a glimmer of hope

I'm finally getting somewhere with this ball of emotion that I've been carrying for so long inside. It was like a big mess of tangled yarn. I've finally untangled the knots and started rolling it up in a nice organized ball, with a little help from Ty.

I've decided to try to get a job in Madison, and it will not necessarily be a translating job, but if it isn't, I can still translate in my free time. My goal at this point is to get something that will LEAD to a translating job because I can't get past the preliminary stages of job hunting with translation jobs. If it's at a Japanese company, that would be good too.

I've just gotten back from a fairly long visit to Madison, and it really gave me a boost. Last Saturday, right after my class finished, Ty picked me up and we drove to Madison. It took longer than normal because of the snow. I saw more cars stuck in the ditches than I ever have in one trip in my life. It almost happened to us, actually, but luckily there was nobody behind us to crash into, and all we did was end up spinning 180 degrees onto the shoulder, and a police car came up to keep the incoming traffic far enough away for us to turn around and get back on the road. That's not to say I wasn't really scared.

Upon our safe arrival, Ty covered my eyes and brought me into the room, and when I opened them, I saw a little amp and a red bass guitar, with a red paper heart tucked between the strings. It was cute. I can practice any time I want now ^^ I was surprised I was getting it for a present. ^^

Later that night was Evan's party. We were going to walk, but it was VERY cold and far away. We took a bus part of the way, and even though we could have walked just as quickly, it was MUCH warmer. I ran into Helena (a friend of Mami's that I met last year) and she thought Ty and I were brother and sister. Seriously. I only get that from Koreans, you know. I was looking forward to talking with the Japanese TAs, and although Atsuhase (as he is known to some) was very sick and couldn't make it, I spent a lot of time talking with Kawakami-san. I was happy to find that my Japanese isn't completely degenerating. I talked to her about how I was doing with finding a job, and we talked about relationships and the other people in the Japanese department. Apparently she's the only TA that thinks socializing with your students is OK, and that all the other teachers look down on her for it, but she doesn't care, and she says it's because she is, first and foremost, a student herself - she feels she shouldn't miss out on that whole opportunity for friendships just because she's a different kind of student. A while ago I would have never guessed she's the department's black sheep of sorts, but knowing how Japanese people do their thing, I'm glad she's not suppressing things she feels strongly about...because when you leave, you're not going to remember your harmonious work environment, but what you did to make your own life worthwhile. Since that party was at the Japanese House and our good friend Phillips-san lives there, and he was kind enough to stay up for a bit and socialize, we played Rock Band. The vocals are a lot trickier than the guitar, but it was really fun belting out Weezer and spending some time with someone I don't normally get to see. Best party I've been to in a long time.

Sunday was pretty lazy except for grocery shopping with Aki, and while we were in the store we ran into Brock, whom I hadn't seen in ages. He has a job, is thinking about going back to school, and broke up with Mariko but is still living with her because they signed a lease. Oh well. I made cookies too. You'd never think to make cookies out of cake mix, but they're surprisingly good. I had coffee with Molly on Monday and went shopping (for beads...spent $1), did some research for a presentation in my translation theory class, and crashed the spring job fair at the Kohl Center. While I was there, I ran into lots of people I knew and got interviewed for a newspaper. Oops. Thankfully the interviewer was someone I knew ^^

Tuesday was a pretty full day - I went to visit with one of my former professors and was a guest in his class. He teaches modern Japanese literature, and I translated a story by one of the authors he covers, and asked me to come in and read it to his class. I got to talk with him about it a little more in detail and that made me feel even better about it, and one guy in the class suggested I submit it to a magazine if I want to get it published. Maybe I will :) I also found out that Geyer-sensei is going to have a baby (!) Afterward I was going to have lunch with Tracie, but she had forgotten and already brought her lunch to work. She told me to come in anyway to visit, and I had quite a warm welcome and was given things to eat ^^ Maddy's going to Germany for six months! I'm jealous. Tracie wants to move to Oklahoma with her boyfriend (he lives here, but his parents are CRAZY, so I can see why he wants to get away) and go to nursing school...I hope it works out despite her parents not wanting her to go. I was wondering what to do next when Ty calls and says he and Molly want to skip their class, and they came to meet me. We played video games and talked a while, and then while Ty went to tae kwon do, Molly and I rented Stardust and made dinner. Stardust is VERY ridiculous, in a good way. I have never laughed so much watching a fantasy movie.

Yesterday I was supposed to go home, and waited all day to go. I had some avocado toast in there...avocados taste similar to egg yolk, I think. It was good though. I also tried chocolate covered espresso beans, which were better than I expected. After Ty got home and we talked a bit, we decided it would have been really hard for him to drive me home and get back so late (especially on an empty stomach...he'd have been really crabby), so I decided to stay until morning, and we went out on a date instead. Yay for Glass Nickel pizza and beer. I love that place so much. Then we went on a quest for raspberry ginger ale because I remembered drinking pink ginger ale when I was very little and he said they still make it...but it was sold out. :( We got raspberry soda and ginger ale and mixed them instead, and it was fairly close. ^^

I came home this morning and it has just snowed and snowed and snowed all day. Cooper got neutered today too, and he was a little loopy when he came home, but he seems pretty much back to his old self now. Tomorrow I'm going to take a test at the library as a preliminary interview-type thing. Too bad it's going to be horribly cold out...

