Fishing for attention

Hey readers. Shibaraku desu ne. It's been a while.

So, I'm just fishing for attention, so I shall remind y'all that my blog for the summer is hanachaninjapan.tumblr.com.  That is because I'm in Japan.  If you're interested in hearing about my adventures, please have a look!

Be back in the fall to catch up more on my life back at Dartmouth.

~Hannah

Green Key 2012

"The time has come," the students said, "to skip our Friday classes: with Greens – and keys – and block parties – with dancing drunken masses…"

I handed in my Linguistics test, stupid vocabulary mistakes and all, and ran out of the lecture hall through the warm, sunny campus.  There was no climactic dismissal bell like the last day of middle school, but all of my anticipation for this term had been building up to the moment I stepped outside.  Spring holiday had begun!  No homework was to be completed until Sunday.

I met Pranam at the Hop for lunch, checked out the Phi Delt block party, had a hotdog at the Tabard, met Meili to window shop at the Dartmouth Coop, explored at bit at the Dartmouth bookstore, enjoyed some Morano Gelato, took a short rest to recover from the week, and joined some floor mates in McCulloch’s basement for quesadillas and pie.  Concealed by an empty outer room, my floor mates pre-gamed in my room while I lazed in bed, and within the hour we walked (some were already staggering) to Frat Row.  I broke off to Alpha Theta tails and then danced for a while somewhere else (??) until someone badly bruised my left foot.  It was really neat – half the dance party was outside on the lawn!  Back in the dorm, I learned that tragedy struck on McCulloch 3.  Two people got “Good-Sammed,” which means that they were deemed drunk enough by Safety & Security that they had to be taken away.  Meili told me it was a pretty emotionally scarring ordeal.  We all lost a lot of sleep.

The next morning, bright and early, Meili, Pranam, Bryan and I walked over to Ledyard Canoe Club by the river to embark on the first DOC Adventure Race!  With the sun already beating down on us at 10 AM, we began a 3-mile canoe route to the Organic Farm.  Bryan, our strongest, was seated in the front, and Pranam was in the back.  After some failure, Meili moved to the back since she was actually experienced at ruddering, while Pranam and I were useless in the middle.  At the farm, we quickly found a pineapple (apparently Pranam was familiar with this from DOC trips) and started a 2-mile down the road.  Pranam flew ahead of us, and I spent some quality time wheezing and jog-walking with Meili and Bryan, which included almost drinking water from a resident’s tap and going to the bathroom at the food Co-op.  At the destination, we threw wood.  Bryan was boss, Pranam NRO’ed, and Meili and I lugged a few over as well.   From there, we took a clue about Dr. Seuss and ran together to the parking lot behind Dartmouth Medical School, where Bryan and Pranam would miss the target at archery and get passed on to the next challenge.  We climbed the hill to the BEMA and split up for some more whimsical activities.  Meili and I danced the Salty Dog Rag, Bryan climbed something, Meili memorized Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice,” Pranam balanced on a rope to obtain cheese with his mouth, and then Meili, Pranam, and I worked on eating the cheese.  At last, we celebrated our last-place victory (pretty sad since we started 2^nd) with a barbeque back at the Canoe Club and then some relaxing showers.  It was as if I had completed the DOC trip that I never experienced… in only 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Even after all of this, we had more activities.  Meili’s amazing friend Eric brought us to West Lebanon for some mini golf.  Not willing to pay for both, Pranam and I followed them around the last couple holes after practicing on the driving range.  I felt so awesome leaving campus!  I must say though, it was strange to ride back up Main Street to the green, especially because it was not my mom driving!

And that concludes Green Key weekend.

A Dark and Stormy Night

One lovely evening, I was minding my own business in the elevator. I had to take it because I had recently contracted bronchitis and my lungs were not strong enough to power me up the stairs. So, the world suddenly left me – but actually, it turned pitch black and the elevator stopped. Oh $h!7. Thankfully, I was able to get through to someone on the emergency phone and they manually lowered the elevator to the basement. I hurried upstairs in the darkness.

