Running the Gauntlet.
Feb. 21st, 2008 09:08 pmThe past week has been a corker.
I took my Japanese language proficiency this morning, and I feel tentatively positive about it. All things considered, it could have been much, much worse. The test itself came wedged between a series of Japanese language tests - a classical Japanese exam on Monday, a modern Japanese exam on Wednesday, and a second modern exam tomorrow on Friday. I did fairly well on the classical exam, although I missed a couple points for a very stupid translation omission that will plague me for days, I know. The results of the modern exams remain to be seen.
I've been thrashing out my seminar paper ideas, and have gotten the structure of my "War" seminar paper pretty much down. Feedback from the professor thus far has been encouraging and helpful. Now I just need to find the time to read some things. The "Ritual and Death" seminar paper is also beginning to take a kind of shape. At least, after some discussion with KG I have begun to ask the right kinds of questions. Knowing what kinds of questions to ask is really crucial, and I feel that I am only now really beginning to learn that vital skill. We'll see where we end up on that.
In other news, my mother came up to visit for a long weekend. We had originally intended to go out of town, but I wasn't up to it - feeling tired, broken-down, and worn-out all over. We vegged out, watched three movies that for some reason all had Terajima Susumu in them, and did some projects around the house. I painted my living room, we framed and hung some art, and - after a minor catastrophe - had blinds installed in the living room.
In a totally "par for the course" fashion, a window got smashed during the course of blinds installation. I guess that was the next thing on the "soap-opera universe" list. [shrug]
And so it goes.
I took my Japanese language proficiency this morning, and I feel tentatively positive about it. All things considered, it could have been much, much worse. The test itself came wedged between a series of Japanese language tests - a classical Japanese exam on Monday, a modern Japanese exam on Wednesday, and a second modern exam tomorrow on Friday. I did fairly well on the classical exam, although I missed a couple points for a very stupid translation omission that will plague me for days, I know. The results of the modern exams remain to be seen.
I've been thrashing out my seminar paper ideas, and have gotten the structure of my "War" seminar paper pretty much down. Feedback from the professor thus far has been encouraging and helpful. Now I just need to find the time to read some things. The "Ritual and Death" seminar paper is also beginning to take a kind of shape. At least, after some discussion with KG I have begun to ask the right kinds of questions. Knowing what kinds of questions to ask is really crucial, and I feel that I am only now really beginning to learn that vital skill. We'll see where we end up on that.
In other news, my mother came up to visit for a long weekend. We had originally intended to go out of town, but I wasn't up to it - feeling tired, broken-down, and worn-out all over. We vegged out, watched three movies that for some reason all had Terajima Susumu in them, and did some projects around the house. I painted my living room, we framed and hung some art, and - after a minor catastrophe - had blinds installed in the living room.
In a totally "par for the course" fashion, a window got smashed during the course of blinds installation. I guess that was the next thing on the "soap-opera universe" list. [shrug]
And so it goes.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-22 04:53 am (UTC)what color is the living room now??
no subject
Date: 2008-02-22 06:06 pm (UTC)