jamie's blog

Name: Jamie
Age: 21
Date of Entry into the world:
Dec. 17th, 1980
Family:
mom, dad, two brothers, and my twin sister
Pets:
My beloved dog North and two cats, Zoe and Proofrock (don`t ask me, my 23 year old brother named it!)
Interests:
Japan, Japan, Japan. And reading :P My world revolves around things Japanese, particuarly manga, anime, j-pop, dramas, etc. I`m a huge fan of all of the above and I have definete opinions on certain parts of the fandom.
Fav. manga:
Okay, here goes, in no particular order:
1. Mars
2. Kanata-kara
3. Hikaru no Go
4. Inuyasha
5. Sekai de ichibandaikirai
6. Hanazakari no kimitachi e
7. New York New York
8. Massugu ni ikou
and a TON more!
Fav. j-pop groups, in no particular order:
1. V6! *tackle hugs*
2. Yuzu
3. Porno Graffiti
4. Spitz
5. Kiroro
6. Misia
7. Something ELse
8. Fukuyama Masaharu
and again, a ton more
Fav. Japanese dorama:
1. Long Vacation
2. Virgin Road
3. Meguri Ai
4. Love Story
5. Namida o fuite
6. Nemureru Mori
7. Koi wa aserazu
8. Bokura no Yuuki
Fav. Books:
1. Night of Ghosts and Shadows-Mercedes Lackey
2. His Dark Materials Trilogy-Phillup Pullman
3. Harry Potter series-JK Rowling
4. Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen
5. It-Stephen King
6. Blue Moon Rising-Simon Green
7. Last Herald Mage Series-Mercedes Lackey
etc. etc. etc. I`m a HUGE fantasy fan ^.^/ I`d put my favorite anime, but I guess something should be left as a mystery ^^;;
Contact:
e-mail: jun_inohara@hotmail.com
AIM: Ikuko and Kazuha
Links:
Anipike
Random Thought Depository
Katherine's blog

Wednesday, January 2, 2002
So I'm reading this girl's blog (http://tochira.pitas.com/) and it's pretty obvious she was in Japan for a semester just like I was. It's making me all teary because she's saying all these things and commenting on things that were exactly in my experience (like going to Kyouto, or how all the Colonel's outside KFCs in Japan have on Santa suits during the holidays). So far more than anything else since being home this has made me tear up.

Also, it's apparent that she too, like me, has come home and won't be going back, and seems sad about it (although I think she's a little more comfortable about being home than I), and also is facing no more Japanese classes for the first time in a long time. I just desperately want to be able to e-mail her, or SOMETHING. I can commiserate completely and, aside from my sister, I have no one to confide in on how I feel about not being in Japan anymore ^^;; But she seems to have no e-mail addy or guestbook, so I must console myself with simply reading her blog ^^;;

Just had to comment on that ^_^

Tuesday, January 1, 2002
It was funny ^^ Not amusing funny, but weird funny. This morning on WGN (the talk radio station out of Chicago, which I've listened to my entire life) from 5 a.m. until about 11:30, they were doing a 2001 Year in Review. This is something I desperately wanted to hear, because I knew they would be talking and running clips of the news from September 11th and following. Of course I knew all about it in Japan (my host family had CNN) but both my sister and I have kind of been craving to hear and see news clips from that day from the news media here at home.

I know that seems odd. Why on earth would we want to relive something that was so awful and still haunts America so strikingly?

The fact of the matter is, no matter how much we heard of it while we were in Japan, there's a sneaking sense in the back of our minds of being something like frauds. Not LESS American of course, by any means, but just simply that we weren't here and don't understand what our fellow Americans went through.

Of course, my mom says "You DON'T want to know what it was like", and in most ways I agree with her, but I still want to know how stations like WGN covered it (I'd like to comment here that I adore WGN. I've listened to it my whole life: at home, at work, when I'm driving. Like many other Illinoisians, I think, they're my radio family :P).

Wah, I wish I could be more articulate. But I think what I want to say is that this morning I got a taste of something that in retrospect I think I really am glad I missed. If simply hearing those clips creeped me out this morning, I can't imagine what it was like to be here, and hearing first about the WTC, but then the Pentagon and then the plane crashing in Pennsylvania. It just must have seemed like things were going to hell O.O

ANYWAY, completely switching subjects and on a happier note, Mai told us she was going to hand a bunch of manga over to us :P She's going to give us the series "Miracle Girls", since it's about twins. I've heard of it of course, but never read it ^^ She didn't bring it last night, but I imagine she'll let us have it before she goes back to school ^^

Well that's it for now...again :P

Tuesday, January 1, 2002
AKEMASHITE OMEDETOU GOZAIMASU!!!!!!!! ^___________^

And with that, I'm going to bed XD

Monday, December 31, 2001
XD Okay, I know it's Monday morning, but as it's just past 12:30 for me, I still consider it Sunday evening!

I got two nice surprises tonight! The first happened around 9, when Morgan called ^^ Ya always know when Morgan calls that you're not going to be on any less than an hour ^^ Which is perfectly fine with me, of course, that's merely a statement of fact ^^ So he and I talked for a while which is nice since we haven't talked for quite some time. At one point (when his girlfriend Michelle called his cell phone) he attempted to get us to be able to hear each other so we could sort of talk, but it didn't really work XD Too bad, because I've never had the chance to talk to her, only IM a couple of times ^^ He apparently got his first....less than stellar grade. I won't say what it is, in deference to him, but I know how he feels. I think I did less than stellar with my Japanese language courses at Nanzan ^^;; *shrug*

Anyhoo, then Mai called ^________________^ Well, I had to call her back because I was still on the phone with Morgan, and then when I did call she was in the shower. But at that point I talked to her mom for a minute, and for one of the first times I was able to talk to her in Japanese without feeling silly or stupid ^^;; yay!! I think I surprised her with my use of "jitsu wa", because it's definetly not something I used before I went.

It was REALLY nice to talk to Mai ^^;; We didn't get to see her much while she was still in HS and we were in college, but now even less so now that she's at NIU and we were in Japan. It's fun to really be able to talk to her about things Japanese and especially Nagoya stuff, since we all know about it now ^^;;

One thing we were talking about that really had nothing to do with Japan was that just recently Mai has seen "Shrek" for the first time. Meg and I were both wondering how much Japanese people knew in respect to fairytales, but Mai assured us that they know basically all the general fairytale stories.

Thing is, the part that confused her (which is unfortunate because IMO it's the funniest part of the movie) is the part where Farquad is interrogating the Gingerbread man XD She unfortunatly had no knowledge of "The Muffin Man" song. So my sister and I, both on the phone, are standing there singing the muffin man song to her *lol* It's about as silly a picture as you're probably imagining ^^

Okay, that's enough for now. I'll probably have more to add later ^^

Sunday, December 30, 2001
^___________________________^ Chapter 145 of "Hikaru no Go" was finally up on that page that Katherine gave me ^^ wai! ^.^/ Granted I still have volume 15 yet to read (also saw the cover for volume 15 and DAMN but I like it! That's a gorgeous picture of Sai!! And I don't mean just because Sai's pretty, it's just a beautiful picture overall!), but since I read a few chapters in Jump while in Japan, I've no issues with continuing to follow it ^^ (spoilers? Who cares about spoilers? O.O). It's just getting really exciting what with ***SPOILER WARNING***

Akira and Hikaru dueling it out ^^ I know you can love this series without knowing how to play Go, but there are times, such as at this point in the story, where I wish I had even the slightest grasp of it. Oh, I understand one of the points is to get as much territory as you can, etc., but it's when they say things like "Migi uwasumi komoku" that I wish I understood how that is important to the game. Sure, from the kanji I can understand partly, but because I don't know the game, I don't know how that affects play ^^;;

***SPOILER OVER***

So I downloaded Steady & Co.'s song "Shunka shuutou" and Rip Slyme's "One" XD I know what you're thinking: "Why Jamie, those aren't your typical songs/groups of choice at all", and I know that :P All I have to say in my defense is that if you had seen the vidoes/heard these songs as many times as I had, you'd be downloading them to. It's the exact same factor working here as with EE Jump's "Ikinari Rythym" XD You hear a song so much and eventually you break.
Okay that did NOT happen with Hamasaki Ayumi's "Dearest". THAT song is crap (well not the song, the voice behind it ^^).

All right, that's it for now :P

Saturday, December 29, 2001
Hmmmmm I just thought of something ^^;; I've been noticing something from reader other ppl's blogs (er primarily those of other Japanese anime/manga fans) and I have really noticed how I have, like...no one I refer to as "~~-chan", and I wonder why that is. I'm certainly not knocking the people that do, but I just wonder about it. Occassionally (sp. wrong, I know) my sis or I will refer to our friend Talia as Tacchan (but generally very rarely, and only in a chat) or our friend Mai, as Mai-chan, but that also is very rare. O.O Weird XD

Also, I was reading this one girl's blog and at the top it said she was studying in Japan. On the list of anime she likes/watches, included a bunch of series I know for a fact are running on tv right now (Hikaru no Go, Scryed, Gravitation, etc.), so I found it pretty funny. Especially because I myself watched some of those (Gravitation when i could catch, once or twice Scryed and Hikaru no Go religiously) ^^.

Saturday, December 29, 2001
So I meant to write yesterday, but as I have this habit of being, well, lazy I didn't ^^;;

Most of the family went out to the cemetery to watch them put granddad's urn in the...what is it called, a mausoleum? I'd never seen that before, myself. The only member of the immediate family that wasn't there was my brother Scott, who lives a few hours away. We didn't have a funeral or anything like that, mostly because my grandmother didn't want one.

Anyhoo, after that we all went out for lunch, which I think was a good way of sort of "closing" things, if you know what I mean. It's a chance for everyone to sit and talk, and laugh even given the circumstances. By the time my brother Jon and his girlfriend arrived, there were 11 of us ^^;;

After that Meg and I headed to see our friends Jill and Chad ^.^ They're getting married next June! ^.^/ They're living in NYC now and going to school there, but they were back for a few days. We went to eat at a Japanese restaurant here in town called Tachibana. Now, I'll never turn down the chance to eat Japanese food, but after being in Japan almost 4 months this time, eating at a restaurant here in the States is something of a drag XD

O.O We got a new car. Okay, let me rephrase that..we got a new used car. But it's very very nice, and the clincher for me is that it plays CDs ^^;; Even better is the fact that since we don't know how to drive stick shift still, we don't have to be relagated to dad's crappy Pontiac Sunbird ^.^ In other words, WE get to drive the "new" car XD *cheers*

I was finally able to finish putting pictures up in our room ^^ Except for a few random spaces on the wall that Meg's going to rearrange, it's all done ^^;; It took a LOT of time, but it looks pretty damned good, if you ask me. I felt a little bad because we took Jill, Chad and their friend Joe (who is also a fan of Japanese anime) to see how our room looked...What I mean when I say I felt bad is the fact that unless you're like...a shoujo manga whore like me, there's not a ton to see ^^ With the exception of a few series like Rurouni Kenshin, Inuyasha, Meitantei Conan, and Hikaru no Go, Meg and I are primarily shoujo fans. Doesn't mean we won't WATCH other stuff (not by a long shot), but if you're interested in manga our room isn't good for things outside of shoujo manga (except the aforementioned series) ^^;; So for Joe especially, who's favorites include "Lain" and "Eva" (two series I respect but don't particuarly enjoy), there's not a ton for him to see ^^;; On the other hand, here I am trying desperately to show people how wonderful "Hikaru no Go" is, but no one seems to be listening. Oh well *shrug* Their loss, not mine ^^/

Uh ok, this is where I'll stop today ^.^v

Thursday, December 27, 2001
XD I talked to Katherine on AIM last night! ^.^/ YAA-------------Y! It's the first time I've talked to her since last Thursday (almost a week. Dear lord, has it gone by so quickly? O___O). It was really nice to be able to talk to her, even if it makes me sad ^^;; It makes me think about sitting in the computer labs at Nanzan in, say, the middle of October, simply thinking about heading home for the evening, instead of sitting in the basement of my house here in Illinois. Anyway, it was great talking to you Katherine!

