steffish

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...Time has passed, not much has happened! My life continues to be basically boring, and I still fail at meeting new people or doing anything productive with my time.

And then when I do something actually worth a lunchtable "Hey, I'm doing something this weekend! I'm a proper person!" conversation, it's actually too embarassing to even mention. I get as far as "I'm going to Sydney", but then make up some bullshit about it being "just because... touristy stuff..." rather than "HELL YES I AM GOING TO SEE A BAND, IF YOU'VE EVEN HEARD OF THEM YOU PROBABLY THINK THEY'RE LAME!"

One day I will start owning my loserness (it's even kind of one of my New Years Resolutions!). But just... not today.

(Maybe when I make some friends I can be a geek with in Real Life? As if that will ever happen.)

But anyway, Sydney! I don't even know what I'm going to spend the rest of my weekend there doing. I've been recommended to go eat pancakes by one of my workmates, but aside from that my list consists of: see touristy stuff. maybe go to Kinokuniya. ride public transport (ah, I miss trains!).

Secretly a little part of me wants to stay home and finish catching up on Homestuck. Advance bookings, always interfering with new fandom love!

Current Mood: geeky

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After doing a

ditl for the first time in years, I'm in a bit of a photo-posting overshare mood. So! I'm going to try doing a MITL: a month in the life. Every day in December I'll post one picture to illustrate some part of my day (these won't be fair representations of what the majority of my day was spent doing, because no one wants to see day after day pictures of work being stressful). As a bonus, hopefully this'll help me get back into the habit of actually posting on here a bit!

Of course, by the wonders of procrastination we're already a week into December and I haven't posted anything yet - hopefully by this weekend I'll have backdated all the posts up until now and can carry on from there :)

Current Mood: creative

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( What a sweet mug )

Current Mood: embarrassed

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( Putting up the Christmas tree )

Current Mood: pleased

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( This road is getting very familiar )

Current Mood: pleased

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( Today I ended up swimming in Lake Taupo in my clothes )

Current Mood: silly

Is it ridiculous that I'm thinking of going to Sydney to see MCR in January? Even though I'm not in bandom anymore (does it even still exist?), too old, and have no-one to go with?

Well, it's that or pay an excessive ticket price to go to the Big Day Out and be sun-roasted and squashed, and either alone or with people who want to see different acts. Either way I only have to ask for one day off work. At least this way I get a weekend in Sydney? (Long weekend, even - just realised the following Monday is Auckland Anniversary Day!)

I just really still love those boys <3

(OMG, I'll write an actual entry on here one day soon. Maybe once I get the photos off my boss of my fully-clothed swim in Lake Taupo this morning XD )

Current Mood: hopeful

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Since I last wrote here, I've managed to get a new job! And because I've been procrastinating on everything, it's already my last day living in Hamilton. Tomorrow I'm moving down to Taupo, and on Monday I'll start at my new place. I'm half scared and half excited... I only know one person down there, and her only vaguely. But I was getting fairly bored at my current job, which I've been doing for 5 years. It was definitely time to move on.

I've just finished up my packing now, and I'm off to drinks with my workmates tonight. Last night was dinner and karaoke with my friends from Monday night quiz at the Cook, and today at work hardly any actual work was done, thanks to shared morning tea, lunch at Furnace, and having a last chat with lots of people in the afternoon :)

I don't know what I'd do without the internet: it's nice that even though I'm leaving all my RL friends behind, we can still keep up with each other via Facebook - and of course, that my LJ/DW friends will still be the same as always XD

Current Mood: excited

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I feel like I've been busy recently, but now that I come to write about it I really haven't done much. I think I just feel like I haven't had enough free time because I've had things to do on the weekends and stuff to work on at nights.

So, things! My uncle got married last weekend! The wedding was really small, just 14 guests, and was held in a restaurant in Devonport. It was actually nice having just a simple ceremony with family and a couple of close friends there rather than the full production. I was the driver for the bridal vehicle (my sister's car), and we arrived the requisite 20 minutes late due to the bouquet having been forgotten XD The ceremony was short and sweet (though the celebrant got on my nerves a little bit), and the lunch afterwards was delicious. The bride's Mum had made a booklet entitled "A modern love story" with photos and the story of how the couple met (online!) which she read out. The weather co-operated, and we were able to take some nice photos outside as well, which I'm looking forward to getting copies of.

In less happy news, last Tuesday night some asshole cut all four tyres on my car while it was parked on the road outside my house, so I got to spend a day's time and a week's pay getting new tyres organised (while having a cold as well!). I just don't understand why someone would do that - even though it costs me money, it's not like they're getting any of it. Surely it can't be that much fun :/

This coming Saturday is my work's Midwinter Party, and this year it's cartoon characters and superheroes themed so I'm busy getting my costume ready. Sewing is harder than I thought it would be....

