Yui's new song is quite the popular song of this summer. Unmistakebly marketed for teens, its cheerful with a catchy chorus, mildly fast tempo, and a cute vid.
The song doesnt say much just what most people would in the summer.
Natsu wa kuru kara, umi ni ikitain da.. (now that summers here, i longed for the sea)
Interestingly, in a recent poll on young people (Count down tv program) Yui has just been voted number 1 as "The artist I want as a girlfriend" poll. At number 2 is Kaori Mochida, while number 3 is Ayumi Hamasaki
Looking at the rest of the list though It might be kind of surprising. Shes not the most beautiful but she excudes a natural warmth that (a lot of) guys would go for. She looks like a fun person.
The Tokyo pier fireworks is one of the city's biggest summer attraction. I remember the last time I went here 2 years ago with my next door neighbour Iwan. We were suppose to meet up with another friend, but because there so many people there it we couldn't find each other.
This particular fireworks display is quite popular because of its location and is televised. When we got there, the beach was crammed with people yet everyone was in good spirits. Men and women clad in Yukata, groups of friends, families and couples all seated on their blue tarps. Then at 7.15 the all eyes look up as the fireworks light up the Tokyo bay.
One of my best times in Japan is those spent on the summer camp. Every year I participate in the ESC camp in NASU and actually I just came back from the camp last friday. For me camp is a chance to revisit my childhood, get out of Tokyo, eat good food, and get in touch with nature. Its really refreshing to hangout with kids all day, teach them the Saman dance, and (somehow) get them to speak English to me.
Actually I wasnt a very nature-loving person back home, and camping/hiking was never a part of me in Indonesia. However while I was in Japan I climbed mount Fuji(1x), Takao (2x), and Chausu Dake (5x), this of course have a lot to do with my mom not being around. I find myself very satisfied when I got on a Chausu dake (1900m) looking down on Tochigi prefecture from up high. Another thing I like is screaming at the top of my lungs to get an echo, its just the thing to take away the stress!!
For this year I got the chance to come to two rounds (3 and 9). I was at Round 3 as a sub-leader where I had to help of captains with difficult kids and be an MC for the evening programs. I find that doing MC in camp is good fun as the crowd is very friendly.
The thing I like the most about being an camp MC is doing the World Wide Web tongue twister. In this activity the crowd is divided into 3 where each is assigned to one word: World, Wide or Web. With the point of my finger a group would say the word theyre assigned to. This is made interesting by going faster, slower, alternating the groups and doing sudden stops. Its like being a conductor and in a way I feel like I have the campers at my fingers. Its a lot of fun for the campers and it gives you a very powerful feeling.
Camp has always been the highlight of my summer and its always sad walking away from the bus and into my lonely room. I hope I'll be able to come to next year's camp and get the kids acquainted with Indonesia. Ah well, till next year..
Sasha baron cohen has got to be the sickest comedians out there. This is an old talkshow he did where he interviewed David and Victoria beckham. You can see that he's got a way sith words and is down right clever roping in victoria into his joke.
Though a lot would say that this is offending (and rude!), but in the end I think they had fun and they already knew whats coming to them during the show.
Although the TOEFL is the more recognized standard for English proficiency,
the Japanese appears to chose instead the the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) as a standard. Though a lot of us here are quite aware of the good old TOEFL, the TOEIC is like its close relative born in Japan. I suspect though if not for the TOEIC the Japanese would probably throw the towel on english. A recent survey showed that its english proficiency is ranked at 140 of 150 countries.
Don't get me wrong though, the Japanese are keen at english and actually half of the worlds TOEFL takers are Japanese. Their score however, is second from the bottom. Slightly better than the socialist republic of North Korea.
The TOEIC test is 2 hours long and is 200 questions. Half is on the listening, the other on the reading section. The average satisfactory level is 500 points from the maximum of 990 points. A TOEIC score of 500 and up would let you in graduate school and a 700 means that your English is enough for a transfer to the company branch in New York.
There are two things I would like to point out here. First, the TOEIC is a standard that is achievable for the average non-native person. As most of the Indonesian students here scored over 900 on the TOEIC even though they reached an average 500 (70%) on the TOEFL. Therefore, I predicted that Indonesians would get an average of 700. All that TV and americanization wasn't so bad after all. Second, this would give good results on the overall self confidence of the test takers. I know of a particular japanese person that is very "proud" of his 700+ TOEIC score. With that kind of score this person had the confidence to speak in English and believe that he was speaking "Good English".
As naive it may seem, I think this is a wonderful thing. With that kind of confidence, one would have the desire to get better and try to speak English when needed. Personally, I think Indonesians should adopt this standard as well. The TOEIC is easier to succeed in, and I am sure that Indonesians would do better than the Japanese if not the other Asian countries. This way we would have the pride that we are actually better in English when compared to this particularly proud country.
Change is good, change is scarry, but change is opportunity. After 3 years in the same lab, I think Im lucky to come to this lab and become a part of this wonderfull, intelligent, bunch of people.
