This is a live journal thing, but I'm stealing it

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your LJ (or blog) with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions


Walker's Questions:

1)It seems as though this year in Japan didn't turn out as you had anticipated. Knowing what you know now, would you still have taken this year?
Yes, I think so. Cause it's always something I thought I'd do and if I just never did it I'd always wonder "what if..." So now I know! Plus some good did come out of it. I was able to travel a lot in Asia. And this year was very important for self-discovery. Most importantly the realization that I need other people more than I thought I did.

2)What do you miss most from home? My family. Awwww. And just a feeling of belonging.

3)Is there anything you regret from your sorority experience?
No, not really. Though I guess I wish I had gone out of my way to get to know more people in the house while we were all living there and it was so easy. Once you graduate it's hard to keep up if you don't already have a solid bond.

4)If you could change anything about the past 5 years, what would it be?
Ummm, I wish my high school boyfriend hadn't jerked me around and controlled my heart for the first 2 and a half years of college. And I wish I hadn't let him. (though maybe I wouldn't change that, because we learn from our mistakes right?)

5)What's your favorite NU memory?
Junior year in general was really fun. I had a great study abroad experience in Japan in the fall, and in the winter and spring I had a great time living in the house, going to 1800 club karaoke etc. (I miss you guys!)


MORE PEOPLE SHOULD INTERVIEW ME BECAUSE I'M BORED!


So I went to Korea for the weekend and it was pretty good. Not the most amazing place I've been to, but a fun way to spend a weekend. (I think I'm turning Japanese, because two days is starting to seem like a reasonable amount of time for a vacation. Ahh!) It took less time for me to fly to Seoul than to fly to Tokyo. dat's crazy!
Korea is kinda similar to Japan in some ways - same chains of convenience stores, public baths (I went to one) etc. It's just not as expensive, or as clean and polite, as Japan. (well, that's true for any country I suppose). I think that trip was the last time I'll leave Japan before I move out this summer. Goodbye mainland Asia!
Pics of Korea are below!

traditional Korean house at Changdeokgung palace

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

I think concubines used to live here

gate at Changdeokgung palace

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

pavilion at Changdeokgung palace

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

my new Yon-sama socks!

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Bae Yong Joon (aka Yon-sama to the Japanese) is a Korean actor who is insanely popular in Japan. (despite being NOT that good-looking in my opinion). Japanese tourists go to Korea for special "Winter Sonata" tours. ("Winter Sonata" = insanely popular Korean drama that Yon-sama starred in). At the snow festival in Sapporo there was a snow sculpture of his head. haha. It's madness! When I saw these Yon-sama socks (obviously marketed to Japanese tourists) for sale in Korea, I thought they were so ridiculous that I just HAD to buy them.

Star Wars!!!! (in Korea)

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

so Japan is the ONLY country that is not releasing Star Wars until July. Why? Because they're STUPID. But it's all good because I could see it in Korea!! (and for half the price of a movie in Japan.) And no, I did NOT go to Korea JUST to see Star Wars. (I'm not THAT nerdy). I had already planned my trip and it was just a happy coincidence. yay! Seeing this movie was probably the highlight of my weekend. haha. I don't think I'd actually been to a movie theater in months.

Anyways, I thought the movie kicked ass and it was just so AMAZING and powerful to see the story finally pull together. The writing and acting was a big step up from the last two (not too difficult). What'd everyone else think?

Korean neon signs

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

changing of the guards

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

pavilion at Gyeongbokgung palace

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

more Gyeongbokgung palace

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

detail of roof

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

colorful roof at palace

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul, South Korea

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

sadly most of these palace buildings aren't original because the Japanese burned them down in the 16th century.

elementary school in the boonies of Japan - ah, the mullets....

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

view from the mountain

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

the school trip was good exercise, a nice view, and better than sitting at my desk all day, but just so ODD...

the strangest day of work EVER

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

yesterday was field trip day, so I walked with all the first year students, and their teachers, 5 miles, EACH WAY, to the next town, and up a mountain, to a little park. Why? I'm not really sure...
Then it got stranger. All the teachers ABANDONED the students, me, and Sarah on the top of this mountain, for about an hour, while they drove off to eat their lunch somewhere else. Ummm..ok...
Then all the children had to have a JUMP-ROPING contest, as one by one they started dropping down with heat exhaustion. (it was a pretty HOT day for all this activity in the sun and water supplies seemed to be scarce.)

I have the feeling that this trip wouldn't really fly in America. The parents would protest or something. (and rightly so). Japan is so bizarre!! ahhh!! The longer I live here, the stranger it seems to get.... I'll never get used to it.

Miko vs. the stray cat

This mangy black stray cat has been coming around my apt EVERY DAY for the past few weeks. She just sits outside my window (I live on the 1st floor) and it totally freaks Miko out. Miko starts racing back and forth from window to window and hissing at the other cat. But the stray has gotten even more aggressive lately. It's started jumping up and clinging to the ledge outside my window, getting right up in Miko's face! It has NO respect for Miko's territory. The other day my window was open a crack somehow and I swear the cats were trying to push it open more. (it slides sideways, so they totally could have done it). They almost got at each other and I had to tear Miko away. I also think the stray has shredded my porch screen doors from the outside. (not that I really care about this apt, but I better not get charged for that damage!). I don't know what to do!!! I'm sure it's not good for Miko's health to be agitated like that every day. It also makes her get more aggressive with me, and I have the scratches to prove it. The stray cat is scared of me, so if I go outside I can usually chase it off. I also try to toss Miko in the windowless tatami room until she calms down. There's a part of me that is of course tempted to feed the stray cat, since she looks like she's wasting away. But then she might NEVER leave. And I can't take in another cat at this point. (Especially since Miko seems to HATE her). Well, Miko and I are out of here in 2 months. In the meantime, any advice from cat people?

it's baseball season again!