I've been really scared the past few days of REALLY forgetting my Japanese O.O Just because it's really starting to occur to me that I'm DONE with organized Japanese class. Of course I know enough to easily be able to study on my own, but I know myself, and I know I'm lazy ^^;;

Ok...so my sister told me something really weird O.O That on ONE of the sattelites that her host family's tv had they could get Afghanistan's Al-Jazeera (I know that's spelled incorrectly, sorry -.-) station O_________O Ok...is that just weird to anyone else? I mean, of course you should get other stations from other countries if you have a sattelite...but that's just....bizarre O.o

Ok on to other random subjects ^^ Meg and I are still at work replacing pictures on our room's ceiling. If you know us at all, you'd know our room is literally wall-papered with Japanese anime/manga and j-pop pictures. And I kid you not. There's no space left. Well, right now there is, because we took all the pictures off the ceiling in order to put up a few posters and replace some of the old ones with new ones we brought back ^^ But we've gotten a ton of pics back up and it's starting to look good again ^.^ I'll have to take pictures because it looks different from even the last time I took pics, 3 months ago.

We also got our manga back last night from Talia ^^;; I honestly don't know what we're going to do when our boxes arrive O____O There's some room left, but not enough for the approx. 120 volumes we're waiting for. As it stands, the total is something like 347 manga, but I won't know the exact total until those boxes get here, (though I'm thinking the total is somewhere aroun 450+)and I'd really like to know ^^ I swear, that's far too many for normal American ppl should have :P The worse thing is that this summer we're going to NYC and I've heard there's a branch of Book-Off there! BWAHAHAHAHAH--- *maniacal laughter echoes across Pitas*

All right, that's it for now :P

Wednesday, December 26, 2001
Hmmmm what to write...what to write? Very good question O.O Ah! yes! XD I SENT AND GOT AN E-MAIL FROM SHIGERU!! WOO!! *dances around* Honestly, it's not that much of an achievement...I mean, anyone can send and receive e-mail after all, but it's from SHIGERU ^.^ Nishimura Shigeru, the cute Japanese daigakusei at Nanzan who has an equally as cute a friend named Haruhiko (he said to call him Hal, but we were like "uhh...no" ^^ Not to his face of course). I think I wrote about Shigeru before. He's the one my sister, Jason and I think may have had some interest in me, although lord knows what good such information will do me THESE days, ne?

I managed to download some of the songs I heard so often this past semester in Japan ^^ I'm having more trouble than I thought in finding certain songs, especially Gospellers' "Chikai", which I just assumed everyone would have. I mean...it's GOSPELLERS we're talking about. They're hugely popular (and with good reason, in my opinion, unlike Hamasaki Ayumi *strangle*) but I can't find that song O.o But I did find a few songs I thought would be harder, like Kuzu's "Moonlight" ^^;;

I think mom being happy we're back is starting to wear off XD Not to say she doesn't like having us home, I just think the time period of being able to take advantage of it is coming to a close ^^;; Damn!

I may have more to write later, but for now, that's it!

Tuesday, December 25, 2001
So my grandfather passed away this morning, sometime before 10:30 a.m. Apparently the nursing home had called here saying that he was having trouble breathing, so my dad and grandmother went down there to see him. That was at about 8:15, according to my mom. Sometime around 10:30 a.m. my dad called saying he had passed away. I wasn't up at the time (Meg and I were up until 5 doing stuff in our room...like cleaning and putting posters up etc.) but mom came in and told us.

I'm not really feeling sad, except of course for Dad and grammy because granddad had been deteriorating for months now, and it really was a matter of time. I think my parents thought he would probably pass away before Meg and I got home from Japan even. So I'm glad Meg and I went to see him Sunday, even if he wasn't awake and aware of anything.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I read Katherine's blog entry about her Adventures in Tokyo ^^;; Sounds like quite an experience, and even if it was a hassle it's a good story! I'm soooo jealous she got to see Obata-sensei speak! DAMN YOU KATHERINE! XD But conversely I'm freakishly happy that she was able to get that calendar for me!! SANKYUU KATHERINE!!!! ^.^/

On a side note, Katherine, I would like to sympathize with you about Shibuya. I went there 3 1/2 years ago and I vaguely remember what it was like. That was before I'd been to NYC myself O.O

Also read Katherine's description of volume 15 of Hikaru no Go and am dying to read it. Like Katherine I pretty much had an idea already of what would happen, but it still makes me sad O.O WAAAAAH SAI!! *hug* ^^;;

Anyone get the feeling I'm living vicariously through Katherine's blog?? O.O

Also, I am thinking of posting Jason's keitai address on my blog because he's teasing me about taping Hikaru no Go O.O He even teased me that he'd tape from 7:30-8:30 instead of 7-8 so I wouldn't miss a Morning Musume special thingy! ACK!!! STOP IT JASON!!!!!!!!!! O_______O If he keeps teasing me, I'm giving you all open season on his e-mail address.

Well that's it for now, unless I think of something to add later ^^

Monday, December 24, 2001
AHAHAHAHAHAHA I got a Go board (and pieces) for X-mas!!!! (My family opens gifts christmas eve!) My dad had this old Go board and pieces from way back at the beginning of the Vietnam War when he was stationed in Okinawa ^^;; The board (although a little wide down the middle (it folds up) ) and pieces are in perfectly fine condition and there's even a guide book, which I need desperately XD! I'm just really happy about it, because I really wanted to learn to play, and I didn't want to have to do it with bottle caps (^^;; If you've watch an ep of the HnG anime, you'll know what I'm talking about (Go Go Igo! *lmao*) ). Anyway...that's it for now!

Monday, December 24, 2001
So I almost feel guilty about not writing in an ACTUAL journal O.O Wait, have I written that before? Well, if I have, skip this part. If I haven't...well you probably will fall asleep rading about me feeling guilty about not writing in an actual journal as I did every night in Japan. So my advice to everyone in general is to skip this part ^^;;

In fact...I will too...I already said it anyway ^^;;

So Meg and I have been putting in episodes of "The West Wing" *cheers* Aside from Things Japanese, "The West Wing" and reading are probably our two other passions in life ^^;; Ah, that probably sounds strange, saying we're passionate about an NBC drama, but if you've seen the show even once, I suppose you can guess why we love it. I know some people think it's the same formula, every episode, but by god, knowing the characters as well as we do, I think that's why we tune in ^^;; We just finished watching the episode in which this guy named Cliff was introduced as a potential love interest for Donna. Now, this is a double edged sword. Of course the entire "Went Wing" viewing audience is cheering for Josh and Donna to someday get together, but I don't think anyone wants it to happen to quickly, so it's fun for a wrench or two to be thrown in there occasionally. On the other hand, watching it, you feeling like you want to raise your hackles, as it were, and scratch his eyes out. Cliff's a perfectly amiable guy, and he and Donna banter well, but he's no Josh ^^;; Anyway, I can't wait to see more eps. It's one of the things I sorely missed being able to see while I was in Japan!

Last night we went with our friends to see the first "Lord of the Rings" movie ^.^/ It's funny, because prior to this semester I had tried reading "The Hobbit" 6 or 7 times, and could never get passed the part where the dwarves are gathering in Bilbo's house. You have to understand, this is not because I'm bad at reading, or slow at it. I was reading regular sized fantasy novels when I was 10 (that's not a brag, just simply an example), but I could just NEVER get through it. But this time I managed to make my way through and read the rest of the books. Well...almost. I was about halfway through the final book when I had to mail a bunch of stuff home ahead of me while I was still in Japan. So I included my copy of the ""Lord of the Rings" triology...which means I still don't know the end, and that box won't come for at least another few weeks (ah, the glories of surface mail)

Anyway, about the movie ^^;; I thouroughly enjoyed it, even though I knew in places time was sped up in order to accomodate movie time ^^;; One of my favorite reviewers had problems with Elijah Wood as Frodo because they thought he had "big doe eyes" ^^;; but for me, that worked. I adored him as Frodo personally but maybe that's because with things like movies I'm not always the most descerning of people. I thought all the actors played their parts very well, but I felt that it was difficult to discern some of the character's names (like Gimli or Boromir) if you didn't already know them ^^;; But that's pretty much my largest complaint. I LOVED Legolas...I like elves (I can'st it when ppl think elves are short O.O ) and Legolas looks exactly like a character of my own (named Gladfly) in a story I'm writing. ^^;; And I began writing that story long before I knew about this movie ^^/

I got an e-mail from Jason! Woo! ^.^/ Now where's one from Katherine...? :P Wah they saw some j-pop group in front of Nagoya Eki and it's driving me CRAZY wondering what group it was. O.O Why do *I* always miss the groups?! Of course, I can't really say I"m disappointed that I missed seeing Run & Gun *lol*. Btw, if you want a laugh, go download their new single "Twinkle Starlight" ^^;;

KATHERINE! O________O How is "Hikaru no Go" 15?!?! Is it as difficult as you'd heard! O.O Let me know!
Ok I think this is where I"m ending up for now ^^;; Unless I come up with something else!

Sunday, December 23, 2001
Okay, my internal clock is royally screwed up!! *hates jissaboke (jet lag)* I had to spend Saturday over twice, as I'm sure you know, and although I took a nap in the afternoon for about 3 hours, woke up at 9 p.m. and stayed up until almost 5 a.m., I got up at 8:30 (that's **AM**). I'm tired, but I just wanted to be up, doing stuff. Not that a ton can be done in my room until I have the posters laminated. I swear to GOD, it's going to be an enormous project putting all the new stuff up and replacying the old! Meg"s a little afraid that it's going to look too j-pop influenced....which is fine except that we're equally as big of manga/anime fans as we are of j-pop ^^;; But I assured her between the other posters plus the calendars I have...and good old unf unf Yorihisa, NO ONE was going to second guess our interest in anime and manga. Nevermind the fact our manga are in plain, obvious view.

Speaking of manga...I counted how many we have while Talia still has a good deal of them, plus we're both waiting for a box to come that we sent from Japan by surface mail three weeks ago. I"m betting that each of our boxes has about 60 or so manga. Anyway, the grand total right now (without the previously mentioned ones) is 271...so our estimate that we have 400+ is definetly accurate.

That's just sick, isn't it? :P

So last night we put in about 31/2-4 eps of "The West Wing" from earlier this season. ^.^/ God I missed that show, even though it's hard to watch in the beginning because there's a lot of arguing that went on because of Bartlett's confession of having MS ^^;; The thing I don't like is that Cliff has just been introduced and to those of us who are Josh/Donna ppl that presents somewhat of a troublesome...er...thing ;P

So Katherine, did you go to the Jump Festa?! I"m not asking because I want that calendar, I'm asking cause I want to hear about it! Wah volume 15 is only *tries to think ahead but finds it difficult as she has had to think back in time for almost 4 months* a few hours away! O.O Damn you Katherine! DAMN YOU!!! ;P

As you can see I"m doing relatively okay about being home. Like I"ve told meg, being home isn't bad, I just want to be back in Nagoya that's the problem ^^;; I suppose the important part now is to keep studying and get back there. I just need to keep doing other things to keep my mind off of it, ne?
Well I may write more later, as we may go see LOTR this evening!

Saturday, December 22, 2001
I'm home O.O Those are words I can hardly believe, and yet there they are. I am sitting now in the basement of my home in central Illinois, and there is no going back to Nagoya....no going to Sakae or Nagoya Eki with Katherine or Jason, or going to Animate, Mandarake, Gamers or the KAC doujinshi shop. No more breakfasts with Otousan or dinner with my host parents. No waking up in my room, riding the bus to school, or just deciding I want to go down to the Book-Off near the Irinaka chikatestsu.

No more magical toilets, or washiki, or seeing those shoes and leg warmer the college girls wear. No more walking up that hill past CJS every morning to greet my sister and Katherine and Jason. No more seeing the mountains off in the distance, no more speaking Japanese everyday, and no more just sitting in front of the tv, and talking with my host family.

But enough about that, it'll just start me crying, which is what I have thus far avoided since boarding the plane in Nagoya. Up to then Meg and I were pretty much a mess, and I hugged Okaasan at least three times. So far I'm decently okay. Having Megan here helps a LOT, and the fact that aside from host family experiences, we have much of the same memories of Nagoya and Nanzan, so we can share ^^ So far today I have found myself drifting in and out of thinking about it. Nagoya's far from perfect, but I don't need perfect. That would be boring. Japan has a lot it needs to work on (hell, so does America) but I loved being there. I loved the time I spent there, every single minute of it. I'm so glad that I chose Nanzan, and that I could have the host family I did, and that I could meet Katherine and Jason. Sounds overly mushy, I know, but every word of it is true ^^

From here on out I expect that my blog will be reasonably boring. No more new manga to buy all the time, no movies to go see, no eps to watch on tv. Everything will come to me second hand, so I'll have no chance to tell it to you first.

