I have achieved a step closer to being able to understand more about life (at least I lie to myself that way by believing so). Finally, after 22 years, I have graduated with a degree! And I did it the American way that we always see on TV, with the goofy hat and a long scrub with tons of people and stuff. It was the best and most hectic week of my entire life that I could hardly pause to take a breather!
Now that I have ample amounts of rests after two weeks of exciting events, I am ready to take life slow again and stop, reflect, and look forward. After the crazy finals, I am proud to announce that I did not do so bad! A couple of A's, B's, and one C is GREAT! Yes, life's good and I hope it can be even better. Here are just some pics and a video I took, I don't know why the video's resolution on youtube got knocked down so bad...but it should suffice:
And this is as much as I can put on at the moment. This about raps up my graduation ceremony experience. It was a blast. So what's next for this new graduate? Err...I kind of graduated into unemployment. As for now, I should probably just keep fit and get my body in shape? Err...Not easy...But we'll see!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Sunday, July 20, 2008
I have been so busy the past week that I have no time to update anyone on anything! So, what happened to me? Simple, I occupied my time with volunteer work. I signed up to help the LINC program as a volunteer. First, a little background information about the LINC program. It is a small business that was started by my professor (Tachibana sensei)'s husband that mainly helps Japanese learn and improve their English language skills.
The program has various inputs of information from providing notes, online exams, to Japanese people young and old alike plus their Summer program where different affiliated schools send their students to our university to have a crash course in American culture as well as improve their English language skills.
As a volunteer, my activities are mainly assisting the program directors with the students by helping them with their homework (Grammar check, sentence structure, pronunciation, increase in vocabulary, etc.) as well as various random work (such as sports activities, entertainment, showing them around town, etc.). I usually get up at 10 a.m. get ready and leave by 11:15 a.m. where I'll be helping them at an assigned time called 'Study Hall' where the students complete their homework for the day.
After Study Hall, they usually drag us volunteers around going through various activities, especially sports. In a day itself, I've done basketball, volleyball, dodge ball, Frisbee, Ping pong, Foosball, Uno cards, and Trump card games. And that's just for one day. They had to walk downtown and back, go on a Merry-go-round. It was later topped by the next day where I had to hike up the 'M' with them... My feet hurt now and I had cramps twice on both legs. A fun experience yet painful, I'd say...
So here are some pictures:
The program has various inputs of information from providing notes, online exams, to Japanese people young and old alike plus their Summer program where different affiliated schools send their students to our university to have a crash course in American culture as well as improve their English language skills.
As a volunteer, my activities are mainly assisting the program directors with the students by helping them with their homework (Grammar check, sentence structure, pronunciation, increase in vocabulary, etc.) as well as various random work (such as sports activities, entertainment, showing them around town, etc.). I usually get up at 10 a.m. get ready and leave by 11:15 a.m. where I'll be helping them at an assigned time called 'Study Hall' where the students complete their homework for the day.
After Study Hall, they usually drag us volunteers around going through various activities, especially sports. In a day itself, I've done basketball, volleyball, dodge ball, Frisbee, Ping pong, Foosball, Uno cards, and Trump card games. And that's just for one day. They had to walk downtown and back, go on a Merry-go-round. It was later topped by the next day where I had to hike up the 'M' with them... My feet hurt now and I had cramps twice on both legs. A fun experience yet painful, I'd say...
So here are some pictures:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Super Mega Picture Upload Update
A ton of pictures to make up for the times I did not post.
In spring (when it still snowed):
The little rascal here came into the room at 7 a.m. in the morning and woke me up. He ran around like the little rodent he is and stole some food before running out through the window where he sat right outside on the ledge munching away on his goods. We call him fatty here !!
In Summer (when it still snowed till June!):
Before leaving for Faye's graduation. I get to see how things work so that if my parents do decide to come, I can and know what to do.
Having lunch with Burhan and Faye before the ceremony at a place called Hong Kong Chef where they serve relatively good Chinese cuisine with reasonable prices. Yummo!
Faye and Burhan doing the hat in the air thing. I want a picture like this for my graduation too!
When summer officially started:
The last floor in this picture is where my apartment is! On the Third Floor at the Lewis and Clark University Villages.
I bought this baby here for 150 USD and it's my precious! Due to the weather conditions in summer lately though, I haven't had much of an opportunity to use it until two three days ago when the weather turned hot. It was snowing before too like days ago.
This here is the front door of my apartment.
