Actual news
So you know how I said I opened this blog to actually give news of me and stuff... Well, I figured I should actually do so.
First of all, I graduated, in case anyone didn't know that. I still haven't gotten my mind around it. Next year I'm going to England to do a master's in the history of the book. So, that'll be cool.
I've been travelling around a bit since graduation... My family and I spent 12 days in Japan, which was really cool. It's hard to really describe what it was like, but I'll try. It was definitely a different culture, but it wasn't entirely alien to me, the way I had thought it might be. Actually, several things reminded me of 19th century Britain, with which most of you know I am obsessed. People carry parasols and fans and wear gloves and taxi drivers wear uniforms and hats and open their doors automatically. You often have to take off your shoes. The food is great, although it took a while for my system to adjust, especially after a 11-hour time change and a diet of mainly melted cheese at college (you know, omlettes, quesadillas, grilled cheese sandwiches... what can you do when you shop for four and a half people once a week?). I have discovered that I love sashimi, I can eat whole, cute fish
and whole crayfish (although not without a moment of qualm) (sorry, vegetarians, they're yummy), I love green tea and brown tea, and I can go a whole week without chocolate and not really miss it. Also, red bean curd and macha are really cool. Particularly together; the first is extremely sweet and the second rather bitter, so they set each other off well. I saw a tea ceremony and had tea with a monk. On two seperate occasions. It was cool. I also realized that Zen temples are the coolest thing since sliced bread
and that some Zen monks ride motorcycles (Peter and I speculated about the Blessed Order of the Motorcycle) and that Japanese schoolchildren like to speak English to you and take their picture with you. I also learned that riding the bus is actually pretty easy even when you don't speak the language and that Japan is incredibly accessible to English speakers, which prompted me to feel guilty that America is really not accessible to anyone who doesn't speak English. Bad Americans! No cookie. I also learned five Japanese words in the following order: arigato (thank you), mizu (water), sumimasen (excuse me), konichiwa (sp?) (hello), and sayonara (goodbye). For the most part, I held up fingers and pointed (although it's supposedly rude to point in Japan). It's also supposedly rude to blow one's nose, which, as anyone who knows me might suspect, was very difficult for me, particularly because I had a really bad cold (possibly induced by our rainy graduation).
So that's a bit o' the news of me. Back to our regularly scheduled program, which is random spoutings about noting in particular.
So you know how I said I opened this blog to actually give news of me and stuff... Well, I figured I should actually do so.
First of all, I graduated, in case anyone didn't know that. I still haven't gotten my mind around it. Next year I'm going to England to do a master's in the history of the book. So, that'll be cool.
I've been travelling around a bit since graduation... My family and I spent 12 days in Japan, which was really cool. It's hard to really describe what it was like, but I'll try. It was definitely a different culture, but it wasn't entirely alien to me, the way I had thought it might be. Actually, several things reminded me of 19th century Britain, with which most of you know I am obsessed. People carry parasols and fans and wear gloves and taxi drivers wear uniforms and hats and open their doors automatically. You often have to take off your shoes. The food is great, although it took a while for my system to adjust, especially after a 11-hour time change and a diet of mainly melted cheese at college (you know, omlettes, quesadillas, grilled cheese sandwiches... what can you do when you shop for four and a half people once a week?). I have discovered that I love sashimi, I can eat whole, cute fish
and whole crayfish (although not without a moment of qualm) (sorry, vegetarians, they're yummy), I love green tea and brown tea, and I can go a whole week without chocolate and not really miss it. Also, red bean curd and macha are really cool. Particularly together; the first is extremely sweet and the second rather bitter, so they set each other off well. I saw a tea ceremony and had tea with a monk. On two seperate occasions. It was cool. I also realized that Zen temples are the coolest thing since sliced bread
and that some Zen monks ride motorcycles (Peter and I speculated about the Blessed Order of the Motorcycle) and that Japanese schoolchildren like to speak English to you and take their picture with you. I also learned that riding the bus is actually pretty easy even when you don't speak the language and that Japan is incredibly accessible to English speakers, which prompted me to feel guilty that America is really not accessible to anyone who doesn't speak English. Bad Americans! No cookie. I also learned five Japanese words in the following order: arigato (thank you), mizu (water), sumimasen (excuse me), konichiwa (sp?) (hello), and sayonara (goodbye). For the most part, I held up fingers and pointed (although it's supposedly rude to point in Japan). It's also supposedly rude to blow one's nose, which, as anyone who knows me might suspect, was very difficult for me, particularly because I had a really bad cold (possibly induced by our rainy graduation).
So that's a bit o' the news of me. Back to our regularly scheduled program, which is random spoutings about noting in particular.
posted by L @ 4:34 PM
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