chocolate_chip

Which is a whole lot easier said than done. It doesn't help that work is being ridiculous, as in, "What do you mean, you can't grade 250 final exams in one afternoon?" and "What do you mean, it takes more than an hour to read and correct 40 essays?" >_> When I get home, my brain pretty much shuts off. I have so much stuff to catch up on that it's hard to find a place to even get started.

Anyway, to keep myself from feeling overwhelmed, I'll just post about good things for now. And the good things are very good! Since I didn't have time to book a trip to Malaysia for winter break, I promised myself that I would go to Sapporo for Yuki Matsuri instead. I was really worried about getting plane tickets, since I can only fly on the same days as everyone else, but I managed to get the ones I wanted. Not at the cheapest price level, but still pretty cheap. I have to fly in and out of Nagoya, but it saves about ¥40,000.

And the super special awesome bonus? Guess who just happens to be playing at Zepp Sapporo that weekend? So now I have tickets to Sapporo and tickets to see Asian Kung-Fu Generation while I'm there. Now I just need to figure out what else I'll do for those 2 1/2 days (besides visiting the conveniently located Pokémon Center, lol). Almost as exciting, the weekend after that I'll be seeing Straightener in Osaka. I still can't believe I won two pre-request lotteries in a row!

I'm seriously thinking of buying Pokémon Platinum now, instead of waiting for the US release. Because I'm just that lame. (But it would be good Japanese practice, right?)

The Weezer concert was so amazing. The only disappointments were: A) the Weezer towel sold out before I could get one, and B) Asian Kung-Fu Generation's set was way too short! But Gotoh was so cute talking about how they'd wanted to be "Japan's Weezer" and now they were opening for the real Weezer.

Weezer's part of the show started with a hootenanny on a small stage in the center of the room, which I was literally right next to. Rivers came out first, and spent like ten or fifteen minutes chatting with people, singing Japanese children's songs, and napping on the stage. Of course, he didn't talk to me, because I'm not Japanese enough. :P And then some Japanese fans who had been selected through processes unknown went up on stage with their instruments (including a trombone), and the rest of the band showed up, and they did acoustic versions of "Island in the Sun", "El Scorcho", and "Beverly Hills". Then Weezer went up to the main stage and the "real" concert started, and it was made of awesome and yay. They're soooooooo good live! ^o^ During the spoken part of "Undone" (which strangely enough, seemed to be one of the least-popular songs they played -- the audience seemed to be confused by it), Rivers told a story about going to an onsen, which was basically: "I went to an onsen for the first time. It was a little strange. But I think I'll go again. Let's all go to the onsen together." In the next part, he talked about his favorite manga (Detroit Metal City). XD

They didn't go too heavy on songs from the new album, which was good, because frankly, I don't think the new album is that great. ^^; However, I have to say, "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived", which left me unimpressed on the album, is fucking amazing live liek whoa. And everyobody yelled "That's right!" at just the right time during "Troublemaker", and it made me happy. ^-^ Annnnnd, they played "Pink Triangle", which I totally didn't think they would! :D I was surprised that they didn't play "Across the Sea", though.

Merch report! I got an AKG t-shirt, the AKG tour towel, an AKG wristband, an AKG pencil case, the new AKG eco bag, which is not quite as awesome as my other one, but says "Now is the times when the punk rockers think about the earth," two Weezer t-shirts, and two Weezer stickers. I think that's it. >.> I really wanted that towel! ;-;

And that used up every ounce of my energy for the weekend. I've been completely exhausted for the last week and a half. ._. I think I should get my thyroid tested again (I don't think they did the right test when I had it done a few years ago and was told I was fine), but I don't know how to go about doing that here. *sigh* Of course, the other main thing it could be is mono, except I don't have a fever, but I don't GET fevers anymore no matter how sick I am, which points back to a thyroid problem. [insert rant here about it not being a "real" fever if it's not over 99°, even if it's a full two degrees higher than your normal temperature] >.> Bleh.

ZOMG I PASSED THE JLPT AND THE FOREIGN FOOD STORE GOT IN A NEW SHIPMENT OF DR. PEPPER AND ROOT BEER AND I AM ENTERED IN THE ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION PRE-SALE LOTTERY.

Best day I got my period EVER.

Passing score: 240/400. My score: 248/400. LOL. It's good enough for me, though, 'cause I seriously thought there was no way I was gonna pass. Mostly I'm just glad that that weekend wasn't a waste.