Thank you Otousan, Okaasan, Katherine, Jason, Meg...Thank you Nagoya and thank you Nanzan ^.^v Your combined effort has given my the best 4 months of my life!

Thursday, December 20, 2001
The world as I know if has officially come to an end, and for once I am not talking about leaving Japan and coming home on Saturday -.- I have just discovered that what I basically consider my favorite manga of all time ("Mars" by Souryou Fuyumi) is being translated into English in ****Smile**** manga. O________O Now, normally I don`t make such a big issue out of things like this, but this is a manga I love, I adore....I`m sure you`ve had the feeling at one point or another of just wanting to keep something to yourself, ne? Well, that`s basically how I feel about "Mars". Not that other people can`t read it ^^;; I just...it`s just something I wanted to be kept in Japanese, you know? I suppose I should have seen it coming when a manga like "Peach Girl" was running in Smile to begin with. So now I`ll have no explain that no, I did not read "Mars" in "Smile", I read and finished collecting it (and it`s gaiden) over a year ago, in Japanese -.-; gyah! *frustrated frown*

So yesterday we finished up our omiyage shopping...or sort of did ^^;; We still don`t have anything for Dad...we just didn`T know what to get for him O.O What do you get a man who is 60 years old and primarily interested in airplanes? I haven`t a clue, and I`m hoping that he`ll just ultimately say "Oh I didn`t need anything", etc. I DID buy a "muffler" for myself (a long red one that`s very "niau"), plus one of the Hikaru no Go calendars and a booster pack for the card game (I didn`t want to cough up the money for the starter kit). I managed to get Meg to buy the IY calendar, although we didn`t get the Kenshin one for the new OAVs simply because we weren`t sure we`d have the space in our luggage.

So last night Eisuke and Ryota decided that since I haven`t had my first kiss, that it was about time I hurry up and get it over with :P At which point they decided that Jason was a good candidate for this *lol* I`m not sure why it was such a big deal to them. It`s not a huge deal to me, I just don`t want to go kissing random ppl. I`m not that kind of person *shrug* ^^;; Hell, Meg`s penpal Maki is 24 and never been kissed (hence her nickname "Josie")! I fully blame them if I did badly on my Japanese history exam though, because they whole time they were talking to me I was trying to study for it!

I watched this big-ass music show last night, in which the top 30 artists (chosen by more than a million ppl) performed songs ^.^v So I got to see J-Friends, Porno Graffiti, Chemistry, Gospelers, Arashi, V6, Kuwata Keisuke, (hell I`ll even admit to liking to watch Morning Musume do "Mr. Moonlight"), and other groups I like. Of course this almost meant I had to sit throught the torture that is watching Hamasaki Ayumi sing any given song, most of all the piano version of "Dearest" in which you get to hear her horrid voice LOUD AND CLEAR the whole time -.- Why she`s so popular is beyond me. She clearly can`t sing and her personality (which usually can make up for lack of singing ability in j-pop) is zero to none -.- Sorry any of you Ayumi fans out there, but you`ll get no sympathy from me in reguard to her. I can`t stand her -.- Which is really too bad because some of her SONGS I really like, it`s just when she starts singing that they get ruined.

So this is my final entry in my blog before I return to the U.S. I warn you that from here on out, if you found anything of interest in my blog before, you`ll probably be board out your mind from now on. Unless you`Re a dorama fan ^^;; I`ll probably comment on dorama heavily, because I have the easiest access to those.

Before I ever start writing, I always have a million things that I want to write down, that I want to say. I feel that if I can, it`ll relieve some of the dread and ill feeling that`s at the bottom of my stomach about going home. I know it makes Illinois sound like the bottom of a shoe, but it`S really not. My town is NOT bad, my family is NOT horrid (although I wish my parents still actually LIKED each other, but that`s wishful thinking), my school is NOT the worst, but going home I dread more than anything I ever have dreaded in my life. I always think I can explain why, and then when I try and find the right words I can`t. My sister understands why without me having to tell her, but that doesn`t work for anyone else.

I suppose the root of it is that I love Japan...I`m an American to the core, but I love Japan. It`s NOT perfect, not by a long shot, but I love being here. I suppose the similarities combined with the stark differences from America have a lot to do with. Also, before I ever came to Japan that first time 3 years ago, my goal was simply to go to Japan, and I did. After that, the goal was to get back to Japan during college, and that`s what these last few months have been. Now that they`re over, I don`t know what the next goal (Aside from finishing school) is. Come back for a couple of years as an English teacher? I don`t know that I want to be a teacher in America, but I`d like to teacher English here (I find discovering the different way languages work is really fanscinating ^.^/), but that`s certainly not a permanent job movement. I DON`T want to become the kind of person that just has an interest in a country their whole life, but never goes back there. I don`t want to be on the wayside and be looking in, when I could be on the inside participating ^^;; *sigh*

I wish I knew how to impart to my host parents just how much they`ve meant to me, or to Katherine and Jason how much their friendship has been apprecited in what has turned out to be the best time of my life. Gah! I suppose to should just stop now ^^;; Or I`ll put myself into a further mood. Won`t be another entry until at least Saturday, and it`ll probably be one in a foul, sad, heartbroken mood. Tanoshimi ni! XP

Wednesday, December 19, 2001
So I finally saw Megan`s ad last night, the one with KimuTaku. It`s for a drink called SuperFire, and I`ll be damned if I can figure out what exactly the ad has to do with the actual product. Anyway, it has KimuTaku in this kind of dark house (it`s the kind of dark that`s blue in color XD) when all of the sudden a white cat comes in throught the window and he says "Osee yo" (translation= You`re late). It`s such a...."kakkoii" ad O.O

I would like to add here that in the future I may be prone to what might be called "fangirl" Japanese...that is...Anglisizing (sp?) Japanese words ^^;; Like saying "She was chikan-ed" or something like that. Spending time in Japan will do that to a person, and I`m just warning you for the future ^^;; Plus, I`ve studied Japanese a fairly long amount of time and feel I am fully entitled to it :P

******Hikaru no Go spoiler`s ahead. Proceed with caution*****
GYAH O______O This weeks issue is such a cliffhanger O.O It was really nice over all, even if Sai IS still gone somewhere *sob* I know volume 15 is going to be hard for me (wah poor Katherine. I may love this series, but it`s Katherine`s baby ^^;;) but I desperately want to know something about what`s happened with Sai and when exactly he disappeared. But anyway, about this chapter. I really liked that it was kind of quiet ^^;; I loved what Akari said about Hikaru seeming older and all that, and I really think it`s true ^.^v But to have it ending with both Hikaru and Akira leaving to play EACH OTHER and knowing I won`t be here for next weeks issue O_____O However, Katherine has solved this problem for me, but giving me the addy of this page where the person scan`s each week`s issue ^^ It`s not a scan-translation...well not for ME anyway, because I don`t read Chinese, but the Japanese text is left intact, and that`s all I care about. I don`t need an English translation for the most part. Not saying I can read it without help, but I do have dictionary on my computer at home ^^/

*****Hikaru no Go spoilers end*****

So last night I also saw the video for "Always", the new single of J-Friends (for those of you that don`t know, J-Friends is a combination of V6, Kinki Kids and Tokio. They do singles for charity ^^). When I first heard that song I didn`t think much of it, but having heard it a second time I really like it! And the video is adorable to boot (hey I can`t help that I`m a sucker for smiling V6/Kinki Kids, so back off XO!! :P)

So there`s a kind of semi-war going on amoung my chat friends, and I don`t know what to do about it. O.O Or even if there is anything I can do. In most ways I feel that I really want the old, smaller chats back, but new people never hurt things either. It`s just where you draw the line that`s the question, you know? I dunno...maybe it`s just that people should ask other people{s permission to invite newer ppl into the chat, and I don`T think anyone (myself included) has been doing that lately. ^^;; It`s kind of a drag that it`s happening just when I`m going home, and I`m feeling down anyway, but it`s obviously a problem that needs to be solved! I suppose what I really want is just for my friends to be happy, and not upset with each other ^^ I want to be able to talk with a group of people who knows what it means when someone talks about Prune or Plastic Trees, or the NEglish dictionary, or how the Family Tree makes sense to absolutely no one anymore ^^;;

So I think I`ve decided to entirely re-write parts of the beginning of my story (The Dragons of Ryuuel --> fanfiction.net under the name Jun Inohara...I know ff.net may seem silly to some ppl, but this is not a fic, it`s an original story...which isn`t THAT great at all)...because my two main characters have no character. That always happens to me when I write stories, and I want to change that ^^;; Ageha and Shinyuu are boring...I think they need to bicker at each other O.O They aren`t quite as bad as Seth and Aelynn were though, thank god O.O I guess what I really want to say is that I just want my main characters to be a little better so I don`T feel bad about liking my supporting cast (Gladfly, Fowlfey, Mylaynne and Tynian XD ) more than them! ^.^

Gah, I`m so sad ;.; Just two days between me and America (I love you America, but I think you understand ^^;;) I don`T know when to cry, how much to cry, I just know I`m sad, and I don`t want to go home. *sigh* I can`t put it into words -.-
Anyway, gotta go! Ja!

Tuesday, December 18, 2001
Ooookay, so anyone interested in just HOW big the unf unf Yorihisa poster is? ^^;; I unrolled it in my room last night and, in order to give you a more solid idea of the length...I am 5`4" and I reach his collarbone XD IT IS HUUUUUUGGEEEEE O____O *loves it* I can`t even imagine where the hell Meg and I are going to put that in our room, but by god, we`ll find a place if it kills us!

So yesterday my host dad took me to eat at this restaurant in a hotel (where my host mom was attending a Bounenkai, which is an end of the year party, for her job). We had this tenpura dinner that was VERY good but rather expensive, so I felt a little bad ^^;; What was nice was the really nice view of Nagoya-jo. It reminded me a LOT of the first week I was here and they took me to see Nagoya-jo by night and then we went to the top floor restaurant of the hospital where my host mom is a maternity nurse and they turned off all the lights so I could get a really good look ^.^;; It`s nice to end my stay in Japan with an experience similiar to what I started with.

Today in LL we watched the final episode of "Asunaro Hakusho". The thing is, aside from the final ep, we`d only seen the first episode. In a way I mind simply because I really want to see the rest of the series (it`s a drama I`ve been wanting to see for quite some time now), but on the other hand I now know how it ends, so I can find and buy the drama with no worries about how the ending is (No "Tokyo Love Story" endings here! No sir! :P). The theme song for this dorama is "True Love" by Fujii Fumiya, and it really fits the show ^^;; I can just tell from watching these two eps that it`s a series I`ll really love once I see it all. It`s like watching the first ep of series like "Long Vacation" or "Beautiful Life": it just takes an ep to know you`ll adore it ^^;;

So my host dad and I re-confirmed my plane tickets this morning. This has me in a bit of a down mood, but I suppose there`s no avoiding that. This whole week isn`t really much of an "upper" as it were ^^;; On the other hand, I feel like a shoujo manga heroine too. ^^;; You know the times where they say like "Well, he may be gone, but I can never regret knowing him"....well I feel that way about my time in Japan. It may be heartbreaking to leave, but I can`t imagine NOT coming here in order to avoid it ^^;;

Well I gotta go! There`s a volume 24 of Inuyasha out there with my name on it.

