Please comment if you want to be my friend. If I don't already know you, try to have something in common with me first. Thank you.

I have a lot more to say about this place, but let's just put it as 'I'm in Korea!!' It's pretty cool, despite some worries about getting to my hotel and such, I've made it through and am finding myself pretty curious and interested by a lot of things.
Though I think I was snickered at over a banana debacle in the supermarket in the basement. That wasn't nice.
I'm also starting to wonder what is not endorsed or run by Lotte...

And as tomorrow, I'll be jumping on that plane and flying the relatively short distance to Matsuyama...this is where this journal stops for now.
As I said, please add http://mikandreams.livejournal.com/  if you want to keep up with me :) It will be friends-only.

Now I'm going to enjoy my lovely, lovely hotel room, and free internet for a little bit more time, and then I will retire to the double bed that promises to make up for being awake too long...hopefully I'll make up for lost sleep, and if I do oversleep, I have a wake-up call sorted.

Um. The problem lies in that UFO means Unidentified Flying Object. If you mean flying saucer/alien spacecraft, clarify the question....
There's a lot of flying objects which aren't identified. For all I know, said party guest could be discussing a frisbee seen from a distance.

Following a relatively peaceful last dinner at home, my parents are now having a blazing row downstairs. Figures.


Fear about going to Japan hit me in a big way in the last day or two, which is new. It's sort of crept into my stomach and keeps me awake.
Don't get me wrong. Today, a little excitment has crept in there too. I'll be okay.  I'm just concerned that I'm not prepared enough...if there's something I've forgotten, or a big mistake I've made...

Both my supervisor and Kanako have emailed me this evening. Kanako is very much 'matteimasu!!' and promises of okonomiyaki-getting next weekend when she's off work, and Imaizumi-sensei emailed with reassurance of her and her husband, Inoue-sensei, picking me up at the airport, and  rough schedule of my first few days in Matsuyama--

( .... )

Mostly packed now, just doing the odds and ends, transferring music, sorting out my carry-on luggage. And I think I'm so going to treat myself at the duty-free perfume counter in Heathrow to something expensive I've been eyeing >_>; Apparently, if I ask the store to seal the bag specially, I'll be okay on my connecting flight! (Believe me I do not want it to be confiscated once I get my hands on it).

Now I'm gonna finish the packing, clean up my room so that all it requires is dusting from time to time, do music/document transferral from my desktop pc, and then get ready for bed....

I knew it would happen. I've been dreading getting any kind of illness. Last night, my throat started to hurt and I had a sneezing marathon. I passed it off because I've been having allergic reactions to something/many things since I got home... anyway, I took a Lemsip and went to bed with a throbbing head. Woke up feeling a bit groggy this morning but took flu tablets through the day and it wasn't so bad. The sniffiness, headache and sore neck have returned now though. I'm it's just because I've been out in the cold, so am going to take a couple of flu tablets before bed and hope for the best! I really just want to feel fine for Sunday. I don't want to be on a plane feeling sick. I hope it just stays like this and doesn't get any worse!
But my neck is pretty stiff and sore....hope I just slept funny...!

The suitcase is filling up. My mother and I had fun earlier vacuum packing one bunch of clothes. It ended up with me lying flat out on this huge bag, beating the air out of it whilst my mother used the hoover to suck the air out of it. And it really does make a difference in space! I'm doing fairly well on weight so far...hopefully it stays that way...

Now I'm going to finish sorting my toiletries and hit my pillow. I'm quite tired  ("o") But the bruise on my arm has now faded to pale yellow and doesn't hurt much anymore which is a big plus! (^-^)

Tomorrow is my last full day in the UK.
Oh, additionally....my phone has now been cancelled. I've reverted to my old pay as you go number for the rest of the time in the UK, and on reserve up til I get my keitai! The number is on my Facebook if you need it.

In both scary and exciting news....I leave the UK in THREE days :O

What've I've been up to:

Sunday: Went to Oxford. There was a somewhat hastily organised get-together meal. Myself, Otoha, Marie, Chris, Nate, Kasumi, Tim, Lydia and Sam (later) went to Jamies and had a really nice meal together. Afterwards, we headed to O'Neills for a quick drink before heading off home. We were home by 12, but ended up talking to Oaty til 3am about stupid drama things (Nodame movie is out when I'm in Tokyo!)

