Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school

Annyeong everyone,

So, I haven't blogged in quite a while really, sorry 'bout that. I've been really busy with work and my birthday and all that. And today was my first day back at 'school'...well, I guess when you compare it to the American or Japanese educational system, it's university. Practical university or whatever. No matter, I just call it school. 

I promise to try and blog a bit more, but I don't know if it's possible. School's gonna take up a lot of my time. But look forward to more posts and embrace the randomness that is me.

Ja mata ne mina! 

Nice as pie

Annyeong everyone,

Today I went to pick up a ring I'd ordered made especially for me. I was inspired by this pciture: 

However I requested it to be made of only two rings and of gold, because three rings was way over my budget and I don't wear silver. I also had it engraved: A.K.T.F. All you DBSK fans out there know what this means right: Always Keep The Faith.

They had first made it out of silver - to practise - and the jeweller kept that one for herself. One of the rings wasn't just polished, it was treated with sand as to make it look like it was made of diamond. I expressed interest and she said it would only cost me ten bucks and would take half an hour. My mom would pay for it when we came back.

My mom, my little sister and I came back exactly an half hour later (we has some other things also taken care of) and suddenly the jeweller told us it was for free. Because my birthday was coming up. Isn't that sweet?  I'm so happy with my new ring, it's never coming off.

Ja mata ne, mina!

No one is able to enjoy such feast than the one who throws a party in his own mind

Annyeong everyone, 

This quote about writing from Selma Lagerlöf, illustrates how I experience writing. I've just started to write again - after a long time of getting distracted by Bones, Dollhouse, Gokusen and a new dorama I discovered yesterday: Bloody Monday  - and it feels good. I can finally let my imagination flow again, and even though the same flow won't always apply when jotting down the words, I realize I've missed it. 

I've missed sitting at the table, typing or writing with my earphones in, ignoring reality. Well, not ignoring, just...substituting my own. And I love it. I love writing so much that when I'm not writing, I have the need to fill the empty space with something else. In this case doramas. I've always watched series/anime online, but not as much as I did a couple of days ago. So I decided I needed to write again.

My mind is overflowing and characters are springing up from nowhere. Imagination, inspiration and (ahem) genius are coming together. I'm itching to write and to draw, which I haven't done for more than 3 months by the way. And maybe I'll pick up my drawing again, to draw my characters, or attempt to at least. But right now I want to concentrate on my writing again.

Because writing - or throwing a party in your own mind - is a beautiful and amazing thing. I wouldn't want to give that up EVER. I'll continue to throwing parties and feasts and all such things in my mind and maybe one day I will finally be able to invite other people. Maybe someday I will get published. 

Kore wa watashi no yume dakara.

Ja mata ne, mina!!!   

Game plan

Annyeong everyone,

So today, I decided to spend some time thinking - seriously thinking - about my future. And no, I don't mean daydreaming about my life in Japan, working as an editor and being a famous novelist, with my adopted children and my two dogs. Though that is my favourite pastime K K K. 

No, I was thinking about what to do after I get my bachelor. Granted, I have two full years left, but what then? Find a job? It's my dream to move to Japan to start a new life there, finding a job there at 20 won't be that easy. Especially since my self-taught Japanese is still in it's baby stage. And I'm a foreigner. I'm not saying the Japanese are racists, I don't know all Japanese people and I do think they are smart enough to make their own judgement based on my personality and not my coloured skin. A Japanese friend of mine however, told me the Japanese just don't have that many opportunities to  meet foreigners. 

Anywaysss, I have been thinking of studying Japanese or Korean. And I've actually found an university where they offer both! It's in Leiden and not that far from my home town. A mere 42 minutes away to be exact. So if I would go to study Japanese ( it's actually called 'Languages and cultures of Japan') it would take three years. I'd be 23 when I was done. But then there is Korean ( 'Languages and cultures of Korea') as well. I don't want to give up on that, so I'd study at the university for another 3 years. I'd be 26 when I'd be done. 

I could, of course, decide to get a Master for both studies...that would probably take ehm...2 years, I suppose. I'd be 28. I don't know if I will try to get a Master for both, so let's scratch that for now. I will have three Bachelors (hopeful thinking) and a Master - in English. That could get me far when I'd look for a job in Japan right? I'd like to think so. And all the while I'll be working at the Hema and saving for the big move. Sound like a plan right? A killer plan! A game plan. 

NLD

Annyeong everyone,

So I've talked about me possibly having NLD - non-verbal learning disorder - but I couldn't provide you guys with a lot of info. Now I've found some, so I decided to show you:

NLD is a neurological disorder which originates in the right hemisphere of the brain. Reception of nonverbal or performance-based information governed by this hemisphere is impaired in varying degrees, causing problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative, and holistic processing functions.