Ja ^.^v

Monday, December 17, 2001
Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy birthday dear meeeeee, Happy Birthday to me! That`s right world, Jamie is *****21*****!!! Now, if I were at home in America, this would be the day I would go drink myself under the table (legally), but that doesn`t affect me for 2 very good reasons:
1.) I`ve been in Japan since September, and 20 is the age of majority.
2.) Uh, no interest in it at all XD

Anyway, so on Friday Meg and Katherine and Jason (the usual group! ^.^/) came over to my house. We rented "Meet the Parents" (with subtitles...none of us wants to watch a Japanese dub of it! Better to read the Japanese subtitles!). What was most funny about it was that fact that the Ben Stiller`s character`s name was Gaylord Focker, right? Well, in the Japanese subtitles it read "Gay Focker", at which point my host dad asks us why that name is funny. It`s safe to say that that sent us all into a fit laughing ^^;; It was just one of those great situations where you KNOW you can`t explain it ^^;;

After they left I put in "Metropolis" which I had rented at the same time. It`s an anime movie I`d been seeing ads for and really wanted to see, and thought I wasn`t going to. I THINK it`s based on something of Tezuka Osamu`s, but I`m not certain ^^;; Anyway, overall I enjoyed it, although I know there`s a bunch of stuff I didn`T get because of the language barrier ^^;; I was upset that the song they used for the ads wasn`t in it, but I suppose I shouldn`t be surprised. That happens all the time, ne? It was an intriguing movie ^.^/

Saturday, the same 4 headed to Megan`s for something like a good-bye party. I left around 2:30 (we were supposed to meet at the bus station in Hara at 3:30) with this grand plan to take my bus (Yagoto 11!) all the way to Yagoto Eki and then just take the the train the couple of stops over to Hara. It would be faster (I thought) and cheaper (well I was right about that) than going to Motoyama and taking the train (and the two changes) I`d have to make.

First off I want to make it clear that I got to Yagoto just fine :P There were no problems other than me being worried about where the bus would let me off ^^ When I did get off, I went the wrong direction, and ended up calling Katherine to tell her that if she got to Hara before me to just tell Meg I`D be late. I went back to the intersection, and it was there I noticed the big `ol sign for Jusco. I knew that the chikatetsu was right by it. When in doubt, children, follow the big Jusco sign! It won`t ever lead you astray!

Anyhow, I finally managed to get on the train where I found Katherine in the car in front of mine (thus making my phone call to her moot XD) and we arrived at Hara together, where Meg and Jason were waiting. Took the bus to her house (the stop we got off at is Tokushige...not writing that for any other reason than posterity ^^) where her host parents had some food for us (which was VERY good! Not surprising since her host mom was once a cooking instructor XD) and we sat and do what we do best: talk ^^;; Then we watched an ep of "West Wing" (last years X-mas ep "Noel" for which Brad Whitford won the Emmy!!! yay!!!) and then started in on "Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta" since Meg`s host family had a copy of it and I`ve only been able to watch it via my less than beautiful fansub ^.^

Speaking of Rapyuta! Jason gave us our b-day gifts then. I got these little charms of things from Rapyuta. One looks like the robots, one like the airship of the pirates and the third looks like Sheeta`s necklace, so I put it on my of my bead necklaces ^.^ *pretends to be Sheeta* The other two I put on my backpack (I know, exactly what I need right? More crap on my backpack!)

Moving on, on Saturday we met at exit 7 in Fushimi around 11:20 for the purpose of seeing the "Inuyasha" movie ^^;; The full title is: Toki o koeru omoi...translation: "Affections touching across time" XD Can anyone see any reason I enjoyed this movie?? Admittedly, this movie was not...great. It was basically like any other movie based on a anime/manga series that is still in the middle of running so they can`t have the movie be based on the actual villain. Instead they fall back on an extra villain...The idea is that one of the pieces of the Shikon no Tama gave him power makes me wonder when the affects of the power of the Shikon no Tama is supposed to have taken place. The movie is certainly not timed toward the beginning of the series, and yet I don`t think it`s caught up near the story of the manga either. Ah well...over all it was a bad movie, and I enjoyed the sweet scenes (that`s the shoujo in me sqealing in delight XD...When Inuyasha says something like "hitsuyou" I melt ^^)

After THIS we headed toward the Hard Rock, where Meg and I had PLANNED on buying shirts until we discovered how freakishly overpriced they are. From there we played around in the Sega World arcade where I crashed a JAL airliner, killed some veloceratptors and played around with the video jukebox. ^^;; We subjected the others to the videos for Kinki Kids` "Jounetsu", EE Jump`s "Ikinari Rythym", and Spitz`s "Haruka", before they finally got us to leave ^^;; From there we headed toward Sakae (walked actually...never knew how easy it was to walk or I`d have saved chikatetsu money more often O.O) where we first ate a late lunch and then Meg and I went to the talent shop (called M-Stage). Even Jason and Katherine came up with us where, after discovering pictures of Leonardo Di Caprio that were less than flattering, they ended up discussing that if Leo and Takizawa mated, which one would carry the litter of Morning Musume they would ultimately produce :P

I on the other hand bought a pin of Nagano for Talia (damn she`s gonna read that -.-) and one of Inohara for myself XD. From THERE we went to Mandarake where against my better judgement I bought 2 more volumes of "W Juliette" and Meg bought 3 of "Koucha Ouji"...
Finally around 5 I went to the bus station side of Mitsukoshi where I waited for Okaasan, who arrived around 5:10 to take me to the restaurant where Takahiro works as a not quite chef (not yet anyway), although he did come out in the entire outfit, hat included XD Dinner was very good, although as expected at an expensive french restaurant the portions were something to be desired ^^;; Dessert was the best because it included this flat piece of white chocolate on which was written "Happy Birthday Jamie" ^.^;; I felt special, even if I was embarassed to be in such a nice restaurant dressed in my school clothes :P

Later when we got home, my host mom gave me gloves for my b-day, since she said my hands are always cold XD Then came today...I was 10 minutes late for the first test because I forgot it started at 9:30 and not 9:45 ^^;;....but then when I saw Katherine later she gave me my b-day gift: the poster of Yorihisa from "Harukanaru toki no nakade" that I`d see for sale at Animate ^^;; Thing is, neither ONE of us knew how MASSIVELY ENORMOUS this poster is. It`s 4 ft wide I`m sure and I can only guess at it`s length!!! It`s WONDERFUL!!! ^.^/ Plus she gave me a "gag" gift of loose socks! WOO HOO! LOOOOSSEEEEE SOCKS!! Or as my sister likes to call them, "puddle socks"! ^.^

Well, I gotta go!! Ja!

Friday, December 14, 2001
-.- So I`m watching episode for for "Pretear" last night. I figured I`d give it a chance to redeem itself after that mind-numbingly idiotic 4th episode. Boy, was I wrong. Granted, it wasn`t nearly as stupid as ep 4, but ep 5 didn`t make me very happy. I could bitch about a lot of small things (Kei looks like moron, I don`t see why they all have to have different colored outfits, why is SASAME calling her just "Himeno", why does Hayate wear an outfit that makes him look like a mechanic, and for the matter...why is he working at her HOUSE?!) but the thing that irks me the most is that this is a 13 episode series based on just ***4*** volumes of manga, why do we have random episodes?!?!?!?! And why random episodes like THAT The one thing I will give kudos to is that Hayate looks pretty cool when he shoots out of the sky...Only it confuses me as to why the other Riife (sp??) Knights get to fly through the air if THEY don`t have the nice little wind power Hayate does. Seems to me it makes his power kinda...well...less cool ^^;;

But enough about "Pretear", today I had to give my speech about Hiroshima. This was not a very pretty thing, you must understand ^^;; However, I`m hoping the teachers will give me extra points for folding so many senbazuru (paper cranes). It took me a LONG time to do them, and I`m by no means good at it ^^;; But I hope they realize it took some amount of effort to get them all folded.

Anyway, after all the speeches were completed, we all headed over to one of the buildings (have never been in there before) and had the official CJS Farewell Party. Now, I have to say, the food was pretty good. I think it was catered by a hotel right near Nagoya-jo (wah I`ll never go there at this rate). Frankly, I was shocked we didn`t have to PAY for it *lol* although lord knows they probably used the money we paid to get here just for this party :P J5 took a picture together (yay!) although it hurt to stand in that position for so long waiting for the cameraman to get through all the cameras that were handed up to hime (including my own!).

So tomorrow begins the beginning of the end of my time in Japan. Please don`t expect happy-go-lucky entries next week, because I`m pretty damn certain you`re not going to get them :P anyway, gotta e-mail!

Wednesday, December 12, 2001
So I`m standing at the bus stop yesterday, waiting the 6 BILLION minutes it takes the stupid Yagoto 11 bus to come to the bus stop (and inevitably the 12 comes and makes me mad :P) and a woman standing next to me comments on the number of pins I have on my "purse"...(it`s not really a purse ^^). I have 6, btw, plus my Tonisen pin. So anyway, she makes the comment and then hands me another pin to put on my bag ^^;; Just out of the blue! I didn`t know this woman at all ^^;; What I like about this pin, aside from the fact it`s red, is that it has kanji in the middle and on the rim says "May Peace Prevail on Earth", which is kinda ironic, given that my speech for class is about Hiroshima ^^;; Thank you myserious Japanese woman!!! ^.^/

So I sold a bunch of manga back to Book-Off O.O 12 or so manga....guess how much I got back! Just GUESS! 495 yen! That`s IT! 4*9*5* O.O XD So I bought Amuro Namie`s "Can You Celebrate" (she`s not a great singer, but that song is the theme for the drama "Virgin Road"!) and a manga (Makin` Purple) in order to make myself feel better XD .

So I was thinking about how I could explain to people just how much I`m going to miss Japan when I go home ^^;; And this thought came to me: Imagine the most fun time in your life and then imagine it having taken from you against your wishes and that`s pretty much how I feel ^^;; I won`t pretend Japan is perfect (not by a LONG shot), but this is the most fun I have had in my life and I don`t want it to end. Nevermind the fact I love Japan, but it`s also for the large part Jason and Katherine`s doing :P Without them Meg and I would have had fun, but it wouldn`t have been nearly as fantastic without them ^.^v Anyway, maybe I didn`t explain well and I feel I can`T completely. I think the only person who really can understand what I want to say without me having to explain it is my sister, and that`s only because we`re twins :P Anyway, gotta go!

Tuesday, December 11, 2001
XD Bought volume 4 of "Pretear" which I am pretty damned sure is the last one ^^;; Dunno why it would say "epilogue" toward the end if it weren`t. I wanted to read it more closely today, but Meg had brought with her the 3rd and final volume of "Mahou o shinjirukai?", so I traded with her so I could "read". I think maybe I`ve talked about it, but I`m not sure. It basically involves this girl named Hinata, and this Shinigami "named" Saburo...I say "named" because the Shinigami don`t have names, they have numbers. But that doesn`t sound like a #, Jamie, you are certainly saying. Ah, the beauty of the Japanese number system/game. Saburo=326...sa= san, 3 bu=voice sound of "fu" which is in 2, and ro= roku, 6. See how nicely that works out? The Japanese do it with TONS of things, especially for phone numbers.

ANYWAY, At the time Saburo and Hinata meet, she`s dating this guy, whom I forget the name of because he`s in volume one, a little in two, but not at all in volume 3 ^^;; Anyway, he`s generally a very nice guy ( and looks not unlike Harry Potter with blonde hair, IMO). So one day Saburo shows up and we discover that Hinata`s boyfriend`s time on earth is just about up, and our good old Shinigami is there to take his soul. Well, lots of stuff happens and Hinata ends up with one of these earrings of Saburo`s, which is pretty significant. She can`t get it off, and the only way it CAN is if
1.) She dies (er I think this is one condition) or
2.) She becomes Saburo`s lover (see any flashing neon signs yet as to where this manga is headed?).

