i like people :)

I'm going on a ski trip!
Yes, I am. A five-day trip with about 70 other kids from my school. I'm excited, except for one thing.
None of my "close" friends are going, which leaves me relatively friendless and alone. Well, a few of my friends from other classes are going, but they have their own close friends that they'd rather hang out with. And it's not that everyone else is completely vile and unapproachable - they're just all busy with their own friends, which is understandable. Fine. The only issue is rooming. Apparently, we get to choose our own roommates - but I had nobody in mind! Soooo, when we had our first orientation the other day...come room-assigning time, I was quite apprehensive.

I ended up deciding to room with these two girls in the class next to me that i kiiind of know. Not very well, and I'm kind of nervous about it, but I'm willing to give it a shot. You can't make new friends if you don't get to know them first, right? My main point here, though, is how thoughtful and caring my friends from the other classes were. They were all really worried about me, and even though I'd assured them that I'd be fine, they all ambushed me later being like, "Did you find someone to room with? Are you okay? Sure?" It was really sweet.

People are awesome.

Roses are red...

Valentine's, shmalentines.  I don't think I've ever actually experienced a romantic, flower-filled Valentine's Day.  The extent of my Valentine's cheer is wearing something pink/red, and eating about a pound of cookies and chocolate at school.  Finito.

Valentine's Day 2009 was no exception.  But.  This year, I got to experience the Japanese Valentine's Day.  In Japan, on February 14th, it is customary for girls to give the guys they like chocolates or homemade sweets.  The guys, in turn, must return the favor on March 14th, called "White Day".  Just to clarify, I'm talking about the general Japanese high school population here.  I have no idea whether the adults partake in this frivolity...but whatever.  High-pitched, short-skirted, ditzy high school girls make up the vast majority of the population anyway.  

I got to school this morning, wearing my perfunctory pink cardigan (I realized too late that I was uber-clashing; I was wearing my painfully bright red jacket over the cardigan.  Seriously.  My jacket will sear through your corneas).  I was suddenly ambushed by maaaybe 13 girls wielding cutesy pink bags containing the most adorable Valentine's sweets I have ever witnessed.  Ever.  Oh right, I forgot to mention that a lot of girls make "Tomo-choco" (translation:  friend chocolates), either because they are too embarrassed to profess their love for a boy through food, or because they just aren't interested in anyone.  Works for me - I get a lot of candy.  But for real, these things were insane.  People didn't just make the usual heart-shaped cookies - they made madeleines, brownies, chocolateflakecrisps (whatever the hell they are), mini chocolate pies, mini cream puffs.  Further more, they were all wrapped beautifully - each "serving" of cookie/madeleine/pie/puff was wrapped in its own individual transparent bag (printed with hearts and arrows and cupids and whatnot, of course) and tied with a pretty ribbon.  Some even had shredded colored paper inside with the cookies for decoration.  WHAT THE HELL.  I have two major issues to address here.  First, why is everyone so intense and OCD.  Second, how does everyone know how to bake delectable Valentine's treats.  I think that was my main question.  It's one of the many puzzling things about Japan - people seem to have this weird innate knowledge about certain things.  It drives me crazy, because most of the time I don't have it.  

But anyway.  Throughout the day I received about a dozen more aesthetically perfect bags of sweets.  I giggled to myself as I recalled the mass-produced Valentine's cards traded at school in the U.S. - you know, the ones with the lame little rhymes on them, complete with a mini box of Nerds or something attached.  Hardy har har.  The difference between the two cultures is kind of ridiculous...honestly though, I'm not sure which I prefer.  I mean, sure, the homemade sweets are incredible, but...being one of the few people who didn't bring anything in (I was studying for a math test! ......ha), I just felt really bad just eating all the food.  I think a bunch of Japanese traditions are explicitly designed to make people feel bad.  Or guilty.  Or just fat.

Eh.  I didn't feel that bad, though.  In the end: Stomach > Conscience.  I'm really glad that I've never had a romantic Valentine's Day standard for myself - it makes the holiday a lot more fun.  Instead of freaking out over how I would give my chocolates to the Homeroom Cutie, or just being superbly bitter over my lack of love, I simply sat back and enjoyed the scrumptious storm my classmates had baked up.  At no cost, mind you.

All in all, it was a very pleasant V-Day.  :)

:)

I love new friendships.

2008

I suck.

I really wanted to post a "Read about how 2008 was for me! You probably don't care but read it anyway!" blogpost, but I couldn't find one that suited my fancy. Wow I don't think I've ever said that before. Anyway. Apparently I had some sort of Goldilocks complex, and couldn't choose. Lisa's was too profound; it only works when someone legitimately intelligent fills it out. And I didn't have nearly enough smart-sounding things to say about my year. Then I started browsing Facebook notes...and the ones that are like "In 2008, I...kissed someone new? Went sky-diving? Made out in a car? Got drunk?" were just ickypoos. Although I do enjoy filling them out when I'm bored, I always feel like a complete tool so I tend not to post them. Of course, I could just sum up my year myself and make that my 2008 post, but I lack the necessary brain power.

Ewww. Thus ends my 2008-blogpost search. And unfortunately, this little bear didn't find one that was "just right". So...

2008 was pretty cool.