| employment, ya'll |
[July 15, 2007] |
I know I don't post that much anymore, but I thought I'd share some news with those of you I haven't spoken to recently. The daycare center hired me last tuesday and tomorrow I am officially a preschool teacher for the three year old class. I'm kind of nervous but this job lends a great deal of experience and opportunity toward my future profession, so I'm a little excited too. While my actual "teaching" is limited in subject area due to the age of the children (colors, storybooks, bubbles, hehehehe), I get to implement a curriculum and actually form lesson plans. I didn't think I'd get to do that until my student teaching in 2009. So here's to hoping all goes well!
(Deathly Hallows in five days!!)
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| Trip to Japan Report! |
[May 09, 2007] |
I figured I should do this before we leave tomorrow because when we get back, I probably won't have to the desire to write about it.
Japan is amazing. Its terrifying, exhilirating, and weird. I've had my fair share of moments where I cried out of sheer frustration due to being lost and freaked out. There is nothing quite like being an outsider. I've never felt such a degree of isolation as I have here, yet I've encountered so many wonderful citizens in this country who have gone out of their way to help us when they see the terror and confusion on our faces. Language has been but one barrier in our traversing across Japan. People seem to either be intensely fearful of you or stare through you with the anger of 1000 burning suns. We've had people literally jump out of the way to avoid us or often get up and sit in another car. On our way to Kansai it was a full train and a gentleman sat down on the seat next to us. He had to convince his wife quite forcefully to sit next to us because she kept smiling nervously and shaking her head in our direction. Anyway, this is not to scare you off visiting this place. I just want you guys to get a realistic perspective in case you ever plan on visiting. We honestly didn't know what to expect when we came here, but it certainly has not been all bad. We've somehow managed to get by on the phrases "Hello, I'm sorry, Excuse me". Not speaking the language has its limitations, but its not really necessary to know it back and front. Although, having Elizabeth made our sojourn through Osaka a million times smoother since she has a pretty decent grasp on conversational Japanese. Anyway, I'm going to break down our trip in days.
Our first day in Tokyo was a little scary. We stayed in this ward called Taito-Ku by a station called Minami-senju. The area was full of bums and it wasn't quite the picturesque-ness that I anticipated. Regardless, we spent the evening exploring it and all of its boozy, bummy glory and Brian was convinced he ran into some internet weeaboo guy named Tim Rogers? Beni will probably know who that is.
We got to Tokyo Station the next morning with a great deal of confusion since literally almost none of the directional signs were in English. I wussed out like a baby and cried because I was afraid we'd miss our train to Osaka and made Brian ask the station attendant for help. After getting on the Shinkansen (bullet train) we had a pleasant and quite quick three hour trip to Osaka. It felt like an hour what with whooshing past all the towns at 186 miles an hour. We even passed Mt. Fuji although it was too cloudy to get a decent picture of it. Once we got to Osaka, we met up with Elizabeth and set out to the Kameya Ryokan. It was a very cute inn right by the train station. That made our travels across the city very convenient. That night we went to Den Den Town (the electronics district), and Brian blew through most of our cash. LOL Then we spent quite awhile trying to locate Amemura (America Town) for Elizabeth is convinced it keeps moving. It was very much what I expected with McDonalds and hip young Japanese wearing horrifically ugly clothes.
The next morning, Brian awoke with a migraine and nausea so I let him sleep in. Once he got up, we decided we were in some desperate need for cash and had better find an exchange place. Prior to that though, Brian decided he wanted to see Osaka Castle and we did just that. Brian wanted to see the shrine of this one samurai dude (he'll kill me for writing that b/c I can't remember who it was) but it was located at another stop and I didn't want to risk him getting heatstroke wandering all over the Tennoji area trying to find this statue. We departed Osaka Castle and went to a couple of high class hotels trying to get our cash exchanged to yen. They all refused us because we weren't guests (our guide book erroneously told us we could exchange money at ANY major hotel chain). One hotelier suggested we make the trip to Kansai airport. At this, I cried like a buffoon for the next hour on the train to Kansai. Now let me stop a moment and explain myself. I know you're all thinking, "OMG WUT A BB" but this was a highly stressful situation for us. We were very tired/achy/hungry/sick/etc. Anyway, we got to the airport and the didn't refuse us. Upon returning to Osaka that night we went straight to bed.
We took the train to Hirakata-shi the next day to visit the sights of Kyoto with Elizabeth. It was a very rainy day, but this was okay since the day before was beastly and we needed a break from the sun. We went to the Golden Pavilion first and I had a grand old time trying to figure out how to properly pay for our fare on the bus. The bus driver glared at me and held his hand up as I tried to insert the fare in the change machine. We then went to the Kiyomizudera which is apparently trying to attain status as a seventh wonder of the world. It is a quite beautiful temple. Lining the streets were a myriad of shops to purchase cutesy tourist stuff. We took the train back to Hirakata for we needed nourishment and somewhere dry to sit. We went to the mall and that evening to a bar where they didn't card us. The drinking age is 20 in Japan, btw. We each had two drinks before we called it a night and bid Elizabeth farewell.
