In Touch With My Inner Artist

The camera blurred the lines quite a bit...but I still like it. It is much sharper up close. This is the first drawing I have done in four years!

This is the Kits Beach, which overlooks English Bay and the mountains just outside Vancouver city. Canada is very beautiful.

I sat on the beach and drew this at about 2pm, which apparently is the time when the tide is out. There was a lot of seaweed and some birds were searching around for food. The barges were coming and going, as well as the sailboats. No kayaks at that time. I particularly like looking at the layering color of mountains. I didn't do a great job with that, since I never used watercolors before. The watercolors I used were my grandfather's before he died; I hope to one day say that he has passed his talent on to me. I need much, much more practice.

[And besides my grandfather, Ohno Satoshi is my artistic-inspiration. I want to be half as good of an artist as he is. Yay Riida <3!]

10 minute walk away from me

Settling In

I've slowly been settling into Vancouver.

My new roommate is super nice and her friends have been welcoming, so I am not as worried as I originally thought I would be. I am still super nervous about starting classes, but that's another problem in itself.

I got my student card and student bus pass, which is awesome. All you have to do is show it to the bus driver and you can go almost anywhere in the city. It is $25 (2,500 yen) per month, which isn't cheap, but it isn't so bad either, especially if I use the bus a lot.

I really, really miss my family, and I also really miss Japan. I think I will try my best to live there when I get older and then my family can move there with me when they retire (which mom says will never happen...crazy lady).

Today, Christine's friends are taking us to a Japanese Ramen shop and I am looking forward to it very much! I never had Ramen that wasn't a package from a store, so I am hoping it is delicious.

I also found I love a lot more Arashi songs than I thought! Right now I really like "One Love", "How to Fly", and "Song for Me" (Ohno's solo). I listen to them on repeat for hours at a time!

Okay, I'd better get ready for ramen now! Will post soon!

Shinpai!

I am so nervous! Permanent butterflies!

I didn't think I'd be so nervous moving across countrry, but it's probably the fact that I am moving out of the country that is causing me to freak out.

Now I am just going to listen to happy Arashi music on repeat. Arashi is my anti-drug (^0^)!!!

Kanji Update!

In the past week I have worked my way up to learning to recognize/write first grade-level Japanese kanji (80 characters total). Took me a week!

Total Count: 80/1,006 (essential kanji characters)

So...this is going to take a while ^_^***

And yes, I will start updating this less once classes start...right now I am kind of bored, but in a good way.

Jpop Rec - Arashi

As far as my musical tastes are defined, I am kind of a classic rock/indie rock kind of girl. I used to do that pop music thing back in the 90's with *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys like everyone else (yes, even you did it, so embrace the shame). But most things that sound remotely pop-esque kind of make me feel like I am 12 again and that is never a fun thing (such an awkward age), so I tend to abhor it.

But now comes my new musical interest: Arashi.

Arashi is a Japanese five-member group of the Johnny's Entertainment variety and while there are elements of R&B/Rap (Sho-kun!), it is undeniably, most ostensibly, a pop group.

Some of their music makes me cringe and wonder when a Backstreet Boy is going to suddenly pop in with one of their ugly nylon tracksuits, but there are three Arashi songs that are right up my alley and that I would recommend without shame. There may be more music of theirs that I might like, but I have only listened to songs with music videos. In anycase, I recommend (especially the music videos):

Truth (dark, beautiful color scheme in music video, excellent orchestra)

Happiness (cutest music video ever!!! boys just being happy!)

Sakura Sake (real you-can-do-it song! about college acceptance letters)

Overall, I have enjoyed watching clips of the boys in tv shows and interviews. I especially love when they tease their appointed "leader" (Riida), Ohno Satoshi, who also happens to be my favorite Arashi member. He's got such a pretty singing voice, is a talented actor (he is so scary in Maou), and is such an air-headed momma's boy that you can't help going "awwww, I just want to take him and put him in my pocket!"

I also wish to firmly declare my support of Ohno not only because he has such an awesome name, but for the fact that he is having a hard time with a scandal about something that allegedly happened three years ago. No reason to go into details because I completely believe him when he says he is innocent of the charges, but I do believe he should get as much support as possible because it is still stressful and many fans are acting quite irrational. Each to his or her own I guess, but really, this little air-headed kid is too sweet to just abandon at the first sign of potential human weakness. But enough fangirling from me.

Well, actually I will end this rec post with a picture of Ikuta Toma because Johnny's hasn't debuted him yet (WHENGODWHEN?!) and everyone loves an underdog.

Here's to Ohno and Toma, the underdogs/downtrodden of Japan's (mainly musical) media industry. May they continue to surprise us all with their talent and tenacity in the face of adversity [aka, low ratings for Maou (;_;)].

