Donations

I need to remember who gave me what. I'm really blessed with my friends and Rotarians here. I appreciate their help from my heart.

So, here's the list of donations.


This dining table and chairs are from SR. SR didn't say anything, but MT told the chair with a leather seat must be antique which was probably made in the 30s. That's cool. But my favorite is another brown chair with a fabric seat.


This sofa and coffee table are also from SR. I put my old fitted sheet over the sofa to hide stains. The coffee table looks like antique, too. I put little toys on it.


This TV table (I'm using it as a book shelve though) is SR's.


This chest is also SR's. It needs to be painted a little bit. I scratched the drawer while moving :(


This bedside table and table lamp are from SR. I like this lamp, which is chic. This lamp is supposed to be capable for a 3-way light bulb, but when I tried to put it, I realized it didn't fit. Mm ...


SR's biggest donation is this queen size bed. Sheets are donated by DS. I bought the comforter and throw last year.


When I was living in my old apartment last year, I wanted to have a mirror which reflects me from head to toes. This is it. SR gave it to me.


LB found and bought this lamp for me at a yard sale. Isn't it sweet that you have someone who is thinking of you? I'm blessed.


SK gave this lovely floor lamp. I have two floor lamps (I bought a cheap one last year) now, and they make my living room bright and homey.


This huge, heavy desk is SC's. Before I collected this desk at his office, he told me it's really heavy. It is! So, it needed four people to take up to the second floor. And it didn't go through the door of my room so that it's sitting in my living room.

Thank all of you who gave away things for me. I'm really lucky to have you, and I really appreciate your kindness and consideration.

Duck Goes Wireless!

The one thing that was annoying me here in my new apartment is that there's no wireless Internet connection. I had been kind of spoiled by wireless connection because every house I stayed this summer has wireless connection. I had believed that this apartment complex must have wireless Internet connection because it belongs to the university which provides wireless connection at least on campus. So, I was kind of astonished when I found that I need to be wired. And the bad thing is that there's no Internet outlet in my room! I mean, there are outlets in the kitchen and my roommate's room. But there's not in my room. Damn it.

So, I bought a wireless router for my convenience even though it cost me $35. Well, $35 is not expensive if you have more convenience. That's what I thought when I made a big decision to buy it. You know, I'm a poor student. $35 means a lot.

I tried to set it up last night ... and I failed. I knew it! I knew it! Every time I try to set up the wireless thing, I face trouble. So, I emailed DS. Oops, his initials are the same as DS's initials. That's confusing. DS is my friend DS's brother who is a computer expert.

Anyway, DS replied me with suggestions. I tried his suggestions this morning, but I was still not able to set up wireless connection. So, I called him, and he ended up coming over to set it up. You can tell he is a good person. I'm blessed to be surrounded by nice and good people here as I was in Japan. I appreciate my circumstances.

Another Capitol (Much Smaller)

This is the first time for me to come to the Capitol building in this state even though I have been in the real Capitol, I mean, in Washington D.C. I came here to see someone who is working here.

It worked perfect. DS needed to come here to deliver her lecture here this evening. So, I joined her to get here. She had a two hour lecture. That means I had two hours to be done my interview with this guy. That was enough. So, I dropped her at her venue ... Oh well, she drove all the way here and I took her car to get to the Capitol building. She didn't use her car during her lecture anyway. I drove to the Capitol building to meet this guy.

He is nice. When I told him that this was the first time for me to visit the Capitol building, he gave me a quick tour inside the building. The building is neat. It's like a miniture of the real Capitol in Washington.

Tomorrow's Joe

"Stand up, stand up, Joe!"

Well, I'm kind of trying to encourage myself to socialize. But simply, I don't want to be in the school circle right now. I want to keep myself away from school as much as possible. Well, I'm now living in the university housing though.

Hanging out with my friends who are also students is OK because they are my friends in the first place. What I don't want to do is attend orientations and meet new people and that kind of stuff. This is an orientation week anyway. I don't intend to participate any of them. Yeah, I'm anti-social or whatever. I just want to keep away pressures from school as much as possible. That's it!

Move Myself In

Damn, I hate to say goodbye. It was really sad to leave DS's house because it was so cozy. DS is is great to hang out, and her kids and family are just cute. The sad thing is I had to leave right after I thought DS and I just started establishing a good relationship.

I'm feeling kind of lonely here because I'm alone. Damn, I'm so spoiled to be surrounded by familiar people.

Ducks

Yea, I got two stamps on my arm! Oh well, it's not so exciting thing. I just got them to enter the stadium. SA and I went to see Ducks. I don't care about football at all mainly because I don't understand the rules, and partly because watching the game on TV is kind of boring--they move a little bit, a whistle blow, they stop, and they do this again and again. Boring enough, huh?

But I found watching the game in the stadium was exciting, sort of. People are crazy. College kids are arguing with security guards. They drink and smoke marijuana (of course, they are prohibited). Observing people was just fun.

Because Ducks were losing, we left the stadium halfway (I couldn't stand for four hours anyway) and went to a sports bar to watch another football game (for SA) and grab some beer (for me). The bar was packed of people. I don't understand why people are so excited about football. Mm.

Big Moving Party

Today was a big moving day. Moving is always stressful. But I was lucky to have several people to help me. So today began like this ...