Well push comes to shove and Hinata saves her boyfriend from having his soul taken, and that`s about when the manga starts focusing less on HIM, and more on the relationship between Saburo and Hinata, who are obviously destined to be together. Somewhere in the depths of volume 2 Marco shows up. Marco is a VERY VERY VERY genki angel ^^;; He`s almost genki to the point of annoying in volume 2, but makes up for it with some seriousness in volume 3. :)

I won`t tell you the end, other than that it ended exactly how I wanted it to, which should tell you something about it ^^;; I am VERY VERY fond of Saburo, but that`s most likely because I tend to fall easily for shoujo manga male protagonists....I admitt it. ^^;; However deplorable it is :P

So yesterday I got a birthday card from my previous host family in Nagareyama (FYI- I spent 6 weeks in Nagareyama-shi, Chiba-ken back in the summer of 1998, when I was 17) yesterday. Inside was a little card, as well as a letter and a little piece of paper from my host mom saying she had started studying English by the radio ^^;;

Anyway, the card was nice and the the little note was nice...but it was the letter that really affected me. It said "Happy Birthday" in the middle with little messages from the members of my host family on the edges. The first thing I noticed was on Fumi`s message (my host sister), she began it "Dearest Jamie", which got me a little teary...but then I noticed one of the purikura (print club) that Okaasan and Fumi and I had taken together 3 1/2 years ago, and that just about set me balling ^^;; I know it seems insignificant, but to me, knowing that they still had it and knew where it was really meant a lot to me ^^;; I honestly had begun feeling that this time in Japan for me had really put my first time in Japan way to the back of my mind in importance, but from getting that I realize it really hasn`t ^^;;

Well, I`m going to get going I think ^^;; I have a journal entry, sakubun to write, and a kanji quiz to study for...oh goody! Nevermind a Japanese lit paper due Friday that I have no idea yet what I am going to write about for it -.- &#%&$"!!!! Anyway! Ja!

Monday, December 10, 2001
gah, I have a rather bad case of the "I have less than two weeks until I have go home" blues -.- I know, I know, I shouldn`t be feeling sorry for myself...that only makes it worse. Fact of the mattter is, I DO feel sorry for myself =F I`m just one of those stupid sentimental people that get attached to people and places easily...Hell, when I was 10 I cried buckets after leaving the 1 week horse camp :P So anyway, I`m in a rather forlorn mood -.-

So to help that I`ll tell you about my uneventful weekend. Anyhoo, Friday the four of us went to Jason`s house...for no other reason that it`s a place to sit around and talk. The problem with going to Jason`s house, is that no matter how many times I have been there I can never figure out the way to actually get there O.O I honestly think the streets just change every time I go. That`s the only "reasonable" explanation I can come up with ^^;; Anyway, we did the normal thing we do when we go to Jason`s: we sit there, read manga, and talk. I had just bought last week`s issue of Shounen Sunday, since it had manga AND anime version of Inuyasha on the cover, and I`m very glad I did ^.^ It was a nice chapter, with a nice little sweet moment (give me some slack, I am primarily a shoujo manga addict ^^;;). Long story short: we went, we read, we talked, end of story ^^;;

Saturday was a little more interesting ^.^ We met in Sakae, by Crystal Square, which by some stroke of luck I actually managed to find without getting lost. Admittedly I did go "above ground" in order to get myself oriented, and went back in the entrance Katherine said was near Mitsukoshi ^^;; Which was, low and behold, exactly where I needed to go in. That whole crystal square area gets me turned around really easily ^^;; So we decided that since Meg and I need to go there eventually anyway, that we`d make a trip to the Johnny`s shop first. XD The funny part of this is that not only did Katherine go in but Jason, for the SECOND time, went in with us, the poor guy ^^;; It`s embarassing enough for Meg and I, who are completely V6 addicts and over 20, but even worse for Jason, who`s a guy :P In the end, we just got posters of Inohara (for me!), Okada (for Meg!) and Nagano (for our friend Talia ^^). We can`t really afford a whole bunch of other V6 merchandise, no matter how much we want it ^^ My problem is deciding what to do with my Inohara poster from last year...that I think still looks great O.O so very komaru-ish

After that we made a trip to both Gamers and Mandarake where I managed not to spend money XD Mostly because I didn`t really have any by that point. That and I had to convince Megan to buy me volume 3 of "Pretear" (apparently the correct way of spelling it) AND dinner ^^;;

When we got back to Katherine`s we played "see if the tv works", which it did...sorta ^^ It gets a few channels, which is more than she had before, so yay! We discovered, however, that the VCR is mean O.o and apparently seems to be broken, so she can`t yet watch videos ;.;

So that about does it for Saturday. When I came home I discovered my host parents had put lights in one of the trees outside, so it looks like any house around Christmas in America ^^;; very pika-pika and very cute

Sunday I didn`T do anything, except pretend to study all day ^^ Mom called in the morning to let us know our money situation, which is better than I thought it was ^^;; I did take all the posters off my walls and put the remaining manga in my suitcase...which only mananaged to depress the HELL out of me, so I had to put one back on the wall to compensate for it ^^;; It doesn`t look QUITE so lonely now ^^;; It made me realize how freakishly heavy my luggage is going to be though. I swear, there could be small person in my smaller suitcase, it`s so heavy o.O

Anyhoo, so I`m kinda pissed :P I was convinced that last night`s ep of "Gakko no sensei" would be second to last. It just seems like an 11 episode drama series...but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it just HAS to be **12**. I leave next Saturday and the last ep runs the next day! GAH X.X I liked last night`s ep tho ^^;; Had a little about Asakura-sensei liking Sentarou, but the ep`s title "Zutto, soba ni itehoshii", while I thought would be about her, was about the students ^^;; It would have been nice to concentrate on HER, but I thought it was really sweet that it was about the students in his class :D Maybe they`re saving her for next week or the final ep ^^ I really hope Akemi-ya is getting this series, although I`ll probably set the VCR for the last ep and have my host family send me the tape ^^

And finally for today, I had an "interview test" with the teachers...I just KNOW I didn`t do well on it...mostly because I didn`t do really any preparation for it ^^;; Ah well, whatever I get it`s a result of my own stupid habits of not studying!
Well, should go! Gonna go buy vol. 4 of Pretear (the anime is STUPID, but the manga is great!)

Friday, December 7, 2001
ACK O_________O So much work to get done! I hate being the lazy ass that I am...because even knowing�@how much work I have ahead of me next week, I still haven`t started my paper for histroy ^^;; I suppose that I work best under pressure....or at least I like to tell myself that and pretend to believe it.

So I accompanied my sister and Jason to Book-Off today. Megan went with the intention of selling some manga back that she didn`t want...What I find incrediably amusing is that for 10 volumes of manga (all used) and a single (used) she ended up with a grand total of 400 en XD Yep, a whopping $4! AHAHAHAHAHAHAH *LMAO*.....Of course...this doesn`t really bode well for me, when I want to sell MY manga back. Still, I have at least half that were bought new, and not used, unlike Meg`s bunch ^^;; So perhaps I`ll have better luck than she did. What was almost more funny is that we`Re standing in the girl`s manga aisle in a section with...ahem...a few not so clean manga ^^;; (one was titled...and I kid you not "Fuck * S") Well, the guy from the register comes back to tell Meg he`s totalled her manga up (that she`s selling back), but at the time she`s holding one of THOSE manga. She turns her back, shoves it into my hand and goes "Take it Jamie! TAKE IT" *lolololo*
Okay...so maybe you had to be there ^^;;

Gonna work (really!!) on my paper! XD

Thursday, December 6, 2001
XD LOOK AT MY PRETTY LAYOUT!!! *drools* I, who know nothing about computers whatsover, have it thanks to the overwhelming generousity of my friend Rebecca, who agreed to make a layout for me ^.^/ ***HONMA NI**** *throws in Kansai-ben for the hell of it* ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA!!!!!!!! *glomps Kiripin* I really wish I could have gone with a pic that included Sai in it, but I love that pic of Hikaru, and he`s wearing the shirt that I now own, thanks to Animate ^.^

So I bought volume one of "Prettia"...if that`s misspelled I apologize, but I`m not sure how to write it, and I feel like an idiot writing "Puriitia". (note, one of Jamie`s biggest petpeeves: People who insist on romanizing things that have an English counterpart. Example, people who insist on writing it "Dejimon Adobencha-", instead of Digimon Adventure. C`mon people, you`re not cool because you know the romanization). ANYWAY, while I knew there was the anime series that runs on Kids Station here, I had`t really watched it more than a couple of times for a few minutes, but my sister seemed to think it looked interesting. Yesterday, I finally caved and bought volume one, because the art is decent, and also from her recommendations. Anyway, I REALLY like it ^^;; True, it has elements of the typical mahou shoujo manga running through it, and a bit of the FY fever (lots of pretty boys to a less than equal amount of girls), but I find the characters extremely likable (except, of course, the ones whom you are not supposed to like :P). I like Himeno a lot herself (the female protagonist). She has her troubles, but isn`t really letting herself get down over it ("Zettai makenai!"). In that respect she reminds me a LOT of Noriko in "Kanata-kara".

Being the dorky student-of-Japanese/Japanese manga addict that I am, I took noticed right away to what the various male characters called her. In care you`re reading this and don`t know, what one person calls another in Japanese can be VERY important and generally tells a lot about the relationship between two people. It`s a pretty good guess that someone who calls someone else by their first name either has known them a long time, or has a deeper relationship than it may appear. So you can guess at my delight to find that Hayate (gorgeous bishounen, obviously destined to fall in love with Himeno) calls her Himeno from the very beginning, while the others (Sasame, Kei, Shin, Gou, Hajime, Mannen...am I leaving anyone out? ?.?) call her by other forms of her name: Himeno-chan, Himeno-kun, etc. etc. XD This automatically indicates something deeper...at least to me, as a shoujo manga fan ^^;; It`s like putting a sign above her head that says "Hayate is your future husband" :P

Anyway, once I`ve read more, I`ll talk more about it`s plot ^^;;

Wah, I just realized. Next week is my last week of Japanese class...period. After 5 1/2 years of having Japanese, I have finished all I can ;.; *sniff* It`S going to be strange, but at the same time, we only have it 3 times last year, and only for an hour each time...so I suppose it won`t be that odd. We`ll still be tutored, and still watch a TON of dorama ^.^v and probably concentrate on doing as much translating as we can, in order to keep up and learn kanji and vocab ^^;;

Well, I`m more than a half hour late in leaving for home! I meant to work on my Japanese history paper, but as expected, I got lazy and didn`t do a single line ^^;;

Tuesday, December 4, 2001
XD Okay, granted, it sucks majorly that in 2 1/2 weeks I have to leave Japan and go back to nice old Normal, IL (yes, you read that correctly, Normal, IL), but to off-set it just a TINY, MINUTE, MICROSCOPIC, bit, the movie for "Inuyasha" will be released on December 15th, giving me just enough time to see it before going home !.! YAY! Granted, it doesn`t follow any part of the manga storyline, but still, to be able to see it in a movie theater in Japan, that`ll be great!

So I am finding myself feeling rather meloncholy. Part of it has to do with the seemingly overwhelming amount of work I have to do in the next two weeks, but it`s mostly because after said period I`ll be heading home. I think it`s just starting to sink in that I`m leaving and not coming back within the next year at least -.- *sniffle* Honestly, once I get home I`ll have nothing to write about, so I`m warning you now :P

Ok, I know this is short, but I have a crapload of work to get done, so I have to get going ^.^

Monday, December 3, 2001
Okay, seriously. If this doesn`t work I`m just about going to have to kill someone -.- It didn`t work on Friday, and now I can`t even remember what I wrote all about -.- *grumbles* Ah well, I`ll have to move on to other subjects nows!

First new subject: Horrible fanfics. Okay, admittedly I have no been in the practice of reading fanfics much for the past few years. In fact, within the last year the only ones I`ve checked up on are Krista Perry`s "Hearts of Ice" Ranma 1/2 fanfic (even though I`m years over my Ranma fandom, I love this fic) and a fanfic series about Josh and Donna of "West Wing" called "A Winning Strategy" by Jo March and Ryo Sen (FANTASTICALLY written!).

