Archive for November, 2005

General Mail, November 29…. “Breaking the Silence”

Tuesday, November 29th, 2005

Hello there. I apologize for the long silence. I admit, I have been busy, or rather… LAZY. Hey hey… I must seriously break whatever habit I find myself in these days. I sincerely apologize for the long break in my general mails, or, as a matter of fact, any mail or forms of contact of late. Thousand apologies.

How has this bunny (yours truly) been? My brain is so frozen right now that I can hardly compose a sentence together, what more to write a mail or, the more important… term papers etc.? I will try to make this update and mail as less painful to read as possible.

Hmm, seriously, it HAS been such a LONG time, that I can hardly remember when was the last time I wrote… (!) Gasp! Anyways, Let me just go through what November has been like for me. Let’s see…

The first week of November was the wrapping up of Student Council Term for me, Foundation Day, Zion Festival I &II (our school’s carnival day), and cleaning day after that. So, Technically there were no classes on that week, but I was busy with the various preparations for Zion Festival. I was involved with the Japanese Tea Ceremony and we performed the ceremony out in the court yard on Zion Festival II as it was a beautiful day. I had tonnes of fun though very tired out from the day’s work, wearing a kimono and all (someone actually mentioned that I looked like an “O-kami-san” Lady owner of a traditional Japanese business), and I was also nursing that terrible cold I had the week before (Hmm, somehow it seems that it never actually got well at all!)

Week 2. Classes resumed after a day of holiday on Monday (It was a replacement for Zion Festival II as it was held on a public holiday). Errm, well, technically it was a day to catch up with my homework but Ruth and I went to… DISNEYLAND!!! Well, I needed a break, and I couldn’t resist it. It was the first day of the Chirstmas Fantasy Season. We had tonnes of fun being kids again! Yay! So, after tiring ourselves out, I really didn’t get much work done that week either. Oh, I think i got myself a haircut that week too. Yep, after ages, I have bangs/fringe (whatever you want to call it) since the days of elementary school. Haha… I must admit, I look so cute. I am used to waking up in the morning fixing it in place now… it was actually a hassle for the first few days.

Week 3. Since the condition of one’s environment do effect their living/working habbits, I have decided to give my room a new look to it (well, I really wanted to clear up the mess as I really couldn’t get anything done). I came back after church on Sunday, though tired, but decided to clean up, rearrange and redecorate my “burow”. Now it is so nice and comfy that I still can’t getwork done! (haha!) Classes were busy thhis week with presentations and all. I thought I totally sucked… sigh! Please pray for my results this semester too… I am so in trouble!

Week 4. Things are getting better. I taught the kids at the nursery school I help out once a month the song “Ten Little Indian Boys…” and we made headgears for that during the class too. We had tonnes of fun. Too bad when I whipped out my Clie, the battery was flat, I only have pictures of them on my cell phone. That week, we had another break on Wednesday. It was Labour Thanksgiving Day. I had a day out with Tayama Motoko (Freshman). We went to the next station for a movie “In Her Shoes.” We spent a whole day shopping and had brunch at an all-you-can-eat place, took some “puri-kura” (the itsy-bitsy sticker pictures)… we had so much fun!

[Hmm, by now, you must have figured out that I have totally blown my budget for the month. I just settled my bills on Sunday and my wallet is REALLy empty now... but I am hungry for snacks!!! I terribly need to be spanked or whipped!]

Anyways, back to the story, yeah… the biggest event so far was the Messiah Concert last Friday. Yeah… I have to agree, time flies! This year, it was a special concert, commemorating the 15th Aniversary of the establishment of the University. It was the first time they charged for tickets and believe it or not, the tickets were sold out at the beginning of the week. Too bad those who I really wanted to come see my last participation in the concert could not get any tickets. The concert was great. I stood on stge this year instead of the “Angel seat,” at the balcony which I did last year. I broke out in cold sweat for the first time singing with the choir as I still had my throat drop in my mouth when we started. I couldn’t really crunch it down on stage… I really got myself in a fix. Anyways, all was great and went well. The tenor soloist was really good and also good looking (cheek smiles). To commenmorate this special Messiah Concert, we had all professionals involved apart from the choir and the guy who played the Timpani. This year, we had the organ and chamberlo (ok, I can’t spell it… but it belongs to the piano family, larger than the harpsichord). We even had Chiba Eiwa High School joining to sing “O Holy Night.” The night was a success… I definately wish to buy the live CD recording of the evening.

That was pretty much a wrap up of what has been going on. Well, in short, you can find me (if you can…) in my “burrow” under piles of winter clothes and/or books, papers, assignment sheets, stuff… stuffing myself with junk food while trying to rest as I tackle my homework pile. The end of the semester is just round the corner and I a really starting to freak out.

