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I have no idea where the last 2 weeks have gone. It seems like I’ve been doing all sorts of stuff, and even during the week I don’t know what day of the week it is or how long it’s been. Some IUSTV stuff has been stressful, but overall things have been going great. It just seems like time is going by mega fast. Maybe it’s just because the semester (and college) is pretty much over? I also keep meaning to play/beat Kingdom Hearts II, but haven’t gotten around to it. And I’ve had it before anyone else in the US, since I downloaded the Japanese version back in December. Ah well, at least I’ve been filling up my lazy time by watching Curb and Lost a lot.

I’m going to be out of town a lot during April. This coming weekend, from around Saturday to Monday, I’m going to Chicago with Brian and possibly Nick to interview with NOVA, another English school in Japan. Speaking of that, I haven’t heard from AEON yet, although I was supposed to have a response by last Friday. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. If I was to be rejected, I was supposed to get a letter in the postal mail. Haven’t gotten that yet, thank goodness. If I got in, I was supposed to hear via phone. Haven’t gotten that yet either. Ah well; I guess I’ll just wait and see. I really do hope I get in, right now that sounds like it would be my number 1 choice of what to do next year. After Chicago, I’m back in Bloomington for about 2 days, until Wednesday, when I leave with Pat for Las Vegas. We’re going to the National Association of Broadcasters Conference (NAB), which sounds like it’s going to be awesome (and also it’s in Vegas). I’m actually only going to be able to go for a few days, which is before the bulk of the conference starts. I’m excited though because I’ll at least get to go to 2 days of seminars, about how to use stuff like After Effects, Flash, and Maya. Wow I sound like a nerd. I will be in Las Vegas, and the Journalism school is paying for all of it, since it’s kind of related to the J499 Independent Study we’re doing. How do I find all these things for myself??

I fly out of Vegas on Saturday morning to go up to Vancouver, where I’m working for my parents at the GaAs Mantech International Semiconductor Conference. How in the world did this happen, you ask? My mom runs the conference management, so I was able to get in and help work the registration table. I get paid, and they also pay for all my expenses to get up there. Works for me. I’ll be there until Friday the 28th, which is the end of dead week back at IU. So all in all, I’m going to be out of town about a total of 2 weeks this whole month. Awesome. I’m missing the last week and a half of classes (I’ve already taken care of that; I’m not really missing that much), and also Little 5. But still, free trips to Vegas and Vancouver (even though it IS in Canada), is a deal that I can’t pass up. Again, how do I find these things for myself??

The IUSTV Banquet is this Thursday, and I’m pumped (but not prepared) for it. This will pretty much be the end of the semester for IUSTV, so the banquet and the huge after party are going to be a lot of fun. It will honestly probably be the last time I ever see a lot of these people. I think I’m going to give a short speech at the banquet, which will be fun I guess. The new execs are training quite nicely; we had a retreat with them this past Saturday, and I’m excited to see IUSTV a year from now after they get to work and improve on stuff. I think they’re going to do an awesome job. They won’t have to deal with moving over to a new building, which in all honesty killed about 2 months of my work this year.

No clue what I’m doing this summer yet. I guess a lot of it depends on what job I end up getting and taking. Ideally, I will go to Japan sometime in July or August and start working there (AEON?). That would mean I have May through July to stay in Bloomington, get slowly packed up and ready to move on in life, and also possibly find a part time job while I’m here. I’ll still be doing some IUSTV work (like purchasing and tweaking the studio), but I’ll have so much free time regardless, I feel like I should have 1 last fun experience of working somewhere. I’m thinking a video rental place, the mall, or back to a restaurant. We’ll see.

I always seem to do a lot more on my weekends here in Japan than I do back home.

Today, went to Tokyo Big Site (huge convention center that looks like a robot) for the Nintendo World “Touch DS” event. Basically, you get to go there for free, wait in lines, and play different DS games. It was a lot of fun. I got to play (lets see if I can remember): Sawaru Made in Wario, NintenDogs, Ganbare Goemon, Yoshi’s Balloon Trip, and Pac-Pix. Oh, and on Cube, I played Naruto 3. Anyways, the DS is a really awesome system: has a touch screen, a second screen, wireless capabilities, a mic, and is a lot smaller than I had imagined from the pictures. I really want to get one, but I’m sure that’s mostly hype. I wouldn’t really play it enough to justify the cost. Although, 8 player wireless Mario Kart sounds pretty sweet.

After that, went with Mikey and Ari to an event in Funabashi called “The Search for Rhythm.” Basically it was a bunch of “bands” playing songs, with concentration on drums, I guess. Our friend Yoko was playing, so that’s why we went. A few of the acts were decent, but there were no real instuments except for tamborines, drums, pianos, and a synthesizer. As Ari said about the performance of Orange Range’s “Viva Rock”: “It’s amazing how little kids and a synthesizer can ruin my favorite song.”

After that, we went with Yoko and Kanako to Shirokiya for dinner, etc. Fun times. Instead of the hole in the wall I usually expect out of izakaya, this was a really nice place. Will have to go there again. On the way back, ran into a huge herd of NOVA teachers, all really really drunk. Talked to a few on the train, they were going to karaoke in Gyotoku. They invited me, but no thanks. That was my night.

Oh, and since I stayed out later than planned, didn’t have a chance to take my DVDs back to Tsutaya. So I get to pay a little late fee tomorrow. Yay!