice that many of the participants are offering me help in their replies, but my concern is toward the rest of the people who are reluctant to send me a simple reply on his/her RSVP. The only help I find necessary is to force these lazy people send me an reply.

Repondez, s'il vous plait...non, plus comme "REPONDEZ MAINTENANT!!"

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

what is wrong with...

An immature retard has been sending these pointless comments up on to my Japanese blog...what is wrong with this son of a bitch?? Sure, I must admit having some responsibility over this dispute I am currently having with this bastard, but things like this do happen on the Internet where anonymity plays a vital role. This guy interpreted that his blog was the origin of the citation I had used on this entry I placed about a week ago, but it is rather unnecessary to comment on that citation based on his own perspective.

How could anyone understand others with that scarce amount of information about the writer? It's true that I may have misinterpreted this guy in the beginning from my narrow minded sight. Nevertheless, this guy doesn't have the right to keep on dragging this matter on and on, not knowing the type of person I really am. Even though I had thought that this guy shared some similarity with me, but now...he's just some fag who's trying to annoy me just for fun.

Oral communication is an incomplete method of communication. No one can ever understand one another completely via words, no matter how sympathized you are with that person. When written, the amount of understanding lowers proportionally along with the change of method. Blogs on the Internet, goes even lower than written letters, chatting or e-mail which are comparatively less direct methods of communication.

What can anyone judge about that person based on that one post? I thought I was narrow minded at first by putting that entry in the first place, but now, that idea is long gone. What would be the most effective way to repel this moron out of my blog once and for all??

I guess this again proves the mental immaturity of Japanese people.

license center

When I first began taking the ridiculously overpriced, mandatory curriculum leading me to acquisition of my driver's license last September, I was really motivated, looking forward to the day when I can finally drive alone. That day has finally came today.

Since my Civil Law class was closed due to my professor's attendance in an institution, I have decided to make a visit to the final stop in my quest for a driver's license; Kanagawa Prefectural Driver's License Center.

I was rather busy last night organizing a plan for a convivial meeting, so I didn't have the time or the will to study for the written exam that is placed on all drivers at their final stage. This exam consists of 95 problems, asking the examinees about all sorts of traffic rules and regulations and you must get a minimum of 90% in order to pass this exam which is a necessary procedure for license execution.

Fortunately, as the result I've written shows, I was able to get a 96% on the exam and I have finally put an end to this issue that had been dragging me behind for a while now. Now, as a newbie driver, I would like to proclaim my determination to obey the traffic rules and be a safe driver under the law...for a year. lol

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

49/60

Am I an idealist? I've began my activity as the group leader for the Cambridge program, asking people's mail addresses and their plans and creating a mailing list based on those acquired information.

The pace of reply is a bit slower than I had originally hoped...but, they will probably turn out sooner or later. This party has a total of 60 members which is an unprecedented size for a group I had ever authorized before. Due to the nastiness of human nature, I believe it would be impossible to band a group of this size...I was unsuccessful in an attempt to band up a group 1/3 of the size; my class.

Even if everyone's not friendly with everyone, I just don't want to see factions popping up all over the place in Cambridge. This will only create an unstable balance of power where people will seek their own interests based on his/her backgrounds. Sadly, this is the way human beings act. As a returnee, I can easily imagine myself being used for various stuff there. English, reports, computer techniques, guiding and so on.

Whenever I had shown my leadership in whatever group of people in Japan, I had always ended up as a tool that was repeatedly used to achieve others' objectives. A spirit of "giving and taking" is rarely rooted in Japanese minds and this fact has disappointed me into deep melancholy and continuous regretting. My class last year was an archetype of this case.

I know it is impossible to group up all 60 in peaceful means, but I would like to do my best to reach maximum amount of satisfation out of most members, even if that goal requires a lot of work. Another social experiment has now commenced...

Sunday, May 21, 2006

finally

I was successfully able to pass the graduation exam at my driving school today on my first attempt. Traffic condition was really suitable for the exam in Central Yokohama this morning and it was probably worth the price, taking the exam on a Sunday morning, sacrificing my sleep hours.

My group had three examinees including me, each with unique habits of driving. Personally, I thought I was the best from my observation of the examiner's attitude. He pointed out the least amount of stuff out of us three to me, which under my interpretation, is a good sign.

Although I did fairly well on the road, I screwed up twice with the parallel parking tryout. Through my driving hours, I memorized the procedures that will get me in the space well. No, I didn't forget those procedures from the pressure and anxiety resulting from the exam. On the course of my driving school, there are these "poles" placed on the edge of the parallel parking space, indicating the space you have to get in. These "poles" also act as a guide in the actual act and the instructors taught us the points to turn the steering wheel the first time, the second time and so on.

So, with the steps memorized inside my mind, I made my first attempt, but I mistakenly used the different pole as my sign which obviously brought out different, failed results. For some reason, I made this mistake twice, but I successfully parked the car on my third attempt.

The regulation states that you can only make three attempts for the tryout, but I didn't have the specific number with me during the exam, so I thought I failed my exam at first. However, somehow I managed to pass...lucky me.

After I got my graduation certificate, I got a haircut to prepare myself for a "good-looking" driver's license. lol All I have to do now is to pass the written test conducted by the Kanagawa Police. Finally, after 9 months of numerous, unreasonable procedures and a payment of 300,000 yen, I am about to get my hands on my right to drive. Yay!