Countdown

Geoff couldn't spot a predicative complement if it dressed like rose-coloured Twinkle and danced a one-man noh play entitled 'The Finer Points of Defining Predicative Complements'. He can take that C and... flipping well... eat it.

I know, I know, a pass is a respectable grade.

Just fuel to the fire to get me working harder on the rest of this semester. Second Language Acquisition is actually a delight, and what I'm learning is both kinda interesting and easy to remember, without being so easy as to feel underwhelming. Psycholinguistics is a touch on the tricky side; it's very 'psychology', something I had difficulty with in first year. Had a bit of a go on UNIX for the first time today, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. Still not wholly sure I see the point of typing code out when a click and a drag can be just as effective.

Japanese carries on as normal; nothing added and a few things left on the side of the path to be returned to at zero hour. Got my first big bit of work back tomorrow, the Japanese-English Translation assignment, as well as a speaking exam on interview etiquette and the like. Confident, but we'll just have to see.

And then there's the JET interview. I'm sure it's nothing too scary, but the letters and such really don't make it easy to get confident. Spent a bit of today memorising key figures in politics and names of islands, and reading up on current affairs. Did you know Japan's debt is twice its economic output? Sensationally dull stuff, but important stuff to know. Need to brush up those tenses as well, and come up with intelligent answers to those dreaded teaching role-play questions like 'What would you do if there's an obnoxious, disruptive kid in your class?' There goes my weekend.

Also turns out I have a problem with anger. Who'd have thought. Hopefully I can put at least a chunk of it down to iron deficiency, but it's starting to sound like this thing goes back a long way, gonna need a fair amount of fixing. Strategies are in place, only thing left is to try to relax. As they say, keep calm and carry on.

There's a new anime season out. Oh, and on the topic, I keep being told not to mention anime in my JET interview. Are they expecting me to lie? Say I got into Japanese through something else? Well no can do. I can reduce the emphasis, talk about the fascinating, and it IS fascinating, personality and psychology behind Japan, the vibrant culture and deep systems of social interaction, but that all stems from catching small monsters in red and white balls, and if JET don't want to hire someone who admits to that then they're clearly not an organisation that I'm destined to be a part of.

It's in God's hands.

Oh, right, Spring anime. Not a lot to talk about this season, it's a bit of a slow one. Still enjoying the second series of Letter Bee, really focussing on the main plot this time and it's working very well. Also very promising is Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a magical girl show (yeah, I'm way past the point at which I try to hide watching stuff like that) done by the Bakemonogatari team. Third episode saw someone getting their head chewed CLEAN off by a monster shaped like a licorice cake-snake, awesome. Same music director as Kara no Kyoukai, don't you know. Looking forward to seeing much more. Also going to need to check out stuff like Fractale, just to say I have. Oh, and holding out for the next Unicorn. That'll be sweet.

So, yeah, prayer appreciated for nerves and such, not just for me but for all J4ers. And the J2 lot, here's to you, writing applications for 3rd Year. This semester is only gonna get darker, need all the light we can get.

That enough angst for you, Natasha?

Thanks for reading.