As for what is to come… well, this week is the last week of classes and school exams and due dates for term papers are next week. I will be sitting for my Japanese Proficiency Exam this Sunday (which I am SO NOT prepared!). As mentioned before, please pray that I will be able to maintain my grade as I did in the past years here. Recently, I really have no idea what has gotten over me. I have been a little frivilous with money, wasting time, grabbing whatever jobs I can find… I need the discipline back in my life again.

Happy December!
Signing off…. getting fat, cold, and lazy bunny….
Dsc00593

Just a Thought…

Friday, November 18th, 2005

Hey, have you guys ever wondered what am I doing here in Japan? Yeah, I know, you probably have asked me many times and I haven’t been doing a good job in explaining it. SO, please check out this site. It is the official site to what I am doing at the moment.

http://www.tci.ac.jp/acts/es/

I think it is pretty interesting. Haha… Enjoy!

Best Wishes of Love

Friday, November 18th, 2005

Goodbye~ no use leading with out chins

This is where our story ends

Never lovers, ever friends

Goodbye~ let our hearts call it a day

But before you walk away

I sincerely want to say…

I wish you bluebirds in the spring

To give your heart a song to sing

And then a kiss, but more than this

I wish you love

And in July a lemonade

To cool you in some leafy glade

I wish you health

But more than wealth

I wish you love

My breaking heart and I agree

That you and I could never be

So with my best, my very best

I set you free…

I wish you shelter from the storm

A cozy fire to keep you warm

But most of all, when snowflakes fall

I wish you love                                     I Wish You Love, Ella Fitzgerald

A birthday wish to you~

No matter where you are,

Whatever you are doing,

And when it might be.

A sincere greeting of love and peace.

Whatever conflicts and misunderstandings we had

Is all forgiven and I humbly request for yours too.

Though events and circumstances separate us in distance and all,

But know that you are never forgotten,

That each encounter we had has a place in my heart.

May you find joy and true happiness, always!

Link to my pictures

Monday, November 7th, 2005

I figured out something cool that is a feature on Yanagisawa-sensei’s photo web. In order to just view pictures of yours truly, please go to

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miwakoy/search/tags:suemae/
(I think you might have to cut and paste this on your browser to get linked)

Her page will give you the more recent updates (visual) of me. Enjoy!

NOVEMBER!!!

Monday, November 7th, 2005

Man! I can’t believe it is already November. Ooh… I am starting to get a little paranoid now. I know, it has been a while since anyone had any news from me. I was, maybe still am, a little lost and out of touch with the real world… lazing around in the land of procrastination! Anyways, here is a little update of what has been going on. Do feel free to check out the pictures too (to be uploaded soon…)

November. The month started off with the wrapping up of loads of stuff. Last Monday, October 31st, was the day we had the Student Council General Meeting for Closing of Term. Yay! It is finished! It has been a good year. A year long of meetings in a crammed up room above the Dining Hall for discussions, prayers, etc. It was a good team of people. We got loads done throughout the year. I am going to miss being in power and bossing people around. (Haha!) Ashesh is my succeedor being the ACTS-es course representative. All the best, buddy!

Technically, there was no school at all last week. I generally have no classes on Mondays (only work at the library), Tuesday the 1st was Foundation Day. We had an entire morning of chapel and a good lunch box. Wednesday it was Zion Festival I. It was a day of fun. We had a soccer match in the morning, visitations to each other’s dorms in the afternoon… oh yeah, and lots of preparation was done for Zion Festival II on Thursday. This year, the students of my course had the regular selling of curry. I must say they did a good job and they had fun. I wasn’t there to help on that day but did my share of helping out with the planning and delegation of work beforehand as I was busy with my Japanese Tea Ceremony. Yup! I did it! I preformed the Japanese Tea Ceremony in the middle of the courtyard for almost the whole day, making tea, serving tea, etc. It was super fun. It was a great expereince as our club decided to go fully traditional and had the entire ceremony done in its regular custom. We even had kimonos on! Friday was campus cleaning…

I guess that is about it. I am starting to get the heebie-jeebies, freaking out whether I will be able to catch up with my work till the end of the semester. After Zion Festival, technically there is nothing much to do other than waiting for the end of the term and exams. However, we will be having the Messiah concert on the 25th and I will be busy with practices for it till then. Haha… busy bunny never stops!

Anyways, back to my hectic schedule. Oh yeah… I did something crazy yesterday. I dragged Ruth to help me overcome some fear I had. It turned out great! We had tonnes of fun. Just check out the photo albums, it will be posted. Haha!