From the Midwest and Around the World

   I'm packing for Japan this week and I'm actually almost finished! All I need are some clean clothes and the regular last-minute things. I also ordered the money for the first few weeks and it should be here on Thursday.    In other news, tonight is New Years Eve! looking back at this past year, I learned a lot about myself as well about what I can do (especially under a lot of pressure). In college, I also had my first "bad" professors, and that is always a learning experience.    Probably the next time I write, it will be longer and more about my flight and first evening in Japan! Have a happy New Year and see you next year! :)

　　Well, it has certainly been busy! I have not had much time at all to really sit down and tell you all what I am up to. So, now I actually have time.         First off, I had a job at Sears and then I was too busy, so I just recently quit. School has been very busy (three 300-level classes and a 200-level religion class with a mildly crazy professor). On top of all that, I am maintaining a 2nd job, tutoring with Student Academic Services ($8/hour!). Grade-wise, because of timing (the job at Sears), I was not able to be as studious as I would have liked. However, I am hoping to bring some of those grades up in order to regain the scholarship that I lost as a freshman.           Currently, it is my last night as a teenager. At about 5:45 AM tomorrow morning (October 27), I will have officially lived 2 decades on this earth. In honor of this achievement, I finished most of my homework for the weekend so that tomorrow I can relax and celebrate/...

Note: This is a review at first, but afterwards it turns into a rant about societies ills...as I see them...so read on with caution!    The other night, I was able to finally see the summer movie "The Great Gatsby." Over the summer, I had read the book so as to better measure the accuracy of the film interpretation. I really appreciated and enjoyed Baz Luhrmann's modern/20's era hybrid. The film had the style, music, morals, and dance of the '20s...while also integrating the music, dance, and morals of the contemporary '10s.     However, are these two eras (separated by nearly a century) really that different? In this post, I want to examine the aspects of the movie that overlap and identify that the two decades are, in fact, the same. The social battles may not be the same, but the thought behind them is very much the same.    First of all, music. In the '20s, a lot of the young people's music that was new at that time was considered very cru...

Sunday: I woke up early and with my family drove from Indianapolis to Grand Rapids. I got all moved in to my single room and watched "Serenity" with a few friends in their apartment. Overall a nice, relaxing day Monday: Labor Day. Again, just relaxed, and mentally prepared myself for the beginning of classes on Tuesday. Bought a few decorating items for my room and went to Starbucks with a friend. Tuesday: First day of classes. Quite a busy day! I had three classes (two of which are 300-level classes). From 8:35-9:50, I had The President and Congress (POLS-314) which seems like it will be a very entertaining class. From 12:05-1:20, I had International Organizations and Law (POLS-309) which also appears to be interesting. After that, I had Oral Rhetoric (CAS-101) from 1:30-2:45. Seems like it will be a fairly easy, relaxing class. It was really nice being able to bike to and from classes. A lot easier on the feet and definitely faster! Wednesday: I only have two clas...

     Only two classes on the beautiful Wednesday...Religion and Japanese (both classes taught by representatives of the Asian continent). In Religion (Prophets), I found to my dismay that I had to manually copy perhaps 100+ pages (after the tenth copy, they all blur together) of articles that would be supplementary reading in addition to the text. A bit of my heart died with each fallen tree...and I now have a deeper understanding of "The Giving Tree." Despite this paper-wasting, the professor seems demanding (in a good way), funny (in a healthily irreverent way), and easy to understand (wonderful images and metaphors). Hopefully the rest of the semester will represent what the first day showed.      I am in fourth year college Japanese (at Calvin, it is JAPN-311). In comparison to last year, there is more of an emphasis on individual learning. While we learn grammar and vocab as a class, we also have individual "themes" on which we will work through durin...

      Today was the first day of class and it was awesome! It was not too stressful or too busy (only 16 credits plus no choir is a big improvement in time available). First, at 8:35, I had POLS-314 (The President and Congress). The prof (Pyle) for that class is new to Calvin and he seems very entertaining. The class also happens to be very small (7 people), so we should have a lot of deep discussions (at 8:35 in the morning...I shouldn't be too optimistic). After that I had about two hours in which to eat lunch, organize, and start on some homework. At 12:20, I had POLS-309 (International Organizations and Law). I've had this particular prof before (Westra). The class looks very interesting. Right after that class, I went to CAS-101 (Oral Rhetoric). It seems like it will be a very easy class...we don't have any required texts...which in a class of 300/200-level classes will be a Godsend!      I have discovered how nice it is to have a bike on campus. I bi...