I just can't believe I'm so lucky. I had a really good time this past week. I love the people I'm surrounded with. I don't know why I get so discouraged sometimes. I just have to remember that I have a lot to be happy about, even if I don't feel like it all the time.

happy weekend

That it was, because I got to see some of my favorite people in the whole world, and got to spend some nice time with my boyfriend. My mother had a nursing seminar that her work paid for her to go to in Madison, and my dad and I tagged along with her. Ty and I got them to come out to dinner at the Glass Nickel for pizza and he was there waiting for us, with some orange and yellow lilies for me ^^ we had a good dinner and then went to my mom and dad's hotel, and went swimming in the pool for a bit. the hottub was not hot :( but it was nice. They played POLKA MUSIC, of all things to play in a pool. I guess when they say adult swim they meant actual old people...not that I don't like polka.

After swimming I went home with Ty and we had a cake and presents. It was his pre-birthday party, but there were presents for me too because I'm moving away. I sewed him a blanket to cover his bed (blue on one side and green on the other) which sounds kind of weird for a birthday present, but I wanted to make him something and he doesn't wear jewelry or use purses so he gets a blanket. He really seemed to like it, though. :) He gave me a sticker from the Peelander Z concert he went to last weekend, and a webcam so we can have video chats! Plus I can talk with all my other friends around the world now too ^^

Saturday was quite the eventful day, though it started off very slowly. It was HOT outside for October. We went to the farmer's market and picked up the homemade berry jam Chinatsu says is so good (I haven't actually tried it yet though) and cheese curds to give to my brother and Jenny (but I forgot the cheese at Ty's house >_<), and ran some errands, then went back to his apartment and started watching a movie when Bill pops in. I had not seen Bill in a LONG time so it was nice. He left a while later, and then we had to meet behind the Red Gym to help with Trevor's marriage proposal. Trevor wanted Ty to write him a love song for his girlfriend earlier this week, and Trevor didn't say what exactly it was for until after the whole song was recorded. It came as a surprise to pretty much everyone because he's only really been dating her for 7-8 months. O_O His plan was to take her on a walk, and every few blocks one of Trevor's friends was going to be standing there with a gift for her, and ended where we were all standing, and we all sung her the song and at the end he took out the ring and asked her to marry him. All I can say is thank god she said yes, because we were really not sure what to do had she said no. ^^;; I later had my own farewell dinner with most of those people that had been singing, plus a bunch of friends I had invited, which was a LOT of fun :) Most of us went out to the karaoke bar afterward and joined up with another friend that was having his birthday party that night, and we sang together and just had a lot of fun.

Today we woke up and cooked breakfast, packed up my things and Dave came to visit because he didn't make it to the dinner last night but still wanted to say goodbye. ^^ The drive back home was really nice. I'm going to miss seeing the green fields and red barns of rural Wisconsin, to be completely honest. I don't live on a farm and wouldn't like to, but I love to look at them from the road. I wonder what Washington's countryside will look like, besides having mountains. Thankfully my sister didn't have to go back to Eau Claire until 5 PM so I was able to see her before she left. She came back home for our old high school's homecoming. I don't know if she went to the football game, but I know she saw a lot of her friends. Ty stayed to help me set up my webcam and for dinner, and then we had to say goodbye. I hate doing that. but soon we won't have to anymore, I hope. and we can see each other's faces when we talk now.

Time to keep packing up my room...

cleaning spree

Since it's Saturday and any job hunting I do can't really continue until Monday, I think I'm going to attempt to clean up the house a bit, or at least finish sorting through all the stuff I moved home and make sure my floor is clean. My mom sort of keeps hinting that she'd like me to vacuum the house, so maybe I'll do that. Then I won't feel bad about making her take me interview clothes-shopping :)

Sarah is going to Japan on the 21st, and I'd really like to give her a present. I have some ideas, but I need to sit down and figure out exactly what would be good. We're also probably going to Madison next weekend. If she still hasn't had a Fishbowl I think we should go and get one :) I was curious myself. Maybe go to Maharani too, if we go Friday and get there before the lunch buffet is over :D

I finally finished and got a letter to Kisa all ready to send! I should hop on my bike quick and get it to the mailbox...pickup is in 50 minutes and I missed the pickup at my house >_<;; Otherwise it won't go out until Monday. I miss Kisa ;_; but now Sarah can see her and tell me how she's doing because they'll both be living in Yokohama now~

but that also means Sarah will be very far away ;_; I'll miss her. a lot. I have to find a job soon so I can start making new friends...because being alone really sucks after a few days. Maybe I won't be so lonely after my parents come home...

all right, time to get dressed and take a bike/walk, and then organize my things :)