From the Midwest and Around the World

   Well, I am finally in Japan! My plane ride was long, but it was fun to meet different people as well as watch movies and the "moving map" that shows what country (or ocean) the plane is flying over. I was in the middle of a three-chair row in economy comfort (so I had a little more foot room). Next to me, in the aisle seat, was someone who (I think) was French (based on his language choices on the screen). He seemed perpetually angry/impatient and was not too friendly...so maybe he was affected by the blizzard at some point as well and was just trying to get to his location, or maybe this attitude is just a French thing...In the window seat, there was a Filipino (who was very friendly and nice...but I suspect a little flirtatious as well). They kept us really well fed! We got three different "meals" (and all three of them were very generously sized). The first was "dinner" which consisted of Miso Yaki Beef, rice, a roll, shrimp cocktail (basically three...

   When this is set to be published, I will have boarded the plane and will be about five hours into my flight to Japan.    I am currently in Detroit, sitting at my terminal and charging my laptop so that it has full power going into the 13 1/2 hour flight to Japan. Looking out the window, the plane which I will be boarding in about two hours is quite big. It has two floors (the second being 1st class only), and has ten seats in each row. I am seated in the middle of the three-seat row (no window seat), but I have economy comfort seating, so there is more foot room. In a few minutes, I will go walk up and down the terminal so as too stretch my legs and buy a snack or two for the flight. For lunch I had Chirashi sushi at a Japanese resteraunt here at the airport...it wasn't great, but it was food and I need long-lasting nourishment for this long flight.    I am really excited for this trip and am prepared to be totally immersed in the language and cul...

   The Midwest blizzard that occurred this past weekend (January 5-6) affected travellers and news reports internationally. I was one of those unfortunate travelers that got stranded in an airport as I was attempting to get to Japan in time for orientation and placement tests. Unfortunately, I did not make it and a combination of weather and overbooked flights prevented me from actually leaving Indianapolis until Friday morning. I therefore missed one day of orientation, all the placement tests, as well as two days of class. However, I have to remind myself to turn my life-lemons into lemonade and I got about four extra days at home. I will also have to be totally imersed as soon as I get to Japan, as there will be no guide sent by the school to get me to Hikone. I also got to experience being stranded at the airport for 30+ hours because there were no taxis working and I was still hoping for a flight that would take me to Detroit.    One learns a lot while travell...

　　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!

     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...