my link didn't post!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrqA0whcGos

ACHOOOOOO

so along with racheypoo, i am sick. not super sick though, just sick enough to be able to function and have to go to all my commitments while still feeling like shit. you know, that kind. and i can't stop sneezing! i've never had a cold before where all i do is sneeze...it's really weird. maybe it's allergies as well. i split my thanksgiving b/w my house and patrick's and he has a cat (though she is a pretty cool cat) and they do not make my nose happy. but now i just feel yucky in general.

the talk with my parents @ thanksgiving went really well. i think my parents were more nervous for it than we were, but they just gave us advice and stuff, it was cute. i don't think patrick'll propose probably until this summer or maybe early fall, so don't hold your breath for xmas or valentine's or my bday or anything. but hopefully it will be within the next calendar year. we'll see!

i am so looking forward to tiffy's blog omg! it better be epic!

i did pretty much all my xmas shopping online today and am trying to spend <$30 for each person i'm buying for. it's hard! stuff costs lots o money! ahh!

i really missed patricey at my thanksgiving this year. eating chinese noodles wasn't the same without you.

FINALLY i had an amazing lesson with mr. kawasaki today. at the beginning of the quarter he assigned me 4 etudes from kreutzer and today was only my 2nd time seeing him, so i played all 4 etudes for him and he said that they were all "very good" which is awesome cause he hardly ever gives compliments. and i played a little bit of my concerto for him and he liked that too. so i think i'm now on his "good side" which is like a really good thing. so good, in fact, that he assigned me 7 MORE FUCKING ETUDES. 7. pretty much #9-15 in kreutzer. rach, it was really funny today because he was like going through each etude that he was assigning me and he was like "this is for string crossing" and i was thinking yeah i know cause that cray cray ped assignment we did.

anyway, i'm working on baking xmas cookies tonight and trying to practice my scales. the only scary thing that i have left this quarter is our scales test...we have to take one at the end of every quarter and we have to pick a scale (i'm doing c maj since it's my first one) and we have to play major, all 3 minors, arpeg, 3rds, 6ths, 8ves, and either an etude/orch excerpt all from memory. gaaaaaag. so i gotta try and cram all that shit in before next tuesday. ew.

also work is now CRAZY because apparently everyone and their mother waits to submit their grad school apps (well i did this actually) until thanksgiving break so then when the admissions staff comes back after break we have like 8 huge mailbins full of mail...and everyone calls at the same time asking me the same damn question, "where do i send express mail? the ups guy said i can't send it to a PO box...." and i'm like..read. the. damn. directions. in. the. application. handbook. NOBODY READS ANYTHING ANYMORE. but i actually really love work so i shouldn't complain, it's just annoying when people don't read.

is anyone else as excited about this movie as i am?!?! i'm going to see it next week. !

cough cough

So Tiffy - I think you have to add amanda as like a contributor. I couldn't do it, although I tried. I think I just invited her to read it.

I'm sick. Went home early from work today. I'm sitting here eating cheese, despite my total lack of an appetite. You know how most people lose weight when they're sick? Well, I only throw up from booze and often choose to eat out of boredom. And that is what I'm doing now. ALSO my mom made cookies yesterday (yay) so im eating those to make me feel better. So far, nope. We shall see though. Perhaps the cheese will help.

So Kelly, I saw on facebook that you had a great thanksgiving. Also you told us you were planning on talking to your rents about a wedding over thanksgiving. WE NEED DETAILS. If you don't want to tell them you could just email me.

Patrice, I appreciate your congrats BUT im gonna need you to notice that despite the fact I am a bad ass barista I only got the promotion after complaining that the total loser was being promoted over me. ALSO even more evidence that johnathon never intended to promote me - i think he gave me the wrong book. Like I think he gave me the trainer's book. But we shall see.

Patrice, I'm in your boat and totally understand your lack of motivation but I have a couple suggestions you might want to consider. If you don't, no problemo. 1. continue to apply to better jobs, dont put all your eggs in the jet basket (although that was a good essay) 2. try to get some violin students. It might make you feel like the last 12 years of your life havent been a COMPLETE waste (it does me). but it is good you're getting more hours at borders. did you work black friday?

