vivie

I just went through a lot of my old photo from high school and realized how great it is to have your memories in order. Since I haven’t kept up with my photos since first of year of college when I got my first digital camera, I think I’ll finally try to catch up.

So far I have been scrapbooking, but it all takes too much time and I can’t always incorporate as many pictures as I would like. Instead, I decided to use albums with sticky pages for my older photos as they are much easier to put together and look very stylish. I’ll keep up with scrapbooking, but only for pictures from special events, like vacations and trips.

Still, I am not sure what to do with all my saved pics and the loads of artsy ones I took, thinking I would someday use them for something. Is there really a need to print out or save pics like the one of that cat I photographed in Amsterdam?

I have been trying to find more creative ways to catch up on Japanese since I’m not in school anymore, and I don’t have many chances to study it officially.

A few weeks back I bought a game to help with Kanji Practice called Tadashi Kanji Kakitori-kun It is actually very cool because it helps you practice and memorize kanji strokes on you DS. It seems like it would be very useful if you have a list of Kanji in mind and need to study for a test. It’s trickier if you are on your own since there is no dictionary of kanji readings or meanings and of course, the interface is also in Japanese. I have been using it lately to go over the kanji I had to memorize from class, but it is rather difficult. Memorizing kanji without having a chance to write them is not very effective.

Perhaps I will try to get a Japanese pen pal? I think that reading Japanese and trying to understand it will be more useful for now, so I will try to focus on that. This week I’ll try to watch and translate Japanese drama shows and magazines!

I studied in Paris in the winter of 2008, and it was really worth it. All the museums are emptier and so I got to do a ton of things without suffering the masses of tourists. My school was a bit intense in terms of coursework, but my experience was great because of all the cultural venues. Visiting Paris is essential for understanding the history of Art and western civilization. There many events, exhibitions and activities so it you are an artistic type, or want to be, you can really pursue your passion.

Be sure to take a course about Paris itself or western civ while you are there!