"What does monitoring a ceasefire really mean?" were the words that have now just hooked me to Darfur - The Devil Came on Horseback. Another documentary. I left it on pause for the moment because I know I won't get another urge to write for some time and I want to take advantage of it now.
I just had a kind of small - epiphany - the other day. I realised that I can't answer if anyone asks me "What do you major in?" - I would go as far as saying that I study in the Faculty of Cross-Cultural Studies. But what does that really mean?
There was a welcome party for the new 2nd-years now in my Department (Cross-Cultural Communication), and I had this relatively long one-way chat with my professor. (He was so nice to just listen to me. ^_^) I was telling him that I wanted to start working on my graduation thesis this summer so I could finish by early next year and then prepare for the examinations to extend my stay for 2 years. Yeah. (For those who have only just heard this - I'm seriously thinking about extending my stay through to Masters.)
Then we, or I should really say, I, realised that I didn't really know what to write it on. I technically am supposed to be studying International Relations - but it was only then when I realised that I really am not catching up to my peers at all. I'm way way way behind. I don't really know what to do to amend that - except to throw myself back into books. (Was happy to realise, at one point, though, that an IR book I bought recently - that I have thrown myself into - is a Denmark Uni's Masters course textbook - lol)
Well. I am, on the other hand, happy to report that things are settling down with classes etc. I decided to take only 8 classes - which only total to 2 and a half days of class. Coolness or what?
But I will be dedicating the rest of my time to reading. Said, Marx, Chomsky, Huntington, you name it. I'm aiming to finish reading all my books and then some before the end of this semester. Then I'm starting on my thesis. Hip hip hooray!
2008-04-25
2008-04-21
No End In Sight
It's been an unbelievably hectic week, ending only yesterday after running around here and there, getting 3 nosebleeds for, I believe, no apparent reason unless my body suddenly decided it's weak against air pressure (considering the height of the place I live in, air pressure should be greater the more we go up, right?
In any case. After barely being able to sleep as I was trying to catch up with my reading (take note that from this week it's only week 3 of classes), and then writing up my reports, trying to organise my thoughts in class, too, since I can't do them before - I can never seem to be able to present a coherent point during discussion, ... well, basically after all of that, I just dropped dead on my futon and slept a solid 8 hours before getting up and then having to start the preparation for week 3. I still need to organise my time and figure out what I can spend less time on - and the most crucial thing I need for this organisation - I need to find a quiet place to study. How I'll be doing that, I don't know.
The library closed down for this month - it won't be open till next month. (How unbelievable is that?) Everybody was in some form of outrage. Even I don't know how to handle it. I can't study at home. I can't study out in the parks (still too cold for it at times, plus the lighting isn't always good). I can't study in cafes or whatnot because the number of people coming and going make me nervous... . I'm - everybody's just going to have to be patient another 3 or 4 weeks, I suppose. I doubt that it'd open before mid-May. I seriously doubt it. All this ruckus is really putting a strain on even the professors. (_ _) The only quiet place I know where I can go to in the faculty closes at 5. Hmph.
As it is. I'm behind in my reading again so I'll be catching up to it now.
No End in Sight, by the way, is a documentary on the war in Iraq - I recommend watching it. Lions for Lambs comes short after watching this, buy hey. If you really want to know what's going on in this world, you gotta grab a hold of any info you can get, right?
I feel another nosebleed coming on.
In any case. After barely being able to sleep as I was trying to catch up with my reading (take note that from this week it's only week 3 of classes), and then writing up my reports, trying to organise my thoughts in class, too, since I can't do them before - I can never seem to be able to present a coherent point during discussion, ... well, basically after all of that, I just dropped dead on my futon and slept a solid 8 hours before getting up and then having to start the preparation for week 3. I still need to organise my time and figure out what I can spend less time on - and the most crucial thing I need for this organisation - I need to find a quiet place to study. How I'll be doing that, I don't know.
The library closed down for this month - it won't be open till next month. (How unbelievable is that?) Everybody was in some form of outrage. Even I don't know how to handle it. I can't study at home. I can't study out in the parks (still too cold for it at times, plus the lighting isn't always good). I can't study in cafes or whatnot because the number of people coming and going make me nervous... . I'm - everybody's just going to have to be patient another 3 or 4 weeks, I suppose. I doubt that it'd open before mid-May. I seriously doubt it. All this ruckus is really putting a strain on even the professors. (_ _) The only quiet place I know where I can go to in the faculty closes at 5. Hmph.
As it is. I'm behind in my reading again so I'll be catching up to it now.
No End in Sight, by the way, is a documentary on the war in Iraq - I recommend watching it. Lions for Lambs comes short after watching this, buy hey. If you really want to know what's going on in this world, you gotta grab a hold of any info you can get, right?
I feel another nosebleed coming on.
2008-04-11
First Week of Class
Technically, I only had one day of classes this week. Where does it have me right now? Dumbfounded.
I had European Spiritual(?) Culture first thing. The name of the lecture surprised me but - that's how it is. It's mostly concerned with Culture Crisis and 19th Century Europe. I think. I didn't really understand since the lecturer only took attendance this first class. We'll be watching some work done by Mozart in the next class. Or so he says. There was something of Wagner and Bizet too, I think. I wonder what I got myself into? ...
