Tegami Results.

Sensei said I had one of the more interesting letter contents. Score! Although, he did say I wasn't the only one to talk about buying a dragon...Huh? Apparently dragons are a popular product. But I haven't seen any in stores. Must be on the black market.

Just thought I would add

that for the last 20 seconds, Bear has been standing on my shoulders. He just jumped up there, and now is is just perfectly still as I type. I effing love that cat.

Tegami (Letter).

For my latest Japanese assignment, we have been given the task of writing a letter to Sensei - but addressed to his former address in Japan, so we are writing to his past self. The actual point of the activity is to get used to writing a formal Japanese-style letter. He said all we have to talk about is something interesting that we did; it doesn't have to be real, it can be made up, as long as it's not boring. I've decided it might be fun to post my letter here. Anything in bold is the romanized Japanese, beneath it is the English translation.

On the front of the envelope:

Buraddorii Uiruson sama
(Bradley Wilson-sama)

Kagoshima-ken, Satsuma-gun, Miyanojou-chou: 941-1
(Kagoshima prefecture, Satsuma district, Miyanojou town: #941-1)

The letter itself:

Haikei
(Just something you say when you begin a formal letter. Not too sure what it means, exactly)

Uiruson sensei, o-genki desu ka.
(Wilson-sensei, how are you?)

Watashi wa genki desu.
(I'm doing fine.)

Kochira wa suzushii desu.
(Here it's cool.)

Kagoshima wa dou desu ka.
(How is Kagoshima?)

Sate,
(Well, then, ["down to business, then"])

Watashi wa tsuki e itta.
(I went to the moon.)

Samukatta, totemo sabishikatta desu.
(It was cold, and very lonely.)

Dakara taiyou e itta.
(So, I went to the sun.)

Demo, taiyou wa atsukatta desu.
(But, the sun was hot).

Ie ni kaerimashita.
(I returned home).

Sono ato, tatsu o katta.
(After that, I bought a dragon.)

Watashi no tatsu no namae wa Yujiin desu.
(My dragon's name is Eugene).

Yujiin no suki na tabemono wa chiisai inu desu.
(Eugene's favorite food is small dogs.)

Issho ni, tenisu o shita.
(Together, we played tennis.)

Yujiin wa totemo sugokatta desu.
(Eugene was amazing.)

Bangohan no ato, issho ni sentaku o shita.
(After dinner, we did the laundry together.)

Watashi wa shukudai o shite, Yujiin wa shinakatta desu.
(I did homework, but Eugene didn't.)

Tatsu wa kakemasen desu.
(Dragons can't write.)

Saa, watashi wa shiranakatta.
(Well, I didn't know.)

O-karada ni ki o tsukete kudasai.
(Please take care of yourself.)

Keiji
(Something you say at the end of a formal Japanese letter. Again, don't know exactly what it means.)

(Then comes the date [in kanji], then my name [in katakana], and then the recipient's name [which happens to also be in katakana, since it's foreign] + sama attached at the end.)



Well, I hope you all are enlightened. I sure as hell am. I learned a shit ton more kanji through this assignment. Of course, the question is, will it stick? We shall have to see.

FF X sucks.

...because I can't effing stop playing it. I put off an important English paper all weekend because of it. Damn you, Chocobos! Why must you play such an awesome jam when I ride you??

For the Record:

I think being hypocritical is the worst quality that any person can have. If you can't keep your promises, then don't bother making them. I can't stand it. It fucking makes my blood boil. Actions don't speak louder than words. They can't. They work in tandem to establish the worth of your soul. And when you sever your covenants, that worth isn't very much. Not very much at all.


EDIT: this isn't about anyone who reads this blog. it's about someone else completely that i'm uber pissed off at (and not without good reason). so worry not.

My Schedule!

I'm bored. So, I thought I'd post my schedule for this semester. You know, because everyone cares about the details of my life.

MWF 940 - 1030 -- ENG 321 Shakespeare
This class is kind of already proving to be a bitch. Not because Shakespeare is difficult to understand, because he's not - but because there is so much goddamn reading. I'm behind already. But maybe that's not so much the amount of reading assigned as it is I keep goofing off.
The teacher seems pretty cool, and he's definitely passionate and knowledgeable about his subject. Although, I'm still trying to decide on whether or not he's gay. Not like it really matters, but when a woman's Gaydar can't make up its mind within 0.08 seconds, it intrigues us.
The Friday class is a bit of a departure from the MW 100-person lectures; it's a discussion group of 30 led by some doctoral candidate in Renaissance literature. She's nice though, also really knowledgeable, which is always a bonus. That, and she's funny. She likes to point out Shakespeare's dirty jokes/puns on sex. o_0
...There are quite a lot of them.

