Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Perfect time to get sick.

Why? Because I have my final exams tomorrow and friday, also monday and tuesday. Ugh. I can't miss them, even though I have a bit of food poisoning. I'm studying Chinese, fyi, and I have my listening test tomorrow. That shouldn't be a problem, because it's just understanding rather than grammar or anything. however, my exam on Friday is reading and writing, which will be tricky since the characters are difficult. I know a good bit of them, but I don't know how to write a lot of them. For example, I was talking to one of my Chinese friends on MSN, and she asked me to write in characters. I said I'd try, though I had to use the roman-letters (called pinyin: for example shi -to be= 是) once or twice. *sigh* Practice makes perfect, right? So yeah, I've been sleeping on and off all day, and went to the doctor (who gave me some medicine). She said that I can probably start eating some dry toast or something tomorrow after my exam. *sigh* Wish me luck? ~Laura aka Minako ;)

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Thursday, June 26, 2008

*sigh* I did it.

Yup. I "confessed" to the boy. Well, the story goes like this: So, he's going back to S. Africa, right? So he has this little book that he has his friends write in when he left S.Africa and asked me to write in it too. He told me that one of his female friends back home had written in it that she had had a crush on him (even though he had confessed to her a few times and she declined every time). So, I wrote the usual "Oh good times!" and some advice like "Don't forget the good times..." etc. and at the end, I wrote something like "I'll miss you, and it's not because I've had a crush on you all these months! ;) " Then he said "Laura!" in a sort of a sweet way? Yeah. I was laughing nervously but I acted cool about it. He hasn't mentioned it, so I guess he doesn't reciprocate my feelings. That's totally ok though! I feel like there may be someone else out there somewhere, waiting for me. :) ...or then again, I AM a hopeless romantic. Xo Oh yeah! Did I mention that he is going to be coming to the US to pursue acting come January?? And guess who he's going to visit?? XD ha ha! But yeah, I haven't been sleeping well, and my joints hurt. I've been taking these natural supplements for it (like vitamins), because I'm a strong advocate for natural means first, then if that doesn't work, then the prescriptions. I take St. John's Wort for my depression (it's been called nature's prozac ha ha!), Melatonin for sleep (it's the same chemical that your body produces when it's trying to sleep, so it gives your body a bit of a boost to help you sleep), and this mixed one called Joint Health to help. It has all sorts of good stuff, though it takes about a week to help. I only just started taking it again, so I'm still a bit sore. Hopefully those of you who have similar problems can try it out because it works! :) I've been drawing a lot lately, though I've been lazy about scanning/don't know how to use my dad's scanner. Xo I'm thinking of working on a comic, but it's so time-consuming that I don't know if I can give it that much time. *shrug* We'll see. Well, I think this has been long enough, so I'll leave it here for now! Take Care!! ~Laura aka Minako

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Thursday, June 19, 2008

Warning: depressed/confused/boy-stuff ranting!

So, we only have this week and next week (and the next Monday, the 30th) of classes left. Plus two days off to "study," two days of exams, the weekend off, and two more days of exams, plus three days or so, and then our "closing ceremony" where I get my certificate. Add about 4-5 days or so and then I leave the country...and then I'll be back for like two weeks in July-August. It sucks to see everyone's summer vacation pictures on Facebook when I'm still in school. T_T *shrug* It evens out though. I had a long winter break waiting for this course to start. For those of you who don't know, I'm in China studying Chinese for the semester. It's been really cool. I've never felt so "at home" in a place in my life. Just being around other ex-patriots (those who don't live in their own home countries) is just wonderful. We're all in the same boat and have the same struggles. *sigh* I'm going to miss my friends so much! Speaking of someone I'm going to miss...the boy. I realized yesterday that I'm actually going to miss him a LOT. So that's making me wonder if I should "confess" to him before I go, so I wouldn't keep wondering "what if..." GAH! I keep going back and forth. 为什么我不知道?? (Why do I not know??) I've also just been in a depressed mood lately, which also isn't new for me since I've struggled with depression most of my life. But this is different. I feel a bit...heart-broken. I guess I've just come to be attached to China and all it's quirks. It could also be that I'm getting homesick because I know I'm going home soon. *shrug* Any suggestions on what I should do to cheer up/the boy? Take Care everyone!! ~Laura aka Minako

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Sunday, June 15, 2008

I really should be studying now...