This actually became kind of fun, though. Teresa, Addie, George, Bryan, Kelly, Cynthia, Meili and I gathered on the light side of the floor to study together with loads of chocolate and sugary snacks. We were having such a good time that we almost stopped caring that the internet was off!

The next night, we were all back on the floor, this time sitting on the floor next to the sinks, sharing our deepest, darkest secrets with each other and eating the Green Key hangover snacks a bit too early.

Short blog post, I know. There's definitely more coming. A lot more.

A Timeline of Potential Majors

1994 – adulthood

1996 – art

1997 – carousel maintenance

1998 – medicine

2000 – obstetrics

2001 – medicine

2005 – engineering

2007 – medicine

2008 – chemistry

2009 –biology

2010 – genetics

2011 –

January – music

February – Latin
April – art history

July – linguistics

August – neuroscience

September – classical archaeology

November – Japanese

December – linguistics

2012 –

January – neuroscience

February – Japanese

April – linguistics

And that brings us to the present!

I plan on majoring in linguistics with a minor in Japanese, unless I can magically fit all the required courses for a double major or modified major.  I am very satisfied where I am now, because linguistics is definitely something I could study without any second guesses.  Even though I might have to work at a maid café to pay for graduate school… ;)  JK.  I recently elected my courses for Freshman summer and Sophomore fall.  When I am on the Tokyo LSA+, I’ll be taking JAPN 22/23 (language) and JAPN 11 (culture and music).  Back on campus next year, I’ll be in JAPN 31 (advanced language), JAPN 61 (anime and manga seminar), and LING 22 (syntax).  I think I will be off in the winter, but I really want to find research or any excuse for a Hanover FSP.  In the spring, I have JAPN 33 (more advanced language), LING 23 (semantics and pragmatics), and LING 17 (sociolinguistics) in mind.  

Rewind (5/6/12 – 5/15/12)

I’m sitting here at my desk watching Tampopo and reviewing kanji at 2:46 AM.  I have no clue why I can’t sleep… I really didn’t nap that much when I was sick.  This weekend I came down with a cold that always develops into bronchitis because of my vulnerable, asthmatic lungs.  Although I couldn’t breathe enough to fall asleep during the night, I compensated for that during the day.  I think my circadian rhythms have been messed up.

Nothing much has happened this week, but last Friday I attended an amazing Freshman Formal night with Pranam at the Ledyard Canoe Club, and of course with everybody else at Alumni Hall.  We had planned to go to Yama with some other friends and classmates, but the communications failed.  No worries, we really enjoyed the time to ourselves and the delicious calamari salad and mussels (haha).  I like to think Pranam and I were the ones who started off the dance, since before we decided to stay, E-man said that people came and left, but the event never really caught on.  By staying, we encouraged more people to stay and at least enjoy the photo booth and mock tails, and in about a half hour we had attracted a pretty good crowd.

And the Greek scene?  I’ll definitely write more on this after Green Key Weekend.  So far it’s been pretty laid back.  Friday afternoon, I was invited by classmate/fellow Gleeker Diana to make Boo Boo Bunnies” at EKT.  It was a really cute community service event; we rolled up and decorated little hand towels to distribute to DHMC’s children’s hospital.  If it wasn’t for all the mandatory parties, I would have been willing to rush there in the fall.  The night before, I went to Alpha Theta’s Mellows again.  The theme this time was Dirt Cake!  I wonder what to expect for this Thursday…

Flashback to Wednesday – this was a pretty special day because Pranam gave his first presentation at Dartmouth Japan Society.  I’m so proud of him and Mameshiba!  Evan actually might take him seriously now! (LOL)  Speaking of presentations, it’s my turn this week.  I have to whip up a Prezi slideshow for Issunboushi, a Japanese folktale that I am also writing a paper on in Japanese 3.  It’s about a little thumb-sized boy who saves a princess from ogres and becomes a human-sized samurai.