Anyway, Katherine (on Friday) was telling us all about this HORRIBLE, AWFUL "WISH" fic that she and her friends had read. So, during the 2 hours and 15 minutes of torture that is my Japanese Lit. class (ok it`s not too bad, just too long) I asked her if I could read it. So there I sat, Katherine`s keitai in hand, hiding it behind my desk and reading the fic, trying in VAIN not to burst out laughing or groaning in disgust ^^;;

Honestly, if you think you`ve read fics from the bottom of the barrel, you clearly haven`t read this one. Not ONLY is it simply deplorable English, it`s just.....creepy O.o The kind that makes you want to go and take a good, long bath after reading it. *shudder* For your morbid entertainment, I submitt to you the addy for it: http://sakurazukamori.net/maboroshi/angellove.html....I think that`s the address anyway. And after that, you can go here: ficbitches.pitas.com and read the hilarious and apt review of it ^^;;

My second new topic of the day is *drum roll* Harry Potter ^.^/ Katherine, Megan and I went to see it on Saturday. It was...PACKED O____O Or "kondeiru" as you`d say in Japanese. Actually, there`s an expression the Japanese use that means something like packed like sushi...but I forget how to say it. What was interesting about going to see it where we did was the fact that it was so crowded tons of people, including Jason and Katherine and I, were forced to sit on the aisle stairs, because there were simply no other seats to be had. Meg was the only one of us that managed a seat! Added to this is the fact that the theater was on the 7th floor. Can you say "fire hazard"? ^^;;

Anyhoo, as to what I think about the movie? I liked it. I liked it quite a bit. YES there is a certain amount left out, YES there is heavy feeling of segmentation going, but for someone who`s read the books, the details are all up here *taps her head* If you haven`t read the book and don`t plan too, then I think it`s stupid to see the movie. It`s a GREAT suplement, but it`s absolutely not replacement. Movies rarely are, for books that have made it to the big screen (although "The Lord of the Rings" looks as if it may get the closest!).

In the beginning (of the movie), I was almost nervous that I wasn`t going to like Harry. He didn`t say much, and the painful fact with movies is that you rarely get inside a characters head, like you can with the book. However, by the end of the movie I`d quite come to like him ^^;;

I loved the actors who played Ron and Hermione. I know Katherine didn`t like movie-Hermione, but I thought that girl played her very well, although I agree she was somewhat shortchanged ^^;; Ron was just liked I imagined him to be, but of course he`s taller in the book. Can`t find many 11 year olds that tall though, I suppose (well the actor is 12, I guess). My favorite scene in the movie is the chess board scene, where Ron sacrifices himself in the game, but that`s also my favorite part of the book :D

What I did find kind of funny is that I thought the movie gave more fodder to the Hermione/Ron fans out there than the book does (I`m a Harry/Hermione fan myself, but I can see her with Ron, I guess), except for that scene in the movie where she`s telling him he`ll be a great wizard and all that ^^;; TEE HEE *loved that part*

I heard someone complain sometime that the movie really hits you over the head with the fact that they think it`s Snape that`s the bad guy...but honestly, didn`t the book do that as well? True, it`s been a long time since I`ve read the first book over, but as far as I remember it was pretty much that way. *shrug* Feel free to correct me if I`m wrong.

Finally I would like to comment on the funny thing-er-person, we saw as we were walking back from Animate through Nagoya Eki. Katherine was just commenting on the height of this girl ahead of us when she realized she was a "he", but completetely decked out in high school girl uniform, with a VERY VERY short skirt. What was better than THAT though, was the way everyone turned around to look at him as he passed XD We, walking behind him had the pleasure of watching everyone`s reactions *lol*

Gotta get going! ^.^

Friday, November 30, 2001
So they announced the performers of the Kouhaku on the news last night, and I am less than enthusiastic about tuning in this year. OKay, I actually usually watch in on video, but you know where I`m going with this.

For the second year in a row, V6 isn`t on. Ok, fine, I can deal with that :P I see them enough during the year on "Gakkou e ikou", I can miss them performing one song on the Kouhaku. But this year is pretty dry as it goes anyway with groups I like.

The worst part about it, is that Hamasaki Ayumi is on o.o Now, I apologize to any Ayumi fans out there, but I VIOLENTLY VIOLENTY dislike her. I simply cannot STAND the sound of her singing -.- Actually, I think her latest single, "Dearest", is a great song (Very pretty) except it`s utterly and COMPLETELY ruined by THAT VOICE -.- *shudder* And the fact SHE is on the Kouhaku and my favorite group is not just rubs me the wrong way.

Still, I can find solice in the fact both Gospellers and Chemistry are on, as well as Da Pump, and a few other groups/singers I like well enough. And I KNOW Ulfuls and Re:Japan will do a great rendition of "Ashita ga arusa" ^.^/

Bought the first volume of "Tokyo Underground" last night. Not quite sure about the plot yet, but it seems interesting, and it`s well drawn. And no, as of yet, unnecessary female nudity that`s just there as fanservice ^^;; Also bought volume one of "Tableau Gate" which I really liked ^.^/
Uh, I`m no articulate today and I don`t have time to be :P Have class in 10 min ^^

Thursday, November 29, 2001
Okay, this time it had better work. I tried adding entries on Tuesday and Wednesday and either the computer was mean to me, or it was Pitas. Not being a computer-minded person, I don`t know on whom to lay the blame, so I`ll just complain in general :D

So Meg comes up to me today between classes (there`s a ten minute break between the 2nd and 3rd classes in the morning. At least for ryuugakusei) and said "Just after you left (Before morning classes started) you and I were paid an odd compliment". She then proceeds to tell me, that just after I left (after having saluted everyone with the book I was holding) that Shigeru comments that I`m funny, to which Megan says that no, I`m goofy. I think this worried Shigeru, but Meg told him that I`d say the same thing of myself (which is true :P). Anyway, eventually Shigeru says that he and Haruhiko (who is his cute friend XD) like looking at us. .....O.O O_________________O Nevermind the fact that no "western" guy has ever said that, the fact that a male of Japanese descent said anything like that is like....astronomically impossible. Of course, it could all be a mix up and he could have meant something different, but with language barrier difficulties it could have sounded different than he meant it. Still, this IS the same person that said my hair was cool XD

So Meg let me borrow the 2 volumes of this manga she started reading called "Mahou o shinjirukai". OH MY DEAR LORD is it cute ^.^ And I don`t mean cute in the strictly adorable sense. I mean that it`s honestly a neat story. I really like the characters of Hinata and Saburo. I expecially appreciate having a character named Hinata that can replace me thinking about "Love Hina" in my head. That wasn`t a BAD series....just....I was expecting, from all I`d heard about it, for it to be...just..well...BETTER.

Gyah, I gotta go O.O
Ok, apparently it DID work yesterday....

Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Ever have those days where you realize you just don`t have anything to write about? Today is one of those days, so if I ramble more than usual (if that`s possible), you know why ^^;;

First of all, I would like to make a public statement of thanks to Katherine`s friend Kristina, who cleared some things up for me reguarding "Hikaru no Go", even though I realized I have a few more questions :D And, because I think she reads HanaKimi too, would just like to say to her , Isn`t Sano being mean?! -.- But then again, I felt bad when he was talking about always hurting Mizuki. Honestly, he needs to either tell her he knows or she needs to tell him :P (P.S. Will Sano go see his dad or not? ^.-)

So I was watching the half-hour video count down on ..er..I think it was Viewsic, yesterday and with the exception of MAYBE 5 or 6 songs that are new and a handful of songs i just don`t know...I knew all the songs. Not all the words, of course, but I`Ve heard them all plenty of times. That`s just sick, ne? :P I watch way too much tv obviously. Although, in my defense, I watch a lot of the Discovery Channel, so it`s not all brain killing programmining ^^;;

Ah, and I like to fully blame Katherine for me giggling to myself about the word "mono". Today in class we were discussing the different times you say "mono" as opposed to saying "hito" and every time someone said "mono" all I could think of was how it refers to, ahem, certain parts of the male anatomy in Katherine`s smutty Japanese shousetsu :P

Ok...I think that`s it for today ^^;;

Monday, November 26, 2001
Ah, a nice 3 day long weekend! Of course, this isn`t saying much, as everyone else at home got like, a 5 day weekend :P And turkey...and pumpkin pie...*drool*

Anyway, Friday Meg and I headed to the area around Osu Kannon temple to attempt to shop for people at home. The sucky thing about this is that when it comes to Japanese stuff I am rather selfish :P Depending on the person I don`t like spending money. For example, I`m perfectly happy to spend money on my friend Talia or on my mom because I know they`ll like it...but trying to buy something for my oldest brother and his wife? Forget it O.O They`re not going to appreciate it the same way...Not even remotely -.- Still, I have to.

Anyhow, we ended up getting something for our brother, and Meg decided to give her Haori to mom. Witht eh mugs we bought her at the Setomono Matsuri, that covers mom now. Then we headed toward Nagoya-eki to see a movie. We went to the Ghibli/Tarepanda store and Animate before that though, so I was able to get Lauren`s Tarepanda and the 150 en Harry Potter character designs dj for Kiripin. I would have bought the end one, but it`s almost 1000 yen, and I don`T know if I can affoard extra stuff like that right now. Not until mom tells me how much is in my account.

Anyway, we went to see this movie called "Reisei to jounetsu no aida", and has Takenouchi Yutaka in it. Okay, I thought it was going to be at least a DECENT movie. However, as they so often do, the trailers made it look much better than it actually was. It was just....well...the characters just didn`t have much...character O.o And half the time the movie had music it was an old Enya song. Not that I have anything agaisnt Enya. I like Enya, but the movie needeed it`s own music!

Moving on, we didn`t do much Saturday, but we did get together with Katherine and Michelle and went to Michelle`s to catch up on the eps of "Hikaru no Go" that we hadn`t watched ^^ After that we wandered to the video store and rented "Shanghai Noon". I was surprised to find that both "Onmyouji" and "Quartet" are both already out on video O.O I really want to see both of those. It also makes me wonder if "Il Mare" is out on video o.O Hmmmmmmm.... I also bought volume 3 of "Haruka naru toki no nakade" ^^;; This manga really confuses and I don`t know exactly what`s going on....but I really like it O.O And NO, it`s not because Yorihisa and the rest of the guys are cute...that`s just an added bonus to and interesting, if confusing, story. Maybe it`d help if I played the game but as most people know, I know nothing about games ^^;;

Oh yeah, while Katherine didn`t bring us back any doujinshi from Comic City she did bring us back this kick-ass postcard of Haku from "Sen to Chihiro". It`s GORGEOUS ^.^/ I love Haku =D Of course, I`ll never actually USE this postcard, but I love having it ^.^/

So I was thinking about shoujo manga...I have this friend named Jason here who is always asking "Why doesn`t this guy have eyes?!", or "Why doesn`t this person have a face" and no matter how many times my sis or I say "It`s part of the style of story telling. It`s a way of showing emotion" he still doesn`t quite understand. Having read shoujo manga for as long as I have, it never occured to me that someone might not get it ^^;; I suppose it came pretty naturally to me and I never really wondered about it. Jason comments that it seems like sloppy drawing to him, but then, he`s not a shoujo manga reader, so I suppose I`ll give him some slack....although not much :P

Anyway, I gotta go! It`s 3:30 and I want to go to the bookstore before I go home ^^

*sigh* only a month until we go home ;.;

Thursday, November 22, 2001
Okay, so Meg and I opted NOT to go with Katherine to the doujinshi event tomorrow in Osaka. As much as I would really like to go, I need the money to send stuff home ahead of me ^^;; And I felt bad about having mom pay a $60 round trip ticket to a city I was only going to spend a few hours in. *shrug* What can you do, ne? I`ll just have to try and find some HP doujinshi here, I suppose!

I bought the first volume of a manga called "Harukanaru toki no naka" yesterday. ^.^ I`m somewhat confused by it, but I think I like it. It reminds me of "Kanata-kara" is a few ways, and punches my love of fantasy buttons, too. I reallt hope the pretty poster of it is still at Mandaraka. Ka~~~~i~~~ta~~~~i!!^.^

So exactly one month from today (December 22) I will be leaving Japan. It`s strange. a few weeks ago I was starting to feel panicked about it, because I don`T want to go home. Right now, while I`m not exatly exstactic about it, it`s not bothering me so much. Frankly, I wish I would be that way right through when I get home and beyond because my only other choice is heartbreak :P Dear lord, it sounds overly sentimental and uptight, doesn`t it? But looking back on the first time I returned home after being in Japan...I really think that must have been something like heartbreak. I may never have been in love, but I`ve never had someting tear at me so wretchedly before, and I`m more than sure it will happen again ^^;;

That brings me to another issue though. I`m terrified I like Japan for the wrong reasons. ^^;;�@Obviously, I love the language, history, culture, music, people, music, tv, food...you name it. I have no doubt in my mind about those things. But I fear I love my time in Japan more for being away from my parents and being able to go out and do things with friends than because I love THOSE things, you know? I don`t feel like I do...I just fear it ^^;; It`s difficult to explain. *is weird*

So a girl who passed me today and saw my "Hikaru no Go" pencil bag commented that she couldn`t watch it because it had to do with a game. And I wasn`t sure if she meant Go, or if she was including games of any kind o.o THEN she says Hikaru looks like Omi from WK -.- Okay, that`s is like the single easiest way to get on my nerves. Not quite as bad as saying Hamasaki Ayumi is good (hey, I like Johnny`s groups, I know I can`t talk, but still!), but pretty damned close! "Hikaru no Go" is just....it`s wonderful. You don`t even know how to play Go. I certainly don`t. It`s just the actions of the characters and the characters themselves that make that story so wonderful! *hugs it* Well, it`s HER loss completely. I could never imagine disliking it O.O It`s wonderful!

