The Homestretch

Finals week is approaching. It's literally looming, sneaking its way over here. E-board elections for the Japanese Student Association is also approaching. Though I'm not sure if I really want to contribute with them. My suitemates are testing/equivalency testing for their black belts so that should be pretty exciting. The semiformal is also just around the corner. Slowly, the semester is coming to a close. 

Recently everything for me has been the same. Nothing new ever happens. They say that if you want things to change you have to do it yourself. And I did. This semester I've involved myself in a lot more activities. I danced, I wrote for the school paper, and met some new friends. More to come. 

The Japanese Student Association presented their annual "J-Night" Saturday, where students
showed a number of singing, dance and calligraphy performances. 

Change isn't always great. You have to change effectively. Being who you are and continuing to be who you are is what counts. That's what people appreciate each other for. If you change too much, there's no more familiarity. Memories get crushed, and you're seen as a different person. At the same time you won't feel comfortable. 

These days I've been spending time in the library during the nights. I can always study here. One there are other students studiously studying (try saying that three times fast) around me so that gives me a bit of a motivation. And two, because it's nice and quiet. Although they really need to fix that freaking front door because it always slams. And three, because I can't really focus at the dorm. I always get distracted because there's always something going on in the suite. My neighbor and his girlfriend often visit during the nighttime, my suitemates always talk about something loudly or blast out music, and my roommate always plays his video games on his computer like there's no tomorrow while mumbling some gaming-rhetoric to himself. I don't completely own the suite so I can't tell them to be quiet. And that's what they enjoy doing and I respect their space. They're all awesome guys, don't get me wrong. Everyone has some sort of imperfections. 

Recently I've been feeling that there's been a lot of gossip about me around the Asian circle. Sure the university is large, but that circle is close-knit and cliquey. News gets circulated around them exclusively, I feel. And it's pissing me off. I need to meet new people and start a new lifestyle. 

Students were just lolling by the fountain outside a few days ago but now it's snowing.

Some people don't have common sense. Sure, you can have imperfections, but you gotta nail the fundamental parts, at least.

I recently have been helping out with the university's Japanese Student Association. I made their flyer and created their video for Japan-Night, an annual show where students show various performances and skits.

Yet they don't even credit me at all. They seem to take everything I do for granted, and nobody really appreciates what I do for them.

Also, when you know that you're going to be late for something, let me know that beforehand. Don't just not say anything.

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk. I just think that this is what people ought to do on a normal basis. And they aren't, which is why I'm ticked off at the moment.

Updates

Why is it that girls I always like and have gone out with disappear from my existence? They leave without notice, cutting ties with social media and contacts.


Anyway, today was pretty normal. During journalism class, three university students all the way from Kazakhstan spoke about their experiences here in America and how it's different from their home country. All three were pretty. Slender and tall. Yet one lady thought I was Chinese. So that was interesting.

Tonight I went to go eat at a noodle place around town with my Japanese friends. The place was alright. Nothing especially delicious but filled you up nonetheless. One difference I've noticed between America and Japan is that the Japanese like to share food, a lot. And if you don't, it's kind of considered not normal.

Trying to work on a project regarding immigration. Need to find subjects to interview and write about them.

I won the Japanese Speech Contest, which I'm proud of.

On Sunday I swam and ran around the track.

The editing process for the Japanese speech contest is never ending. This is probably my third or fourth draft, and I can't seem to have a solid one. My professor makes corrections and adds suggestions. Even if it seems like it's alright, it isn't. There's always something. It's difficult to deal with especially because it's in a foreign language.

I have so much things to do I don't even have time to sit down and relax. I envy my roommate playing video games. It's as if he has no work at all.


I haven't eaten with anyone for a while. I contacted a few friends but they either declined or didn't seem to answer. But that's life. Nobody can always be with someone.

The level of work is accumulating these past few weeks for me. And the work requires me to actually go out there and explore. It's not one of those assignments where you stay in your room and cram. It's reporting, which means I have to contact people, schedule interviews, get information from them, create a video, get pictures and report all of it in a clear, evocative way.

What's more, I've been admitted to participate in the East Asian studies speech contest, which is next week. Since I have a background in Japanese and everything, I thought about entering. I thought it would be unfair to others, but because my essay was about my race and nationality, the professor let me enter. That's the main thing I'm focused on right now.

Today the weather was a whopping 70 degrees. This kind of warm weather reminded me of last summer, those lazy summer days. A nostalgic feeling. A feeling that the end of the school year was in the homestretch. No more jacket.

But then again the summer is the time for being social-- there are more outdoor activities and hanging out outside. It's a joyful season where everybody's mood gets happier than ever.

Especially today where the weather suddenly got warmer.

The idea of the truth of coherence is journalism is poignant in that it reflects just a portion of the global, instantaneous world we live in. In other words, reality is different for everybody, and it's the writer's job to report it. To craft a symbolic moral. A greater truth. That's why they play the surrogate role, and allow the reader to see them in their shoes. To me, that's what good reporting is all about. To dig out the hidden facts and produce an afterglow that still lingers around you, like walking outside Lincoln Center after listening to the finale performance by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. It numbs you for a while, as you take in the beauty of music. The beauty of sound.

"What do you do when you start to like someone who leaves in a month?"

"Leaves where?" I asked.

"Back to her hometown in Japan. It always happens to me. That's the thing about starting to like international students. It's hard because eventually their visa runs out and they have to go back before you know it."

"It's sort of like a fling then."

"Yeah... it's sad. When you start to have feelings for her when she has to go back. Last year too, I introduced myself to a girl the day before she graduated. I didn't even know. But I liked her."

"I guess you have a thing for second-semester seniors," I gave off a light laugh.

"It is, but I guess that's what life is all about."

It's been one hell of a week. And it's finally over, sort of. On Thursday we performed at K-Night, and it went alright. We made some mistakes, as some couldn't hold boards properly and break them. But it's all about learning from them that matters. We were asked to do it again at another event, so that's somewhat of good news. 

Apparently the demo instructor last year told my roommate that he was concerned about the dancing after watching the performance online. My inspiration was from the K-Tigers, and I wanted to combine dancing and taekwondo and see how it went at least once. Don't get me wrong, I still respect the art of taekwondo, it's just that I wanted to have a bit of some variety and K-pop flair instead of it being almost completely traditional since the event was mainly for K-Night. I did what I could do and am proud of the members for giving it their best.

There was a party the next night, and it wasn't as crowded and exciting as it used to be. My friend and I came a bit too early, and pretty much failed to be fashionably late and ended up standing around. That's always the thing with house parties. 

"Last year we had brawls," an e-board member says. "You would've liked it."

It was pouring so I ran back to the dorm. 

I've been so busy this week that I don't even have time to breath. Tests and quizzes every other day of this week, and K-Night, a student-run event where people perform on stage. I'm performing twice-- taekwondo demo that I mostly had to put together, and the Good Boy dance.

Being captain of the demo is not only fun but also stressful. There's so much you have to take into account including time-management, constructing the schedule for practices so that everyone is free, and consequences. That's a huge one. I've learned that I need to have back-up plans in case any complications arise, and there has been so many this past week. Some had to leave early, some were sick, etc. It's tough to plan alternatives, but I guess that's an inevitable part of the job. Confidence is another factor. You have to have it in order for the team to get motivated, because after all, the team looks up to the captain.

I brought the team all the way here, and finally it's our time to show them who we are tomorrow night.