Before I realized I had insomnia, I was making arrangements for Professor Pulju to come to McCulloch 1 for a dinner discussion on comparative/historical linguistics of Indo-European languages.  Earlier I was approved for SIPS (student-initiated programs) funding through East Wheelock, so I have a couple hundred dollars to pay for catering.  After being intimidated out of my seat by Jewel of India, I decided to go with Everything But Anchovies for appetizers and The Orient for main platters.  There was a lot of discussion going on over Facebook with Etai (experienced event planner) and Pranam (Indian food connoisseur)… and, of course, a lot of unnecessary polling.  I was inspired to host such an event after attending special lectures offered by the linguistics department.  So far I have been to two – the first one was about the morphology of an Indian language and the second was about vowel-raising in Vermont.

And that brings us to when Tai, Meili’s brother, came to visit during First-Year Family Weekend.  What an emotional roller-coaster.  The morning was so much fun, watching movies in the dorm and baking for Phi Tau.  While Meili and I experimented with Nutella cookies (actually we ate more than we baked), Pranam gave Tai a tour of Frat Row.  However, the afternoon was incredibly stressful.  We all went to Topliff courts to play tennis together, but there were none open, so we got impatient and asked this Asian father and son to play doubles.  That was a huge mistake.  Only a couple (losing) points into the game, the father gave Pranam a massive serve that dislocated Pranam’s shoulder.  It was really horrifying to watch him faint from the pain.  Addie and I tried to catch him, and in the process we popped his shoulder back in, which is probably what woke him up.  He almost fainted again on his way to the bench.  My adrenaline flooded, and I think I yelled at a couple people who said he couldn't drink water, which was actually bringing him back from the depths.  Luckily, Meili called over an entourage of medical personnel that checked his shoulder and brought him back to the dorm; they said that the fainting and nausea were symptoms of vasovagal syncope, which I experienced this summer when I developed an intense stomach pain.  Since Pranam couldn’t handle stairs, I let him crash in my bed while I finished homework.  I'm really glad he agreed to stay in my room, because I felt much more secure being able to know how he was at any moment.  For the next 5 hours, he was so sound asleep that I had to keep making sure he was breathing!  Now, he’s back to normal, playing cello and basketball (very carefully), and I am so relieved.

The following day, they all came to my Glee Club concert!  I was so happy to have good friends to sing for, since this term’s performance was a special one – celebrating the release of a Dartmouth songbook and demo CD.  It made me smile to see their faces light up when we sang the Ivy League Medley, Football Medley, and Alma Mater.  Some of my favorites were the beautifully dissonant new-age Sleep by Eric Whitacre and the upbeat Joshua by Moses Hogan.

Birthday! Level: Adult (4/28/12)

Friday, April 27, 2012, 16:05:00 was my last minute of childhood.

It wasn’t the climactic transition as I had hoped for, I think I was finishing homework or napping while my mom was doing housekeeping for me. The morning was very enjoyable, though – after Japanese class, I met my mom, bearing birthday cake and a large bowl of fruit, behind McCulloch. She shared some delicious snacks then drove me to Kemeny for Japanese 10. Unfortunately, I had never asked Professor Washburn for permission to bring her to class, so she had to wait until Linguistics 1 to experience Dartmouth’s academic scene. The topic that day was perfect. Since my mom used to teach grammar, she found the introductory lecture to syntax very easy to understand, and Professor Pulju actually told me he deliberately watered some of it down just for her. It was a lot of fun, and I loved seeing her enthusiastic about linguistics! Nothing else significant really happened while she was here, since we tried to walk to the clay studio and learned that they do not accept projects completed at a different studio. We had some nice conversation for the two miles though, and it was a lovely day to be outside.