Monday: Got up late >_>; Said a muffled goodbye as Oaty left for work before 9am, from my makeshift bed of duvet and sleeping bag on the floor, and promptly moved to her bed to sleep away three hours. Got up, went to uni to hand in my harddrive to see if there was any hope for it, then headed into town. I went into the kids' section of Waterstone, to choose my omiyage for the host family baby girl. Kind of got carried away and super-nostalgic and chatted too long with the nice sales woman. Ended up choosing The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Dear Zoo and My Little Learning Library (by Eric Carle, 4 tiny books about animal sounds, colours, numbers and words. Adorable...).
Then had to get the train to Didcot as it was the only place that I could possibly get an appointment at. Had to get my implant changed. My arm still hurts ;_;  It wasn't bad, but I have to tell you the exchange procedure isn't as easy as the first time you get one. The nurse has to fight to pull it out of your arm >_> So I'm now sporting a nice wound and a purple bruise. Took the massive bandage off and it looks a bit gruesome :/ But I only had to keep it on for 48 hours, plus, it's such a pain trying to take a shower with a plastic bag over your arm.
Came back to Oxford and met up with Otoha and a few friends/housemates to browse St Giles Fair. Just walked around and allowed myself a single donut, and a bite of candy floss. Managed to catch up with Sam by surprise, for five minutes, so we had a chat and said goodbye. So many people like this who have left now that I won't get a chance to see.
Was chotto stressed over one thing going on during my stay, and the aching arm didn't make it any better :(
We went to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen for dinner (my first time) and I had an avocado and bacon burger....couldn't finish it -_-) So much food...we ordered fries as a side, but that was a huge mistake, they were pretty much untouched.

Tuesday: Running late with various things to sort out via the laptop. Packed up my stuff and got up to the SU for my dentist appointment. 40 minutes of my dentist mostly trying his hardest to get the two temporary caps off my teeth. This was not fun :(  I was so worried about them breaking when I had them....I needn't have been!! It took some kind of epic effort for him to get them out of my mouth. Then I had my permanent ones fitted and filed down until they were comfortable in my mouth. They still feel a little odd but I'm getting used to biting on them. One's also porcelain, I think, because it's near the front....and it feels so smooth and shiny....its puts all my other teeth to shame!! The other one is just at the back though, so plain grey (though he sandblasted it first so that it wasn't ridiculously shiny...).
While they're not really going near your gums for this work, it's still pretty tiring and achey : /
After this, had lunch with Oaty (soup for me with the sore mouth) and headed off to the station.
I felt a tiny bit teary when I left, thinking about leaving everything for a year. Leaving the SU, walking out of Gipsy Lane Reception....  I was surpised, but maybe I shouldn't be...this year has had a lot of happy moments...
...but I will be back in a year.
Got a call on the train from Becky who said we should go for dinner and that she'd pick me up at the station, so we had a nice, cheap-ish meal in Wigan before heading back home.

Today (Wednesday): Headed into Liverpool to meet sashwizzled . We had a nice time just generally wandering about. We later met prince_windie , kitty_cat_gemma , zappin and skipselz for food at Las Iguanas.

Tomorrow I must pick up my new glasses and start packing for real. Final decisions made on what's travelling with me, what I cannot take.
I got some vacuum packs for the suitcase which I will do on the Saturday to have my suitcase looking very neat and organised and without clothes threatening to make it explode. They won't make it lighter though *sigh*
Checked my seats on Asiana and I still appear to be sitting alone on a three seat row...hopefully that lasts! Even if it's not super-comfortable, it means getting to lie down if I do want to sleep, otherwise, lots of space to pop my stuff.