The syndrome of Nonverbal Learning Disorders (NLD) consists of specific assets and deficits.

The assets include:

• Early speech and vocabulary development
• Remarkable rote memory skills
• Attention to detail
• Early development of reading skills and excellent spelling skills
• Eloquent verbal ability
• Strong auditory retention

The three categories of deficits are:

• Motoric: lack of coordination, problems with balance and graphomotor skills
• Visual-spatial-organizational: lack of image, poor visual recall, faulty spatial perception, and difficulty with spatial relations
• Social: inability to comprehend nonverbal communication, difficulty adjusting to transitions and novel situations, and deficits in social judgment

People with NLD can be affected in varied levels of severity in each of the categories, so that each person with NLD presents a unique clinical, behavioral, and educational picture. People with NLD can be helped by many forms of therapy, but their world is filled with confusing sensory stimuli. For some, their physical endurance is challenged by generally low muscle tone. Some need support throughout life with cognitive and organizational skills, motor skill development, pragmatics and social skills.

Children with NLD have advanced verbal and auditory memory. Some are precocious readers with advanced vocabularies. Nevertheless, NLD is a problem of language. People with NLD have rote language skills but when it comes to functional daily use of language, they have difficulties with tone of voice, inference, written expression, facial expression, gestures, and other areas of pragmatic speech.

People with NLD have difficulty understanding patterns and lining up columns of numbers. Spoken instructions can be troublesome due to difficulty picturing consecutive directions and poor visual memory. NLD can also affect coordination, causing clumsiness, poor balance and a tendency to fall. Many people with NLD have poor safety judgment.

We are not sure what causes NLD, but we know that the earlier the intervention, the better the prognosis.

There...did you understand any of it? I did...a little bit anyways. Well, that's all for now. 

Ja mata ne mina!

New lease of life

Annyeong everyone,

How are you guys? I haven't been blogging in a long time - mainly because of my horrible internship. The only positive things about that internship are the friends I've made and the fact that I got inspiration to write about it. I'm gonna write a novel about my internship in hell. 

Are you interested? I'm gonna write in first person, and I don't really use that perpective a lot, so it's gonna be different. It has me as the MC. K K K.

I've decided to use Dutch idioms as chapter titles and my novel title is an idiom too. I love idioms for some reason *^^* I'll let you guys know when I've got more.

Ja mata ne mina! 

Speak softly and carry a big stick

Annyeong everyone,

It's been a while, hasn't it? Missed me? Kekeke, I guess not. Some of you probably will have noticed that I usually use English idioms as titles - the only exeptions are the QuickE's, discoveries I've made and the happy birthday wishes for the members of DBSK. Which reminds me: I've been too busy to blog about YooChun's birthday! Oh well...I decided I won't do that any more anyways...it's not like they actually read my blog.

Anyways...let's carry on. Um...the idiom 'Speak softly and carry a big stick' is very fitting for a situation I landed in during my internship (I still have two weeks to go). There are 3 other interns and our "boss"  - and I use this term lightly - has taken advantage of us. There are a lot of problems with this guys, but the worst thing was the fact that we didn't get our pay of April and May...until the beginning of June.
And we only got that because I had asked him about it for like a gazillion times! Do you know how horrible it is to beg for your own money? It made me feel like a gold digger or something.

So I went to talk to him about a lot of problems he should fix. This is where the idiom comes in, because I was ready to break his neck. I was that pissed. I'm never pissed. I just shrug things off. But that dude is really something. Everything I said to him, he twisted....so it would make me feel guilty. Lucky for me...I don't feel guilty about things I haven't done. Now he takes every chance he's got to admonish me for stuff.

Yesterday was another example of this. We only have to come to the office at Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The rest of the time we work home. Suddenly he decides he wanted us to come to the office today (because he 'quit' his freelance job...yeah right). I couldn't go because I had some other stuff to do. He totally went into a frenzy. Like I should be ashamed I had other appointments without telling him. He tried to use my argument (if he'd be late or have a meeting, he should at least give us a call) against me. The only problem was that I was talking about the days when we were actually supposed to be here.
That miserable excuse of a human had told us - at the beginning of the internship - that we would only have to come to the office on those three days. Then we could work at home the rest of the time, and have time for work or school or sports or whatever. His words...not mine.

Can you believe that man?! He's is so getting on my nerves! I'm not an agressive person, but I'm constantly thinking of ways to kill him. And I wonder how everything's gonna work out with the money we made in June. Oh well, only two weeks left...I'll keep my murderous plans to myself for now. But boy, I will be so happy when this internship is over.

Ja mata ne mina!