I must also thank my friends for making my birthday special. Meili brightened my room with a beautiful flower vase, and Pranamはかわいいこけしときれいでむらさきうちわをくれました。(gave me cute Kokeshi dolls and a pretty purple fan). Thinking ahead, Etai gave me a neat comic-book picture frame to preserve some memories during the LSA+ in Japan. And of course, Bryan bought me a lottery ticket, which I didn’t win, and a grape Zigzag, which I gave back to him. Dinner was so much fun! Meili arranged for a bunch of floor mates to gather at Molly’s and Pranam ordered an elaborate Lou’s cake with ［華子、お誕生日おめでとう］written in frosting. He took so much time to look up the kanji online – I am forever grateful!

You know you’re at Dartmouth when… (4/19 – 4/21)

One of the signs of Spring is swarms of Prospies rather than swarms of mosquitoes.

Dimensions weekend was so much fun.  It brought back so many memories from last year when I was first accepted to Dartmouth.  A lot of my friends hosted prospies, so even though I didn’t host my own, I spent time with a lot of them.  Meili’s friend Stephanie, who is more likely to choose Stanford, came from Encinitas to visit, and Hersh, who is choosing between here and Swarthmore, was assigned to Pranam.  They are very accomplished students, and I hope Dimensions left a good impression on them.  The green looked so lively with the ‘16s around – I miss the excitement and sunny weather that was replaced by rain the day after everyone left.

Much of my Dimensions experience this year involved Glee Club.  We had our open rehearsal on Thursday, which was also the last rehearsal before recording.  One of our sopranos was a fake prospie and Louis had a “senior moment,” almost giving away the surprise: “So, if you’re a ’16, how do you already know the music?” Haha.  After rehearsal ended, a group of us walked to Phi Tau to bake for Friday’s Milque and Cookies event, and we brought a prospie with us!  His name was Ethan, and I really hope we see him in Glee next year.  We watched one of the Phi Tau brothers prepare to assemble edible Roman architecture, and we tried a simpler recipe.  Our cookies ended up being of the citrus snicker-doodle variety.  I don’t know if any of the other bakers tried our cookies on Friday, but I thought they came out pretty tasty.  After Milque and Cookies, I briefly stopped at Roll into Spring to say hi to DJS and steal onigiri, but I had to hurry to the hop for our classical music concert.  The Glee Club sang Sleep by Eric Whitacre and Joshua by Moses Hogan.  Meili and Pranam attended the concert with their prospies, and we dined at Yama together afterward.  After that night, I had to get to work to study for midterms, which I didn’t do particularly well on.  IYAAAAAA DAME DA! IT'STHEENDOFTHEWORLDIDON'TKNOWHOWTOHANDLETHIS!!!

Thanks Etai for almost sacrificing your life on the Green and getting eaten by a Zombie while cheering me up with an anecdote about failing a math test.


And thanks Meili and Pranam for bringing me out of my room for a relaxing evening of "My Fair Lady." It made me feel so much better about Linguistics!

Welcome 12S! (continued)

Other non-academic things have occurred this term too.

I just learned that my East Wheelock application was accepted for Fall ’12, and Spring/Summer ’13. Phew, I’m very relieved. My housing number 4500 was pretty low, well, not as low as my roommate’s 4697 out of 4700.  I was anxious about the decisions letter, since I really wouldn’t want to live in the undesirable dorms like Mass Row or… (cringe) the Lodge.  I heard that Pranam and Evelyn will be living here too, I wonder what dorm they will pick.  After seeing Pranam’s awesome three-room double in Morton, I think I want to live there too, even though any of the four would be excellent.

Right across from East Wheelock, I am signed up for the Tennis PE on Topliff Courts.  It’s kind of like the drill class I used to attend with my mom in Waterville at the Champions Fitness Club.  So far we have practiced our forehand and backhand groundstrokes, and also serves and returns.  After dropping out of tennis team senior year, I forgot how much fun the sport was.  I enjoy playing with different types of people and figuring out how best to play against their individual styles.  Outside of class, I’ve also been playing sets with my friends on the weekends.  It’s been very challenging to get back into the fast, “first singles” pace of Erica and Chris, but surprisingly I can handle it much easier than Pranam’s painfully slow, high slices.  I still cannot beat him because he is so consistent.  I love to hit hard since it’s so cathartic, but if I really want to improve, I’ll have to become more of a patient, defensive opponent.