And tonight I'm going to see Harry Potter!! Just filling in time until midnight now - lucky I have so much sewing to work on :)

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: does - shura

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Tonight I attended a workshop held by the Wai Taiko drumming group. It was incredibly fun! And quite rewarding too, first being amazed as the group members played a difficult-looking song and then by the end of the class being able to play it ourselves (of course, they weren't actually hard songs at all, just looked that way to us beginners...) Anyway, I really wish that it was a club that could just be joined, because I'd love to do it on a regular basis, but it looks like all I can do is attend all their public workshops. So that's what I'll do :)

Also, a meme I stole about a week ago and have finally got around to answering: Comment with "Ludwig the Unicorn". I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better. Update your journal with the answers to the questions. Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions. My questions were from

crsg

1. What was your most cherished possession when you were a child?
My stuffed rabbit, Bah (I don't even know where that name came from...) Well, he's still pretty cherished now, too :)

2. If you could go back in time and change any one thing you said/did/didn't say/didn't do, what would that be and why?
I regret a lot of things, mostly of the 'didn't do' variety. But if I had to pick one... I wish I'd gone on a student exchange to Japan in high school, rather than deciding that the 2 week trip with my class was enough. I tried to remedy this with my semester at Kansai Gaidai in 2009, but it just wasn't really the same, since I was surrounded by other english-speaking exchange students. I think my path after high school would have been a lot clearer if I'd done this.

3. Do you believe in the supernatural (i.e. ghosts, spirits, fortune telling, etc.)?
I kind of want to believe, but I can't make myself.

4. Very generally speaking, are you okay with who you are as a person right now?
I think I'm usually okay with who I am, though there are a lot of things I'd change if I could. I'm probably more dissatisfied with the circumstances of my life and what I'm doing, rather than with myself as a person. Though I do wish I could be a little less shy and more decisive.

5. What/who do you look to when you're seeking inspiration for something?
It depends what I'm looking for inspiration for, but usually I'd head towards something natural and beautiful. For instance, whenever I have something important to write (job application, scholarship essay etc) I go sit in the Hamilton Gardens' Japanese garden and feel the peaceful atmosphere while I write (well, until a family with screaming kids or a busload of tourists comes by...)

Anyway, tomorrow I'm off to Auckland with my sister to see some comedy shows, since she's hugely into these things. So if you ask for questions for this meme it'll be a few days before I can give you any, sorry!

And with that, I'd better go pack and get some sleep so I can drive safely tomorrow :)

Current Mood: satisfied

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A few times recently I've felt like writing in here again, but I've never had anything worth an "I'm back! This is so important it's worth bothering you all for!" post. But damn it, nothing all that interesting ever happens to me so if I feel like posting about the boring stuff, I will!

...of course, I can't remember most of the things I had wanted to say anymore.

Anyway, I graduated from my Japanese Diploma last Thursday. About this long after my last graduation I was already thinking about going back to Uni, but this time I'm going to last more than half a year of full-time work. No more studying just for the sake of studying! No, now I just have to somehow find a job that uses Biology and Japanese (or just one of the two) or at least something a bit more interesting and rewarding than my current place. Just... I hate looking for jobs! So difficult and depressing. And the current place, though stingy and unrelated to my qualifications, is so comfy and friendly that it'd be hard to leave.

Well, we'll see what happens. I'm not really putting any effort into the search at the moment but I know in a few months I'll get really sick of work and start looking properly.

In other news, a delicious donburi place opened up in Hamilton. I happened to see it on the way back to my parents' place for dinner after graduation, and went and tried it the next day. So good! And actually run by Japanese people, unlike most of the Japanese restaurants here, though when I tried to order in Japanese today I got answered in English and was a bit disappointed. The guy on the counter was probably sick of people thinking they know a few words of Japanese and decided to cut me off straight away. Well, I'll try again next time anyway.

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I just discovered the existence of Keyhole TV. There goes my free time! (Well, if only I can get it to show videos properly unlike the frozen mosaic I've got now XD )

But wow! Great listening practice :D

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: japanese political discussion XD

So, looks like my sister has coeliac disease. The diet in my house is about to change a lot, though she's currently still at the stage of saying "I want to eat the normal stuff and just put up with the stomach cancer" :/

I don't suppose anyone has any really delicious gluten-free recipes I could make for her? I'm going to go check out Bin Inn before work tomorrow and see what kinds of ingredients they sell there so I can see which of the recipes that I've found are do-able (somehow while Mum's doing the really hard stuff of altering dinner recipes to cut out gluten, I've taken charge of providing delicious cakes and biscuits).

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Today, on the way home from Uni:

A bus stops for about 5 minutes for a driver change, with no announcement of any sort, leaving the passengers asking each other what's going on, some getting off for a smoke etc.

Finally the new driver arrives, but because we're now behind schedule he drives extra-fast, and doesn't stop to take on passengers at all, only to let those already riding off. If people happen to be waiting at a stop where someone's getting off, they get told another bus will come soon and the doors are closed in their face.

