Busy, Busy, Busy.
Hey guys!
I have had quite the day. Today was a whirlwind of tutoring, meetings, and work. I feel like I've been running around so much today (it's only 4!) that as I sit down to type this I feel as if I'm on almost a caffeine rush. Let me walk you through it.
I woke up at 8, as per usual, and started my day pretty routinely. I had oatmeal for breakfast with banana, an effort on my part to eat healthier. I then went to class and proceeded to spend the next hour learning Chinese. Afterwords I ran off to tutoring and then made a beeline for the admissions office to pick up some scholarship paperwork.
Tutoring went pretty well. The first session was writing, which was us composing an email of a fake scenario, and the second was reading, where I read two passages and discussed them with the tutor. There's never any homework, thankfully, so once the session was over I was able to leave with the notion that I would return and finish the lesson next week.
After my reading session I had just enough time to run to the Starbucks in campus center and grab lunch. I got an iced coffee and egg muffin (so much for eating healthier) and a chocolate muffin for breakfast the next day. Then, to my surprise, I saw my friend working, who came over to me with my muffin and asked if I would like anything else! I said sure and she gave me my two favorite things- the lemon pound cake and another chocolate muffin! I think she must've been able to tell how hectic of a day I was having, as I had no idea she was even working. It was an extremely kind gesture and I made sure to thank her for it. It doesn't hurt to have friends that work in cafe's, because, in her case, she's able to get food and drinks for free (which means I'm able to get meals for free)!
After grabbing my food I made it to my next class, Intro to East Asian history, with a few minutes to spare. I got some weird looks walking in with 4 bags of food, but I think they were all jealous.
Class went by smoothly and before I knew it I was running to the other side of campus in 10 minutes to make a meeting with my genetics professor. For visual purposes, I had to go from the Pacific Sciences building to BioMed at 1:20 to make an appointment at 1:30. In some weird way I was able to make it to the building in less than the expected time. Granted I couldn't feel my legs when I got there, but I still made it before the appointment.
After the appointment, where we discussed my powerpoint and paper for the class, I went over to one of the resident halls to pick up a package. Naturally, there was confusion and the information I had been given was incorrect, meaning my package was in a completely different building. At this point I only had about an hour until my next meeting, so I knew it was best for me to just go and wait for the professor I would be seeing, instead of going home.
The time in between was spent at my favorite spot on campus: the Japanese garden. I first saw this a few days after move in, where Shannon and Tammy introduced me to it. Located right behind the East West conference building, the Japanese garden is a tranquil area that was constructed by the Japanese themselves. When I first got a tour of the school, during welcome week, our guides told us that when the garden was constructed it was done so in a strategic way, putting a lot of emphasis into "feng shui" or, the process of creating harmony between the environment and it's objects. In their words, the garden was constructed to mimic that of life. The beginning starts out strong and quick, then progresses into a rocky path that twists and turns over many protruding rocks. Then, about halfway, the stream calms down and begins to flatten out. It twists a little bit more, and then finishes by being drained and recycled to start the process all over again. To complement the garden is a nice collection of beautiful koi fish and pagodas. The only times I have truly been to the garden have been at night with the other girls, so it was nice to sit down in the shade during the day. There was a few other people there, but the garden is relatively spacious, so we weren't close to each other. I would like to come out here more, but I found out today that the range of the wifi doesn't reach the garden, so I wouldn't be able to do any computer work out here. I guess that's the point of the garden; to disconnect.
Another unique aspect of the garden is the teahouse, located to the left of the garden. Supposedly there are representatives of Japan that come out anywhere from once a year to every few years and hold tea ceremonies for students to take part in. I haven't been to one, nor have I seen any information on them, but according to the guides they are really interesting. Also worth mentioning is that the tea house was actually built in Japan and sent over to the States. It's one of the only tea houses outside of Japan, according to articles online.
I guess that's something to look forward to if you're planning on doing something with Japan, but if you're like me and that's not on your radar, than it could be something you just appreciate the school having.
I then went off to my meeting with the head of the Flagship program at Manoa. Immediately I was hit with many questions, in Chinese, about myself and my studies. When she was done, we talked more about study abroad opportunities and how the next few years will look. She told me that one of the perks of studying over the summer is that when I come back I won't need to take a placement test; they'll just override me in the system and place me right away into the 400 level class. It's something to really consider, because that would mean that I'm done with language classes as a sophomore instead of junior or, if I went about it traditionally, a senior. But I'm still thinking about it. I applied, and will apply to another one, but it's something that's not at the top of my radar right now.
After the meeting, which went very well, I was finally able to go back to my room and just relax. Of course I was then interrupted by Eric, who seems to be making it a priority of his to get me on board with watching the Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit trilogy. I'm not sure if I'm completely on board with the series, but I guess it's worth giving it a shot. I'll keep you guys posted.
And now we've made it to the later half of my day. I have work from 7:15 to closing, which ranges anywhere from 10:45 to 11:15. Then I'll come back, do some translation work, and then compile a series of cheat sheets for my math exam tomorrow. Interestingly enough, my professor says we can use: 5 pages of notes, laptop, calculator, and our phones. So is there even a point to coming with five pages of answers? We'll see. I'm probably going to just copy his slides and call it good, but I'm still going to make sure my laptop is fully charged before class. Then afterwords (or even before) I have to run to the post office to mail some stuff. So again, I have another busy day ahead of me.
Regardless of the fact that it's Monday, and like every post, I hope everyone is having an enjoyable week.
Until next time,
Aislinn
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