~Owari!~

Lucky Day

Yesterday was my lucky day (^_^)!

My mom found my ring for me! I lost it at my aunt's house the day we went crabbing. After dinner I fell asleep on the couch and sometimes I fall asleep and take my ring off in my sleep. The circumstances are so mysterious! I am so happy I have the ring now because I feel it is my connection to my grandfather and my grandmother and Japan.

Also I am typing on my new HP laptop! It is a Pavillion dv2000, energy efficient (energy star product), the screen is so crisp, and Window's Alta Vista is not as slow as everyone was freaking out about. It has a really nice interface.

I have also started up my writing again. This time I am doing a fandom piece, but I might start back up with my short story for children again soon.

Mom doesn't like Honey and Clover (Hachimitsu to Clover) very much because Ikuta Toma's character keeps getting beat up and his hair is weird. I don't care, since I support Ikuta Toma in everything he does. Maybe one day I will get a chance to see one of his stage plays!

My parents are getting used to me talking about going to Kyoto next summer for the exchange study program in Japan. And guess what? My parents are going to Japan next spring break (April 10-17) and I get out of university April 8th.....we might end up in Japan at the same time!!! Then we can all help Atan pack and I will get to see my family even though I will be abroad all summer. How fortuitous!

Okay time for walking the dogs. Osampo ni ikimashyo?

Gmail Chat With Kathleen!!!

Right now I am chatting with Kathleen while she is in Armenia on gmail!!!

I am sooooooooooo happy!!!!! ()(^_^)() Waii, waii!

(Korean) Movie Rec!

Normally, if I read the entire plot of a movie before watching it, no matter how touching it may be, I will not feel any connection to it. No tears.

The King and the Clown, a 2005 Korean movie adapted from the play Yi ("You"), is not one of those movies, despite the fact that I had read an in-depth synopsis prior to watching it.

Synopsis: Two minstrels ("clowns") flee a crime involving killing their manager in self-defense, forming their own troop in Seoul during the Joseon dynasty (1500's BCE). To gain audience, they mock the king with a play, which they must re-perform in front of the king to make him laugh or be killed. The king, having had a troubled childhood, is psychologically unbalanced and with each successive performance the minstrels engage in, the more insane his actions become. This reign of terror culminates in the king's obsession with one of the two minstrels, Gong-gil, a beautiful and naiive youth that inspires jealousy in the king's mistress. It is from that point onward that the devotion of the two minstrels to each other is tested and ultimately succeeds.

It is based on records of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty that mention the king's favorite clown.

Okay, pretty vague but I don't want to spoil it for anyone else like I spoiled it for myself, because I think anyone else would probably cry buckets instead of the teaspoons of tears I shed.

I am super excited about the actor that played Gong-gil, his name being Lee Jun Ki. In the movie he looks more effeminate than most girls, but I think it is because the movie producers made him gain weight for the role; his regular pictures look different. He apparently was also in a Japanese drama, Virgin Snow. Must put this on my must-see list. In any case....he's really, really pretty!!! (#*_*#)

Watch this movie at any given chance.

Georgia the country, not the state

My best friend Kathleen is a Peace Corps volunteer that was stationed in Georgia when Russia invaded. Thankfully she is safe now, in Armenia, but I am still worried for her safety. I hope that she will be sent somewhere safe soon to finish her teaching service.

Watching the news reports has been hard and it is terrible that I am learning more about Georgia through the antagonistic actions of Russia. I am scared for the people that live there, since the Russian tanks are not leaving, even though a cease-fire was declared. I wish that Georgia was part of NATO so that we would have to aid Georgia more aggressively. We are not doing enough.

Fearing for Kathleen, losing my ring, missing my family and Japan, and being scared about starting graduate school in a foreign country has made me a very sad little girl (;_;)

When you lose something priceless...

I lost my ring, the ring that I have owned and worn almost everyday for the past six years. My grandfather gave it to my grandmother before he died and she in turn, gave it to me. It was my most precious possession.

Right now my mom and I are binging on Japanese dramas. Like watching entire seasons (ten episodes each) of random shows that I like: Anego, Kimi wa Petto, Hotaru no Hikari. It is nice to watch heart-touching stories when you feel sad. It is so odd that I can feel my heart ache over this loss more than I have had with any rejection by a guy or any time I have disappointed a teacher/professor.

Even though I am worried that losing the ring is a bad omen, I will instead think of it as an opportunity. It is not really "lost" forever; it is just hiding somewhere waiting to be found again. And if it is not found, then it is a sign of a new start in life.

And furthermore, it is a lesson: never get emotionally attached to any object that is small enough to lose! Better yet, don't be attached to objects at all!

I miss Japan.

I feel like a fish out of water, shocked and dazed.

