Alive!

Sufficeth to say, I made it. After spending varying amounts of time in Seattle, Altlanta, Newark, Princeton, New York City, Ithaca, Detroit, San Francisco, and Berkeley, I've been safely deposited in Puyallup, where I will remain in a state of near-hiberation until Saturday morning. More soon, hopefully.

Where are the brakes on this thing?

The past few days have been really productive, albeit not as productive as they needed to be (are they ever?). Took care of a bunch of things I've been waiting months (and even years) to do, and wow, it felt good. Now I'm leaving for Tokyo in about 8 hours, and I'm almost packed. I think I need to sneak home to finish the job. Or actually, maybe I should just ask - they'd probably send me home early.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that my Vice Principal at Kamo Jr. High is the most awesome person ever. One of these days I'm going to trap him into taking a picture with me - but alas, today is not that day. Anyway, he has semi-long (long for a Japanese man) permed hair and is the funniest guy I've met here in Japan. He doesn't speak much English at all, but he's always busting out the random nouns and phrases - and more than that, he actually *talks* to me on a regular basis (other ALTs realize what a big deal this is). Anyway, yesterday he sent me home an hour and a half early - told me to go out and have fun, drive up to Niigata City and go window-shopping or something. Of course, I just went home and got the oil changed on my car, but it was a really nice thought. ;)

This week is going to be *insane*, btw. I have to say, I'm not entirely looking forward to it. Check out my schedule for my Princeton visit (kind of for my reference):

On arrival - Monica Selinger
Noon - Lunch with graduate students
2:30 p.m. Professor Christina Davis (Intl political economy; Japan)
3:00 p.m. Professor Charles Beitz (Political theory)
3:30 p.m. Professor Gilbert Rozman (Sociology; Northeast Asia)
4:00 p.m. Professor Jennifer Widner (Development; Africa; democratic institutions)
5:30 p.m. Professor Lynn White (Political development; China; Thailand; Philippines)
6:00 p.m. Dinner with Professors White and Davis, and Daniel Kliman

After this I take the train to New York and stay with a grad student couple in Manhattan before flying out of LaGuardia the next morning. And then at Cornell:

12:30 p.m. Arrival
1:30 p.m. Lunch with Geoff Wallace and Steve Nelson
2:30 p.m. Professor Nic van de Walle (Comparative; political economy; Africa)
3:00 p.m. Professor Sherry Martin (Comparative; Japan; electoral politics; gender)
3:30 p.m. Jennifer Erickson
4:00 p.m. Professor Valerie Bunce (Comparative/IR; Eastern Europe/former USSR)
4:30 p.m. Professor Richard Bensel (American: political development/economy)
5:00 p.m. Professor Rob Wiener (Comparative; electoral politics; Japan)
6:30 p.m. Dinner with Katharine Boyle
???? p.m. Bowling with graduate students

And then I pass out and fly straight to San Francisco the next day. Wow. Berkeley is on Spring Break, so I don't get the whirlwind wine and dine (at least I haven't heard about it yet). But I'm glad - I think I'll welcome a chance to relax and talk at leisure with just a few people. I'm meeting T.J. Pempel, one of my academic idols, on Wednesday and then lunching with some grad students on Thursday.

Anyway, wish me luck - I hope I survive!

Normalcy

This weekend was really nice. You know why? Because it was like a weekend I might have had at home. Friday night, I went out to see Narnia with Aaron, which was very enjoyable. True to the book, without being tedious. Saturday morning, I slept in before meeting Aaron again to take a look at Honai Park. Honai is a tiny town halfway between Kamo and Sanjo; I've driven past it a hundred times but never ventured out of the car before. The park itself was definitely not in its best shape. A long winter and quickly melting snow had turned many of the paths into faint mud trails - Aaron and I went on a few wild goose chases, but it was all in the spirit of a good adventure. The park boasted a very nice greenhouse, which gave me an opportunity to get a little more creative with my pictures. Here's a favorite:


In the Greenhouse, Honai Park
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Saturday night, I went out with a couple of Japanese friends for a yakiniku feast and drinks in Kamo. Wow, it was so much fun! We ate *so* much. And I got to practice my Japanese for a few hours, which was nice. That's the only thing about being an English teacher out here - you don't always get to work on the language skills. Anyway, I opted out of the karaoke in favor of an early night (trying to rest up for my hectic week to come).