MWF 1150 - 1240 -- GER 101
Yes. I am taking German. My face will no longer burn with shame when my relatives all talk German around me. I will instead be able to contribute to the harsh-sounding grunts. :)
My German teacher is pretty young, he has to be somewhere in his 20s (but then, what the hell do I know about the ages of German people? My math professor from last semester I would have sworn was in his late 20s, but apparently he's actually like 36... >_< ). I think he said he's in his second semester of a Master's Program, but in what, I don't know/remember. He talks pretty quietly, and I think he said he has hearing implants in his ears. Or something. He seems really shy and probably isn't the right type of person to be a teacher, but he does have his moments when he's actually really funny.
In case you're wondering why I keep saying I don't know/can't remember stuff about him or this class, it's because he talks so frickin' quietly.

TTH 300 - 415 -- ASB 222 Buried Cities and Lost Tribes
This class has met 4 times already. But, I've only been to 2 of them. I am a terrible person.
Basically, it's an introduction to archaeology class, focusing less on people and dates and more on how and why these things are important to modern society, and what they've done for it. The class switches off between the Professor, who reminds me of a skinny Colonel Sanders sans specs, and some Master's Degree-holding dude who is quite obnoxious and isn't cut out to lead a 400-person lecture. I suspect he is also gay. ...Let's move on, shall we?

W 200-250 -- JPN 206 Japanese Calligraphy
This class only meets for an hour once a week, so I've only been to 2 classes. Last week she handed out the materials (if we bought them from her; most of us did because it was easier in terms of physical labor, we didn't have to worry if we were getting the correct item from the art supply store, and it was far cheaper since she's got connections or something). I am now the proud owner of two fude ("brush;" one thick and one thin), a suzuri ("ink stone") and some ink. Of course, I'm mooching newsprint paper off of Rodorigesu-san, since I'm such a notorious cheapskate. But we all have our flaws.
The teacher is native Japanese, but since she is a university professor her English is really good. I think she said she got her Masters at the University of Hawaii? Anyways, in addition to teaching the calligraphy class, she also teaches a couple of 300-level Japanese classes (the intermediate-advanced conversation & composition classes) so if she's still at ASU in a couple of years I may end up having her for a class.

MWF 1255-145 -- JPN 102
TTH 130 - 220
My favorite class. It meets every day, and I'm glad. There is another section of the 102 class that only meets MWF (but for a longer amount of time, of course) but I enjoy having this class every day because, the way I see it, Japanese is my major, and I want to immerse my self in it every day. I think it's sort of detrimental to go the stop-and-go route. Plus, Wilson-sensei is a hoot. He's fucking hilarious, and he answers your questions directly (which was next to impossible with Foard-sensei. You know, that famous Japanese indirectness thing.) which makes things so much easier and stress-free. And, when you ask questions, he doesn't make you feel stupid - another obvious bonus. I just love this class. I don't know if Wilson-sensei teaches 201, but I hope he does! He rocks!


Anyways, that about wraps this up. Well, not "about," as I'm only taking 5 classes and I've listed them all here. So...Bye. C'mon. Go away. I'm done now.

Hell.

The last few days have been sent from the very depths of Hell itself.

First my computer crapped out. Then I had to drive to north Scottsdale in the pouring rain to go buy another one. Which I did, and I'm very happy with it, but it was just an expense I wasn't planning on. And now I've found out I have to spend like $300 on books + other assorted shit for my German class. And it's been pouring rain, which wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that ASU is now basically ONE BIG GIANT PUDDLE to slog through on your way to class. My jeans were literally wet up to my knees and my shoes and socks were soaked. Do you know how much it sucks to have to sit through class with your feet freezing and soaking wet because there's water sloshing around in your shoes? It sucks a lot, let me tell you. Oh, and then of course we have the DOUCHEBAG SPEEDER. The DOUCHEBAG SPEEDER is pretty much just like he sounds - he drives his car down Lemon Street (which is the street right in front of my dorm) and, since ASU is currently ONE BIG GIANT PUDDLE, he ploughs into the water going 40 miles an hour. The reason this guy is not just a speeder but also a douchebag lies in the fact that there are pedestrians (like myself) walking on the sidewalk who get doused Splash Mountain-style when he churns on by, warm and cozy in his car that's probably got butt warmers too. Fucker. I hate being a pessimest (no I don't, actually, but I feel obligated to say that since nobody likes a pessimest), but if God actually existed, I'd feel pretty confident in saying that he'd be laughing at me about now.

I'm gonna go put my socks in the microwave.