Also the father's 54th birthday tomorrow. We're going for dinner on Friday night, but I'll probably make something nice tomorrow, and a little cake :)

Went to family birthday party. Person having birthday was ill in hospital, thus not in attendance. I knew...pretty much the five relatives that came with me (okay, I get on well with my younger cousins). There was a DJ. A bad DJ. The music was so loud and the pitch of singer's voices on certain 80's tracks sounded like the dying cat parade. Headache formed. No, family, I do not wish to dance, I wish to drink water and not move.
At least my drinks were paid for...
See, ray of light in everything.
Cue heavy rain on my window.

Along with the other good news I keep getting, I got some more, around 2am last night. The Matsuyama International Centre emailed me. Apparently, 5 families had applied to host me, and they ended up picking the Tsurui family. Mother, 24, father, 25 and a baby girl called Rio-chan.
I'm surprised to be living with such a young family! This is good because it means that with the potential language barrier cropping up, as I try to unravel my Japanese, we might be able to find things in common because of the small difference in age. If we get on well, it would be nice to form a friendship.
Anyway, the Centre also gave me the mother, Yuka-san's email address, so I contacted her in what  I hope was passable Japanese that did not sound like it came out of Minna no Nihongo 1.....and I just got back to find a reply which I think is rather sweet.

( Have a look : ) )

She also included an English translation in case I needed help understanding. She sounds very sweet : )

I was hesitant about the homestay, but I think this could go really well. I really hope that not too much of my time will be consumed with apartment hunting and getting necessities to live; I want to spend time with them too.

Also, I would like to buy a little omiyage for the baby. I wondered about getting something like a children's English book, for when she's older. A good quality one, maybe with a well-known story. Any ideas? Or am I barking up the wrong tree and should get her a bib with the Union Jack on it? :P (I won't...)  I am favouring the Very Hungry Caterpillar.... I also loved The Tiger Who Came To Tea.

And...suddenly remembered one of my all-time favourites as a baby -

I'll decide and get something in Oxford (^-^)
Tomorrow, need to go to the post office, then go check different places offering for Japanese yen, order yen and some Korean won, buy new nightwear and a lightweight dressing gown.

8 days to go...! (My sudden frequent LJ updating should be a clue to building excitement).

I think anyone who's hopefully clinging to the dregs of summer can let go now....over the last week, I have been so cold. My fingers and the tip of my nose feel like ice.... I've been sitting with a blanket and using the laptop to warm myself up... I know I was dreading the hot, hot weather in Japan, but I'm sort of looking forward to being able to don some lighter clothes and walk outside in them. And to wear sunglasses!

Anyway, I got some super good news today! Shinako-sensei, my supervisor at Ehime, emailed me to say congratulations. Actually, the subject header of her email was that, so I knew what was coming and I stared at it for a few seconds with a grin. I have been approved to receive the JASSO scholarship offered at Ehime. Essentially, this means for me;

( some bullet points... )

In a nutshell, I have a huge worry removed from my mind. And I'm pretty grateful for this, I know that others will have a lot of financial worries :/

It appears we're going to some family party tomorrow...my aunt called before and when she realised I'm departing in 10 days, said I should come so I can see them all before I go. I didn't know what to say, because I don't know the relative whose birthday we're celebrating >_> Maybe I should but....I just have no idea who she is...she's 90 though, so it might not be so apparent...
But it's convenient to be able to say goodbye to relatives that I want to see, like my cousins, without having to travel about place to place. And it's sort of going out, in that I was denied a night out in Manchester today. I tried to be sensible on the money front and decided not to go out in order to save money....thus promised to make dinner, etc for the parents. Then promptly found out I got JASSO and could financially relax.
Timing...

I'm currently making a packing list to figure out what I have forgotten to pick up...
Anyone who's been on the YAB, if you have a packing list to share, could you? I would appreciate it, in that I can compare it to mine and figure out if I've missed something. Also, any gems of wisdom on the packing process for a long trip, also much appreciated! I'm going to do an initial pack tomorrow to see what kind of weight level my suitcase is up to!

Some time ago, r05km  asked me questions:

( ------> )

Finally making some headway on uploading my lots and lots of photos, to Facebook....as I wait for the progress bar to go up, here is some advertising.

