- yawn... -

currently listening to - the rumbling sounds of people hitting their fingers on some things called "computer keyboards".
mood - extremely exhausted (due to boredom)

first of all, i want to clarify that i'm not bored 'coz the lecturer/teacher/sensei/whatever you call it.. was very boring. it's just that the teaching contents of the classes today were hard to become interesting. am i making sense.. hmm...... 1st period: kanbun (chinese ancient literature/language...?), 2nd: kobun (japanese ancient literature), 3rd-4th: thank god i'm not a social science (art stream) student, otherwise i would've been sleeping throughout the 3-hour long japanese history & politics class. anyway, i had a 3-hour physics class instead. and i'd say it's not that interesting learning how to write and pronounce things like "triangle" or "straight line" or "4/3-pi-r-square" in japanese. for 3 hours.

well, lessons have been going on for more than a week, and more or less we've gotten used to the weekly schedule.. as in, when to wake up and bathe, have breakfast, stroll 3 floors up the language center, dash towards the canteen for food like crazy chickens (my favourite packed food always sells damn fast) etc etc etc... just finished the placement tests for physics and chemistry, but unfortunately....... APPARENTLY, the mathematics placement test goes on for 3 weeks (hint hint, thomad. don't pengsan.). heard from one of the teachers that there's some special purpose in holding a menakutkan-ly long test for this particular subject. *sighs...*

as you might know... ok. you probably don't know. our campus is situated in some super duper ulu place. in mua dad's time (ooh.. so does that mean papa's my sempai?), it wasn't on top of this slopy place (which made me break 4 newly bought eggs while struggling in pushing my bicycle up towards the dorm), instead it was relatively more strategically situated downtown, where convenience shops are really convenient. in any case, i guess students going to osaka-gaidai (if you happen to not know, it's full name is osaka university of foreign studies or osaka gaikokugo daigaku) and tokyo-gaidai obtain different kinds of experiences, both having their own advantages and disadvantages.

in osaka, we get to live with nature. the air is cleaner (probably). there're less distractions (in the form of... entertainment?). we pay less for accomodation. and we learn japanese language and the major subjects concurrently (so basically, it's tougher for students who don't understand japanese). plus, we can learn the almighty kansai-dialect and kyoto-dialect.

in tokyo, they get to experience the hustle and bustle of a huge city (ie. it's more interesting than listening to you own heartbeat. osaka-gaidai is THAT quiet.). everything is much more convenient, as i've said (post office, bank, convenience shop, restaurants, karaoke, disco.. blah.). AND THEY HAVE FREE INTERNET ACCESS IN THEIR OWN ROOMS (bloody hell, i don't even have a laptop...). they learn only japanese for the 1st half of the year (ie. their class schedules are much much much nicer), and major subjects will only be taught during the 2nd half of the year.

and they have a higher chance of entering todai (you know, the priority thingie).

dang.

but i think i'm rather satisfied for being a osaka-gaidai student. don't ask me why. well for one thing, i've made a couple of friends (from different countries) who share similar interests or thoughts or personalities.. and for the 1st time, i learnt to cook a lot of stuff. from simple fried eggs to okonomiyaki (mmmm......). from original homemade soup to korean stew (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......)...

ok i'm hungry now. better feed myself before i collapse during tomorrow's maths test. =p

Greetings!!

muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

reporting from computer number 3, computer room, osaka university of foreign studies, japan. hohoho. darn, i forgot to bring my speech... and i forgot to bring my digicam adapter!!!! argh.. cannot upload photos.. nevermind. next time la.

yeap. reached japan safely. now i live in one of the newest dormitories in the campus. small room, but very comfortable. the attached bathroom, if exclude the basin and toilet bowl, is approximately one AFP unit. hehe. the language centre (which i will be going for the new few months till i finish my preparatory course) is really just a stone's throw away from where i stay.

there are 60++ students for this year's batch (for the preparatory course), from all around the world. malaysia, singapore, brunei, vietnam, mongolia, romania, france, fiji, etcetcetc... speaking of which, i haven't met any PRCs yet..

by the way, the campus is situated on top of a small hill, so it's a little cooler (it's around 10 degrees celsius now) than downtown. WHICH MEANS THAT... we're far far away from the city central...... it takes about 15 minutes (by foot) to reach the nearest convenience store (a.k.a store like 7/11) or post office. and it takes about 40 minutes (by bus. luckily there're lots of bus stations around the campus) to reach the nearest subway station. i.e. ULU. =p despite that... we have stores within the campus, so i guess we'll be able to get most of the basic necessities without getting out of the campus.

just finished the 1st orientation and now i'm happily blogging in the computer room. no internet access within the dorms, but i can spend up to 90 minutes a day in this place. which is very near my dorm as well. :D

next we'll (for those who have learnt japanese only) be having a placement test on japanese language (i don't think i'll like it) so that we can be divided into classes according to our level of proficiency. haih.. must work hard. got competition. =/

alright i think i'll stop here for now. right now i'm thinking of how to let u guys know about my mailing address and phone number (yeap. there's a phone in my room and... free incoming calls!! nyahahahaha..). gotta go for lunch. ciao!

- :3 -

since i seriously have nothing to do at the moment (waiting for dinner to be served).. can't possibly finish packing now. i still need my toothbrush and alarm clock and......

currently listening to - Don't Cha (by Hitz.fm DJs, NOT by The Pussycat Dolls)
mood - bored (obviously)

for those of you who happen to not know what my title means: it's a smiley. not something.. obscene. hint: you hafta look sideways (and ignore the hyphens at both ends. they're decos for each post.). get it? get it?

***

someone asked if i'm nervous/excited/anxious again yesterday. i said no and shrugged. again. and she exclaimed something like this: "你已經超越了凡人的層次...." in cantonese. erm.. i don't really know how to explain this in english... if translated literally, it's "you've already exceeded an ordinary person's level"...... nevermind. basically it's a unique answer. heh.

really. it's true that i don't feel anything different in me. not that i'm indifferent towards things. not that i don't care what kind of new life i'll be starting tomorrow. 3 words: i don't know.

well, the thing is, you probably don't care whether or not if i'm telling the truth, right? as long as there's an answer to the question.

***

which reminds me that.. we don't know if a certain person's lying or not, even if he or she says "it's true". today's not the same as the olden days, as the chinese saying goes. we're now living in a world of lies. that's my impression of today's society. the best we can do is to judge each statement with our own perspectives and beliefs. whether or not others think the same, it's not up to us.

this sounds so deep. ugh.. debating isn't my cup of tea. i hate arguing. not really good in putting my thoughts into words. it was a nightmare when i represented my school for interschool chinese debate competition (but we got overall 3rd). no doubt the 1st place went to the organiser school (as usual).

***

alrighty. gotta finish typing mom's journal. don't like traditional chinese IME.. always gives me wrong words. but, ah well... =p