My folks came all the way from sunny Jakarta to attend the graduation ceremony in Tokyo. They were here about a week and I had the chance of showing them around Tokyo (when the weather was nice). It was interesting to know that my parents don't just believe me as a guide even though I actually have lived in Tokyo for 3years+.
Still, I'm glad that they came, and now I miss them even more
No im not a Metallica fan and this post isn't about that at all, Its just that I just cant seem to think of myself having the title Master of Engineering.
I honestly have this feeling that I dont deserve this title. The thing is, 2 years of Masters in Japan means 2 years of research. Not that I didnt take any classess, I did like 20 credits that was required of me. Twenty credits, which, If youve been to college, is a semester right?
The thought came to me just aftert my thesis defence. Was that it? Thats all I had to do to get a masters degree from Japan. I'm not the only person who thinks like this, in fact a lot of my friends feel the same, even after a pHD. I kinda wish there was a way for me to know if I really deserve it, I feel that I haven't gained knowledge worthy of a Master's degree.
Malcolm Forbes said that an expert would be "someone who doesn't admit out loud that he knows enough about a subject to know he doesn't really know how much". With that in mind I hope I would be knowledgable on my subject (if not by very little).
So for now I think its best to stay happy, after all, I do have another 3 years of more schooling (research) ahead of me. That means I have another 3 years to increase my capacity in my field of study. Hopefully this time I'll learn more and end up having a better sense of knowledge in this particular field.
Well, I didnt thought I would ever get to posting here. I had recently started thinking about the monogatari again and just realized that I havent been posting for ages.
If you were wondering what happened to me, heres the past 5 months in short. I finished my thesis, presented it and defended it in Japanese. Then I applied and got accepted to a pHD program with a different professor (thank god for that). things were mind numbingly happy after that of very low motivation.Yet as I started things fresh in the new lab I can consider myself as a happy graduate (to some extent) in the land of the rising sun.
Photos from the graduation ceremony (Fuchu), the diploma handover (Koganei) and the graduation reception (Shinjuku).
* 5 days away from the deadline of my thesis submission.
I remembered when I was working on my undergraduate thesis I was miserable. It was like that because I wasn't sure what I was doing and what I should be writing about. The thesis was so damn depressing that it turned out bad, and I didn't ever want to read it again.
Now as I'm working on my Masters thesis. I realized that I am a bit more confident with those things. Its not that its easy, If anything, writing entirely in English is tough and sometimes I had to struggle with every paragraph. Since its my second time writing that sort of thing, I kind of knew better. However, procrastination and self doubt seemed to get the best of me once in a while.
I asked myself repeatedly. If am I doing the right tests, should I show these results, what will my professor think of this? After some time, all that thinking and writing and worrying (and complaining) at the same time really did burn me out and so I decide to take this saturday off.
Anyway, I have been a reading a lot of books on writing this particular feat of academia, and I found quite a handful advice for stressed out writers out there who (like I did) came to the point where they think "That's it, I cant do this no more".
In the book "A manual for writers of research papers, thesis and dissertations" I found a few tips on working through chronic procrastination and writers block. These three tips really got me thinking and I'm posting it here just to let me remember them too. To overcome the slump this is her tips: - Set a routine and achievable goal (something like a 2 page a day quota) - Divide the thesis into small parts and then focus on doing it one small part at a time. - Avoid the obsession with perfection. For a first draft just go and do some quick writing to get it done. Remember that this is the first of many revisions of your thesis.
I just realized that Ive been really out of touch the past month (Im not even on IM). I've been meaning to write a journal entry or two but I just couldn't seem to think of anything else right now... (-_-;). well, off to my thesis again..
Originally performed by cab calloway, I first heard this on the blues brothers movie. Ive been browsing around youtube and I just happen to stumble upon this performance by by bob rozman.
This has got to be the single most awesome cover of this song that an artist can perform solo. Kudos to you bob!
MINNIE THE MOOCHER by Cab Calloway
(Em)Folks, now here's the story 'bout (Am)Minnie the (Em)Moocher, (Am)She was a red-hot (B7/11 ?)hootchie- (Em)cootcher, (Em)She was the roughest, (Am) toughest frail, (B7/9)But Minnie had a heart as big as a (Em)whale.
(SCAT CHORUS) (---------------------------------------------|Em)Hi-de-hi-de-hi-di-hi! (repeat in Em) (---------------------------------------------|Am)Ho-de-ho-de-ho-de-ho! (repeat in Am) (B7/11)He-de-he-de-he-de-he! (repeat in B7/11-| (Am)Ay-ee-ay-ee-ay-ee(Em)ay!
She messed around with a bloke named Smoky, She loved him though he was cokie, He took her down to Chinatown, And he showed her how to kick the gong around.
She had a dream about the King of Sweden, He gave her things that she was needin', He gave her a home built of gold and steel, A diamond car with a platinum wheel.
He gave her his townhouse and his racing horses, Each meal she ate was a dozen courses; She had a million dollars worth of nickels and dimes, She sat around and counted them all a million times.
