digitalruki (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
digitalruki) wrote2010-01-15 10:17 am
digitalruki) wrote2010-01-15 10:17 am
Entry tags:
A Rough but Interesting Week
I have not updated my journal quite as much as I wanted to, and that is because my laptop essentially FRIED in the middle of the week. Somehow, for some reason, my OS died and the computer was transformed into a brick. Worst of all, I had many files on my hard drive which I(idiotically) had not yet backed up.
So, in a panic to figure out a way to save them, I am using an open-source OS called Ubuntu. The OS is on a CD, it boots up first and replaces Vista for the time being. I can access my hard drive and the internet. Pretty damn cool. The next step is to track down some kind of external hard drive in Tokyo, so that will be intersting, and hopefully fruitful. After I've backed everything up, I'll re-install Vista.
In the meantime, I've taken the evening off* and am finally archiving my first impressions of Temple University Japan. Classes started on Tuesday. I have Intermediate Drawing and "Japan and the West, a Socio-Psychological Comparison."on Tuesday/Thursday. On Monday/Wednesday/Friday I had Japanese Elements 1 and Drawing Portfolio. What follows is my thought on each course.
Intermediate Drawing: This, like most of the art classes here, is a stacked class: there are 2 art classes going on in the same room, at the same time. I'm part of a 4-person class along with a larger beginner's drawing class. The assignments are throwbacks to high school, even middle school art assignments: still-life drawing, focusing on different art elements like line and texture. The instructor, Yuko, is *adorable*, and even though I'm pretty far advanced, she still finds the lacking parts of my drawings and makes me fix them (small things, like making things in the foreground sharper, paying attention to surface texture, etc) It's kind of refreshing? It's definitely easy. And probably good practice. The second half of the course will be figure drawing, so I'm quite happy with it as a whole.
Japan and the West: all at once a totally pointless and completely fascinating class. I'm hoping to get this one to count as a lit course, because otherwise I have no use for it. We do a fair amount of creative writing, and the instructor is an old writer himself, an expert on the differences between Japanaese and Western cultures...the course is basically him explaining his thesis on the differences to us. It's quite interesting. Hopefully it won't get too heavy. It's weird, I'm taking 2 classes where I consciously focus on japanese culture, something I've always loved but avoided on the grounds that focusing so much on it was negatively affecting my art. And here I'm getting college credit for studying it. It's weird. My mind is conflicted.
Japanese Elements 1: The first level of Japanese language, this covers the first half of the "beginner's" level of Japanese. The more of the language I learn, the more I'm going to be so disappointed that I won't get to learn more. I want to be able to understand thing! and read things! I will be working very hard to do well in this class. Again, weird, because apparently all it takes to make me really motivated is to give me the end result of being able to read more manga.
Drawing Portfolio: Another stacked class, this time I'm the ONLY one enrolled in the portfolio course, and I'm in with Advanced Drawing and Drawing Workshop. The class is basically a do-whatever-you-want kind of course, with an added twist: at the end of the semester, I get a solo show! Either on-campus or...get this....somewhere in Tokyo! In like, a real Tokyo gallery! This adds unexpected pressure to the semester's work, as now I will definitely have to make it spectacular. But that's good too. I want to make some really good work this semester, even just a few pieces.The professor is a graduate of the Center of Creative Studies in the US. Initially I was skeptical about how he was going to run the class, but he knows his stuff. He gave a very motivating slide presentation, a refresher on drawing history. I'm pumped!
The main campus consists of the first 6 floors of an office building. The halls and lounge are pretty packed all day! I was surprised. I've met some cool people and am starting to get to know a few. I'm looking forward to all the trips and events I've signed up for. I can't wait to get into the groove of the semester. But will I? Life in Tokyo is crazy. It's like there's never a free moment, there's always something to do. It's all very fun. But I'm a little worried I'll never be able to settle down and get to work.
The day after I spent hours trying (and failing) to save my hard drive, I stayed up late and watched TV. ARASHI, one of my favorite boy bands was making a guest appearance on a late-night talk show. I couldn't understand anything, but it was still adorable!!! I love them. Sho-kun is starring in an upcoming drama. I keep seeing actors and idols I recognize in dramas, and I wish I could watch them all! Wentz is also co-starring in a very cheezy show about a bank or something.