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

so here is a pic of my favorite Hawks player, Kawasaki. isn't he cute? hehe.

the Hawks are the Fukuoka team. They used to be the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. but this year changed to the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. I think that sounds odd.

this picture makes me happy

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

I was hanging out with my friend Emiko (the one who lived in Iowa and has an American ex-husband), after I helped with her kids English party thingy, and her (half-American) son was releasing these butterflies. pretty!

the tea bowl I made at the Takeo pottery kiln

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

it's upside down to show my name written in Japanese on the bottom.

I displayed it on my tatami mats for a more "Japanese" effect.

Speaking of tea, I may quit those tea ceremony lessons. They've stopped being fun and started being frustrating. She corrects every move I make, but in formal Japanese, using vocab words I don't know, and I barely understand anything she's saying. Last time I almost started crying. That's no good. I was only going to do it through the end of June anyways, so if I quit now, it's not really a big deal. I'll see how I feel about it next week.

9am and already bored of today. sigh.

So the other night I tutored one of my students, Shohei. He used to be my 6th grade elementary school student and is now my 1st year middle school student. His family just moved back from Arizona, where he spent half his childhood, so he's pretty much fluent in English. I tutor him once a week to keep up his English. We talk a bit and read books together (right now it's Robin Hood) and I give him spelling and vocab quizzes. It's kinda fun and I get paid $25 an hour. The family is nice to me - had me over for dinner once and fed my cat over X-mas break (in exchange for 2 free English lessons).

Anyways, now that he's in middle school, Shohei has to start formal English class. Which is of course totally pointless for him. They make him sit there copying the alphabet when there are much more useful things he could be doing with his time. But he said he doesn't want me to say anything about it to his teacher. Maybe he doesn't want to stand out (being different is not a good thing in Japan) And maybe he doesn't want to be given lots of extra English work (understandably). But it must be pretty boring for him. And strange for his fellow classmates to hear a flawless American accent come out of the mouth of a normal Japanese boy. When I first heard him talk it completely blew my mind. I just stared at him and asked, "..how... do you speak English?.." Trippy

building on Dejima (Nagasaki)

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Dejima = artificial island where Dutch traders lived in 17th century, while Japan was an otherwise closed country

wow. it really IS boring here.

After 3 weeks of galavanting around NYC and constantly being surrounded by people, Takeo seems even MORE boring. (if that's possible).

It's now my 2nd day back at work and I've taught ONE class total. Back to wasting my days away on the internet. If anyone can suggest a (work safe) entertaining website I'd be grateful.

My main activity since I've been back has been sleep. I have been sleeping like it's my job. Last Friday I went to bed at 1pm. On Sunday I went to bed at 5pm. And last night it was 7pm. Hell, if I can sleep through half of the next 2 months, all the better.

On Saturday I did go to Nagasaki to see Lisa, who was visiting Kyushu with a friend from her grad school in Tokyo. Nagasaki actually has a very interesting history (besides being an A-bomb target). We went to Dejima, the man-made island where Dutch traders lived in the 17th century. The Dutch were the only people allowed to trade with Japan, while it was a closed country, and Dejima was the only place they were allowed to live.
We also went to Glover Garden where foreigners built western homes in the 19th century.
Good stuff.

Back in Japan

So my trip home was great (of course). Besides some minor setbacks like my ipod breaking and coming down with bronchitis at the end and having to delay my flight back. Though I suppose it's good I was home when those things happened so I could take care of them properly.

I had some job interviews at Christies auction house and the Metropolitan Museum. I'm excited to pursue both of those more when I move back home in August. It'll just be so great to live in NY full-time again. I haven't really done that since before I left for boarding school when I was 15.

Vegas was so goood. We played lots o' blackjack and I won big, then lost big, but came out a little ahead in the end. We all had a nice time lounging by the pool and walking the strip.

It was just so surreal being home. It was like I never left. And that whole "living in Japan" thing felt like a dream. But it's not. Cause I'm here again. (Damn!) Back to work Monday. Blah, blah.....

high school reunion

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

I spent last weekend in CT at my boarding school 5 year reunion.

inside the Venetian

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Vegas is so awesome.

I can't wait for next year!

inside "Paris"

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Bellagio fountains and the strip

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

me and my girls in the lobby of the Luxor

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

Vegas, baby!

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

This is the Luxor, where ADPi reunion in Vegas part 2 took place.

me and Tiffany out and about in NYC

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

at the club, Hiro, where we saw Keith Richards!!!!

This pic is actually online at www.gbh.tv.
We're so cool.

me and my cousin's new baby

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

awww

my little sister before her prom

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.

pretty sunset on flight from Tokyo to NY

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Originally uploaded by abnihon.