Against my better judgement, I joined poupeegirl out of the interest of building up my wardrobe photo style and being able to see it all easily. Barely made any kind of start on that though If you have it, add me here. I'm lonely :P

Listen to:

Angela Aki - Ai no Kisetsu (Seasons of Love)

I really like this but it's my usual battle of liking the song, but being irritated by something about her.

Yui - It's All Too Much

And again, moving soon to http://mikandreams.livejournal.com/

Thanks for adding me so far, guys :)

Today I went for coffee with a friend and we camped there for nearly 4 hours...(we did buy more than one drink, to be fair)...just chatting and catching up.
Tomorrow, I need to sort some stuff out over the phone and my grandmother is paying a visit.

And now I am so sleepy, so I need to move to bed...

Well, today marks 2 weeks until Japan!

Tonight I am really trying not to procrastinate, and getting a list done of things I still need to get. All I can think of is new socks, few new bras, few anti-perspirant deodorants (do not want to embark on an epic search for them in Japan...), toothbrush....few other bits and bobs.
But I'm mostly sorted.
Today I bought a long white hoodie thing with a big golden heart on it, which is pretty cute and two pairs of shoes. One pair of navy flats wth little flowers and a button, and a pair of casual black pumps with small platforms. I think they'll go with casual outfits :) Also picked up a clear folder for documents for travelling. Need to make sure I get my important documents photocopied to go into both my suitcase and overnight bag for Korea.
But I need to stop buying clothes....my suitcase is fine at the moment, but I need to stop thinking about what else I can squeeze in there!

Speaking of Korea, I  booked my one night accommodation in Seoul. I got a deal with limousine bus transfer to and from the airport. So I'm staying at the Lotte City Hotel. It's only a treat, as it's just one night...I wouldn't be able to pay that for a longer stay...but I get a nice big bed, bathroom with a tub, 32" television, free wireless, etc....

Realised I'm going to feel pretty bleh when I arrive in Seoul and wil race for the shower in my hotel room.... Parents are heading to France on the same day that I'm leaving, so we'll be leaving the house around lunchtime to travel down to Heathrow, drop me off around 5-6pm, so I'll be kinda achey from sitting in the car. My flight leaves at 9.30pm and and it's 10.5 hours to Seoul.
Thankfully, this short haircut means my hair won't look horrible and limp after travelling for so long.
I'm also in a cake baking mood recently. I made a yummy chocolate sandwich cake on Friday, with cream and jam inside. Parents ate a lot of it, so I think it was enjoyed (^-^)♫♪♫
I think I might make a coffee and walnut one tomorrow! :D

Time's getting closer for me to hear about JASSO....really really hope it works out! I have so many plans and want to be able to do them.
(Addtionally wanting to pick up a couple of things from MAC and beautiful eyeshadow from Shu Uemura [although this is bad because it's so horrendously expensive and is not what you spend scholarship on.]).

Also, need to redye my hair as roots are appearing! D: But what colour should I dye it? (There's a photograph of my hair some entries away)...

Again, when I go to Japan, I shall be using this journal  http://mikandreams.livejournal.com/

Please add me there : )

Just as a general FYI, when I leave the UK in 15 days, I'll also be moving here-

http://mikandreams.livejournal.com/

I've not added anyone to it at this point, I'll do that soon, but if you want to keep up with me whilst I'm in Japan, that's the place to do it, so please add me to your friends list from now. Additionally, this new journal will be friends-only, so there will rarely be public entries.I may occasionally pop back here, or return after my year abroad so please keep ahold of this journal too for the time being :)

The journal also will be kept in English, though I might post in Japanese from time to time.

Having a fairly busy week....
Though, Monday I stayed inside and sort of..rested.
Tuesday I went to Liverpool to get some more of my needed clothes items for Japan. I got a good pair of jeans that DO NOT FALL OFF ME :O And, they're a size smaller than I expected would fit me. So yay all around.
I sort of had finished my shopping, but planned to go in a couple other places. Met the grandmother as planned and we had lunch. That was fine. Mistake was taking her into any clothes shops :/ She loudly discredited everything and their expense.
It's fine, some things are overpriced for what they are....but the reality is, occasionally you do pay more for something you really, really like.
I do love my grandma, but she's become a bit more opiniony as she gets older, so it's hard to to go shopping with her now... I still will, but won't study anything too hard that I really like, because she'll point out it's every bad point...
I mentioned this to my dad, and he told me I should have told her (humorously) to shut up. I can't talk like that to my grandmother >_>;...