I woke up the next morning very dizzy and yucky. Those two measly drinks left me very dehydrated. We went back to Tokyo on this day. I've never been motion sick before, but I think I was about to get there on the Shinkansen, so I slept most of the way back. That night we tried to locate Akihabara but had very little luck getting to the heart of the electronics district. We're going to try again tonight.
The next day, we went to Hibiya to see the Godzilla statue, to Harajuku to do some shopping (where I picked up a cute, trendy dress and Brian picked up a tough guy jacket), and that night to Shinjuku to see more stores. Shinjuku had a Sanriop store, so you know I hit that up. We walked into the redlight district of Tokyo know as Kabukicho where apparently all kind of debauchery occurs in the various strip joints. It must've been highly amusing to the passersby see Brian and I walk briskly and nervously past all the porno shops and triple-x bars...LOL.
Today we went to the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. Its the most popular temple to visit in Tokyo. There were plenty of tourist shops along the street leading to the temple and I stopped for some much awaited sakura-flavored ice-cream. Tonight we're going back to Akihabara to see if we can actually locate the good stores.
I will fill you all up with more detail in a few days when we get home and I'll make sure to post pictures. Sayonara!
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| Day 1: Tokyo |
[May 03, 2007] |
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We made it. This of course was not with out mishaps. In fact here is a list of things we left behind: hairbrush, wireless internet card, and deodorant (thankfully we did not forget yours Elizabeth). We decided to leave the laptop in Tampa upon realizing that Brian forgot to pack the card because I did not explicitly say to pack it. Our 13 hour flight was absolutely wonderful. We miraculously got into business class and were fed three square meals and had more leg room than you could shake a tailfeather at. A young woman from Jacksonville was travelling alone, so she asked if she could go into town with us. Once we arrived to at Narita , we hopped the train to Ueno and the subway to Minami-Senju. Our new friend Ellen from Jacksonville found her hostel with relative ease and we parted ways. B-man and I wandered lost for a good half hour before we broke down and asked a shop owner where our hostel was located. Temple bells are ringing? Weeeird! Anyway, we finally got to the Aizuya Inn and its very cute and cozy. I will take pictures of course. Tomorrow we are headed to Osaka to see Elizabeth! I love and miss you all!
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| OMFG |
[March 24, 2007] |
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I PASSED. :-D
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[March 22, 2007] |
So I've been patiently waiting for my CLAST results for the last couple weeks. Okay, I lied. I haven't been waiting patiently. When the hell will they get here?
And our passport applications are taking longer to process (10 instead 8 weeks) because apparently there was a high influx of applications this year. I'm just glad we got ours in when we did.
And finally, USF has changed they're requirements for entrance into the elem ed program. Luckily, I don't have to complete any more classes, but I took one more math class than I had to. The requirements are less strict as well. Basically, so long as you earn an AA degree, have a 2.5 GPA , pass the CLAST, and take the pre-ed classes you can gain admittance. Apparently it is state-mandated and will expand to the other public universities. The only thing I can think that will come out of this less competitive manner of getting an education degree is that the market will become over-saturated and it'll be harder to get a job in FL. Oh well, doesn't really effect me now. At least I'm a shoo-in! (um, supposing I pass the CLAST, lol)
Oh, also: 5 more weeks until Graduation and Japan!
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| Manic Monday |
[February 19, 2007] |
| [ |
mood |
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 better today |
] |
Wow, the weekend's over already. The CLAST didn't go as terribly as I thought, but I'm not going to say I did okay until I get my test results in six weeks...sigh.
I've been meaning to mention this, so here goes: I've officially lost 15 pounds. I've maintained a weight between 132-130 for the last three weeks, so I figured it was safe to say I lost the weight. I'm only 5 pounds away from where I was when I graduated, but if I never get there its not the end of the world. My clothes fit awesome and I'm down a size. I get discouraged sometimes when Brian's dad says things like, "You can't be on a diet forever!" But, I'm not really on a diet anymore. I eat what I want, when I want. Its just a matter of holding myself acccountable if I eat too much of something. Its all about maintenence now, and I feel pretty much normal again.
I did my speech today in Public Speaking despite my cold. As I described the mating rituals of hamsters, this Vietnamese girl looked like she was about to lose her lunch. I was totally non-graphic. Just, "She lifts her tail and emits a musky scent from her backside when she's ready to mate." Is that so pornographically offensive? LOL
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| grade update |
[December 13, 2006] |
Women in Am Soc: A
Applied Ethics: A
Math Lib Arts: B!!