Hello everyone! (anyone still read this?) I'm back after a very long time (I did come to visit a few times, I swear!), and I'm glad that "myO still <3's me" but I'm still not happy about the whole worlds-taking-over-all-of-myO-and-almost-getting-rid-of-myO-completely-thing. I have a "world" but I don't use it. *shrug* So, I suppose I should get on with my post then, eh? Well, I'm still in China, and still studying Chinese. I only have about two weeks of class + a week of exams, not to mention the HSK exam in a week. (kind of like a Chinese language placement test) It kind of sucks when all my friends back home have summer vacation now, and I'm still in school. *cries* Oh well, the semester DID start in March, so who am I to complain if it gets extended into the summer then? I'll still have a month and a half of vacation-time after I go home next month. This semester in China has been really good, relationships-wise, as well as language-wise. I've only started learning the language this past March, and I've already learned so much! This American guy in my class has been studying for 3 YEARS and has learned as much as we have. O_O whoah. Also the Chinese people that I've been talking to have been pretty surprised that we've only been studying it for about 3 months or so. I've also made friends from all over the world: Phillipines, the UK, Holland, Korea, and South Africa. SPEAKING OF SOUTH AFRICA...^^; I've kind of had a crush on that South African guy since I laid eyes on him. (sorry guys, but he's really good-looking in my opinion...) I've thought of telling him how I feel SO many times, and have had SO many opportunities to tell him...but I haven't. Why? Well, he's a year younger than me, and it's not his age that bothers me. It's the fact that he's fresh out of high school, and he hasn't experienced all that I have from living away from home at University, you know? I feel like he may have some growing up to do, and he has grown a lot since I've known him. He also is very popular among the ladies, and his ex-girlfriends are beautiful from the pictures he's shown me... And I'm just a t-shirt and jeans kind of a girl with some weight to lose. But... We're always hanging out with each other, and we're always together. I kind of want to tell him, but he's going back to S. Africa in a few weeks (before I go back to the US) and he'll be seeing all those beautiful S. African girls again... including his ex/best friend that he keeps talking about. ;_; I think I'll just let things be. I mean, why make things potentially awkward when we're just about to part ways after a great semester? *sigh* The good news is, he may move to the US soon-ish (read: in 6 months- a year). And I'm probably going to be coming back to China for a few weeks if I can get my visa extended. (they're limiting visas for the olympics, so we'll see how long I can get.) Of COURSE this post is mainly about a boy. Jeesh. I get so boy-crazy sometimes. It sucks, really. I've also been thinking about moving abroad after I graduate. Like, going to Finland (where I'm originally from) or to Germany or something. Maybe even back to China to continue my studies of Chinese, who knows? The idea of it just sounds better and better, the more I think about it. I have a lot of connections, so it could possibly work out. However, I have 2 years of Uni left (maybe more, depends on if I can graduate on time...), so I have plenty of time to think about it. For right now, I really should be studying, oy. So I'll leave it here for now. I may pick it up again later today, or tomorrow... or something. ~Minako aka Laura There is no price for awesomeness...and attractiveness. ~ the new movie, Kung Fu Panda. heh heh.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

More Crazy-ness!!

So, sorry for the lack of posts, I just have been busy with class and such since it started this month! Speaking of class, last week I tried out class 1.4, which is the class entirely in Chinese, with Japanese and Korean students (they learn the characters a bit easier since they already know characters in their own languages, and Japanese has many Chinese characters in it with similar means, albeit different pronunciations.). I tried it out on Monday, and found that it was a bit faster paced than my all-western people class of 1.3, so I kept going with it...until Wednesday that is. So on Monday and Tuesday, we were going over "What do you like to do?" and so forth, something I had gone over in the other class (1.3). However, on Wednesday, we started a new subject (finally!), of time and dates. We had gone through it rather quickly, and our teacher already was asking us questions, even though we didn't go through the vocabulary as thoroughly as we usually did in 1.3. She asked me a question, and I had no idea what she was talking about until she told me what it meant in english. I realized then that this new class was too hard. I was devastated. It meant that I had failed at something that I'm good at (learning languages). I nearly cried in the middle of the class. It was then that I transferred back to good ol' 1.3. All of my friends are there, and though I may not learn as much as in 1.4, I'll learn it better. It made me realize that I have my limitations, and Chinese is turning out to be a difficult language for me, since it's NOTHING like English, Finnish, or German, the languages I know. The grammar and the characters are difficult, but once you practice reading and writing the characters a few times, you catch on pretty quickly. It's just writing them correctly which can be tricky at times! ha ha! My father also has been traveling a lot these past two weeks. I haven't seen him for more than a few hours in this time period. He's coming home tomorrow afternoon, and he shouldn't be going anywhere until Monday, but that's just a one night trip. And after that, he declined on ANOTHER trip. So it's been kind of lonely around here. I mean, I have my friends, but I have a difficult time opening up to them, since losing my best friend this past fall. I also am having a difficult time seeing myself even WANTING to get close to them, since I don't know if they share the same morals and ideals as me. *sigh* I'm meeting all sorts of interesting people, from all over the world, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're really close to me. I really miss my friends back home!! I realize that I've been put in this situation for a reason...though I don't really know what that reason is. Is it for me to grow? Or to help others grow? I don't know, and it's a bit frustrating. On a lighter note, I'm starting to enjoy this city more, and the more I explore, the more I'm finding the Chinese people to be really friendly and funny! My Chinese friend is so great (who is also my tutor!), and going shopping with her was such a great experience. I learned so much about China, the language, and also learned many helpful phrases to use while I'm out! I hope to see her again soon! Well, this is *another* novel, so I'll stop here. One last bit of news, I'm going to be at a Maroon 5 concert this Saturday! They're one of my favorite bands, and I'm very excited to go and spend time with my dad. (he's coming too) Take Care!

