Adventures of a hermitic college student

[tarigwaemir]

Lowell House, on the Feast of Ste. Agatha

I caved in and bought myself a paid account. One of these days I will spend hours customizing every detail of my journal style, but not today (or tomorrow) because I have decided that I will be strong this semester and do all my reading! Hurrah for broken resolutions!

Kendo yesterday and today was just perfect--hard enough to be challenging and to make us feel pleasantly sore after practice, but not so hard to exhaust our stamina. I think I'm really starting to enjoy jigeiko this year (even if the tall divinity student beats me up like a wooden doll). I'm also looking forward to the Gasshuku, surprisingly enough. ladydaera and I are scheduled to take the Keio students shopping in Boston on the Friday of the week they're here, and since neither Daera or I have ever been shopping in Boston, much less with eleven Japanese college students who aren't fluent in English...^_^ It shall be an experience. Normally, I loathe shopping intensely (unless it involves "shopping" for gifts, books, electronics or music) but since I'm not actually doing the shopping myself, but will be unleashing the terrifying might of Japanese tourists on the stores, I think it'll be fun. ::evil grin::

For the uninitiated, when I refer to Gasshuku, it is indeed an annual "training camp" when a bunch of students from the Keio kendobu come over to visit and practice everyday with us (i.e. relax a little while beating us up without even sweating). They usually come in February and stay for a week. We've been planning lots of events since it's often their first time being in the U.S., and this time, the planning is going smoothly. Man, I love our freshmen. They are so responsible and organized and eager to take on work. Anyway, this Gasshuku will be great, I bet. I mean, there's laser tag involved. ^_^

Oh, and of course, schwimmerin, my roommate and I all had a bit of an adventure today, going out to the Korean karaoke place in Allston. First we wandered around Harvard Square looking for the bus stop. Then we walked all the way down Brighton Ave. because my teacher had given us 22 Brighton Ave. as the address, only to find that 22 Brighton Ave. was definitely not a noraebang. I then used my "mad Korean skillz", ::coughs::, to ask directions from the owner of a Korean barbershop, and we safely arrived at the place. We ran over two hours, while singing--it was schwimmerin and Nan's first time, and they were happily surprised at how much fun it was--and I managed to sing such classics as "Livin' La Vida Loca" and "Girls and Boys" and "Dancing Queen". ::grins:: Then we had to wait a long time for the bus, and since we missed dinner, we ate at the Wrap instead. Definitely an adventure, no? (Well, for us poor caterpillars, it is. >_>) We all agreed that we should do it again "sometime" (i.e. after we've written our senior theses and finally can indulge in a real college life), and now that we know exactly how to get there (last time I went, it was with my Korean class and our teacher drove us), we'll be able to smoothly navigate the streets of Allston. ^_^ (Edit: And schwimmerin gives a much more complete account of the experience here. ^_^)

I haven't been so happy and relaxed in a long while. Not that I'm miserable all the time, just stressed or anxious. Also, I finally figured out all my classes, and right now I'm in that optimistic stage when doing my work ahead of time and studying more than the bare necessary minimum seems actually possible. Courses I'm taking this year:

• Biological Sciences 54: Introduction to Cell Biology
  
• Physics 11b: Electricity and Magnetism
  
• Korean 130b: Pre-Advanced Korean
  
• Historical Study B-13: Charlemagne and the Birth of Medieval Civilization

Meme taken from...a lot of people on my friends list:

1. Comment with any character or a 'ship from a fandom that you know I like, or at least have some knowledge about.
2. I will ramble about aforementioned characters or 'ship(s). This may be incoherent gushing or exclamations of disgust, or even boredom, depending on what it is.
3. Put this on your LJ, if you are so inclined.

For, um, non-fandom friends, 'ship stands for relationship, and feel free to ask about characters from books I've read and movies I've watched, if you personally aren't into anime. ^_^

I'm really, really behind on reading fic. >_< Will rectify tomorrow, as long as I get my biology and physics reading done early.

Yours &c.

Comments

[team7.livejournal.com]

Hikaru and Akira ^_^

[schwimmerin.livejournal.com]

I feel so *loved* -- thanks for the link!! For more on how loved I feel, please read my lj update. :)

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

but will be unleashing the terrifying might of Japanese tourists on the stores, I think it'll be fun. ::evil grin::

Ahaha. You are evil incarnate.

meme pairing: Shishido/Ootori

[tryogeru.livejournal.com]

Zhu Ge Liang. Alone, or with anyone (the boy has a tendency get around, ^_^)

O.o