My thanksgiving was good. My aunt got a little drunk and that was funny. My brother was there and that was fun. MY car is made. It's on a train somewhere. Did I tell you guys that already? I should get it this week or next. I was hoping to get it a little later because I wanted a bigger downpayment. But whatever. It'll be fun to drive my new fiesta around!

Putting the cheese away and getting another cookie. Wish me good health!
PS to everyone but tiffy. Tiffy tells of BIG blog plans. It'll be pages long, it'll have pictures, and movies, and smells, and be interactive. BE EXCITED

in between

I approve the Amanda joining. BTW did someone change the dog picture? It seems different.
Can I say that I'm not unhappy but not super happy either. Been getting more hours, I finally work 5 days a week instead of 1. Things are getting busy with the holidays. People are buying stuff. I'm still working out. Did some shopping, it made me happy, but then I thought about spending money and it made me sad.....I need to be saving not spending.
Rach congrats on the promotion!!!!!!! ;) That sucks you have to do training and you don't get paid for the hours.
Oh, so one of my friends from high school, she lives in California with her Navy boyfriend, I went to visit them over spring break last year, well they got engaged. Hes a nice guy, and seems good for her. But wow, that was fast. This is like the first one of my close friends to get engaged. It's kind of shocking for me.
I don't practice my violin ever. I feel like I don't have a goal/motivation/dream. I don't know what to do. I'm waiting for JET, but I feel like mehhh. No aspiration what so ever. Waiting for people to come home for their winter breaks so I'll have more people to hang out with.
Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

p.s.

TJ follows this blog, don't talk shit about him. I know all of you were right about too.

so much to do

ok so i made an executive decision and invited amanda fisher to the blog. Tiffy, she counts because she graduated in 2010. I think you guys will all support it. and if you don't, don't write it on the blog! She'll read it and those russians are crazy!

ok so in other news - talked to the manager about the bull shit of life. i did not put it like that though. That would be tacky. It was more "i just wanted to talk with you because I heard a rumor that two ppl that started at the same time as me or later than me were being promoted, and I was wondering why i was not consdiered" well he was flustered and just started saying that i am beyond awesome and like the best employee ever and they couldn't make coffee without me, and OF COURSE he was gonna promote me DUH he was hoping to talk to me about it forever and he tells everyone how AWESOME i am. I was, and kinda still am, QUITE upset about this massive miscarriage of justice, and so i think he was scared i was gonna quit and did not know what to say. because he spoke to the others about these promotions weeks ago. and i work five days a week, it's not like he didn't have the option. And then the other day chandler (don't have the details yet) started fighting with johnathon over other shit and then eventually about who gets promoted and got stephanie (who was gonna be promoted like a month ago) to get UNpromoted so that I will be promoted. Yes, I too, am confused. Stephanie is an annoying and often lazy BITCH. But she knows more and cares to know more than max ever will, and she's been there way longer. So I think if anyone should ever have their promotion taken away it should be max. Also half our training is sposed to be by ourselves, at home, OFF the clock. Fucked up? I think so. Ima go through with the promotion, even w/the off the clock training. And Ima hope for a new job. There is one that is PERFECT for me so of course i have it already in my head. I will keep you updated.

MY PARENTS GOT REAL INTERNET. I know, you're excited. ME TOO! I finally got to log in to my sallie mae account and my loans are almost $500 less than I thought. AND my payment is due in january, not novemeber. HECK YES.

OK, I needto work on job apps. Love you guys. Patrice, keep working out. I've been fat this week and I need you as inspiration.