Also picked up The Big Bang Theory Season 1 DVD. £16 in HMV :)

Today, I got up early and caught a train from Wigan to London, where I met Jo and Otoha. Went to the Japanese Embassy to sort out visas, so that's applied for now.
We had a rather big lunch ( I still feel full - katsudon, ohitashi, pickles, gyouza, shaved strawberry ice...) and then went to Mitsukoshi. I wanted to buy some omiyage (souvenirs/gifts) to take with me to Japan to give to friends, supervisors helping me now, host family, etc.

( I bought... )

I want to get a couple more things too, but that's it. Gotta watch suitcase weight...

Tomorrow I have a 'scheduled' lunchtime phone chat with Hannah as we have to catch-up on my Japan prep, and her new job, go to visit Helen after her surgery today, at Whiston Hospital. I didn't think I'd get to see her before Japan, as she's back on the Isle of Man for summer, but as 'luck' would have it, her reduction surgery was scheduled this week, so she flew over. I'm looking forward to a good chat with her tomorrow! I hope she's happy too; she's been waiting a good long while to get it done.
After that, meal at Frankie and Benny's :D

Friday, nothing is scheduled, but I need to go through paperwork and figure final things out for bills and whatnot. I get paid on Monday *phew* so everything can be paid off! Then I need to send the modem back to Be*.

And I even got some Japanese vocabulary practise done on the train today!

As of midnight, it is 17 days left of the UK. (And 17 days left of this journal too. I need to finish how I want my new one to look and then I can start adding you guys).

Whilst I'm a little panicked that Japan is SO CLOSE....things are pretty good with me right now. I'm riding the arguments between me and my mother with calmness, and I'm crossing my fingers that I get some good news soon on the money front.

I'm rather tired, so time to curl up and watch some more Two Guys and a Girl before bed...(I've nearly finished :/ I missed this show, it was so funny).

( Just some ranting about the parents... )

23 days to Japan! Did shopping on Wednesday in Liverpool, got some new clothes that have been folded ready for Japan, as well as a great new suitcase. It has four wheels, very big, expandable, comes with a 5 year guarantee and I got in on sale, £75 off!!

Today I'm going to continue sorting things. Am also going to make a start with some actual revision. I think I've done good lately with writing and reading more Japanese, but need to do some serious grammar and kanji revision.
I heard now that apparently there is more than one annual chance in Japan to take the JLPT. I'd like to make it my goal to at least try to pass level 2 when it is available around June/July. If not, fair enough, I'll try again in December when I get back to UK, but I really want to try whilst I am actively using my Japanese all the time. It would be so great to have that on my CV! But it means really giving it my all until then.

Well, LiveJournal, I'm back at home in Lancashire. The parentals picked me up on Sunday morning and we got back at a reasonable time in the afternoon.

I'm tried and have an early morning ahead, so in short-

- my visa certificate and a bunch of other documents arrived via EMS from Ehime
- been trying very hard not to fall into familiar trap of arguments with the parents. So far it's working. I even managed to go for a walk with my mother today, for about two hours
-am going to walk a lot while I'm here. Unlike Oxford, five minutes down the road, and I can get lost in trees and fields in different directions. Ii ne...
- haven't unpacked, but still managed to purge my wardrobe and chest of drawers of about about 20 items of clothing I know I'm not going to wear anymore. Off to the charity shop.
-am starting to use more Japanese, written and spoken. Very conscious of it being important to ready myself language-wise
-started watching Hotaru no Hikari on Sunday night....love it so much! I stayed up late chatting to Hanka on Saturday night for about three hours and we ended up chatting J-dramas - I had no idea she was into them. She raved about this one, so I gave it a try (I'd seen the title lots, but never tried it). It is one of the sweetest and most funny Japanese dramas I've seen in a while. I really relate to himono onna, haha... Watch it here
-have been having a lot of thinking time. Life is going to change hugely very soon...and I'm going to change with it. I need to make some big decisions about myself now.
-I have created a new LiveJournal. This will start when I arrive in Japan. I will let you know more about it closer to time. That said, I'm not adding any new people to here as it's a little pointless.

