Monday, April 16, 2007
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Staying Alive
There are moments in everyone's lives when it seems that everything is happening at once, when life seems to be so hectic that you just want to scream. So here goes...
Aaaaaaargh!
There, I think I feel better....In any event, there are a lot of things on my plate, but the stress I feel is partly self induced. Yes, I watch too much TV. My excuse for watching J-drama--I look for things I might use in class, as well as help me keep my Japanese level up--is growing less and less compelling. The dramas do keep me on my toes with my Japanese and it allows me to stay in tune with an ever-changing language and pop culture--Did you know that you can exchange telephone and email addresses with someone else just by pointing your cell phones at each other and "sending"? Well, I didn't. Did you know that you can use your cell phone as a debit card? Well, I didn't know that you could just touch your phone on the pay-pad at the 7-Eleven or the ticket vending machines at the train station, and the money will be debited from your bank account--scary thought, don't you think? Did you know that you could not only watch TV on your cell phone, but you can also record them as video? Well, I didn't know that either. I mean, how much memory does a cell phone have in Japan? It boggles my mind.
Still, I need to "edit" my viewing habits as it is cutting into my other responsibilities. I mean, I still teach and grade--and with a degree of efficiency since I know that I have to manage my time better--but I feel exhausted all the time. I thought that J-drama would be my "down" time, a time when I can relax, but it isn't... not really, as I am always "learning" things and writing them down and looking up new words, etc.
And there are other things besides school work, too. I held a curry gathering for J majors this past Friday. That, of course, takes time to hold, about two and a half days, actually. Buy food, prepare food for more than 20 people, entertain--or try to--and the clean up, which in itself takes a whole day... as M is wont to remind me... and remind me... and remind me... So that is time away from grading and preparing for class and, of course, watching J-drama...
This is also tax time, and I finally finished and sent my taxes yesterday. Whew, one job done...
As for immigration, I had to cancel one class last week to get some more stuff done. In fact, M and I had to go to two different immigration offices last week, on Wednesday and Friday. But just to let you know, our petition to get M's Green Card reinstated was finally approved. I will talk about it later when I have more time. Thanks to those who expressed concern and offered well-wishes. I appreciate your thoughts and comments greatly.
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Comments (12)
By tomorrow Japanese people will be able to fly.
And understand their women.
Just kidding.
The women thing will never happen.
Also, I found something that really helps me when I find myself wasting time. I will literally stop myself and think (I do the same with friends and food) is this worth the time/effort I am putting into this? Will I feel better after it, or will it have a positive effect on my mood/life in general?
If the answer is no, it's SO easy to stop.
Except when it comes to Xanga. =P
Congrats on having M's green card petition moving forward. Just wait till you have her apply for citizenship. *sigh*
J (my gf) has been waiting a while-- it simply doesn't make sense-- while her brother's was very quick.
I'm glad that you can get that one thing off your mind. Finals coming up soon, right? And graduation... I guess your life's going to be hectic. Hang in there!
I love Japanese cell phones. I knew about almost all of those things... but I had no idea you can record video to your keitai. Maybe that's what that SD card slot is for... adding memory just like to a digital camera... Oh, well, it's not something that I do. The new one-seg phones are sooo pretty, though.
As for the infrared profile sending, I've heard that they can actually cause problems at goukon and stuff because the broadcast range is so wide people you aren't necessarily interested in can pick up your info. Personally, I find that technology to be frustratingly unreliable that you have to put the eyes almost against one another to get the signal to go across, but I guess some people have more cooperative phones.
Anyway. Glad to see you back.
The new drama season looks to be busy for me... I need to remember to not sink too much of my time into it... Same for you!
Long comment.... Ciao!
It's also great because you can just walk into a green car when you're tired of standing around, sit down in an empty seat, and pass the card over the scanner to get a green seat from the last stop to whenever you get off.
The phones don't really act as debit cards -- they just charge everything and you pay it in your normal phone bill. It's definitely convenient, though...
The technology is pretty short-range, so accidents don't really happen unless you have multiple suica cards or a card and an osaifu-keitai or something, which JR has been trying hard to discourage lately.
The barcode scanner thing is pretty interesting, and I know McDs has been sending out coupons via cell phone too, since I see people redeeming coupons on their cell phones.
Most cell phones have mini-SD memory slots, and mini-SD memory goes up to 2 GB, so there's your answer about memory... almost half a DVD.
In drama... I endured through Akihabara@DEEP, and beyond Matsushima Hatsune, there wasn't anything terribly great about it, though it was easier to watch than Densha Otoko. I haven't really seen anything else that interested me lately...
As a side note, I'm living in Takasaki-shi, in Gunma-ken now. It's great. :)
Before long it'll be summer and you'll be able to relax, enjoy nice mornings and sleep in... Unless of course you're set up to teach all summer, that is... But what cruel students would make you do that?? I think we all graduated by now, didn't we?
I know I already wrote a long comment to this post, but I wanted to share a new word I learned.
"ƒRƒsƒy‚·" - verb. As in, "ƒAƒhƒŒƒX‚ðƒRƒsƒy‚µ‚Ä‘—‚Á‚Ä‚‚¾‚³‚¢"
Just a linguistic tidbit to share. Ciao!
Hey O-man,
Haven't seen you for a while now. just wanted to say "hello"! Congratulations on the progress. Here's hoping things come to a closure real soon!
I just changed my mobile phone, and it has a 5 megapixel camera, but can't watch TV. Since i have the 80gig ipod and 20gigs worth of movies in it, I figured how much TV will i watch on the phone, so i gave up on that. Here's something the sales guy told me. A sliding phones chews up battery faster than a folding phone. So if you hate having to recharge your phone often, settle for the folding one...
)
And yes, the saifu-keitai function is great! Pays for everything, from movie tickets to trains and then the abr codes give you discount.
) But ! heaven help you if you lose your keitai. It was a nightmare!! I lost mine, which was why i had to get new one, and the redtape, and inconvenience of it all!!