(Em)Poor Min, (Am)poor Min, (B7/11)poor.........(Em) Min
A lot of times people dont tend to stick to resolutions, that also includes yours truly. Yet, I believe this year its time for some changes. Last year I learned a lot about myself and I am certain that I need to improve in some areas. After some thought I decided to have three resolutions for 2008:
I will manage my time wisely. This is, what I believe the root of all evil. A lot of times I think that there isn't enough hours in a day to get things done. I need to schedule better, prioritize my activities, set goals and deadlines. Other than that I also need to set aside some time for me to work out and time for doing nothing too.
I will stay in touch with friends and family. I realized as I lived by myself, having my friends around is really important. A lot of times I get too busy and completely lost touch with everybody not even those online. By the time I do have time to hang out, my friends are already busy with other stuff. I also feel that I havent been good to my parents since I dont call them as often as I use to (sorry mom).
I will eat properly. I personally think that this is the toughest one to achieve. Since I am living alone and am currently in a rush to finish my thesis (deadlines at January 31st) I might have to resolve to some instant foods to save time. I need to get myself to eat 3 times a day, and also to have vegetables and fruits on the menu (a balance diet).
If I manage to accomplish all three, I am sure that I'd be able to be a stress-free, happy, and healthy person in 2008. Amen to that.
新年明けましておめでとうございます。 \(^^)/ ~Happy New year 2008 ~\(^^)/
先年は色々お世話になりまし、 今年もよろしくお願いします。
For me 2007 was rather stressfull at some points. It was the year when my scholarship ran out and for some months I had to work for a living. Working while studying is stressfull and it doesnt help having a demanding professor at school.
However its also a year of accomplishments and also a year when I had come to believe in myself.
Hope that 2007 gave you happy memories and may each and every one of us is blessed with happyness along the way in 2008.
I watched this a long long time ago (just found out that it was actually from an MTV show in 2002). Kelly Osbourne did an awesome cover of this Madonna song but its actually the guitar that really made it rock though. The guitarist really let it rip at the solo and seing it right there just made me want to pick up my axe and crank the amp to 11.
In case I havent mention it, Ive been working on the side as an English teacher here.
I've been teaching for quite some time now and I must say that Ive began to get the hang of it.
Anyway, I did something terrible today! For some reason I actually forgot that I had a student today!! I stood her up while she is already in Shinjuku waiting (for 10mins). Aaaaah Moshi wake nai m(_ _)m
Its the second time already and tell you the truth I was very embarassed about it. Boss is probably going to talk to me about it tomorrow and I will then profusely apologize for my carelesness, again. It seems that Im just too busy these days with the research and so Im thinking to let go some of my students.
Those who know me personally would know that Im a forgetful person but what happen today was really awful and it shows that I need to have better control of my time. Good thing that the student was cool about it, I really feel terrible.
About three years ago I was living in a nice suburb called Fuchu. In all fairness, most Tokyoites would refer to it as a "bed town" because of its distance from Tokyo. Yet, most of us living there liked every bit of it because of its tidiness and greenery. Seriously, Ive been around Tokyo and so far I still think that Fuchu is one of the nicest if not the nicest place in to live in greater Tokyo .
One thing I just realized today is that it's got history. The city began at the late 7th century as a center of administration in the Musashino plains. As its kanji characters "府中" meaning "the capital within".
Though officially established as a city in 1954 its clear that Fuchu has a history far longer than that. Its main Shinto temple "Okunitama" was perhaps the oldest shinto shrine in Japan and every year during the Kuriyama festival thousands gather visit the temple and pray. As for me, every year I religiously visit the temple to indulge myself on those awesome whole-squid takoyakis they have during the festival (lol).
As why I got to writing this piece, the Fuchu art museum at Fuchunomori kouen is having an exhibition of art artifacts that originates from Fuchu. The exhibition will start from December 1st to March of next year. Since a lot of my multiply friends live in Fuchu or fairly close to it, I'm thinking about checking it out myself. Who knows, maybe I'll see something interesting on the exhibition. A thousand years of work is bound to culminate into something good, anyone interested?
Oh and I might then also stop by at the house of some of my friends after that. All that art might make you hungry.
Yes yes, the month more holy than a thousand months is here. Alhamdulillah, I have been fortunateto be able to come to this blessed month once again.
Mohon Maaf Lahir Bathin (sincere apology) to all my muslim friends near and far, lets make it a special one! Pray that we would all be able to get to the end of Ramadhan with our faith renewed and that all the deeds we've done are accepted.
***
On a different note, I just want to tell you that I'll be moving out of Kodaira by the end of this month (help). I've stated 25th of September to be the moving day but I might move it a bit sooner cause a lot of my friends are moving out too.
I haven't even started packing yet and to be honest I'm not quite sure how. After 3 years in Japan I've gathered quite a huge collection of stuff, and now its a wee bit hard to get all that stuff packed and ready to go.
Anyone got some tips on house moving?
Since I got a conference this week in Hokkaido and the next week I will also have a Shamisen concert I'll be pretty tied up with studying and rehearsals. Probably start packing after that. This looks like one busy month!