Maybe not a lot of updates right now, because Japan preparation is underway. That said, I miss people. Get in touch! :) (How lazy of me...)

I'm looking forward to getting home, to be able to get some rest. I'm still feeling tired. Last week I pinned it down to girl issues, but still, I'm tired today too. I suppose today was a bit stressful. Had work til 12.30, and then at 3 had to go to the dentist.
I was surprised that I was probably the least scared I've ever been of the dentist. I know enough now about what's going to happen and that I usually come out better on the other side. But despite that, it was kind of unpleasant...lots of drilling to shape my teeth, which meant many needles all over my mouth. They were the painful ones though :/ I'm usually fine, but I really hate the pain when they feel like they're going straight through your tooth.
Especially icky part - having impressions made of my teeth. That stuff tastes bad. And when it's set and they remove it, it feels like all of your teeth will come with it... Bleeeeh.
Got some temporary caps on now, for the next three weeks.
Very glad I had Nurofen at home. I felt pretty beat up when I got home. And I had to sit on the bus with half of my mouth pointing downwards and being unable to drink from the frappucino I bought as a treat.... D:
Anway, I just slept a little, as I felt pretty sucky. Now got to get a bunch of things ready for tomorrow.

Looks like I'm gonna be busy....
tomorrow - London
Wednesday - Fajitas and cinema
Thursday - Meeting Dave and Steph for dinner
Friday - Now meeting Lyd and Marie for window shopping/coffee/dinner

....can't wait for the free food back at home. Eating out WAY too much this week, it's ridiculous.

Forgot to mention that I went to see The Proposal on Wednesday night.
I hoped it would just be a nice light romantic comedy. I like Sandra Bullock a lot, and usually enjoy her films.
I was surprised when I really, really enjoyed the film. So much so that I'm probably going to see it again next week with Laura, who wants to see it...
....I'm not exactly objecting. Back when I was about thirteen, I had a crush on Ryan Reynolds (think Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place). That obviously faded....but came back massively when I saw this film. He was gorgeous, in a horribly obvious way, and I do wish his character wasn't fictional... I spent the whole film in a bit of a smiley daze. It was a nice break from reality : )
....he obviously now adorns my desktop. He replaced Half Blood Prince wallpaper :O

And hey, he's playing Green Lantern next year...

So if you want to see something light, funny and heartwarming, go watch it :) Or if you want to see an eagle going after a small dog.
I've been trying to find the soundtrack, but no online store has it, it seems... : /

...know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum'.

So I had an interesting morning. I really didn't want to get up, after getting in late last night, and as usual, I still woke up at 6am. I dreamt that I'd rang up the site phone and left a message saying I wasn't feeling well and would start late.
Instead, I appeared as usual downstairs at 8.30am. Carol looked at me strangely and said, 'Magda (hall assistant) told me you called in sick'.
I had one of those horrible feelings then, that I'd called in sick whilst still asleep. I have been known to behave quite consciously when asleep before, so it wasn't implausible.
Then it turned out Magda had misheard the name. So thankfully I hadn't called in sick whilst still asleep.
Had very little to do this morning and couldn't do it because the kids were still in their rooms, not leaving til 10am. Given that I had to put out fresh bedding and clean rooms and bathrooms...
I looked exhausted anyway, so I was told to go back to bed and come back in a few hours. I don't think I've heard anything nicer from a boss before.
So I slept, got up, did the work and then came back. I have had an accidental nap this evening already and I can feel tiredness setting in again, so I think I need a good night's sleep. Female issues this week have meant that I've felt completely exhausted, achey and just fed up. I've been cleaning rooms and just sitting down in between each one because I didn't have any drive to keep working.