Since I am in tennis, I am no longer in ballet.  However, to keep myself in dancing shape, I attend ballroom events from time to time, from Thursday Night Salsa and Tuesday Night Tango.  My floor mate Cynthia is teaching TNS now, and I am always so proud of her when I watch her show other people (including me) what she loves to do!  She is also leading an East Coast Swing showcase, although rehearsals have kind of gone by the wayside for now.  Perhaps they will resume after Dimensions and midterms.

Nightlife during spring term is much more active than winter, I think, since it is much warmer.  So far, I’ve been to Tri-Kap and Heorot dance parties.  I still like Tri-Kap better because the dance floor is not in a stiflingly hot, humid basement.  Although I am adhering to my no-alcohol vow, it’s nice to let loose and groove for a couple hours. Greek life? Yes, I have really considered Greek, life, but I’m not committing to anything like those social scenes.  Since I really do not want to waste time acting superficial and stressing over fashion, I have opted out of sorority rush, and I decided to participate in something more fun, whimsical, and laid-back: COED RUSH! The two houses I must choose between are Alpha Theta and Phi Tau.  I know people from both, through Glee Club and Japanese, and I have involved myself in both, like the Staccato step show and the upcoming Dimensions flash mob.  Both houses host really cool events, like Mellows and SEX. ;)

Speaking of which, this term the Glee Club is reworking old traditional Dartmouth music and recording a demo album.  Building up to its release sometime in June, we are holding two concerts, one for Dimensions and one for Parents’ Weekend, and going to some rural area in Vermont (I think) for a photoshoot.  Also coming up is the New Music Festival, in which different student ensembles perform music arranged by other students.  I’ll be a soprano in the chorus!  However, Louis (director of the Glee Club and my voice teacher) actually told me that I have developed better as a high mezzo than a soprano.  I’ll have to try harder at expanding my range.  He did say, though, that I have reached the breakthrough of figuring out how to physically engage my body with my voice.  I am very proud of myself, and I can’t wait to prepare for the spring term recital.

I have been pretty active in the Dartmouth Japan Society, too.  Two weeks ago, we raised money for the anniversary of Japan’s earthquake through a T-shirt sale and a discussion themed “Rethink, Rebuild, Remember” in which two representatives from Japan spoke to us about the steps they are taking to recover.  There is one organization called JEN (http://www.jen-npo.org/) that employs volunteers.  I know a lot of friends on the Tokyo LSA+ are getting involved, probably not through this specific group, but Dorsey-sensei will be leading students in cleaning up around the disaster site.  Unfortunately, I will have to go home so I can help my mom relocate and rest up before 12F begins.  Something I look forward to every week in DJS is movie night.  We watched Warai no Daigaku, a hilarious comedy about a playwright who is trying to convince a censor to accept his parody of Romeo and Juliet.  If you are ever looking for odd Japanese puns, you have to watch it!  Last week, movie night was cancelled so I held my own in East Wheelock, and a lot of floor mates came!  I took out Howl’s Moving Castle from Jones Media Center.  Howl is such a bishonen, and Cynthia really fell in love with him.  I think I prefer Calcifer, such a cute fire with tiny wittle arms and legs… :3

What else has been going on?  We are having superb weather this week!  To celebrate, I’ve been studying on the green, surrounded by beach towels, joggers, and Frisbees.  I even played some Frisbee with Pranam and Ben this weekend, which totally reminded me of CTY.  I’m glad I didn’t forget how to throw the shotgun or twisted backhand, as we called them at CTY.  Yesterday it reached almost 90 degrees and I was able to wear a skirt!  After we were fire-alarmed out of the Hop, I randomly craved Gelato so I treated myself with some delicious Bacci/Cookie-dough mix from Dirt Cowboy.  Oishii wa yo~ ;)

Okay, I think I have caught up.  I’ll elaborate on the events of this week… ato de!  I’ll be pretty busy with studying, meetings, and Dimensions, so you won’t be disappointed with the next update.