Intro to Astronomy: B
Current semester GPA: 3.7
Weeeee!
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| Question to my learned adult friends, lawl |
[December 07, 2006] |
| [ |
mood |
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 confused |
] |
I finally recieved my wedding invitation from Jonathan Henley. I don't know if I should be happy or mad. Maybe I'm asking too much. But generally, when you recieve a wedding invitation, isn't there usually information regarding the reception? What does that mean if you don't? Am I obliged to buy something for him and his girl-I-don't-know if I wasn't invited to the reception? There was no RSVP card either. So, I guess it doesn't matter if I show up, lol. Ivan, Christina, did you get yours?
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| omg |
[November 20, 2006] |
| [ |
mood |
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 oh no |
] |
| [ |
music |
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work |
] |
2 1/2 hours of sleep.
The phones will be on in 30 seconds.
Its 8 am. WILL I MAKE IT TILL 4?
PS: Its 50 degrees. Holy frozen everythings.
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| day 5 |
[November 17, 2006] |
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mood |
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okay |
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I put on a pair of my old size nines with no problem this morning! Yay! Strangely, the scale does not reflect this. lol Bring on the weekend!
OH! Look at this!
I am so excited. Is it July yet?
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| stolen from my emmles |
[November 08, 2006] |
| [ |
mood |
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 cold |
] |
| [ |
music |
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ugh, work radio. |
] |
Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions...
Pick an artist: Dashboard Confessional obviously
1.) Are you a male or female: hey girl
2.) Describe yourself: this is a forgery
3.) How do you feel about yourself? remember to breathe
4.) Describe where you currently live: the places you have come to fear the most
5.) If you could go anywhere, where would you go: heaven here
6.) Your best friends are: saints and sailors
7.) Fav Hero: ender will save us all
8.) You know that: if you can't leave it be, might as well make it bleed
9.) What's the weather like? a plain morning
10.) If your life was a television show, what would it be called? several ways to die trying
11.) What is life to you? the brilliant dance
12.) What is the best advice you have to give? bend and not break
13.) If you could change your name, what would you change it to? n/a lol i give up
Tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow! Aaah!
Edit: I forgot to add something. Astronomy today was unbridled hell. Our exalted instructor decided she'd spend the first half of class interrogating us. WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHAT REASON DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE THIS COURSE? WHY AM I TEACHING THIS COURSE? Apparently, this was her way of evaluating us and whether or not she would teach next semester. Then, since she didn't feel like teaching, she allowed a student to do a presentation for extra credit. He wants to be a pastor so he did a presentation as to why creationism and evolution are similar. I came to class to catch up on the black holes I was so disinterested in on Monday. Instead, I learned that I have no reason to seriously attempt this course any further. Too bad I still have to meet that physical science requirement.
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| Sadness. |
[November 07, 2006] |
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The only solace I take in Charlie Crist winning is that we finally have a closeted gay governor.
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| Jim Davis FTW |
[November 06, 2006] |
| [ |
mood |
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 working hard or hardly working |
] |
| [ |
music |
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radio crap |
] |
Are you guys voting tomorrow? If you don't and Charlie Crist wins, I am holding all of you Floridians personally responsible. I mean, I will have to teach kids the FCAT if Crist wins. Do you want to ruin MY LIFE? LOLLERPUNCH.
In other news, I skipped class today. I awoke this morning thinking: "What do I have to gain from sitting through 3 hours of pointless lecture?" Nothing. I mean, I'm well versed in philosophies regarding sexual morals and abortion (so I didn't need to sit miserably through Ethics) and I could care less about black holes (bye bye astronomy). So I stayed in bed until 12:30. Hey, I'm an adult. One month to go and I'm bursting at the seams. My classes are duller than Lindsay Lohan's soulless coked-up eyes.
Dashboard Confessional is but 3 days away. I love you Chris Carrabba. Eye sex, plz mebbe?
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[October 30, 2006] |
Have you guys read His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman? Should I read them? I'm skeptical because I read the first 30 pages of The Golden Compass and was pretty unimpressed. Additionally, Elvi gave me these books and since I have such a low opinion of her, I don't want to read them. Maybe I should just sell them on Amazon?
I recieved The Great Gatsby in the mail Saturday night and finished it in a couple hours last night. Its definitely one of those books that becomes clearer upon a second or third reading. Now I'm waiting on Harry Potter 2. I don't own any of the books surprisingly. I'd always borrow them from my friends after they finished them because I'm cheap. I intend to purchase and reread the entire series before book 7 comes out. I wish it was out now. JK needs to get on her ass and finish it already.
