From the Midwest and Around the World

   I recently realized that I do not deal with really big cities very well. Crowds annoy me I don't like to fight through them and I don't like to even see them. I learned this in Tokyo this past weekend. I, of course, really enjoyed Tokyo overall. I just didn't like that except for in my dorm at the hostel, there was no escape from people. The first day, I arrived from Hiroshima in Tokyo in the afternoon and went to Harajuku and Shinkjuku (the major fashion districts). Because it was the weekend, there were just so many people and my feet were hurting, so after walking up and down the main street, I had to leave. I felt suffocated, annoyed, and slightly guilt-tripped by the panhandlers, salespeople, and general crowdedness. There were literally people packing the sidewalk as far as the eye could see. However, despite that, I saw some of the interesting fashions that are popular in Japan. After being wiped by the crowds, I hopped on a train and arrived at my hostel which wa...

　　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...