Welcome 12S! (3/26 – 4/15)

This post is long overdue, and I apologize for it. I seriously do not know why I have neglected to maintain my blog as regularly as I should, since it is so much easier to write in weekly sprints than to write a marathon.

I think left off about a week before reading period, but I would rather not say much about that.  I ended up doing just find in Japanese 2 and First-year Seminar, but Neuroscience was another story.  Perhaps I learned the hard way that I am no longer a hard science geek!

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Since I did not go on Glee Club Tour to San Diego, my spring break consisted of moving between Bed and Breakfasts in Freeport and Waterville and studying very hard… until Pranam came to visit.  Thursday, March 22 was one of the most special days not only did we have this freakish, yet gorgeous, 80-degree weather, but we picked up Pranam from the airport, and he even said that it hadn’t even been that warm in Georgia.  I was very anxious when I was waiting at the gate, probably because Air Tran was expected to arrive earlier than scheduled. Apparently Pranam was one of the first passengers off, but he was the last to walk out the door since he got lost and thought baggage claim was in the opposite direction. What a ばか。

I do not remember what we did the first night, something along the lines of settling in, having dinner, and going to bed.  I’m pretty sure that was the night he suggested that we watch The King’s Speech, which won an Oscar for Best Picture.  The cinematography was so artistically executed, from angle to lighting, and it made me think harder about all the creativity, intelligence, and planning used make a quality movie.  The next day, we tried to go to the golf course, but rental golf clubs were not available, so we ended up having an awkward 3-mile walk during which my mom interrogated Pranam.  That alone was exhausting.  Pranam golfed on Saturday instead, and it was very interesting to watch.  As tense as their interactions were on Friday, Pranam and my mom made an excellent team.  We didn’t do any other major activities, besides wandering around Downtown Freeport in search of Ralph Lauren cologne and omiyage.  Cologne testing was very entertaining, and even some of the employees at the counter played around with us too.  We finally decided on #3, the one with a slight mint aroma.  On Sunday, we embarked for Hanover, New Hampshire.  However, our eagerness to return was thwarted for a few hours when we learned that the first Greyhound bus was full, and the department had forgotten to send a second one – a bad ending to a nice vacation.

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The green was breathtaking when we stepped off the bus.  After spending two terms watching the grass decompose and get covered in snow, I had forgotten how vibrant it could become.  Seeing that made me certain that 12S would be spectacular, and so far I am right.

New term, new classes once again – this time I love all three, and I cannot say that I look forward to one more than another.  The topics provide enough variety (language, literature, and deductive science) but are still specific enough to the field I am passionate about.  Japanese 3 (9S plus 8 drill) is pretty regular, since I am accustomed to Ishida-sensei’s teaching style, but the grammar and kanji are a bit more complicated.  Right now, we are studying the expressions “to give” and “to receive.”  I think it’s still too early in the term to say that Japanese Culture (11 plus 12-X) might quite possibly be a joke is easy, but the course is taught in English, our homework consists of reading and watching films, and there are no written assignments.  Some of the literature is… disturbingly creative.  I just read a folktale about a man who had an affair with a fox-woman who died soon after as a result of karmic retribution.  Last but not least, Intro Linguistics (12) is a blast.  I really enjoy making funny noises in class and in the library while doing homework.  This week we are covering phonetics, and we have been memorizing the International Phonetic Alphabet and the classification of sounds (stop vs. fricative or tense vs. lax vowel).  Did you know, a snort would be described as a nasal-ingressive voiceless velar trill.  The data sets will surely be something to get used to, though; in this QDS distributive, we analyze letter patterns rather than number patterns!


Will continue later...

"Whoa, even the antisocial section is full..."

Wahahahahahaha, Pranam, I really hope you read this. Good times in FoCo.

Step Out Autism Event

A Rare Gem

And Not A Single Buck Was Given That Day (3/3/12)

Instead of recalling past events, this time I will give you a little slice of life instead.  That is, I’m going to ramble in a-bit-longer-than-Twitter-length segments about things that nobody gives a single ? about.