     I promised you all that I would show you my room today. So, below are some pictures! The entrance to my room. This year, the floor's theme is baby animals. So cute! My room looking in from the door. The top bed is my sleeping bed and the one on the bottom is a couch/guest bed. This is my desk area. My "living room" with the "couch" on the left, a little side table on the middle, and a cute chair on the right.      The next post will probably be a report on my first day and my initial reactions to my profs and classes! Have a great Labor Day!

     Today was a long day. I moved up here to Calvin College and proceeded to arrange furniture, organize clothing and other items, as well as decorate my room. This semester, since my room-mate is abroad, I have the room to myself (lot's of room to spread out!). I am pretty much arranged and settled, but due to a camera not being charged, I will not be able to post pictures until tomorrow. I am ready to get to an actual schedule and cannot wait to start classes. I am optimistic that I will be able to concentrate on my studies and work as hard as I can to earn good grades and to really understand what I am to study. I will tell you more tomorrow, but wish me luck!

Hey readers! I will be packing for college this weekend and next week, so there will probably not be any blog posts until I start College (after Labor Day). I hope you all have a great week!

     It's always interesting when movie and TV directors interpret books onto the screen. Sometimes, when in the case of Eragon (by Christopher Paolini), the movie is horrible and extremely disappointing. Of course, it is always difficult to reveal character's inner thoughts (unless one uses the annoying voice-over) and some action scenes/special effects are hard to demonstrate. However, many directors are quite successful in their fandom-pleasing interpretation.      I am one of those ASOIF (A Song of Ice and Fire) fans that started with the HBO series before reading the books. At this moment I am in the middle of "A Feast for Crows." It is interesting to remember how accurate the TV show is compared with the books. While they cannot get every plot detail in and reveal the motives of the characters, they do a very good job of showing the tension cruelty and heroism within human nature.      My only major complaint is of the ages of the c...

      People are rude. I understand that it is just a fact of life, but it always surprises me how rude people can be. This habit of rudeness is concentrated on the Internet. People believe that they can say rude and unnecessarily sarcastic things from the safety of their keyboard. I have certainly been guilty of being sarcastic on the Internet. However, I always attempt civility and rational thought when posting my opinions. I do recognize that many people bristle or consider it an affront to their intelligence when someone posits a reasonable and balanced opinion on the many forums of opinion. For example, the other day I commented on an acquaintance's Facebook status where she derisively shared an article written by a pair of conservative young women. Of course the usual liberal comments of "ew" and "lol" and even a link to an open letter written insultingly to these women. In my opinion, both the original article and the open letter article both had very g...

     The first few entries of these "Political Tuesday" posts will serve as an introduction to my political beliefs and why I believe what I believe. I love to get into political debates (as long as they remain civil) and this often gets me into trouble because I am often sarcastic (and it is surprising how many people do not understand sarcasm and think that I am being serious!).      First of all, a little bit about my basic political ideology before we get into the hairy debates that so polarize American society. I enjoy personality quizzes and I will start this series by taking the Political Compass Quiz (so that you, the reader, can get a general idea of my ideology). My political ideology on the compass is as follows. I am fairly economically conservative and barely libertarian when it comes to social life. While personality quizzes are never fully accurate, they offer a window into a simplified version of oneself.     

     This is the first of (hopefully) many entries that I will post throughout this year and beyond. I am now entering my Sophomore year at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. This year I will be pursuing my double major in International Relations (IR) and Japanese by taking three IR classes in the fall and then traveling across the world to Japan in the Spring Semester. Hopefully this blog will follow that journey.      While this blog is mostly for family and friends, I welcome any readers that do not know me personally and I hope that you will enjoy my musings, rants, and narratives about my life. Please feel free to comment or email me ( elizmarfos6@gmail.com ) with any questions.      Generally, I will post narratives about my life. However, I will often post political opinions and thoughtful musings about pop culture, Christianity, etc. If that is not your thing, then this may not be the right blog for you...but I always enjoy a civi...