Today was an even lazier day. I watched a couple of the movies that Adam lent me: Innocence and Demonlover. Loved both of them, albeit in very different ways. And now ... now I'm trying to get myself mentally prepared for another week at work. It's a light one though - Tuesday is a national holiday and Friday I'm off to the U.S.! よし、行くぞ!

Final grad school results

Well, I'm done with the application process that has been my life for the last six months - the last two letters came in the mail yesterday. And, for posterity, here are the results in full:

Admitted to:
UC Berkeley
Princeton
Cornell
UCLA
University of Wisconsin
University of Washington

Waitlisted at:
UC San Diego
University of Michigan

Denied at:
Harvard
University of Chicago
Columbia

I have plans to visit Princeton, Cornell, and UC Berkeley in less than a week. Here's my horrible horrible itinerary:

Friday, 3/24: Tokyo --> Seattle, WA
Sunday, 3/26: Seattle, WA --> Newark, NJ (Monday, 3/27)
Tuesday, 3/28: New York City, NY --> Ithaca, NY
Wednesday, 3/29: Ithaca, NY --> San Francisco, CA
Thursday, 3/30: San Francisco, CA --> Seattle, WA
Saturday, 4/1: Seattle, WA --> Tokyo (Sunday, 4/2)

Doesn't it make you tired just looking at it? I'll need a vacation just to recover from my "vacation". :)

Winter Strikes Back

I feel the need to share that it has been snowing profusely for the last two days. It was extremely spring-like three days ago. There was basically no snow anywhere. Windows were rolled down, heaters were turned off. And now it's basically winter again. Case in point, I left my apartment this morning to find this:


Kristi's Car, March 14th
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Maybe you can't really tell, but there's about a foot of snow on the roof of my car. And I drove the thing yesterday. It's still coming down, too. It does make for awfully pretty scenery though:


Kamo, from Wakamiya Jr. High
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

I guess I was expecting this - the weather had been unseasonably warm as of late, so this is really more "normal". Still, I was hoping that winter would end a month early, since it got here a month early. Ah well, it's good to know that the worst of it is over.

The teachers are feeding me chocolate again today. But not White Day chocolate, thank goodness. March 14 is White Day here, a sort of Valentine's Day Part II celebrated in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. On Valentine's Day, women give gifts to men; on White Day, men who received chocolate on Valentine's Day return the favor and give gifts to women. According to one story, the holiday began in 1965, when a marshmallow maker started telling men they should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts with marshmallows. Originally it was called Marshmallow Day, and later it was changed to White Day. Later, chocolate companies began marketing white chocolate, too. An interesting concept, even if it was manufactured.

South Korea

In an effort not to think too much about impending decisions, it's time to tell you about my latest trip! This weekend, Nuria, Aaron, and I took a little jaunt over to Seoul. The trip itself was remarkably easy - we caught a plane from Niigata Airport after work on Friday, were picked up by a tour guide at Incheon airport and found ourselves in Seoul by 10 pm that night. Nuria spotted a random restaurant where we basically pointed at something on the menu and ended up with a seven-course Korean-style meal for about $15 each. Amazing.

Anyway, Saturday was the bulk of our activity. We started with a half-day tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. We had a very enthusiastic English-speaking guide who shooed us from place to place on our bus tour, starting with Imjingak "Park" (which actually has amusement park rides, strangely enough), where we saw a few monuments including the Freedom Bridge. This bridge was a focal point of worldwide attention during the Korean War and was officially opened on February 16, 1952, becoming a a major link between the truce site of Panmunjom and Seoul.