There were many times when in Japan when I thought I was going to go mad with boredom. I slowly began to realize that it was merely due to the fact that I was unused to so much free time. I literally had too much time to study, which in normal terms overwhelms me to the point of mentally shutting down. I think I would have been a great deal better off if I had volunteered somewhere, had been employed, or was in a structured study program. Or actually, even internet access would have been a wonderful improvement (my grandmother does not have a computer).

But then there were the great moments that I had looked forward to each week. Japanese class got me pumped every friday morning. My sensei was so patient unlike so many of the other teachers, she taught and encouraged conversation which was exactly what I need. I loved my friend Shelley's entertaining stories as an American mother living in Japan (22 years!). I began cultivating a friendship with a Chinese girl, Lisee, a sweet and hardworking student. I was so regretful on my last day of class that I could not stay longer, as we were both at the point that we were actually conversing through a second language, Japanese. How amazing is that? It blows my mind!

And then there was the English class in Gyotoku. They are the sweetest, kindest, respectful people I have ever had the blessing to meet. They were always so interested in my reactions and my thoughts and were always willing to answer my questions. I had a great time tasting all the delicious lunches that we ate on Saturday (JAPANESE BARBEQUE IS THE BEST FOOD ON THIS EARTH), as well as always being drunk (multiple beers with lunch!). I always felt very well taken care of, almost like an ambassador, and I fear I never was able to express how grateful I was due to my own cultural context. No amount of bows or domo arigatou gozaimasu's could express what these people provided for me. I learned so much from them and I even now I am feeling tears behind my eyes thinking of all the good times.

And oh the food...the crazy-fun television programs...all the pretty boys (#^_^#)...

Now I am home in America and all I see is too-wide spaces, bland/over-portioned food, and a large number of unhealthy people. A lot of these problems are not people's fault, rather are due to corporate greed and the government's inability to educate the public on healthy habits. Our car culture has made us sedentary and it is true, the perception of being overweight has changed over time. The fatter our friends and peer groups become, the fatter "normal" looks to us.

I think now what is most disturbing is that I don't see any Asians, which I knew before, but now find odd and displacing. And I am starting to wonder when people look at me, do they wonder if I can even speak fluent English? Or do they automatically think I am Chinese, as people have in the past? Do they continue to assume that I must play 50 instruments and am good at math?

And if I could only stop my habit of bowing. Yes, I keep bowing, which was a tendency before Japan (I am sure my professors noticed it, as I noticed myself doing it), but now it is almost a constant habit.

I am much quieter now, observing everything with a distinct feeling of being ill-at ease, out of place. I know that it will pass, but then again, I am going to confuse things further by moving to Canada in two weeks. Imagine putting your life for the next year into only two suitcases. A daunting task, indeed! Good thing that I am a minimalist at heart.

Now I am just going to spend as much time with my family while I still can. I even got my mother hooked onto my favorite Japanese dorama, Hanazakari no kimitachi e! We both love Nakatsu (Ikuta Toma) because he's a spazz-tastic sweetheart. And yes, I always root for the underdog. Underdogs need love too.

Off to get some new clothes for Canada's much colder climate, though I am worried I will freeze because even America is much, much cooler than Japan right now. I go to sleep with three blankets and winter clothes, while my parents are in shorts and three fans. Pretty crazy, huh? Pray for me that I don't freeze!

Obligatory Introduction Post

Welcome to my blog, One Foot Home, the Other Abroad, a personal look into my life spent as a graduate school student/nomadic traveler.

My name is Mido and I am a 22 year old American who will be spending the next 3 years studying abroad in Canada. It is hard to describe my studies in layman's terms, but the simplest way to put it is that I am most interested in doing comparative literature/mythology studies between the ancient west and the east (i.e. Mediterranean vs. Asia). This is very similar to what anthropologists do, however it has a greater emphasis on reading primary source literature. I am focusing on improving my ancient Greek and Latin language skills while in my masters' program, but I am going to continue to devote my free time to learning Japanese/Kanji. I am a stubborn, yet motivationally-dedicated student, working hard despite my own numerous failings. I believe that this is what has allowed me to progress this far, even when I have often wished to give up.

This blog will be a mix of my reactions to studying abroad for an extended time, along with my observations and reactions to the various places I visit (more often than not, probably Japan). I think it is interesting to be able to react to one's own culture by experiencing other contexts and I want this space to allow me to express that.

There will probably be a good amount of space dedicated to other interests as well, as I am sure I will not be having profound realizations about my own biases/ignorance every single day.

At this point, I hope that you have found me interesting enough to stay tuned. Please leave comments or raise discussion questions, though ad hominem attacks on my character will not be tolerated (though I hardly can think of a reason why anyone would do this, but there are internet trolls, aren't there?).

And now with the obligatory introduction post done (man I hate these things), I can finally start blogging!