Okay, I should go! ^.^/

Wednesday, November 21, 2001
*waves at Amy who says she reads the blog everydat*

Okay, so I`m in a pretty good mood today. I have a three day weekend staring me in the fact after tomorrow and there`s a big possibility I`m going to a doujinshi event in Osaka (that`S Oosaka, really) on Friday ^.^;; That is to say, as long as mom is nice and lends me money ^^ I really hope I can go. At the very least Katherine says there will be a circle there that does HP doujinshi, and even though I have a couple it`D be nice to have a couple more :D PLus, I could wear my "Hikaru no Go" shirt and pretend I`m cool *lol*

Anyhoo, in my happiness after finding my money yesterday, I went and bought 3 manga, one of which is called "Gururi" and was just released yesterday. O.O OH MY DEAR LORD, is it cute!! It`s basically about these four students who either are or have something to do with the Four Gods (yes, the same four gods as in FY). The names are completely shameless tho =D For example, there is Nishi Toranosuke...Nishi, obviously is west, and the god of the west is Byakko..a tiger (Tora, in Japanese). Then there is Minami Asuka...Minami being south, which is Suzaku`s (a phoenix)region and Asuka`s name includes the kanji for "bird". After her is Azuma Tatsuki. The kanji used for "Azuma" is also read as "higashi", which is east, Seiryuu`s (a dragon) region, and Tatsuki`s first name includes the kanji for dragon. Finally, there is Kita Yukiya. Kita is "north", Genbu`s region. And Yukiya`s first name includes the kanji for "tortoise", which is what Genbu is. See how it all works out so nicely? :P Fun with Japanese kanji, ne? I swear the author didn`t even try, but I have no objections. Names like Tatsuki, Yukiya, and Tora are ADORABLE on boys ^.^;; *shameless*

Woo, I guess I`d better get going! I hope I remember to buy a new videotape. "Hikaru no Go" is on tonight and I have to tape it or I will be upset with myself, and nevermind what Katherine would do to me =D *waves to Katherine*

Tuesday, November 20, 2001
Okay, I was all prepared to write like that angriest entry in the world (in respect to me anyway) but now I have no reason to! I was VERY VERY angry at myself because I had lost 13000 yen (which is about $130 US dollars). I knew I had it when I left the konbini yesterday, but after that, I hadn`t remembered anything. UNTIL I also remembered that I`d stopped to write down some words at the CJS office and had had my backpack open. I`m sure that`s when my little money pouch thingy fell out and I just didn`t notice.

WELL, after Otousan call the shi basu (city bus...bear with me. I like Japanese words :P) Lost and Found and not having anything turn up, I thought the money was gone for good, until I remembered about writin the words down. So this afternoon I went to the CJS office (CJS=Center for Japanese Studies) and they seemed to remember it and pointed me toward the front gate (which it seems most Japanese uni`s have) and BOOM, it was there!! O.O

TASUKATTA!!! (I`m saved!!) I ran back to CJS, where my sister and Jason were, ran in the door and said "ATTA!!!" (It was there!) to my sister :P at which point I then collapsed on the floor beside her. ^^;;

Normally this kind of money would be upsetting to lose of course, but for me, who has no way of getting more before I go home, it would have been a HUGE HUGE loss O.o Since I haven`t sent my stuff home ahead of me, nor bought anything for ppl for when I go home!

Well, I wanted to write something manga/anime related, but I don`t have the time today!!! I really want to e-mail Katherine`s friend who`s willing to spoil me about Hikaru no Go tho, but that`ll have to wait until tomorrow! ^^/

Monday, November 19, 2001
Okay, so today is just one of those days where you feel crappy -.- I`m just in a rather....foul mood. I first realize the tape I have is not long enough, so I have to hurry before school and go to the konbini (convienience store) and buy a 60 minute tape for class. Okay, not so bad, because I essentially arrive at school at the normal time. Last night I had realized that I had a tango quiz (vocab quiz) today and had to study ALL the words because I didn`t have the list of just the ones we needed to review for the quiz. Thusly, once I got to school I had to haul ass and review them because the quiz was first class.

So by this point you`Re probably thinking "WHy all the bitching, Jamie?! It`s not THAT bad". Well, I get to school and find my sis and the other Jamie sitting together. Jamie asks me "Did you remember your tape?" to which I said "Yeah". Now, I admitt, I have a faulty memory at times, and my sister tells me that if she had made the bet (that I WOULD remember) she`d have a free manga on her hands. Which means Jamie was sure I`d forget. Which pisses me off because I`m tired of her attitude about things like that -.- YES I have a habit of forgetting things sometime but she doesn`T have to go betting my sister that I`ll forget -.-

Ok, yes, that`s not much to bitch about, but that`s now why I`m really upset. We got our test back today and I got a 7/10 on my sakubun (composition) and a 75 on my grammar. Well, that`s your fault for not studying Jamie, I know you`re saying. That`s exactly my point! I`m so frustrated with myself that I can never get myself to study more -.- It honestly worries the hell out of me. And getting these kinds of grades, while certainly NOT the end of the world, worries to me as to whether or not I`ll ever learn this language. And what`s more, what the heck am I supposed to do with myself and with my life?! -.-

Dear lord *lets air out of her lungs*...I sound like someone who`S just graduated from college and don`t know where to go next, and I`m only just about halfway through my junior year! O.O I`m going to be one of those multiple-year seniors, I just know it.

Okay, on the upside I bought the first volume of this REALLY cute manga called "Gertrude no recipe" (The Recipie for Gertrude). What I find both cute and funny about this manga is that Gertrude is the name of the main male protagonist ^.^v He`s a devil or something of some sort (I`ve only read/perused it. I haven`t read it closely yet) and for some reason, that name suits him ^^;; Anyway, it`s just really cute, but because it runs in Lala DX it isn`t published often. I think volume one was just published in August or September this year, and the first issue in LaLa DX was last November, if that gives you any idea of the rate at which it`s released.

*listens to someone`s keitai go off in computer lab*

I swear...if anyone in America thinks it`s a problem there, they haven`t spent any amount of time in Japan! ^^;;

Anyway, I should get going! I want to try and go to the Book-Off that`s SORT of near my house!

Friday, November 16, 2001
So I went with Meg and Jason to see "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" again last night. FINALLY! I have wanted to see it since I first saw it in September, but even more so lately. Let me tell you, it may not be my favorite Miyazaki movie ( I don`t think ANYTHING could replace "Tenkuu no shiro Rapyuta" in that respect) but it`s absolutely at the top, along with "Mimi o sumaseba" and "Rapyuta" (some of you may think "What, Mononoke-hime isn`t in there?", to which I would say "No". It`s a good movie, with fanTASTIC music, as all Miyazaki`s do, but it`s definetly not at the top of my "Favorite Miyazaki Movies" list. It`s probably near the bottom, but at least ahead of Ponpoko).

Anyway, I just LOVE this movie! It was so much better the second time around, and I`m sure it was more than just being at last familiar with the soundtrack ^^;; It`s just a fantastic movie. I adore Chihiro/Sen and Haku. Although there are SEVERAL points on which I am quite confused, but I suspect that once I buy the film books and can sit down with them and read, things`ll be cleared up a lot.

***spoiler for Sen to Chihiro******

Being the typical die hard shoujo manga fan I am, I am greatly concerned as to whether or not Chihiro and Haku ever DO see each other again. I mean...they WERE "kitto"-ing at each other, and Haku sounded quite certain about it...but..well..you know..I worry about these kind of things for no good reason!

Well, onto a more serious subject....I am feeling very...meloncholy at this point. O.O I have but 5 weeks to go, and while that isn`T exactly a freakishly short amount of time, it almost feels like it is.

It`s strange because I feel like I`ve been here a long time, but looking back, it really hasn`t been. I get attached to places and people in them VERY VERY easily. I did in graduating from jr. high, high school etc. And being here in Japan, where all the elements for me to really enjoy myself have come together...Well, the thought of leaving it just depresses the hell out of me -.-

Gah! I wish there were something I could do about it. But it`s completely out of my control and I suppose the only thing I can really do is suck it up and enjoy myself in the time I have left here. Of course, having all the crap I have to do in the next five weeks....gah! I need to read my books O.O

Actually, the thing that probably upsets me the most, aside from having to leave a kick-ass host family, is that it`s been SOOOO nice having friends to go out and do stuff with (yay Katherine and Jason ^.^v). We (we being my sis and I...being a twin I often have the habit of speaking in plurals) do have friends....but one is in high school and the rest are all off at their other colleges ^^;; It`s nice being part of a group, which I have had since I graduated from high school.

What`s even MORE depressing is that they`ll still be here after we leave. It`s not them BEING here that depresses me, but the fact *I* won`t and can`t have fun hanging out with them anymore O.O *sniff* stupid Illinois -.-

Okay, on a happier note...my host parents started using the heater thingy last night! YAY!!!!!! They lost tho :P I think between a few ppl in the neighborhood they kind of see who can last the longest without turning it on, but I think for my benefit they`re starting early this year ^^;;

Thursday, November 15, 2001
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah seriously, why did I buy "Hikaru no Go" yesterday??? WHY O.O More importantly, why DIDN`T I buy last weeks? O.o Now I`m left wondering what the hell happened! ******spoiler****** So obviously even in volume 14 you notice that Sai is looking a little bit...sad (*sniffle*). So here I open this week`s issue (Ok I bought it because Hikaru and Akira are on the cover of Jump and it`s a great pic!), and Hikaru is sitting across from Isumi and he`s CRYING O.O (Don`t cry Hikaru!! !.!) Then he says "Sai ga ita" O.O

Sai ga ita?! Okay then, where the hell has he been?! Continuing he sais "Dokonimo inakatta Sai ga..." ACK O.O Sai! Where have you been?! Damn the fact I can`T follow this weekly once I go home ;.;

I really want to know what`s been going on. I`m probably going to be collecting Jump for the 5 or so more weeks that I`ll be here, and hopefully I can join a HnG mailing list so I can keep up. I`m just not the kind of person that dislikes spoilers. I`ve ALWAYS been a spoiler person. Comes from my mom I guess who, if she couldn`T read a whole book, would just flip to the back and read the end :P (Yes, I`m guilty of doing the same thing ^.^/)

It`s really amazing about this series...how young...well..spunky Hikaru looks at the beginning and how serious and much older he`s looking lately. I hate to say it, but he`s really starting to look...kakkoii *readers gasp* I know, I know O.O I shouldn`t say such things...but dammit, it`s TRUE O.O Go look for Shounen Jump issue 50 for the year 2001 (this weeks issue) and you can see for yourself!! !.!

Enough of my ranting! Gonna go "Sen to Chihiro" again!! ^.^/

Wednesday, November 14, 2001
So according to Katherine basically any auction on Ebay that has the word "yaoi" in it has been terminated O.o Of all the ridiculous things I`ve ever heard, this one`s pretty close to the top.

Admittedly, by the true definition of the word, I`m not a huge yaoi fan myself (more into cute, fluffy, adorable shounen^ai and cute adorable, fluffy seinen-ai), but they haven`t (once again according the Katherine ^^;) pulled auctions with "yuri" or "hentai" in the description, nor stopped auctions of Playboy and similiar magazines. In other words, because of ignorance, they`re caught in using a double standard. Seems like it`d make things harder now that people have to write around that word, if you ask me o.o

Woo, bought volume 4 of "Mint na Bokura" yesterday. =D Gotta love buying manga that ran in Ribon and are really too young for me ^^/ But they`Re cute, and I adore Sasa and Noeru. Maria I can take or leave, but as she will obviously end up with Sasa I have to like her somewhat, ne? She`s not BAD, she`s just no Noeru ^.^v

Grrrrrrrr I couldn`t get the others to go see "Sen to Chihiro" with me today -.- I want to go see it again and I have no idea when it will be going out of the theaters O.O I`m afraid I`ll be all ready to see it and go to check the papers and discover that it`s finally left the theaters! I mean, it`s been running since mid-July, so it could easily disappear one of these days! I am SOOOOOOO happy that it passed "Titanic" as the movie (domestic OR international)that`s grossed the largest amount of money ever. So now a Miyazaki film once again takes its rightful place at the top of the list ^.^v They always should, IMO.