MT came to pick me up with her truck. I had made a reservation of a U-Haul truck to move with a couple of friends of mine, but MT offered me her help and suggested me to cancel the reservation, and I did. So, MT and I picked up YY first to help us carry heavy things, and drove to SC's office. SC gave me his desk which is huge and heavy. Then, we went to SR's house to collect some stuff. Because SR kept bigger things in a U-Haul storage, we drove there. MT, YY and I were in MT's truck, and SR and her son J were in SR's Volvo. In SR's storage, there were tons of stuff. SR kindly gave me a lot of stuff--a queen size bed, dining table, coffee table, table lamp, chest, three chairs, and so on. It is not too much to say that my room and living room are decorated by SR's furniture.

Though we had stressful moments to pack those stuff in MT's truck, finally, we loaded them and came to my apartment complex. Because MT is a busy person, as soon as we unloaded my stuff in front of my apartment, she left. YY was also busy and rushed to school. SR and J also went home. And I was left with my stuff.

I appreciate everyone, MT, YY, SR and J, for their help, kindness and generosity. I'm so lucky to have them.

Housing Office Sucks

Leaving my stuff in front of my apartment, I went to the office to check in. And I called my roommate, IN, to come over to check in.

I was surprised at what the person in the office told me.

"Hi, we came here to check in #AB."
"Are you blah blah blah?"
"No, I'm Minami the Duck."
"Then, you are moving in #CD."

#CD is a third floor unit (without the elevator). The housing office offered me this unit once in August, saying that I could move in as early as Sept. 2. But it was on the third floor without the elevator, I rejected their offer. Then, they put me in #AB, which I needed to wait until today to move in. So, I got angry!

"Man! It's ridiculous! If I move in #CD, I didn't need to wait until today. I waited until today because the housing office told me that I would move in #AB. I have an agreement with the housing office that I will move in #AB. I can show you emails from the housing office for my evidence."
"But someone already moved in #AB. This term, this complex is full. So, there's no choice."
"Why don't you call the housing office!"

She called the housing office, talked on the phone for a while, and hung up. After a while, maybe 10 or 15 minutes, the housing office called her back. After hanging up the phone, she said, "#EF is available, which is on the second floor. Are you gonna take this?" I had no choice other than taking this.

IN and I wen to check out our apartment. It turned out nicer than #AB becaues it doesn't face to the street as #AB does. But the problem was my stuff. I left my stuff in front of #AB. #AB and #EF are far opposite sides of the complex. MT left already, and that meant we didn't have a truck to transport my heavy stuff across the complex.

But again, I'm so lucky to have great friends. Even though IN was not going to move in today, she spared her time to move my stuff. Also Z and her husband who are living in the complex helped me to move. How many times did we walk up and down between two apartments with heavy stuff? I don't have any words to express my gratitude to IN, Z and her husband.

After putting things in, my apartment turned to be a mess. I gave up sleeping there tonight, I came back to DS's cozy house. I'm gonna miss DS and her family badly.

Beauty is Fragile

I knew it! I knew my nails would break soon. But I didn't know that water from the tap would break my thumbnail. Was the water pressure too strong? Or my nail was too weak.

Festival 1

Man, where did those happi coats come from? Mind you, it's not in Japan but in the hippie town, somewhere in the States.

My host kids paraded in the town festival this morning, donned happi. They were cute in happi.

As a friend of them, I joined the parade with their mother and other parents. It was chilly, but it was fun. Given that it is a rare opportunity to walk in the middle of the streets, not on the sidewalk, in downtown, you need to enjoy that. So, I did.

This town is small. That's what I believe. To my surprise, there were tons of audiences along the streets even though it was kind of early in the morning ... and cold. Well, basically, American people are not so sensitive to coldness. Anyhow, it was fun (and a little bit embarrassing) to walk, surrounded by cheering audiences.

Festival 2

I joined DS and her family to go to Oktoberfest. Yea, Munich, Germany! Nope, it is in this state, 2 hours north from the hippie town. Anyhow, the town which Oktoberfest is going on is historically a town of Germans. That's why they have this German festival in the States.

Yes, we joined two festivals in different places in a row, in a day. What a busy day!

According to my meager imagination, Oktoberfest looks like a beer festival with big belly guys holding a huge beer mug in one hand and a huge sausage in the other and maybe singing songs. But, it was not the case in this Oktoberfest. It was more like a food festival. There were a variety of food stands which of course served German kind of food and snacks. I tried a sausage. Yes, it was huge and tasty.

In the kids area, there were magic shows and juggling shows in the tent. I was not interested, but I wanted to be in the shade. So, I went inside and had a seat with adult members of DS family. Her kids were playing under the sun. I found this guy, a juggling performer, is interesting. His juggling technique may not be super, but his talk was hilarious. It was fun to say ohs and ahs and laugh, avoiding the sun.

Fetishist?

No, I don't think so. I'm not a hand person. To the contrary, I kind of don't like my hands because they are ... bony. But the reason why I took a photo of my hand is my nails. They are long and in good shape. I need to have a manicure. Anyway, my nails are too weak to grow. They are easy to break. So, it's almost a miracle to grow my nails. I know they are going to break any time soon :(

Duck the Freeloader

I'm really lucky. I know that and I appreciate that. I'm blessed to have someone who is willing to let me stay until the 19th, until the university housing office lets me move in.

DS and her kids kindly came to pick me up at the airport and took me to their house. Her kids, a second-grader and a fourth-grader, are cute. And they are learning Japanese. That's good. They gave up their upstairs playroom for me.

I found that DS is a very frank (and kind, not to mention) person. To be honest, when I first saw her, I thought she didn't like me. So, I was kind of surprised at that she offered me accommodation. I'm glad that she and her family are open and accept me.

Man, I'm so lucky.