I wandered around Shinjuku station for a little bit. I was initally very scared of this place, it looked crazy the first time I passed it, and it's one of the busiest stops on the JR Yamamote train line. But's its also amazing! The station is linked to a huge underground shopping mall that goes on seemingly forever, and endless maze. And that mall is, in turn, connected to several above-ground stores and shopping malls, and leads to the neart of the Shinjuku area. It's gorgeous! So many lights and cute shops. I should take some pictures.
*I made a dinner of soda karipan, which I've just now decided is the perfect comfort food. I've figured out where to find Anpan (red bean bread) in the convenience stores, and this is a VERY BAD THING because, left to my own devices, I would eat nothing but anpan forever and ever. The bread section in konbini's is pretty magical. There's every kind of bread a hungry person could ask for, from sweet or savory, flat, puffy, cake-y and cookie-ish. You have to get there early, or all the good stuff is gone. Every store stocks different varieties and brands, Anpan is sweet and delicious. I especially like the smooth bean curd variety that I found at the konbini in the Takadanobaba station that I pass on my way home each night.
Tonight I also tried karipan for the first time (curry bread), which i was iffy about, but am now COMPLETELY CONVERTED. It's sweet, cake-ish bread with a bit of curry in the middle. If delicious and comforting had a name, it would be karipan. I'm excited to try the other varieties as well (including strawberry bread, of which I've bseen strawberry-filled and strawberry-flavored varieties). It has become my mission to document the bread section! More to come!
Upcoming things on my to-do list are: get a cute flip-phone, visit the 6 FLOOR ART SUPPLIES STORE YES YES YES, find a good venue for boy's love comics, and go out to eat with a group. Oh, and buy a new hard drive, now.
I'm beginning to see the seductive draw of a city like Tokyo. Life is so fast-paced and full of sensory overload, so consumerist. You come here, you try to fit in and go with the flow, and you get caught up in the lifestyle. I can understand how some people never want to leave, even considering how foreigners are eternally outsiders and the high cost of living. With all these distractions, when you find your niche in a city like Tokyo, why would you ever leave?
That said, I'm totally homesick. :// For silly reasons too: if I was home, I would have tech support, Hulu, and english labels on all the food. America, I miss you!
So, in a panic to figure out a way to save them, I am using an open-source OS called Ubuntu. The OS is on a CD, it boots up first and replaces Vista for the time being. I can access my hard drive and the internet. Pretty damn cool. The next step is to track down some kind of external hard drive in Tokyo, so that will be intersting, and hopefully fruitful. After I've backed everything up, I'll re-install Vista.
In the meantime, I've taken the evening off* and am finally archiving my first impressions of Temple University Japan. Classes started on Tuesday. I have Intermediate Drawing and "Japan and the West, a Socio-Psychological Comparison."on Tuesday/Thursday. On Monday/Wednesday/Friday I had Japanese Elements 1 and Drawing Portfolio. What follows is my thought on each course.
Intermediate Drawing: This, like most of the art classes here, is a stacked class: there are 2 art classes going on in the same room, at the same time. I'm part of a 4-person class along with a larger beginner's drawing class. The assignments are throwbacks to high school, even middle school art assignments: still-life drawing, focusing on different art elements like line and texture. The instructor, Yuko, is *adorable*, and even though I'm pretty far advanced, she still finds the lacking parts of my drawings and makes me fix them (small things, like making things in the foreground sharper, paying attention to surface texture, etc) It's kind of refreshing? It's definitely easy. And probably good practice. The second half of the course will be figure drawing, so I'm quite happy with it as a whole.
Japan and the West: all at once a totally pointless and completely fascinating class. I'm hoping to get this one to count as a lit course, because otherwise I have no use for it. We do a fair amount of creative writing, and the instructor is an old writer himself, an expert on the differences between Japanaese and Western cultures...the course is basically him explaining his thesis on the differences to us. It's quite interesting. Hopefully it won't get too heavy. It's weird, I'm taking 2 classes where I consciously focus on japanese culture, something I've always loved but avoided on the grounds that focusing so much on it was negatively affecting my art. And here I'm getting college credit for studying it. It's weird. My mind is conflicted.