So I`m taping a new dorama today. I have no idea what it is or what it`s about, but it has Eiguchi Yousuke in it so I`m willing to give it a shot. It`s on at the time they play dramas on re-run, and I already taped "Okane ga nai" that way ^.^ It`s too bad that at 3 they`re running "Tenki youhou no Koibito". I started watching that one at home...and never got passed ep one. I may or may not tape it here, I haven`t decided yet. I wish I could watch more dorama while I`m here but I`ve only been able to follow Doumoto Tsuyoshi`s dorama "Gakko no sensei", which is cute, but nothing out of the ordinary. I`d like a good love story, myself :P I`m shameless that way, what can I say. I love dorama like "Long Vacation", "Beautfil Life", "Virgin Road"...you can tell what kind of person I am! :)
Better go. If I have it straight we`Re going to go check out what this supposed anime store called "Paper Moon" or whatever, is all about O.o Ja!

Tuesday, November 13, 2001
okay, since I really have nothing better to do (honestly, it was a really boring day with normal classes :D), I suppose I`ll do the "Jamie`s opinion of dubs" thing. I know. It`s an old, boring topic, but every Japanese animation fan has their opinion, so you`re going to get mine. Unless, of course, you leave the page now. Which, if you don`t WANT to read my opinion then I suggest you do so now. Can`t say I didn`t warn you, however.

Okay...here goes *dramatic pause* *drum roll* I don`t like dubs. *audience gasps* There! I said it! Now, time to delve into WHY. ^.^/

I started out watching dubs. Most anime fans have. I THINK so anyway. *shrug* Anyway, so I don`t deny the fact that dubs do, in fact, bring people into the fandom. The does not mean, however, that I have to like it. But I have my reasons ^.^

First off, I`ve been studying Japanese for almost 5 1/2 years now, and while I am painfully far from being anywhere near what most people would call fluent, I know a thing or two about the language. (I would like to add, here, that I dislike dubs of ANY kind, not just English dubs of Japanese animation). So I, personally, know what kinds of things can get left out of a dub, and it`s really on that note that I dislike dubs. Granted, there have, are and will likely always be bad voice actors, but my dislike of dubs does NOT hinge on voice acting.

In fact, I wish it would, because that`s something I can better deal with ^^;;

For me, someone who has studied the language long enough to know what can be missed, a dub is something like trying to read a book with pages missing in random places. You wouldn`t read the book and think you knew all the details because you just wouldn`t have had them. It`s an impossibility to fully know the story without having the whole piece, and that`s how i view dubs. No matter how well something is translated, something will be lost. A nuance, a change of voice, a whole line. Things important to whole of the story. A couple of examples:

1.) "Mimi o sumaseba"~Whisper of the Heart~. If you haven`t seen this movie, it`s more difficult to explain, but I`ll try anything. The main characters of the story, Shizuku and Seiji begin the movie by referring to each other by their last names + -san ( -san is a general suffix used by most people with other people they don`t know well. There are exceptions, but I`m not getting into that here).

Over the course of this movie, you notice that the two characters eventually refer to each other by their first names. Now, if you know anything about Japanese society, you know this generally connotates a CLOSE relationship between two people, and these suffixes are quite difficult to properly translate into English. In other words, if you tried watching a dub of this movie, it would be nearly impossible to understand how their relationship changes and how they see each other. True, watching it you can tell, but there`s a lot more going on than simply pictures.

2.) Now, I AM a pro-subtitle person, but they`re not always perfect. While in Japan, I have seen a number of English movies with Japanese subtitles. Countless times characters have said things and, reading the Japanese subtitles, I know that that`s just not quite the right nuance, or meaning, and sometimes they change the line completely. Clearly, subtitles aren`t always the best choice. I`d be the first to admitt that. However, were I to watch a movie dubbed, there`d be no chance whatsover that I could catch the original line.

I understand people may not want to take the time to learn another language, but I think, if you`re going to be viewing a lot of something from another country, you should take the time to learn SOMETING of the language. It`s those little things, the little nuances, that can let you fully enjoy something ^.^

Now, having said all that, I admitt to wanting to go see "Atlantis" when it hits theaters here. I`ve seen it already, before I came, and I didn`t like it much at all. BUT, it just so happens that one of the members of my favorite j-pop group (V6) is doing Milo`s voice, and I`d get a kick out of hearing him. *shrug* (Go Nagano!!)

Monday, November 12, 2001
=D I completly forgot to mention on Friday that a (cute) Japanese boy told me that my hair cut was cool. Okay, no big deal, you say to yourself. So he said her hair cut was cool. What you must understand is that Japanese boys just DON`T seem to talk to we Western girls. Why? I don`t know. Are we imposing? I haven`t a clue. BUT, the cute Japanese boy named Shigeru talks to us, and he told me my hair cut was cool, and he has an even cuter friend named Haruhiko =D
So I got a "toggle" coat. What is this thing you call "toggle" coat, you ask. Well, a lot of Japanese students wear coats like them, but they`re not pea coats. They`re....toggle-y. My mom calls them "toggle" coats, that why I use the word ^^;; I`m really happy about it, because both meg and I have wanted one for quite some time now ^.^/ Mine is dark grey (exactly the color I wanted) and it only cost me...8000 yen, which is under $80! A VERY good price, especially here in Japan.
I started collecting "Koucha Ouji". For those of you that don`t know, I am a die hard shoujo manga addict. Unashamedly so. :D I should collect more shounen (I`m working on it. I DO have all of "Hikaru no Go" that`s currently out and I collect IY). I only have volumes 1 and 2 so far of KO, but I find it very cute O.O I love Assamu and Earlgrey, although I sorely wish Assamu would not spend so much time in SD form. He`s ...well...He`s pretty kakkoii in human form and I prefer him that way. Plus I want him to end up with Taiko ^^;; and it`d be difficult with him in SD form...unless it`d be like "Wish", small by night, human by day *lol*
So my mom called last night, which is perfectly fine, except she had to say "You won`t cry a lot when you come home, will you?" to which I could only say that I couldn`t guarantee that I wouldn`t. To THIS she replied "Don`t do that to me, Jamie". Now I think that she was trying to be somewhat humurous about it, but frankly, it pissed me off. I get attached to places VERY easily, and I have enjoyed my time here in Nagoya more than anything I`ve done in my life before O.o It`s not like I`m going to cry to be mean or to hurt her, but I will absolutely miss Nagoya and Japan, and there`s nothing I, nor anyone, can do about that.
Okay, I was going to do my "Jamie`s opinion of subs/dubs" but yet again I feel lazy :P

Friday, November 9, 2001
So I thought that my scarf was gone for good yesterday O.o I got off the bus and slung it through my bag and when I got to school I realized it was gone O.o "So what if you lost it! It`s only a scarf!" I`m sure you`re thinking. But you don`t understand. There`s something very important that you need to know about Japan: No central heating.
I`m not kidding you! No central heating! So as a result, they use space heaters, generally in just one room of the house, and the rest of the house remains pretty cold. So, you see, I NEED the damn thing. :P Because while my host family insists that it`s still warm, I sit wrapped in two sweatshirts and my scarf and shiver. It`s ptobably not as cold as my mind is trying to make me believe, but it SEEMS like it!
Tonight we`re going to Katherine`s to eat. Should be fun! Although, I`m a little worried about all the stuff I have ahead of me next week: two kanji quizzes, a test, homework, and that`s just the stuff I know about. Nevermind this project for Japanese class, the fact I have YET to read "The Makioka Sisters" (my fault tho :P), and I have yet to find my book for history, about which I will eventaully need to write a report. O.o And this is all in the next 6 or so weeks, so I should probably get on top of things, ne? :P
Well, I was going to introduce you to "Jamie`s opinion of dubbed Japanese anime", since I`ve always wanted to put it on the net somewhere, but it shall have to wait till Monday ^.^

Wednesday, November 7, 2001
O.O My sister is a GENIUS! Okay, I suppose it`s fairer to say that I could be smarter :P She figured out yesterday that the computers here at Nanzan have Realplayer and we all know what that means, ne?
Okay, what it means is that I can listen to WGN radio out of Chicago while I`m in the computer lab ^.^/ What you must understand is that this is my FAVORITE radio station. I`ve listened to it my entire life. It`s a talk station, and I pretty much don`t listen to anything else, unless my family`s at our cabin in Wisconsin, where we have to listen to NPR (which I don`t mind, anyhow). Woo!
So today Katherine, Megan, Jason, and I are going to the DJ shop across from Animate so I (and maybe Meg) can buy a Harry Potter doujinshi. Actually, I plan on getting a couple, and at least one to sell on Ebay at a later date ^^;; What can I say? Katherine started selling one on Ebay yesterday and started it at $1.50 and today it`s at $15.50! Talk about significant profit O.O
So yesterday someone pissed me off but good :P I was reading their tagbook on Bolt (Bolt.com) and one of their questions was "Am I the only one that thinks Harry Potter sux?". Argh! Things like that drive me crazy. All these people replied to it saying how stupid it was and how they refused to read it. THAT`s the part that "gets my goat", as it were. Honestly, I have NO problem with people not liking those books, though I myself am a die hard HP fan. What drives me crazy are the people that don`t even read a SINGLE page and say it`s stupid, or for kids. Or the people that are like "Well, I like to go my own way". Ugh -.- That`s seriously one of the most idiotic things I`ve ever heard. To me, if you`ve not read so much as a page of one of the books, your opinion remains completely invalid O.O
Sorry, I`m just venting there a little bit ^^;; That`s all for today I suppose!!

Tuesday, November 6, 2001
o.o Hmmmmmm, not even really sure how this whole thing works. I`m a complete idiot when it comes to computers, so for at least a while this thing will look...well....downright uninteresting. At least until I can get help from Katherine or Jason in that respect. I suppose the smart thing is to introduce myself to the probably non-existant people that may or may not read this. Let`s play self-introduction!

Name: Jamie

Age: 20, altho very nearly 21

Date of Entry into the world: Dec. 17th, 1980

Family: mom, dad, two brothers, and my twin sister

Pets: My beloved dog North and two cats, Zoe and Proofrock (don`t ask me, my 23 year old brother named it!)

Interests: Japan, Japan, Japan. And reading :P My world revolves around things Japanese, particuarly manga, anime, j-pop, dramas, etc. I`m a huge fan of all of the above and I have definete opinions on certain parts of the fandom.

Fav. manga: Okay, here goes, in no particular order: 1. Mars 5. Sekai de ichibandaikirai 2. Kanata-kara 6. Hanazakari no kimitachi e 3. Hikaru no Go 7. New York New York 4. Inuyasha 8. Massugu ni ikou

and a TON more!

Fav. j-pop groups, in no particular order: 1. V6! *tackle hugs* 5. Kiroro 2. Yuzu 6. Misia 3. Porno Graffiti 7. Something ELse 4. Spitz 8. Fukuyama Masaharu

and again, a ton more

Fav. Japanese dorama: 1. Long Vacation 5. Namida o fuite 2. Virgin Road 6. Nemureru Mori 3. Meguri Ai 7. Koi wa aserazu 4. Love Story 8. Bokura no Yuuki

Fav. Books: 1. Night of Ghosts and Shadows-Mercedes Lackey 2. His Dark Materials Trilogy-Phillup Pullman 3. Harry Potter series-JK Rowling 4. Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen 5. It-Stephen King 6. Blue Moon Rising-Simon Green 7. Last Herald Mage Series-Mercedes Lackey etc. etc. etc. I`m a HUGE fantasy fan ^.^/ I`d put my favorite anime, but I guess something should be left as a mystery ^^;;

I guess I`ll finished there for today. Honestly, I`m not a very interesting person, and for the most part entries in here will probably involve really mundane things :P