My second class was a Seminar with Kitamura-sensei who does the literary side of trans(?)cultural cultures. Exophony... I think she called it? It had to do with literary products by immigrants to Japan at least 50 years ago. As well as some contemporary ones. It's not an easy class but since there are few students, the professor dedicates lots of time to go into detailed explanations.
My last class was on Techno-culture. Now, this class is with Tsukahara-sensei. He's... not quite eccentric, but the level of 'professionality' he's trying to bring into the Uni is unbelievably... extreme. He's trying to teach the scientific side to culture. I thought it would be interesting since he'd be doing projects with nuclear bombs/energy sources, WHO, global warming etc etc. But. The class is as difficult as it is interesting. We were bombed down with a book assignment and a 2000-ji report due next week's class and a mini-research project due the week after and another essay for the week after that. I don't believe that I even have the time to regret my choice as it is or even the time to think over since... well it took me an hour to read a tenth of that book! He said it would only take at least 3!! Well... he did offer me a week's extension, understanding my situation. I declined it. ...Why? Well. As much as I wanted the extension, I wanted to know how far I could reach in the class, too. I don't want to be 'the foreigner' in the class forever. Some of the local students don't take it well at all that the lecturers always favour the foreigners... and it bugs me too, sometimes. But I am grateful that we don't always have to ask for extensions! It's a very very thin line.
Well. After that unbelievable day with classes, some of my friends, Eriko, Non-chan and Nazuna, decided to go to karaoke! (Since we thought it would be the last day we could go out without worrying too much about classes - and I'm starting to believe we were right...) It wasn't as enjoyable as we thought it would be - since we were still worrying about the classes we were to take; to cap it off, Nazuna and I went hunting for the book assigned to us in Techno-culture (misery loves company right? That's partially why I think we took this class together). I only found it around 10pm at night, at which point we just bought it, went straight back to our apartments... and slept.
I woke up this morning with a relatively clear head until I recalled that... including the book assignment, I had another book and an article to read by the end of this weekend. And my reports? ... Help!
I was working at the school (teaching English) today so I had time to read between breaks and on the train. But as it is... I hope I don't tire myself out before next week starts. At which point, I have to see what the rest of my classes will be like. I'm only taking 9 classes this semester. (As opposed to the 13 to 17 I usually take per semester? - It's like heaven!) I arranged it so I have 3 classes a day, on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays. Minus my Fridays for work, I still have Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays as a weekend! In the beginning I thought that it would be great~ but now. ... It might actually be justified with the weight I'll need to pull.
That said, I need to return to my book. Later!
I had European Spiritual(?) Culture first thing. The name of the lecture surprised me but - that's how it is. It's mostly concerned with Culture Crisis and 19th Century Europe. I think. I didn't really understand since the lecturer only took attendance this first class. We'll be watching some work done by Mozart in the next class. Or so he says. There was something of Wagner and Bizet too, I think. I wonder what I got myself into? ...
My second class was a Seminar with Kitamura-sensei who does the literary side of trans(?)cultural cultures. Exophony... I think she called it? It had to do with literary products by immigrants to Japan at least 50 years ago. As well as some contemporary ones. It's not an easy class but since there are few students, the professor dedicates lots of time to go into detailed explanations.
My last class was on Techno-culture. Now, this class is with Tsukahara-sensei. He's... not quite eccentric, but the level of 'professionality' he's trying to bring into the Uni is unbelievably... extreme. He's trying to teach the scientific side to culture. I thought it would be interesting since he'd be doing projects with nuclear bombs/energy sources, WHO, global warming etc etc. But. The class is as difficult as it is interesting. We were bombed down with a book assignment and a 2000-ji report due next week's class and a mini-research project due the week after and another essay for the week after that. I don't believe that I even have the time to regret my choice as it is or even the time to think over since... well it took me an hour to read a tenth of that book! He said it would only take at least 3!! Well... he did offer me a week's extension, understanding my situation. I declined it. ...Why? Well. As much as I wanted the extension, I wanted to know how far I could reach in the class, too. I don't want to be 'the foreigner' in the class forever. Some of the local students don't take it well at all that the lecturers always favour the foreigners... and it bugs me too, sometimes. But I am grateful that we don't always have to ask for extensions! It's a very very thin line.
Well. After that unbelievable day with classes, some of my friends, Eriko, Non-chan and Nazuna, decided to go to karaoke! (Since we thought it would be the last day we could go out without worrying too much about classes - and I'm starting to believe we were right...) It wasn't as enjoyable as we thought it would be - since we were still worrying about the classes we were to take; to cap it off, Nazuna and I went hunting for the book assigned to us in Techno-culture (misery loves company right? That's partially why I think we took this class together). I only found it around 10pm at night, at which point we just bought it, went straight back to our apartments... and slept.
I woke up this morning with a relatively clear head until I recalled that... including the book assignment, I had another book and an article to read by the end of this weekend. And my reports? ... Help!
I was working at the school (teaching English) today so I had time to read between breaks and on the train. But as it is... I hope I don't tire myself out before next week starts. At which point, I have to see what the rest of my classes will be like. I'm only taking 9 classes this semester. (As opposed to the 13 to 17 I usually take per semester? - It's like heaven!) I arranged it so I have 3 classes a day, on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays. Minus my Fridays for work, I still have Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays as a weekend! In the beginning I thought that it would be great~ but now. ... It might actually be justified with the weight I'll need to pull.
That said, I need to return to my book. Later!
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