Japanese Elements 1: The first level of Japanese language, this covers the first half of the "beginner's" level of Japanese. The more of the language I learn, the more I'm going to be so disappointed that I won't get to learn more. I want to be able to understand thing! and read things! I will be working very hard to do well in this class. Again, weird, because apparently all it takes to make me really motivated is to give me the end result of being able to read more manga.
Drawing Portfolio: Another stacked class, this time I'm the ONLY one enrolled in the portfolio course, and I'm in with Advanced Drawing and Drawing Workshop. The class is basically a do-whatever-you-want kind of course, with an added twist: at the end of the semester, I get a solo show! Either on-campus or...get this....somewhere in Tokyo! In like, a real Tokyo gallery! This adds unexpected pressure to the semester's work, as now I will definitely have to make it spectacular. But that's good too. I want to make some really good work this semester, even just a few pieces.The professor is a graduate of the Center of Creative Studies in the US. Initially I was skeptical about how he was going to run the class, but he knows his stuff. He gave a very motivating slide presentation, a refresher on drawing history. I'm pumped!
The main campus consists of the first 6 floors of an office building. The halls and lounge are pretty packed all day! I was surprised. I've met some cool people and am starting to get to know a few. I'm looking forward to all the trips and events I've signed up for. I can't wait to get into the groove of the semester. But will I? Life in Tokyo is crazy. It's like there's never a free moment, there's always something to do. It's all very fun. But I'm a little worried I'll never be able to settle down and get to work.
The day after I spent hours trying (and failing) to save my hard drive, I stayed up late and watched TV. ARASHI, one of my favorite boy bands was making a guest appearance on a late-night talk show. I couldn't understand anything, but it was still adorable!!! I love them. Sho-kun is starring in an upcoming drama. I keep seeing actors and idols I recognize in dramas, and I wish I could watch them all! Wentz is also co-starring in a very cheezy show about a bank or something.
I wandered around Shinjuku station for a little bit. I was initally very scared of this place, it looked crazy the first time I passed it, and it's one of the busiest stops on the JR Yamamote train line. But's its also amazing! The station is linked to a huge underground shopping mall that goes on seemingly forever, and endless maze. And that mall is, in turn, connected to several above-ground stores and shopping malls, and leads to the neart of the Shinjuku area. It's gorgeous! So many lights and cute shops. I should take some pictures.
*I made a dinner of soda karipan, which I've just now decided is the perfect comfort food. I've figured out where to find Anpan (red bean bread) in the convenience stores, and this is a VERY BAD THING because, left to my own devices, I would eat nothing but anpan forever and ever. The bread section in konbini's is pretty magical. There's every kind of bread a hungry person could ask for, from sweet or savory, flat, puffy, cake-y and cookie-ish. You have to get there early, or all the good stuff is gone. Every store stocks different varieties and brands, Anpan is sweet and delicious. I especially like the smooth bean curd variety that I found at the konbini in the Takadanobaba station that I pass on my way home each night.
Tonight I also tried karipan for the first time (curry bread), which i was iffy about, but am now COMPLETELY CONVERTED. It's sweet, cake-ish bread with a bit of curry in the middle. If delicious and comforting had a name, it would be karipan. I'm excited to try the other varieties as well (including strawberry bread, of which I've bseen strawberry-filled and strawberry-flavored varieties). It has become my mission to document the bread section! More to come!
Upcoming things on my to-do list are: get a cute flip-phone, visit the 6 FLOOR ART SUPPLIES STORE YES YES YES, find a good venue for boy's love comics, and go out to eat with a group. Oh, and buy a new hard drive, now.
I'm beginning to see the seductive draw of a city like Tokyo. Life is so fast-paced and full of sensory overload, so consumerist. You come here, you try to fit in and go with the flow, and you get caught up in the lifestyle. I can understand how some people never want to leave, even considering how foreigners are eternally outsiders and the high cost of living. With all these distractions, when you find your niche in a city like Tokyo, why would you ever leave?
That said, I'm totally homesick. :// For silly reasons too: if I was home, I would have tech support, Hulu, and english labels on all the food. America, I miss you!