( Dentistry... )

Last night was a lot of fun. Nice cocktails, board games, I got a bit tipsy which I very much needed, and got to spend the evening with a lot of friends, despite the sad ending of saying goodbye to Yayoi. (I need to buy her a meal or something when we meet in Japan - when we got a taxi home last night and we were going to pay half and half, after giving me a hug goodbye, she gave me a ten pound note and jumped out of the taxi >_>; Sweet of her, but I felt bad for getting a free ride!!)

Tomorrow I want to make a start on studying...I need to refresh my mind, so that I'm fairly competent when I get to Matsuyama. Tempted to camp out in the Headington Starbucks with my laptop and books and spend a few hours drinking coffee and learning tenses...but if I actually do it or not remains to be seen.

I have created my travel blog, but I'll wait a bit longer before adding people to it :)

Eurgh. I just got home from a night of cocktails and sort of saying goodbye to my friend Yayoi. She flies home to Japan tomorrow. She's a really good friend I've made this year.
It was fine until we all left the place and were talking about how we were going to get home. Then Yayoi teared up and set me off so I was standing there sniffling and trying not to cry. And now I've come home and I'm sad about saying goodbye to her, and saying goodbye to well, lots of people really....it's kind of hit me that I'm leaving.
My memory of her-
-meeting in September
-giving Chris a talking-to about treating her properly, before he asked her out, which was slightly hilarious and not taken remotely seriously
-her coming to pick me up from the dentist when I was all achy and groggy after having my root canals
- her understanding about sucky things that happened to me and listening when I was upset
-giving me a place to stay so I didn't have to go home alone late at night when we'd been out
-her helping me with Japanese essays at 3am in the morning over Skype and refusing to go offline and get sleep until she'd worked through the whole thing to help me out


And they're some of the good memories I will keep!
There's a lot of people I will miss this year, and I have lots of other memories to smile about too :) So I'll try not to be too sad. But there's a lot of people to miss, you know? : /

So I had an eventful week!

( Happy news about Japan... )

So, this is extremely good news, but I'm restraining hope. I know I'm their number one person to receive it, now I just have to wait to see if they accept me. So please keep your fingers crossed for me!


A new look

On Thursday morning, I looked like-

( This... )



On Thursday afternoon, I looked like-

( ...this! )


Drastic change, I think but....I felt like it. I need to make changes, and I wanted to 'update' my image too. I like it, but it's going to take time to get used to!! I may like to grow it out a little longer and see what I think of it then. What do you think? Didn't know whether to laugh or cry when more than one friend told me I looked like the stereotypical quiet girl in manga with the glasses >_>; Um.
I've played with making it spiky too, which is fun.


Japan is drawing closer...42 days away...


Additionally! I'm going to start a new blog for Japan. I just need a name for it. I want to include the word 'mikan'. It's a small orange, tangerine, that Ehime is known for having many of. So I want to include an element of that in the name..I just have to add something to it....what do you think? Any ideas? And I might do the blog elsewhere...but I'll post a link.

Tomorrow I have a lovely, lovely, lovely lie-in! And I have laundry to do, and some planning for Japan. Possibly seeing a friend who's come back up to Oxford, we shall see~

Had a nice day today. Spent most of it with Laura and Nat, sitting in the Mission eating nachos, then in Starbucks, then sitting in Nat's room reading Gaijin Smash and talking about Japan :)
I also got a pretty green long  top from Gold Stone (Asian-fashion orientated store) and a skirt. They were both on sale!
(Check out  http://www.m-butterfly.co.uk/   They have a lot of nice things but beware smaller sizes if you're Western. However, their one size footless tights fit really well and are really resistant to getting runs in them!).

There are negative things going on right now which are following me around and I wish would see some light of resolution, but I'm focusing on these good things :) I complained this week that karma never seems to work my way, and then, these things happen. So, must stay positive~

Just an update on things this week; I've been fairly busy.

Tuesday, I received my new laptop. It's an Acer Aspire 5735, with 250GB HDD, 4GB RAM, built in Crystal Eye webcam (which is terrifyingly good, I backed away from the screen at how clear and responsive it is), Intel Core Duo 2 2GHz processor.
I'm impressed with it, and I haven't been too appalled by Vista yet. Though definitely jumping on the free upgrade to Windows 7 when I can.

