Allie's Ramblings

So it's looking more like I may go to Japan for a year after I graduate to teach English in Japan. Molly and I were half-joking about it one day, but I was shocked to hear that she was actually looking into it if I went as well. She wants to teach ESL in the future, so it's a great thing for her to do. I've thought about teaching as well, so it seemed to be a really good idea to both of us. We'll be researching it more come this weekend to see if it's something we really want to commit too. I'm excited, but scared at the same time... Japan for a year. A lot can happen State-side in that time. What will happen with me and Andrew? My grandfather hasn't been doing so well lately; what if something happens to him? Will I be able to find a job after I get back? Lots of things to think about. After looking at some companies and what they offer, I could probably find a better-paying graphic design job with better benefits and I can live at my parents house... but Japan is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I know that if i don't do this after I graduate then I never will.

School has been pretty hectic lately. I came back from Thanksgiving break and realized that there were only two weeks of class left. Next Monday I have an oral exam in Japanese class and Wednesday I have a digital art project and research paper due. My teacher for the New Asian Cinema class (that I have the research paper due in) said that she would give us an extension into the following week if we need it. I might e-mail her and ask for one so that I can do a better job on the project as well.

But Thanksgiving break was good. I really needed a break from school this year. I made a bazillion and a half pumpkin cookies the day before Thanksgiving because I'm stupid and put toomuch shortening in them, so I had to double the whole recipe, haha. My neighbors were happy though, because I gave them some as well as took them to the family Thanksgiving at my aunt's house. My entire family seemed to be cranky as hell on Thanksgiving which was kind of a letdown. Lauren and I went into the city to do some karaoke on Black Friday. Midtown was PACKED and I thought we were gonna die, lol. We had an... off-singing day, to say the least, but it was fun anyway. Saturday I went to Mitsuwa with Yuriko, her housemates Yoshiko and her husband, their two adult children, and the one child's wife and daughter. Lots of Japanese to go around... I was pretty sleepy after having to focus on speaking the whole day. It was a good time, though. We ate ramen and taiyaki and I bought this 3-piece poster of all 1,945 kanji you generally need to read a newspaper. Currently, two sheets of it are by my bed and one is by my computer. I've been looking up the English kanji meaning as well as trying to take in the onyomi and kunyomi of them a little at a time, but it's a bit overwhelming to see them all at once, haha. I hope it helps though, because I suck at kanji like you would not believe.

Right now I'm hanging out in my room between classes. I kind of want to skip my night class, but it's the last class before the final so I guess I should go. Siiigh. We've been doing student presentations and they're really quite boring... except mine was AWESOME, trust me.

I just found a bug bite on my arm that is quite itchy XO;;

It's been kind of a while since I updated, but it's definitely not the longest I've waited to write new stuff. Life has been... life. My Monday class where we're putting on a dance for 6th, 7th and 8th graders is stressing me out and beginning to give me nightmares, but in the back of my mind I know that it will all come through in the end.

My sister came up with her friend to visit last weekend which was a good time. We went to Niagara Falls, ate burgers, went shopping... I was kind of sad to see them go on Monday (especially because that meant I had class). It's gotten VERY cold again in Buffalo and it's supposed to snow for the next three days. What happened to the 60+ weather we were having?!

In other news, my penpal puakalehua invited me to my first swap group! She runs a group called "All That Cuteness Too," an extended version of her original (Yahoo?) group except on Flickr, where we swap some cute stuff with each other. Here's what I sent out for our "scavenger hunt" swap:

( Pics after the jump! )

Also, I'm not really good at sewing or creating stuff, but meet Herman!

( The little stuffed special frog! )