Freedom Bridge
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Then we went through an ID check and ventured over Unification Bridge to check out Dorason Station, a train station that has already been built to link together North and South Korea. We got our passports stamped, grabbed a few pictures and then headed to the 3rd Tunnel. The 3rd Tunnel was discovered in October 1978. The 1.635 kilometer-long tunnel was evidently designed for a surprise attack on Seoul and actually penetrates the southern limit line set by the truce. We actually got to go down in the tunnel - but no pictures were allowed, not surprisingly. The final major stop was Dora Observatory, where we could actually see North Korea in the distance and the two villages set up in the DMZ, Daesong and Gijong. Again, good pictures were tough to get. But this gives you an idea.


Crossing Unification Bridge
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Glimpses of North Korea
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

It was a little funny to me that such a serious place has become such a huge tourist attraction. Little cartoon militia characters decorated many of the stops on the tour and I saw more Americans there than I have since I left Seattle. But what a great experience. Anyway, we got back to Seoul and started off with lunch at Outback Steak House, of all places. Aaron and I were astonished by the number of American restaurants that Seoul boasted - far more than Tokyo, from what we could tell. After eating, we saw a couple of the royal palaces, Deoksugung (the "Palace of Virtuous Longevity") and Gyeongbokgung (the "Palace of Shining Happiness"). The architecture was reminiscent of pictures I've seen of China - quite different in feel from Japan. It was fun just walking around and soaking in the scenery.


Friends, Gyeongbokgung Palace
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Entertainment Hall, Gyeongbokgung Palace
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Zodiac Love, Gyeongbokgung Palace
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

The last stop on the itinerary were the markets, Namdaemun and Dongdaemun, both of which are marked by huge gates that used to surround the Seoul fortress. Namdaemun was originally built in 1398 and has been renovated a number of times; it's designated as Korea's National Treasure No.1. The shopping was fun, although we didn't do too much of it (probably for the best).


Nandaemun Gate, Seoul
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Finally, we met up with one of Aaron's friends for some yummy Indian food and wandering around the nightlife scene of Itaewon, a district that has sprung up to cater to the American soldiers stationed at the nearby Yongsan military base. Good times.

Sunday started off with a rather ill-chosen mandatory trip to a kimchi shop (kimchi isn't particularly settling as a breakfast food). We redeemed ourselves with some Burger King at the airport though and a few too many stops at the duty-free shops (at least for me). We were back in Niigata by early evening, which was great, since I definitely needed the rest. All in all, a great trip. I only wish I had had more time to explore. There are so many things I would've liked to see. But what I saw, I totally loved.

Good news from Princeton!!!

Wow, my head is going to explode. Just got the following email (highlights only):

"Dear Kristi,

I'm delighted to report that you've been admitted to Princeton's Ph.D. program in Politics with full fellowship support. Congratulations!

We had more applications this year than in any previous year and could only admit a very small portion (about 6%), so you are part of an extremely select group. My colleagues in comparative politics thought that Princeton would be an excellent match for your interests. We all look forward to meeting you and hope you will decide to join us."

This is really crazy. Plus UCLA just upgraded their previous offer with a Japan Studies fellowship (which basically translates to two additional years of support). Wow. I'm kind of bewildered at the moment. Happy. But bewildered. I have no idea how I'm going to make this decision.

Hrm.

Graduation and other news...

Ok, there has been far far too much going on lately. In short, I was accepted to UCLA and the University of Washington, got some fabulous financial aid offers back, and of course, went to South Korea. But that was the weekend and this is today. Since South Korea requires more thought and time than I have the ability to give right now, let's save that for later, shall we?

Today was graduation at most of the junior highs around Niigata. In some ways, it was fairly similar to the U.S. - there were speeches made, names called, songs sung, yearbooks signed, pictures taken. But in other ways, it was totally different. Like how all of the students, teachers, PTA members, and parents were totally silent through the entire two-hour ceremony. Or the profuse amount of bowing on the part of everyone concerned. But all in all, it was fun. It was sad to see the third-years go. But I wish them the best in high school and beyond. A few mementos:


In their last minutes of junior high
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Graduation, Kamo Jr. High
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

Third Grade Teachers, Kamo Jr. High
Originally uploaded by kristi-san.

I feel the need to mention that both the female teachers in that last picture are wearing fake hair extensions - their real hair is actually quite short. Fun stuff.

Anyway, I'm off to the graduation nomikai (drinking party). Should be interesting. ;) More to come...