And they wonder why few people use public transport?! If one of my early experiences trying to take the bus had involved a clearly not full bus completely bypassing the stop where I was waiting (probably with somewhere I had to be and some time when I had to be there...) then I definitely would think twice before trying it again too.

Current Mood: pissed off

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Get home from work at 9pm, find that dinner is leftover sausages.
Really don't want to eat plain sausage.

Chop up sausage, 3-4 tomatoes, a bit of onion.
Go fetch a tiny bit of rosemary and parsley from the garden.
Put spaghetti on to boil.
Chuck all ingredients in a pot with some olive oil, plus a pinch of oregano and some salt and pepper. Cook.
Add a bit of red wine, then reduce until it's okay to put on spaghetti.
Drain spaghetti, tip tomato mix over, grate a bit of cheese on.
Cut another tomato into 4 pieces and fry a little, put on top of pasta for decoration/deliciousness.
Pour a glass of red wine, enjoy :D

All cooked and eaten within 30 minutes! It was pretty nice, though Dad said it would be better with a stronger flavour. And though it's not what I'm craving for, which is the tomato pasta from Spa World :'(

Current Mood: full

OMFG I've been haemorrhaging money for the past 3 days, someone help! I need to have some money left when I actually reach Japan!

~~~

As I had expected, my problem with packing isn't so much the volume of stuff as the weight... My big suitcase is only about 2/3 full but about 16/17 kg already... I think I'll just end up having to pay excess baggage, because none of this stuff is unnecessary.

But... $40 per kg O_o REALLY?

I'd gone and spent way too much money on all the toiletries I'll need, but now I'm having to get smaller bottles to try and reduce the weight. What a waste of money :/

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When I get back from Japan I might change banks, because mine is so useless for travellers. I went in on Monday to get travellers cheques (late, I know) and the woman on the counter wasn't sure, but didn't think they did them anymore. She checked, and sure enough the National Bank doesn't sell travellers cheques, only the new travel cards (well then why does their website still say they sell them...) And those travel cards? They don't sell them in Yen. So what am I meant to do, take a huge wad of cash? Well I couldn't get cash at that branch either. How are they so useless?

Anyway, I went up the road to the ASB and they were very helpful and ordered travellers cheques for me, which should be in today or tomorrow :)

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Since it's less than 48 hours until departure (!!), I was able to check in online just now. It's so good to know that my seats are already confirmed - window seats in the front part of economy, near the wing, just like I wanted :D

~~~

Did I mention LESS THAN 48 HOURS?!

Current Mood: stressed

Yesterday was my last day at work, so now I'm unemployed for the first time in over 3 years! I didn't get very much actual work done, since nervousness has fully set in so I was largely trying not to shake or throw up (it's gonna be a fun week...) But I got a morning tea shout, as well as a card and some nice ( gifts )

When I finally got around to going to the Alumni Shop last week to get a Waikato hoodie, it turned out they had no stock and won't be getting more in until after I leave. So that's a bit sad. I've looked in a few other places for a decent top to rep NZ with, but none of them are very nice.

I've made up a ( day by day itemised to do list for this week ), since it feels like there are still hundreds of things I have to remember. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it!

Today I've been doing a preliminary sort out of my clothes, so that I can wash &/or mend anything that needs it. It actually looks like everything will fit in my suitcase okay, just that if I actually fill it it'll be too heavy :/ My bags consist of ( one huge check-in and one carry-on that only just fits inside the carry-on size limit ), as well as my laptop bag.

Some time this week I'm going to have to do a flist-cut :( I have this thing where when I check my flist I have to read back to where I last left off, and since I don't know how limited my access will be in Japan I need to shrink it down. I'll probably friend people back after I get home.

Anyway, while I'm away I don't know if I'll be posting much on here, so if you defriend me you won't be missing much. My main priorities will be my Japan Blog and Facebook, but I'll try and keep up with LJ as well if I can.

ETA: I was just looking through the course listing, since I hadn't since this semester's version came out, and there are so many interesting-looking ones! My list of 'classes I could take' is like 15 long (not counting Speaking and R+W). The one I really want is "Popular Culture as Social Practice: Producing pleasures, styles, identities", but it's impossible to choose between the others. Why can't I just do my whole degree there and take them all? :P

Current Mood: nervous

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Okay, so looking through the people who've listed Kansai Gaidai in their schools on LJ maybe wasn't as good an idea as I thought....

I actually didn't want to know that people already have drama and we're not even in Japan yet :/

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I was finally going to contribute something to a Big Bang by signing up as a Groupie for

americanbang, since that seemed pretty low pressure (just one picture or whatever required). And now

americanbang has been discontinued in favour of

idol_bigbang, for which all the due dates occur while I'm in Japan. FML.

Current Mood: annoyed

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Just now Mum was like "okay get off your bed, Eric's coming to take it away :D"

Our new beds aren't coming until tomorrow.

I feel like I'm in Japan already, sleeping on a futon or something.

At least cleaning out the accumulated crud under my bed distracted me from my emo whining on the ontd_ai anon post XD

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