This here is the living room of the apartment. Aside from the Sofa and chair, the rest of the items are courtesy of Faye Linga. The TV and Xbox 360 though, is Burhan's. We're using it because he's away.
All the amenities in the kitchen here are provided by the university, only the small items aren't. So things like the oven and stove, microwave, dishwasher, sink, refrigerator all belong to the university.
Remove all the color and that's what the university own. Everything else again, is courtesy of Faye Linga.
A view of my room. Need I say more?
Summer in June:
We (Faye, Leslie, and I) went out biking for groceries and an impromptu picnic. We stopped by the duck pond. These here ducks are NOT afraid of people! And no, they are not edible...taste bad it seems...
You would think they are ducks, I sure did. They are in fact geese. Very intruding creatures they are. Barging in and disturbing the peace but I fear they will chase me around and peck me! They eat grass which was a surprise to me!
Summer Faye's Bday party:
Faye turned 24 and she held a theme party. This photo was taken in a corner of the house where everyone had the same pose and picture taken. Guess what the theme was and who I was supposed to impersonate.
The answer is in the little 'comments' section at the bottom. Click it, it's a link.
In spring (when it still snowed):
The little rascal here came into the room at 7 a.m. in the morning and woke me up. He ran around like the little rodent he is and stole some food before running out through the window where he sat right outside on the ledge munching away on his goods. We call him fatty here !!
In Summer (when it still snowed till June!):
Before leaving for Faye's graduation. I get to see how things work so that if my parents do decide to come, I can and know what to do.
Having lunch with Burhan and Faye before the ceremony at a place called Hong Kong Chef where they serve relatively good Chinese cuisine with reasonable prices. Yummo!
Faye and Burhan doing the hat in the air thing. I want a picture like this for my graduation too!
When summer officially started:
The last floor in this picture is where my apartment is! On the Third Floor at the Lewis and Clark University Villages.
I bought this baby here for 150 USD and it's my precious! Due to the weather conditions in summer lately though, I haven't had much of an opportunity to use it until two three days ago when the weather turned hot. It was snowing before too like days ago.
This here is the front door of my apartment.
This here is the living room of the apartment. Aside from the Sofa and chair, the rest of the items are courtesy of Faye Linga. The TV and Xbox 360 though, is Burhan's. We're using it because he's away.
All the amenities in the kitchen here are provided by the university, only the small items aren't. So things like the oven and stove, microwave, dishwasher, sink, refrigerator all belong to the university.
Remove all the color and that's what the university own. Everything else again, is courtesy of Faye Linga.
A view of my room. Need I say more?
Summer in June:
We (Faye, Leslie, and I) went out biking for groceries and an impromptu picnic. We stopped by the duck pond. These here ducks are NOT afraid of people! And no, they are not edible...taste bad it seems...
You would think they are ducks, I sure did. They are in fact geese. Very intruding creatures they are. Barging in and disturbing the peace but I fear they will chase me around and peck me! They eat grass which was a surprise to me!
Summer Faye's Bday party:
Faye turned 24 and she held a theme party. This photo was taken in a corner of the house where everyone had the same pose and picture taken. Guess what the theme was and who I was supposed to impersonate.
The answer is in the little 'comments' section at the bottom. Click it, it's a link.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
didn't make it
The long waiting somehow brings mixed feelings to my mind. I have been anticipating the results to this internship that I tried as much not to think about it. Initially, I was told that the results were to be announced in Tuesday but it seems there were some delay. What's another two days? After the long awaited day, I kept it at the back of my head but no doubt that it did bother me a little.
And here it is:
Dear Ken,
Thank you very much for your application for the Oe internship. There were 8 candidates for 3 Oe internships this year, and although we were impressed with your application and your personal qualities, we regret that we cannot offer you a position. We considered not only students' past experience in Japan but also GPA, the statement of interest, and various other aspects. We decided in the end to offer one position to students in each of three different levels, that is, first through third year students. If one of the selected students cannot accept, we would like to reconsider your application at that point.
Thank you again for your interest. We wish you all the best in your future studies.
Sincerely yours,
Judith N Rabinovitch
____________________________________________________________________
With this, I am disappointed. I have really high expectations for this internship and really hoped that I am able to have that opportunity. Mixed feelings as it may, I am feeling a little down. Now more than before, I'm trying to put this behind me. Somewhere deep down in me though, I had thought that I would have this internship nailed...guess not.
