Random Notes

Well, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this fall and my life in general and have come to several conclusions:

1. Moleskine notepads provide the best writing surface for my fountain pen. This brand of note pad has been around a while and have been used by the likes of Van Gogh, Hemingway, and Matisse (Okay, this first one isn't as much about my life as it is about my pen, but the Moleskine top flip reporter's pad adds nicely to the mystique of writing with a fountain pen, and this makes my life happier).

2. I cannot get to Japan in September as I first thought. I found out that had I taken the plunge and just flown over to Tokyo with the idea of getting a job with Berlitz, I would have had to have waited twelve weeks for the proper work visa. During that time, I'd just have to sit on my rice paper mat doing nothing but getting poorer. Therefore, I decided to a) Get a job with a Japanese company (Aeon) that is more helpful than Berlitz in both interviewing (I have one here in Mpls. on September 25) and finding accommodations, and b) go to Japan in January instead of September. This will put off my PhD work (wherever I end up getting accepted) for another year, but that's okay.

3. I need a better job for the fall. I'm tired of the hours at the bookstore and the bakery. Schai has given me information on her awesome job and I have an interview next Monday. Even though they aren't hiring at the moment, Schai says that they have a huge turn over.

4. I don't like Spanish. I have to pass a language proficiency before I'm officially graduated. Spanish seemed the best idea at the time, but I don't like the language enough to keep up with it. I do, however, love Danish and have studied it more recently (having had a year's course at the U of M). If I'm here for fall, I'll probably sign up for a semester of second year Danish. Then I can wow everyone with exclamations such as, "Jeg kan også godt spise lidt mere œblekage. Man kan gotdt drikke rødvin til œblekage. Skål!"

5. If I am going to be here for at least five more months, I'm going to see if I can't get an apartment in my old building in St. Paul. Living rent-free is nice, living in your parents' basement is not. And the not-niceness of living at home outweighs the advantage of not having to pay rent.