Wednesday, I went to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I was very impressed by it. In my opinion, this is one of the best jobs they've done with adapting the books so far. Yes, there were some things left out as usual, but people keep forgetting that the movies would go on for ten hours if they left nothing out (which I wouldn't have a personal objection to, but...)
Some favourite things
o  Slughorn. Very well done. You felt genuinely sorry for him when he was afraid. Jim Broadbent was an excellent casting choice, despite the fact that he wasn't as 'enormously fat' as the books would have us believe..
o  Daniel Radcliffe. Acting has gotten better. And his acting after Harry took the Felix Felicitus potion was very amusing.
o  Snape. As usual. I loved him at the end, finally pulling his wand on Harry. You really got a taste for his power more so than before in the films.
o Helena Bonham Carter. Such a good choice for Bellatrix. She's not how I picture her when reading the books, but she pulls off the character very well.
o Tom Felton. I loved Draco's decline and his obvious frustration. And the crying could have gone very badly, but it was very believable.
o The cave. I definitely flinched when they came out of the water. And the special effects when Dumbledore managed to recover and whirled flames everywhere, fantastic.
o The scene with everyone in the infirmary. I loved that the teachers just stood there watching the ridiculous drama unfold before Lavender flounced out.

After the film, I met Jo, and we went for dinner, which was really good. I haven't seen her for ages, so we had a good chat. And then we ran into Nick too, who I also haven't seen for ages, so that was a good evening.

Thursday - Had. Most. Annoying. Bus. Ride. Ever. I was already running late, and stressed because I had packing on my mind and parents coming the next day. Bus was late. Then proceeded to stall at every bus stop. I don't think I'm capable of driving a bus, don't get me wrong, but the guy spent way too long revving the engine  trying to get it start. When we ended up stuck on Morrell Avenue for ten minutes, I desperately wanted to tell him to please hit the accelerator as soon as he got biting point, rather than revving the engine so much that it died again. So frustrating. Met a friend for a little while before they went to work, got my times from work, headed to the post office to find out about forwarding my mail and then went home to pack.

Friday - Had work in the morning, before heading home. Got stuck in the rain, even with an umbrella. My Converse were just two portable puddles.
Parents picked me up at 7, and we went back to their hotel (they were staying at The Oxford Hotel in Wolvercote). We had a nice dinner there - I had a blue cheese and pear tart, followed by braised beef and really yummy Lyonnaise potatoes (but with red cabbage that was a bit sweet), and lemon posset for dessert. We had a walk after dinner, before going to the Trout Inn for a drink and walking back. I took a taxi home and continued to pack.

Saturday - parents came in the morning and we loaded up the van. They left around 1.30pm. Dave and Steph also left yesterday. So I'm alone in the house right now. Kind of feeling it too :/ I really hoped I'd be doing something this weekend, but instead I've been spending a crappy weekend alone. And the weather has reflected that. But I'm no longer surprised at things not happening anymore.

I also got emails from Ehime, this week, finally. From one of my supervisors, Imaizumi Shinako-sensei. She was amazingly informative, with lots of contact details, and answers to the questions I asked Kanako. She and other supervisor, Inoue-sensei are actually a married couple, which is quite funny. They're going to pick me up at the airport and also help me look at apartments. I've decided to apply for a very short-term homestay for when I first get there. I am a little nervous about doing it, but I think it'll be a good experience. I also contacted Loren for her advice about it, and she gave me some good questions to ask about it, and her opinion of what it's like. So I'm pretty encouraged. I mean, it's not something long-term I could do - I like my space and I want to have friends to stay, etc. But this way I can actually see my apartment before I move in, which is really advantageous.
Japan is really weighing on my mind now. Less than two months to go. Feeling slightly more sick than excited though, insane as you may think me.

Today I have ashamedly pretty much stayed in bed, playing on the internet and watching Buffy episodes (I'm rewatching). I need to move about now. Got some preparation to do for things to do tomorrow. Also really need to do more in making this laptop 'mine'.

And that is your weekly novel done with~