And here it is:
Dear Ken,
Thank you very much for your application for the Oe internship. There were 8 candidates for 3 Oe internships this year, and although we were impressed with your application and your personal qualities, we regret that we cannot offer you a position. We considered not only students' past experience in Japan but also GPA, the statement of interest, and various other aspects. We decided in the end to offer one position to students in each of three different levels, that is, first through third year students. If one of the selected students cannot accept, we would like to reconsider your application at that point.
Thank you again for your interest. We wish you all the best in your future studies.
Sincerely yours,
Judith N Rabinovitch
____________________________________________________________________
With this, I am disappointed. I have really high expectations for this internship and really hoped that I am able to have that opportunity. Mixed feelings as it may, I am feeling a little down. Now more than before, I'm trying to put this behind me. Somewhere deep down in me though, I had thought that I would have this internship nailed...guess not.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
News
Classes have been great and I’ve decided to no longer escape the tough classes but meet them head on even though it’ll cost me my life (grades). I’ve attended all the first days of my courses and they seem pretty promising. The first class was obviously my Japanese Language class and this time, the professor is a Japanese lady named Tachibana Yuka. I for one am intimidated by her because she handles the class like this, “I want you to answer my question in Japanese, 5 seconds! No take longer than 5 seconds!”
She’s amazing though when I get to talk to her personally. Nonetheless, I am still scared of her a little because she makes me focus too hard and I feel like I blow brain cells and kill ‘em instantly when I am in her class. Plus, when I answer fast I have no chance to scan my answer and I feel that I may say something wrong and it’ll be funny yet embarrassing.
Next is my Japanese Literature class in which is taught by an American professor who teaches English Literature in Kumamoto University. He is teaching this course for free and he’s quite hilarious. That is a heavy reading class and one of the three classes that I have that induces ample reading materials. Now you know what I mean when I say I will most likely die.
The next day I dived into my Interpersonal Communication class under Prof. Christina Yoshimura (Married to a half Japanese descent). Her class is fun but she only lectures two of the three in a week. The third part is taught by a Teaching Assistant (TA) and he is someone I know because we took a class together last semester! How interesting! One day you’re classmates, the next you’re teacher student.
On the same day, I had a Communication and Conflict which was taught by a professor whose class I’ve dropped once last semester. Hisham and I took that class but I dropped it. He asked Hisham, “Where is Ken?” “He’s afraid of you and dropped the class,” was what he answered the professor (or at least that’s what he told me jokingly). I felt a little weird but it was just me being overly…something (I have no idea what it was) and that feeling disappeared soon. It was nothing. This class is somewhat of a reading and analysis class too so it adds to my reading load.
I’ve also managed to squeeze my way into the Practical Issues with Organizational Communication class (another heavy reading based class) which I’ve realized after reading the 7 readings that were assigned for the first day that it should be called… ‘Consultation and the Ethics Involved’. So now I have TWO heavy reading classes.
There is one more class that I’ve yet to attend. That’s my Intercultural Communication due to the holiday on Monday. That might be another reading comprehensive class…
On top of that, I’ve also been looking into volunteering to help puff up my resume. Also, I am currently looking at my internship options that I can do over summer. Surprisingly, I’ve found one that I’m VERY interested in doing but there are some technicalities in which I’ll explain and my options so far.
Firstly, my Japanese professor (Sensei Yuka Tachibana) announced in class that there are three types of internships offered. One is to teach elementary children in a rather secluded town near Sendai English over summer. Everything paid for and we get paid 600 dollars disguised as “scholarships”. I am REALLY interested in this but there seems to be a few things that bothered me and when I confronted my professor, she promised to discuss with the board of education to see what they think. My worries are mainly, one: visa issues and two: I am considered as a non English native speaker so I wonder if they’ll accept me.
There were two more internships but I don’t think at my current Japanese proficiency that I could take those jobs though one seems REALLY good. If I somehow manage to get the first intern, I might be eligible. This internship that I am speaking of is to work in a Japanese Anime, Gaming and Media Arts production company for I think a year. My professor said that it is possible and chances of me getting it is higher if I improve my speaking ability because I have a major in Communications and can work for their PR or Comm. department.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
My Seattle Trip
For New Year, I took up an offer to go to Seattle by Burhan and Faye. We stayed at their (Hisham and Burhan) aunt's place. Somehow, the trip has both its ups and downs which made it memorable. This trip however was not really one that caters for sightseeing. It was more for recharging ourselves with out favourite food we love so much but can never get here in Missoula.
