Low: Having my essay
torn apart up by my seminar professor
I cried. I still have
the page of neuroscience notes that I cried over when I received the email full
of cold criticism. I had worked
incredibly hard on this Tale of Two
Cities paper, and I felt like I had wasted it all by not writing an
acceptable paper. I ended up pulling an
all-nighter to follow the professor’s advice and change my topic.
Low: Getting sick on a
Monday
7 AM, alarm goes off to Avicii. My head is spinning, my stomach is churning,
my eyes are burning. What is this? I sit up and almost fall off my bed in a
dizzy, blurry daze. Somehow I drag
myself to Japanese drill, fall asleep, and wake up when class is over. I have the chills. Not from the cold New Hampshire winter, but
just this bone-eroding freezing-ness.
The only warm spot on my body is my forehead. That’s a bad sign. I want to go home. I push myself to neuroscience and the
symptoms get worse. I even go to Glee
Club, and by the end of rehearsal I’m so exhausted. I go to bed early and wake up the next day
feeling exactly the same. Unfortunately,
this continued for the rest of the week, and I could not help but take naps,
skip classes, miss extracurriculars, skip meals, etc.
Lower: Getting sick on
midterms week
That’s right. I not
only fell ill on a Monday, but I became cognitively impaired on the first week
of major exams. Huge FML. But somehow, I made it through with a handful
of Bs. That drives me nuts, since my GPA
is quite depressing at the moment, but considering the circumstances, I’m satisfied
enough.
High: Losing 2 pounds
during sick week
Low: Gaining 2 pounds
back
Winter is a time for laziness, not leaving the dorm on
weekends, and eating junk food from the East Wheelock snack bar past 12
AM. I’m trying really hard to manage my
weight, but limited opportunity (read: motivation) to exercise makes this
pretty challenging.
High: Unofficial
acceptance into the Japan LSA at Tokyo
All of my hopes and dreams are starting to come true! I met with Dorsey-sensei last week for an
interview to discuss my application, but he didn’t actually interrogate
me. Instead, we discussed that the LSA
was going to be like and what I would be doing with the group in the next
term-and-a-half to prepare for our program.
The orientation sessions should be starting up soon, after the official
letters are sent to us sometime this month.
There isn’t much to say now, but don’t worry, I’ll be devoting this blog
to adventures in Japan this summer.
High: Scoring a 98 on a Japanese Quiz
Low: Scoring an 81 on a Japanese Quiz
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore Japanese and Ishida-sensei, but seriously, she takes points off for every missed line and angle on Kanji quizzes. I know that her scrutiny will ultimately push my calligraphy skills to perfection, but how much can my grade suffer before I achieve that? I really enjoy involving myself with everything Japanese on campus, from Nihongo Table to Dartmouth Japan Society. The meetings tend to be more social than productive, but it’s great to be surrounded by people who are just as passionate about Japanese language and culture. A couple weeks ago, we watched Hayao Miyazaki’s latest movie Arrietty; it was very well done.
High: Carmina Burana
concert
I love our program for the Glee Club concert this
Saturday. Carl Orff really composed an
epic masterpiece. Even though the style
is Minimalist, the chorus and orchestra together create such a powerful sound. After a month of preparation and lots of
technical practice, I am so excited to perform this for real. Oh, by the way, the prelude to the major work
will be some of Copland’s American Songs.
Higher: Pranam and
Meili are coming to the concert
Highest: My mom is
coming to the concert
Thanks guys! I hope
we are everything you expect and more!
High: Getting sleep
last night
I forced myself to go to bed at 9 after Glee rehearsal. It was so worth it.
High: Mrs. Chatterjee
said YES!
My mom and I have been thinking of hosting some of my
friends at the James Place Inn in Freeport, where she currently lives after
having moved from Winslow, Maine. Meili
will be in China during that time — the invitation is extended to any interim
break, by the way — but Pranam is interested in living my lifestyle during
spring break, who knows why… it’s usually uneventful. I guess the similarity of Freeport to Hanover
makes it appealing, and my mom mentioned taking us on some nature trips and
letting us shop around Main Street.
Actually, I think there’s more of a selection of shops and restaurants
than downtown Hanover. Now, I have to
work out some of the dates — I’m thinking from Thursday to the Sunday before
spring term classes begin. We’re going
to have so much fun! I hope Pranam can
prevent his mom from changing plans. J
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