wanderlust

I think it's all the friends I have in other places than here, but I really want to go on a trip somewhere soon. Thankfully it will be summer soon and my boyfriend won't have school to worry about anymore. I guess I feel inferior for staying around the old college town, but I think as long as I'm not simply hanging onto what I used to have, as long as I'm trying to make a new way of living here, then it's not a problem.

If there's one thing I want to do today, it's translate another essay or short story. I haven't translated anything for a while and that's kind of sad. There isn't much in the way of professional gigs here, but I suppose I need to just keep on looking. Eventually I'll figure out something, and until then, I'll translate things I'm really interested in. ^^ My work schedule is not really allowing me to go to Kaiwa no Kai anymore, which is also sad. I was walking down the street yesterday and Alex tapped on my shoulder after I'd already passed him, and I turned around and waved. I wonder where he'll be for the summer. He's in the next batch of Nanzan students, so I'm really REALLY excited for him.

My anemone bulbs are not growing and I'm sad about that. I even soaked five more that had roots growing out of them by the time I potted them, and they still aren't giving me anything. (I've actually dug the original ones back up to check on them...I don't know if you're supposed to do that.) Maybe they aren't getting enough light...the windowsill doesn't get much direct sunlight and that's what they love.

The property management company deposited the security deposit we sent in with our application, so I guess this means we're approved to live there, which is going to be niiiiiiice. They said they'd call by Thursday if they wanted to have us sign a lease, so maybe they've called Ty already. That would be cool.

Tomorrow is the first day of May! We're going to have a little party. Dave is especially excited. Apparently he quit his job yesterday because he can make just as much money in one weekend going up to help his dad out with surveying in his hometown as he can working here five or six days a week. I need to find something like that. I want to go home sometime soon. I left a whole lot of my stuff there. I've been contemplating waiting until we move because then there will be a lot more room for stuff (and enough for Ty's, too...I hope).

I also miss Cooper. He got a bunch of new little brown spots in his fur, and I'm sure he's gotten smarter, and maybe a little more well behaved. I also wonder how he plays without snow. :)

life in a deep freeze

Another month goes by, and I'm still without work. Go figure. I've been thinking a lot about it, though, and somehow I feel closer to knowing my options. All I have to do is decide which way I want to go. Since I had nearly no guidance at all in terms of career planning relating to what I want to do and how to go about it, I'm probably going to write up something for new graduates who studied Japanese and are looking for a job. Maybe it will help someone. In any case, it will let them know that the road is not exactly paved with sushi and Anime, even if you're in America. (thanks Molly for the inspiration :))

I've started attending a class at the technical college near my house called "Theory of Translation and Interpretation". It's surprisingly much more difficult and in-depth than I thought, and there are only nine people in the class, most of whom are older than me, so there's a lot of interesting discussion. You have to already have a bachelor's degree in order to take it, so in a way it's kind of like grad school. It's just a lot cheaper :) The teacher is originally from Cameroon, knows 11 languages, studied in many of the best translation schools in North America and translated for the government of Cameroon for a long time...so long story short, he's well qualified. I like how he talks too. He seems really happy to be teaching the material, and I like the sound of English spoken by African people. Unfortunately I don't do so well with theoretical-type classes, but I've decided that I will try as hard as I can since it's really the only thing I have going for me in terms of constructive life-skill-building activities at this point. I'm also needing to get in touch with the Japanese instructor at the school (amazingly they have one!), and although their Japanese classes certainly are nowhere near the intensity of the ones I took, I don't doubt that she could be a great resource for breaking into the Japanese community here. I thought there were no Japanese people here at all, but maybe she can help me find them. AND apparently she corrected my bilingual assessment and thought I did pretty well, so I've already made a decent impression. Yay :)

I've spent a lot of time taking care of Cooper too. He's mellowed out a bit since I first met him (AND we think he's potty-trained now) but there are some times where he's just been out of control. I do like him, though. He does a lot of quirky, funny things and he's very sweet.

I've occasionally visited Madison thanks to Ty coming to pick me up, but part of me feels a bit like I'm going there to escape doing something about getting a job, and I can't just relax and have fun. It makes me feel like any job at all would be better than this, even if it only paid minimum wage. Maybe if I tried harder while I'm home, I wouldn't feel so bad about going on "vacation". I think I'm just not trying hard because I don't know where I want to go...I don't have a clear concept of what I'm trying to do or where I'm trying to go with my life in the near future. But time is running out and I need to decide.

あたしの未来図をもうすぐ描かないと・・・。