Here are the pictures with some commentaries (in chronological order according to the days the events took place):
This is my most favourite picture of the lot. Why? One reason. CHAR SIEW BAO! Second/third day we were there, Burhan and Hisham's aunty belanja-ed us dim sum. It was refreshing because this dim sum is not those you get in Malaysia. It is more Hong Kong style and I love it to bits! It's been more than half a year since I've had any and this trip was just fantastic!
Then of course we visited Jimmy Hendricks! Who would've thought he would be buried in Seattle? However, I was a little disappointed because we couldn't make it to Bruce Lee's grave because he is also buried in Seattle next to his son. Sad...
These three pictures are of Seattle downtown from afar. It is a port/harbour city after all.
Being a port/harbour city, you'd think that their water would be dirty? Trust me...The picture here as you can see the water is SO clear you can see through it and down at the pebbles... It's like one of those Malaysian seas/islands where they try so hard to preserve, here it's so normal!
The above two apartments (yes, apartments, not condominiums) are situated in the expensive side of Seattle (a little island) facing the magnificent view I've taken of Seattle above! Someday I wish I can live in something like this! Just Breathtaking.
Now, we are here at Athenian Cafe where actor Tom Hanks and the director of 'Sleepless in Seattle' once sat down while discussing the movie!
This is the view out of the window of Athenian Cafe. Pretty isn't it? It always rains here in Seattle...
Pike Street Market place. This is a tourist attracting market with various things to buy. You'd be surprised but they have very...VERY good food here as well as other knick knacks.
Of course when at Pike St., you mustn't forget to visit the FIRST ever Starbucks to open in the States. Starbucks started out in Seattle, in this very store as it expanded all over the States and now the world. In US, you measure the size of a town or city by how many Starbucks stores they have.
Alas, our trip home came to a halt because of bad weather and we were forced to stay an extra 2 days in Seattle. Our pockets were running dry and so were our clothes supply. On Sunday, we headed back but it was still bad because this is what it looked like on the road. You think snow is pretty? Yes indeed but it also kills. Accidents along the way, visibilty close to only 5 meters due to thick fog and you can never see where a car comes from. It was scary. We made it back in one piece though.
Here are the pictures with some commentaries (in chronological order according to the days the events took place):
This is my most favourite picture of the lot. Why? One reason. CHAR SIEW BAO! Second/third day we were there, Burhan and Hisham's aunty belanja-ed us dim sum. It was refreshing because this dim sum is not those you get in Malaysia. It is more Hong Kong style and I love it to bits! It's been more than half a year since I've had any and this trip was just fantastic!
Then of course we visited Jimmy Hendricks! Who would've thought he would be buried in Seattle? However, I was a little disappointed because we couldn't make it to Bruce Lee's grave because he is also buried in Seattle next to his son. Sad...
These three pictures are of Seattle downtown from afar. It is a port/harbour city after all.
Being a port/harbour city, you'd think that their water would be dirty? Trust me...The picture here as you can see the water is SO clear you can see through it and down at the pebbles... It's like one of those Malaysian seas/islands where they try so hard to preserve, here it's so normal!
The above two apartments (yes, apartments, not condominiums) are situated in the expensive side of Seattle (a little island) facing the magnificent view I've taken of Seattle above! Someday I wish I can live in something like this! Just Breathtaking.
Now, we are here at Athenian Cafe where actor Tom Hanks and the director of 'Sleepless in Seattle' once sat down while discussing the movie!
This is the view out of the window of Athenian Cafe. Pretty isn't it? It always rains here in Seattle...
Pike Street Market place. This is a tourist attracting market with various things to buy. You'd be surprised but they have very...VERY good food here as well as other knick knacks.
Of course when at Pike St., you mustn't forget to visit the FIRST ever Starbucks to open in the States. Starbucks started out in Seattle, in this very store as it expanded all over the States and now the world. In US, you measure the size of a town or city by how many Starbucks stores they have.
Alas, our trip home came to a halt because of bad weather and we were forced to stay an extra 2 days in Seattle. Our pockets were running dry and so were our clothes supply. On Sunday, we headed back but it was still bad because this is what it looked like on the road. You think snow is pretty? Yes indeed but it also kills. Accidents along the way, visibilty close to only 5 meters due to thick fog and you can never see where a car comes from. It was scary. We made it back in one piece though.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