NEWSFLASH

so i am so excited that tiffy posted!! yay! i'm so glad you're happier in nyc now and that your hair is not falling out in big clumps in the shower...yikes. i can't wait to hear more about your life !

i just wanted everyone to know in case you didn't already that speigs is officially getting married!! i confirmed this information with patrick last night. patrick actually went out with speigs and his now fiance last spring with brad and katie blakey to a cigar bar, lol...but they had lots of fun and patrick said his new ladyfriend is pretty cool. anyway, i thought since this blog was sort of a reminiscence of speigs's old blog that i'd pay homage to him by talking about him. haha.! woo!

life is still pretty lonely here in the nasty 'nati...but i might get a kitty!!! which shows how desperate i am because i'm allergic to kitties. but i'm not sure if i can afford one so i'm still trying to decide. i am so excited for thanksgiving and christmas to see my family and stuff!! i set up christmas decorations from the $$ tree in my apartment and they are so cute!! i got a little 3 foot tree from walmart and set it up. it makes it a little more homey i guess. sometimes at night i just turn off my lights and turn the xmas tree on and light a cinnamon-smelling candle and just stare at my tree and think about how much i can't wait to go home. weird and depressing right? lol it sounds like something from one of the more pathetic part of bridget jones's diary...haha

in more exciting news (and pretty much the only thing that keeps me from killing myself of loneliness here), patrick and i have been talking about getting married non-stop for the past two months. we're going to talk to my parents about it at thanksgiving (They like want us to take pre-marriage classes or something ) and then he's going to propose to me sometime within the year after that, if all goes according to plan. so mark your calendars for fall 2012, i think that's when we want the wedding to happen. like i said, it's basically the only thing that keeps me motivated to do anything while i'm so lonely here, but it's still pretty exciting. i hope i look like this at my wedding!!!

mini-post

super short post from me cuz I'm writing this on my phone.

I just read the previous posts and all I can say is ick! Not a great year for the majority of 2010 grads eh? We just gotta ride through the storm guys...I can see the promised land and it's full of rainbows and unicorns, and maybe a little extra cash too.

things aren't too bad for me here in NYC. I am much happier since I moved to the city and less stressed out about life (I can tell because my hair stopped falling out in clumps in the shower which was a problem I had over the summer and basically all of senior year.)I'll post more on what's happening in my life soon when I can get to a real computer with internet.

k byezzz! :)

GRRRRRR

MAX GOT PROMOTED TO LEAD
MAX
MAX IS UGLY, HE HAS REALLY LONG NASTY HAIR AND IS GROSS
HE IS FUCKING LATE ALL THE TIME
HE WAS A NO CALL NO SHOW YESTERDAY
HE HAS TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE
HE IS A LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY MOTHERFUCKER
WHO DOESN'T LIKE TO WORK BECAUSE HE IS LAZY
REALLY REALLY LAZY
I, however, have never been late, called in, or been a no call no show. I got a freaking perfect score on my review because I do a good job. I work my ASS off. I work so hard, and just like EVERYTHING ELSE it gets me NOTHING. We started at the same time. I mean I don't really want to be a lead at starbucks that badly, but WHAT THE FUCK. He is so lazy. He might be getting it before me because he worked at starbucks via hms host (my employer) before me, because he worked there in florida. However, he GOT FIRED from there so i don't see why that should be rewarded. I cried most of the way home. WHY DO I TRY?

Ok, I am gonna try to be slightly more positive. Everyone else at work is shocked that he would get promoted before me, because they know I'm good. Tips were good yesterday. Tomorrow Johnathon will be there and I will get to ask him why he would pass me up.

Patrice, your revised essay was a lot better! Good luck! Also, since you like teaching (I say this to everyone) why don't you try tutoring? Wyzant.com is a site where you can be an independent contractor kind of tutor and there's usually lots of jobs, they only let you know about jobs around you. Plus it'd look good on your resume. Check it out.

I miss you guys tons. I'm sposed to have a partying date in Bloomington with tj this wknd. I hope he doesn't cancel last minute, but I'm doubting it. That'll be something fun to blog about for a change.

MAX? REALLY STARBUCKS?