9:30 — Having gone to sleep to the music and chatter of E-man and Armenta-san, I just woke up this morning to Medusa, I mean the strikingly disorganized head of Pranam.  What did I miss last night?  Well, if that’s what happens when you neglect to lock your door, I don’t think I’ll ever lock it again. [wink wink]

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10:00 —This morning was supposed to be our last BFAB (Breakfast for a Buck) of the winter term.  BFAB is a nice community event in which the UGAs (Undergraduate Advisors) make breakfast in the dorms.  Unfortunately, I had no more bucks left, so I had to resort to FoCo (Food Court, a.k.a. 1953 Commons), which really wasn’t that bad.  Haha.  There are lots of abbreviations in the Dartmouth language, eh?  The environment isn’t too conducive to focusing, especially since I’m situated right across from the coffee/dessert bar.  I’m leaving!

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10:30 — Well, that was awkward.  I just walked into Sanborn, my favorite library to find all of the tables cleared out and my writing professor standing there.  More awkwardly, I left.  And then walked back in.  And waved.  And proceeded down the hall to take a warm-cut to Baker just to realize that the exit was blocked off.  And walked by him again.  Phew.

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11:00 — I’m typing this in the Orzoco Reading Room when I should be typing my essay.  Apparently a passage about this showed up on the SAT.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take the SAT that month.  Pranam wants me to save his special seat in the main hall next to the information desk.  Time to relocate… again.

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11:30 — Pranam’s seat was taken.  Darnit.  I’m right to the left of the King Arthur Flour window, and I guess I’m staying here since I’m too lazy to return to my original seat.  I hope he has enough DBA (Declining Balance Account) to share something with me! [rubs hands together and salivates]  It is time to Summon, or search for relevant academic sources for my Macbeth paper on Dartmouth’s library database.

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1:00 — I decided to write my paper about the role of nature/environment/weather in Macbeth.  Subject to change.  Edit: how the duality of the weather and other elements of nature reflect the conflict within Macbeth.

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2:00 — I am sitting in second-floor Collis.  I enjoyed lunch with Pranam and plan to meet up with Meili later for some King Arthur tea in Baker this evening, but now I am alone.  I’m really hoping I recorded the time for the History Journal meeting correctly!  At least I finished all my edits for “Rethinking Samson Occom” at the beginning of the week, but we were supposed to discuss them today.  Maybe I should check the other rooms to make sure I’m in the right place.

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4:00 — Step practice got over a few minutes ago.  I’m really looking forward to the show tomorrow.  Here, let me advertise: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otl92bi5jcU&feature=related_)

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5:30 — Ramesh-san and I are working on our Japanese project.  Our topic is Honda’s ASIMO robot, its history, adaptations, and … mind control!  We already finished the PowerPoint presentation, but now we have to write a script and memorize our parts.  I’m kind of nervous about the oral presentation, but I’m also pretty excited to speak a lot of Japanese.

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6:15 — Thanks for the blueberry tea, Meili!  Meili had such a great idea switching to the 5-meal plan this winter.  I’m more of a snacker, so I could really use the DBA.

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7:00 — Baker Berry… still… Pranam and Meili have left

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8:30 — YAMETE.  I surrender to my writer’s block.  I’m leaving for the gym.

Dancing My Happy Dance

I GOT MY 91!

I GOT MY 91!

I GOT MY 91!

… on the Japanese test. :D

Hit by Cupids Arrow (2/14/12 through 2/17/12)

Valentine’s day lasted nearly a whole week.  On the Friday that opened Winter Carnival, Meili and I attended a card-making activity in Collis.  We both enjoyed the chance to exercise our creativity and youthfulness, although our cards were much more elaborate and cleaner than any elementary student could have made.  I assembled a cute booklet for Pranam in which I would later paste photos, multilingual sayings, and a manga-style comic I drew up on Seashore.  For Meili, I found a large piece of forest-patterned cardstock, which inspired the idea to paste on an image of Legolas expressing some sentiment in Elvish.