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Friday, March 7, 2008

First Week of Class Over!

So my first week of Chinese classes are over! (Thank goodness!) On the first day, I saw a blonde guy sitting on a bench outside the classrooms and he said to me "I sure hope you're learning Mandarin!" And with that a new friend was made, Divan, from South Africa. He lives near me too, so we've been hanging out at school together ever since. (Even taking the same taxi home sometimes!) I also met Bram, a guy from Holland, Nina, a woman from the phillipines, and Helen, another woman from England. There are also other Americans in my class, one from Italy, Chile, Israel, another guy from the UK, and a few Koreans. So I go to school with people from *literally* around the world. How cool is that! I'm going out with Divan, Bram, Nina, and *hopefully* Helen (her boyfriend is sick, so we'll see...) tomorrow for dinner and to some bars and whatnot. I'm looking forward to it! It gets kind of tiring hanging out with my dad and his buddies all the time! haha! It was a rough first week of class, with the teachers using the characters from the start, so you have to keep up with the letters if you want to know what the lesson is about!! Me + Extra Studying= Stress!! And today I was just DONE with Chinese! I was so frustrated learning about how to say "what do you like to do?" and explaining to others that I nearly had it, plus I'm tired, so that doesn't help. I think that just the stress of the ENORMITY of this task of learning Chinese in China doesn't help very much. But after class, Divan, Nina, and I all went out for coffee, so it was nice. :) I also have been going to the gym with a personal trainer. I've been sore after every session, so "no pain no gain," right? I'm trying to lose *at least* 30 pounds (roughly 15 kilos), but we'll see. I don't know if I'll get that far in this 5 months that I'm here, but at least I'm on the right track! No weight loss yet, but now that I've been riding my bike to school (about 2 miles, 3.4 km) I think it should speed up. :) I have to meet up with Simon (that's my trainer's name) later this afternoon for some more exercise! (my muscles are hurting even thinking about it, but then again, they're still sore from the other day with Simon!) Well, this has been a novel, so I'll cut this short. I'm excited about Version Vibrant! It's pretty spiffy! so be sure to check out my "world" here I may end up posting there more often than here, we'll see! Take Care! Minako

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Fireworks

So I've been here in Asia for 5 days now, and have been out and about a bit. I've been to the areas around my apartment, including getting some flowers for the latter. :) I've also been out with a family friend of ours...and her Finnish friends. They're...well, kind of like chickens. They like to cluck and cluck about stuff that I don't really know anything about. I sit there politely, and drink my coffee. *sigh* This makes me a bit lonely sometimes, but I know that I'll start to get friends once school starts...in a week and a half. *sigh* There are fireworks tonight, apparently it's some holiday, according to those Finnish women. They also shoot off fireworks often. They'll do it for a new home, to ward off evil spirits, or even for the light and water show down by the lake. So it's not unusual to hear fireworks going off, though it startled me the first time I was here, heh. So yeah, that's about it for now. I'll keep you guys updated!! :) ~Laura

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Monday, February 18, 2008

So I've been in China for the past two days (I came in on Sunday) and it's been good so far! The flight went well, and I made it to this city rather easily. I've been sleeping rather well, considering a 14 hour time difference, oy! I'm better today, so I bet I'll get over it really quickly. I start to get tired around 8pm, which is really good for me! And i've woken up at 7am both days, so that's good too. :) Yesterday, I un-packed my bags and went out with a family friend of ours and some other women for coffee, and we went to the bakery and other little errands. I also was shown where the local grocery store is, where I'm planning to go today to get some food stuffs ha ha. Today we're (our family friend Sari and I) planning on doing something, but I'll call her after I get back from the grocery store. So all is going well so far and I'm glad that I have almost 2 weeks until school starts (I have registration on the 28th and 29th and I start the monday after that, I think). Stay tuned for more updates!! ~Laura

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Sunday, February 10, 2008

Ooh, so Version Vibrant is coming up soon!! Anyone else getting excited for it?

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Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Hello! Sorry for being absent, I just haven't had that much to say lately. ^^; So, as some of you may know, I'm going abroad to China this semester. A week from this Saturday, actually. I will be living with my father, who works there. I'm excited because this an intensive Chinese program, designed for foreigners. It is supposed to be a good program, since I've heard that those who have done this can read a newspaper afterwards! There will be a lot of work involved! I have four hours of class time, 50 characters to learn every day and I am tested on those every day, with a test at the end of the week that is accumulative. @_@; I can say I won't have a life, but I am determined to stay around here on myO! And if I tend to write more often, it will be because my other blog (on livejournal) doesn't work, so I'll have to resort to this one more! I am still looking at new anime, and I have recently downloaded the first episode of Shaman King, which is rather interesting. I remember watching it when it was dubbed on TV, but now that I'm watching the subbed version, I'm amazed that Yoh's voice is so feminine! I remember the English dub being so much more deeper, so it's a surprise to hear what the original Yoh sounds like. :) Picture comes from Shaman King

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