Ok, I miss you guys and love you all

i don't know what to do

well peeps, i just mailed out my JET Program application. they will let me know late janurary and hopefully i will get an interview this time, even though i thinking of the interview makes my stomach curl as well. interviews are in feb. and they let you know in april if you will be going to japan or put on a wait list. thanks for you guys help with editing the essay and stuff. i ended up rewriting a good half of it. i wanted to put more about music into it but it seemed really out of place and the conclusion was kind of weak too.

i posted what i sent below if you wanted to see what i changed.

kelly, i'm just as much of a shut in as you are. all i do is work, stay home or go to the gym, or go to the bank and deposit my paycheck. lately been going to the gym like 5 days a week. i've been going to the cycle class. it's pretty intense and i really like it. been doing some core and resistance stuff on the days i don't do the cycle class. maybe if i was interested in cycling before i would have cycled in little 5.
i still don't get very much hours at borders, but i'm guessing that will change soon....maybe? at least the gm doesn't yell at me anymore, she has other things to worry about.
i've also been thinking about taking the postal exam to work at the post office. kind of out there, but it appeals to me. you have to score around 95-100 to really stand a chance. knowing that you are the best of the best seems pleasing to me. i know i shouldn't give up on trying to find something in japan, but i'm getting tired of doing interviews and applying. at times i feel really motivated to go back on a music track, but then i realize how behind and competitive it is for violin. now that i'm done applying to stuff for a little bit, i'm gonna intensely study japanese again.



-----------------------
Statement of Purpose

One thing that I have always taken for granted while growing up in Hawaii’s mixture of cultures was the Japanese Kiku channel. My family regularly watched the Soko ga Shiritai and Kinpachi Sensei series’ as I grew up, but it wasn’t until I was in high school that my interest piqued as I took Japanese for my language requirement and a Kimono culture class. Six years later after an exchange program with Youth For Understanding and an intensive summer language program, I want to spread my desire for globalization and international understanding by teaching English as a Second Language in Japan.

One experience that I find particularly relevant to the JET Program is my time teaching this past summer at a Japanese language immersion camp associated with Concordia Language Villages. As a counselor, I was responsible for looking after a cabin of campers, planning and run activities for a small language class twice a day, and organizing, leading and helping with daily cultural activity events in the evenings. Through this I gained experience teaching and working with children and learned that enthusiasm, repetition and patience are necessary when teaching a second language. This positive experience has further fueled my desire to participate in the JET program. I have a strong desire to work with and teach children, and to increase my knowledge of Japanese culture in areas that are unfamiliar to me while working in a new setting. By working and living in Japan, I feel that I will gain more confidence teaching and mentoring children while increasing my knowledge of Japanese language and culture. I would like to be able to bring back that knowledge and share it with the communities in the United States.

As a half Chinese and half Filipino student growing up in Hawaii, I have been raised with a mixture of American and Asian values that I feel can bring a wide range of experiences and cultures to Japanese communities. Going away from Hawaii to attend university in Indiana introduced me to Midwestern American culture. Having an Asian population of less than three percent and less than a dozen and a half students from Hawaii on my university campus, I felt compelled to share my experiences and cultural background with the campus through the various multi-cultural organizations. Through A.S.I.A Club (Association of Students Interested in Asia), I planned several opportunities for the university campus to experience cuisines of various Asian cultures, and noted holiday celebrations such as the Chinese Moon Festival and the Lunar New Year. I also performed Yosakoi dances twice a year with Japanese international students at the International Student Association’s International Bazaar, helping to share Japanese culture with the campus.

Also being classically trained in music on the violin, I would hope to bring along that interest and share it with my students and their community. During my undergraduate studies I was never able to tie my musical studies and East Asian studies together even though music is also a universal language. I now see that music is also a way of sharing a connection between different countries and cultures. I would want to show that it doesn’t matter about our differences. East or West, Caucasian or Asian, male or female, United States or Japan, we all can be linked.

As English remains a dominant language in business and international relations, teaching English to Japanese students will ensure that Japan will able to continue communicating with the world and strengthen our mutual bonds. I know that I can help to provide a link in connecting two languages and two countries, but also as a global citizen, mentoring the Japanese youth in a larger pursuit of international understanding.

it's getting late

i didn't take a nap today. i started lessons and had to get a shot, so I didn't really have time for a nap plus I thought I would sleep too late and be late for lessons. Shockingly, I have not fallen asleep yet. We will see if I make it through this post.

First, perhaps the creator should post on this blog.