On Valentine’s Day, at 7:20 in the morning, I hurried to McCulloch 2 to meet Pranam before Japanese drill.  Of course, there is great significance in his choice of a meeting spot.  Although I was running late, I actually arrived before him, and I could see Pranam through the study room’s big window, across into his Morton dorm room.  He suddenly disappeared, and before I could say “hit by Cupid’s arrow” he was behind me with a box of Lindor truffles and a really cute puppy holding a heart.  He is so wonderful.  I named my puppy Kokoro, after the Japanese word for heart!  Now Pete, the bear wearing a Dartmouth hoodie (or Pranam’s alter ego), has a companion. J

Meili and I are two birds of a feather.  We exchanged the exact same gift — Godiva chocolate-covered almonds.  She wrapped hers much better though, with a pretty tissue-paper flower attached.  I’m pretty sure I finished my almonds much faster, but they were so tasty that I couldn’t resist!

Later that night, we enjoyed a double date at FoCo.  Well, it really wasn’t a date at all — one, because it was FoCo, and two because the two guys who came along were both Meili’s suitors.  Usually FoCo is the most monotonous dining hall, but that night, they had a special surprise for us: a chocolate fondue fountain.  I made sure I saved a cup of strawberries and fondue for Pranam, since he was in a meeting.  The fruit and chocolate was definitely the main course.  Then I ate my vegetables.  FoCo also served pastries at the dessert bar, including fruit tarts and chocolate mousse cups.  Steve was entertaining since he couldn’t tell if the mousse cup was edible or not (it was).

I could have stayed at FoCo all night devouring sweets, but I had to run to the Hop to meet Cynthia, Evelyn, and Teresa for J-Shop.  That is, making jewelry while snacking on… more chocolate!  This was especially entertaining with Ian there.  He’s a junior on the demanding engineering track, and this term he’s actually on the Hanover FSP, which means he’s living off-campus but working at Dartmouth.  Why is this significant?  He’s my adoptive trip leader (Pranam, Cynthia, Erica, Conor, etc. were on the Farm Living trip last fall under his guidance) and the object of all our affectionate stalking and creepy behavior.  Fortunately, Cynthia got the chance to really impress him with her awesome wire-bending skills.  She made the most intricate rings, while I just made treble.  No seriously, I made a ring with matching earrings of that cute, squiggly G-clef symbol.  Totally deserved a laugh and a half.

On Friday, I finally went on my first dinner date.  I was so afraid that I wouldn’t be able to go, since I almost went home that weekend after being sick.  Good thing my stomach flu lasted only 24 hours!  If it hadn’t been five months (to the day) since I had met Pranam, I would have been so nervous about creating conversation and being scrutinized from across the table.  But actually, I think we were prepared well; he even matched his tie to my dress.  He brought me to the Ledyard Canoe Club, a nicely furnished restaurant with the tastiest dishes.  Together, we ordered some cod, risotto, calamari salad, and coconut sorbet.  We really enjoyed ourselves, and I will never forget this night.  It was seriously more romantic than any movie set, with the dim lighting and the small, intimate table by the window, the quaint town of Hanover, and the beautiful night outside.

I need to return the favor, and I guess I can start with Hairspray tickets!

Not Again, Please, Zeus Almighty, NOT AGAIN

February 15, 12 AM, alarm goes off to the classic iPhone “Marimba.”  My head is throbbing, my stomach is aching, my muscles are shivering.  What is this?  Have I been sleeping all this time?  I roll out of bed to start my homework for the evening, but I realize that I am mentally incapable of comprehending anything I read.  My temperature reads 102.  I give up.  I want to go home.  Blackout.  Something makes me think Pranam stayed the night, but then again, I had a dream about Meili and Steve.

Déjà vu.

I not only fell ill on a Tuesday, but I became cognitively impaired on the second week of major exams.  Huge FML — especially because this happened just a couple weeks ago.