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[October 23, 2006] |
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mood |
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 sleepy |
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music |
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duran duran- come undone |
] |
School rant:
Today in ethics we had a debate about federal funding for human cloning for therapeutic purposes. The final speaker on this subject spoke for a total of 1 minute and her points were completely invalid. She claimed that 93% of Americans did not support this policy and since our president doesn't, we shouldn't either. And that's me putting it eloquently. She nearly got torn to pieces for her idiocy.
I feel so bad for my astronomy professor. She has no control of the class. I nearly screamed because I was so infuriated at what took place today. We're having our midterm, right? Somebody jokingly says, "Is this open book?" Our exalted instructor with her NASA background says, "Oh yeah, go ahead." We all thought she was kidding. She seriously acquiesced to this kid and everyone took out their books. I was floored. Only one other person and I had enough integrity to take our midterm without our textbooks. This is such a gross violation of our college's standards. This woman has a doctorate and she's letting her students take midterms with their texts. Is she at her wits end maybe? I mean, its just as much her fault as the students that walk all over her. I took it in 20 minutes and left. I hope they all fail. I studied my ass off and I wasn't about to take the easy way out.
This weekend was great though. Howl O' Scream went off without a hitch. Club Muse didn't have the same dancer as last year though. He wasn't as good or as sexy. Oh wells. Saturday night Sal came home and we hung out. On Sunday, I studied for 7 hours. The only bad thing, lol.
Tomorrow morning its supposed to be in the fifties! Yay, scarf season! ^_^
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| and its one more night in hollywood |
[October 18, 2006] |
| [ |
mood |
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 bouncy |
] |
I wish Jonathan Henley would email me back. He's so evasive about these wedding plans. I mean, when the hell are those invitations coming out? WHAT IF HE'S NOT REALLY INVITING US?! I will be crushed. So irrevocably ruined. I mean, that would be the biggest let down of my life.
Today is my brother Alex's birthday. He's the big one-eight. Cake! Roast beef! I remember when I turned 18. I had just moved out of my house and dyed my hair blue. We went to Metrocon the day before! Harry Lo was supposed to sing Christina and I happy birthday. Obviously, I was crazy to believe that would happen. I wish I still had blue hair.
Brian's trying to encourage me to work out but I'm so lazy. I need to drop ze chub. At least ten pounds! I don't think that's asking a lot.
We've finally reached the halfway point this semester! I got a 95 on my Ethics exam and a 92 on in Math. Here I come Astronomy!
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| technocrap |
[October 10, 2006] |
| [ |
mood |
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 sigh... |
] |
| [ |
music |
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omgnickelbackontheradio :( |
] |
Well, our desktop officially died last night. The damage to the hard drive is irreparable. On Sunday, it started freezing whenever we'd try to get online and eventually it wouldn't start at all. Monday we tried to get it working again after reformatting the hard drive for the eighth time in two years. We could still barely get on the internet and the computer would magically restart itself without notice. After much frustration, I tried to get it in safe mode to see if I could run the virus scan and I got the blue screen of death. Anyway, its over 5 years old and riddled with viruses, so it was only a matter of time. We're thinking of buying a good old reliable Dell, but at a total cost of over $500 for the cheapest model with the bare necessities, it is well out of our reach (and that's after the rebate and student discount!). So, in the meantime we're going to fall back on my laptop and we're trying to figure out a way to balance mine, my brother's, and Brian's paper writing/useless academic/entertainment needs as we trade off my computer.
I'm a full week behind in my classes...so you probably won't see much of me on AIM this week. I won't be answering my phone either, but if you have a crisis of some sort, just leave me a message and I'll get back to you immediately.
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[September 22, 2006] |
It is Friday. I have 1 hour and 25 minutes until I am free from the shackles of my telephone nemesis. I have a 750 word essay due for ethics. Not bad, not good since nothing is preferable. I'm sick of work radio. I mean, playing Nickelback 4 times an hour is 4 times too much. There isn't a new Dear Abby entry on Yahoo! News to kill five minutes.
| Your Dream: zombies |
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Words like zombies: Death. Automaton. Parts of your greater self are stalking you.
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| I am really screwed up. |
[September 10, 2006] |
| [ |
mood |
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 contradictory/whiny |
] |
| [ |
music |
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brian playing vice city (homo) |
] |
My Personality
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Neuroticism
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Extraversion
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Openness To Experience
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Agreeableness
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Conscientiousness
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I think it's right on target. I also think my livejournal is useless. When is the last time I posted anything other than a quiz or a whine about work. I may resign myself to lurking...seeing as I no longer have anything interesting to say. But, as soon as I do I'm sure you won't here about it because I'll be too lazy to post the pictures or elaborate on dull work/school/friends related incidents.
In other news, big secret plan tonight! Perhaps I will elaborate later?
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