Second, sorry to hear about the job Patrice. I am sure it's a bummer. I maintain what I told you via email, you should send out more apps to increase your odds. I mean, of course you're still probs gonna get your heart set on a job and still be disapointed ( i still have no clue how to spell that word) but I feel like that's a pretty good use of your time or something, yaknow? I have just restarted my job hunt post election. So far I feel good about it. But we will see. ONce I start getting rejected for jobs which supposedly require a high school diploma only, i will feel worse.

oh election. 3 days a week, minimum, working my butt off. Every Single One of my candidates lost. They lost cuz they had Ds next to their names, and people in Nalbany are pissed about death panels. Color me depressed.

Kelly, I'm surprised you would decide to be a shut in. I hate it. I'm so lonely and live off phone calls with Cait. But I guess if you're game, go for it. Glad you like gamba, it sounds fun. Taught four students today, and ped did pretty much nothing to help me. I think I overwhelmed them. And also they were all clearly TERRIFIED of me and had no idea i was just as scared to fuck up with them. I think it went okay though.

That's my life. Keep on chugging, I guess.

remember remember!

so it is almost the 5th of november so my blog entry is aptly titled.

i'm blogging mainly because patrice assigned it to me as homework and seeing as i don't do any of my homework for grad school, i guess i can do this. speaking of gradschool:

there are parts of ccm that are really hard and there are parts that aren't. the hard parts are all the viola parts, like my lessons and all my viola classes and stuff. we're supposed to practice minimum 5 hours a day so that is quite an adjustment from dpu. also an adjustment from dpu is the fact that apparently i didn't play any rep of significance, so my first lesson with masao kawasaki was a bit of a clusterfuck--so mr. kawasaki is like one of our two main teachers (dr. carroll is the main one) and he teaches at ccm and juilliard. but he looked at my rep list and was like...this is all you've done in four years? really? you went to undergrad? and i was like...ouuuch..but i sorta expected it since you know, i left dpu without playing walton...or bartok..or hoffmeister..or jc bach...you get the idea. so that kinda sucked, but then i had good lessons with dr. carroll from then on. it's weird because we have a different lesson time with a different teacher each week, so you really have to be on your game cause you might have a lesson on friday and then have to turn around and have one on monday (which sucks). i'm taking an orchestra excerpt class for viola (an undergrad class since we didn't have one at dpu) and a bowing class for viola and viola da gamba, which is really badass. i wanna take it the whole time i'm here but i can't next quarter cause of class conflicts and also it sucks to carry it around.

my academic class (yeah, just one history class) is super easy--it's like the same level as balensuela's sophomore class. people who come here from like juilliard and eastman and stuff flunk out of ccm because they think the academic classes are too hard...so i will say that dpu over prepared me academically.

my string quartet is pretty cool--it's me and three international asian students so that was weird at first because none of them wanted to talk and were like depending on me for a lot of decision-making, but now it's all good. our coach's dad is castle grubb (the music professor who worked at depauw for like ever) so he knew what depauw was which is pretty cool. i like him a lot.

my social life is pretty non-existent, mainly because of me. i basically just sit at home in my apartment and watch hulu and don't talk to anyone. i have friends here from blue lake but they're all brass players and i never see them. the viola studio here is 39 people so it's really hard to be tight like we were at dpu, but everyone is really nice. my closest friend is probably blake, i met him when we auditioned on the same day. he came over for drinks last night and it was really fun. i go to dpu on the weekends to see patrick or he comes here...he came for the two weekends of his fall break and we went to the zoo! it was awesome because they have manatees and so he was like in heaven, it was so cute to see him so happy. he's doing pretty well at depauw though, even though he doesn't wanna be there. oh well. he's thinking about auditioning for orchestral conducting here in 2 years, so we'll see if that happens.

i work in the admissions office and it's awesome--the best part is the applicant personal statements that we get from international students who clearly have like typed it in their native language and then put it through like a free translator. so funny. i work with some very unique people but they are fun and they add variety and humor to my days here. my boss went to school with OGS. anyway, this is way too long and not very interesting but i wanted to get an A on my hw patrice!!

i love and miss you all. now look at this cute dog!!!
http://slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2009/heartpuppy.htm