neko's thinkbox

…as always, I suppose ;)

But at least I’m finding some motivation to share my everyday woes and hopes here.

It’s true that these days I’ve really been cutting down on anime. When ARIA finished, it left a huge gap in my mind – and I couldn’t really fill it with anything else except my trip to Venice. After that I’ve scarcely watched anime, and the number of series I watched ever since can be counted on one hand. The most recent being Code Chess- I mean, Code “FABULOUS” Geass R2. Well, once it ends I might write a line or two about it, since it left quite an impression on me… good and bad. I’ll keep that for later.

But still. I’m surprised, or rather, shocked. This blog, supposedly an anime blog, doesn’t actively blog about anime. It does not heroically fill its purpose! [drama] These days it’s all about my Venice trip, my acquisitions (of which I have a ton to report about yet), my random fillers I post up whenever I feel bad about abandoning it. I most probably got carried away and let this blog drift off its aim, of presenting my musings about anime, and to be thought-provoking – although I suppose I have never achieved the latter yet.
On the contrary, the focus shifted onto my own exploits, the purpose of which only serving to increase my e-peen, and to become an attention whore. Seems to work well for a lot of people – it doesn’t for me. And this is starting to feel unoriginal. Figures, mangas, artbooks, everyone has them; Venice trips are getting old as well, especially after the ARIA effect has waned almost half a year after it aired. And the worst thing about this kind of thing is, noone wants to comment on these kinds of topics, for fear of fueling my egocentrism or showing any signs of jealousy.

Ah, well. Why am I writing all this? Because I’m hitting another moral low nowadays. I realize I waste a lot of time spacing out in my room, instead of clearing my endless to-do list – and I always choose the shortcut to Pangya/Albatross and, as of recently, my DS. I cleared all four Ace Attorney games, Trauma Center, and today, Moe Sta (Moeru Study English etc)… And while I’m lurking like a hardcore Hikki, the real world moves on out there. And time, sadly, doesn’t wait for you.

And since time was getting short, I enrolled for another term of English here at the local university, just before the deadline. Even they couldn’t really understand why I chose to do it it; after all, you are supposed to continue your English studies abroad after one year here. I told them I would take the few courses I missed during last year’s first term to avoid redundancy, and they said that’s okay. Well, I guess my reasons for doing so are so obvious, there is no need to mention them.
Anyway, today, almost two weeks after classes began, I finally decided to go to the campus… only to check up on the course schedule. Yes, I’m not taking it seriously, and that will most likely not change this term. I’m not even going to take the exams. Useless.

Perhaps… because, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to study in Venice. Fo’ shizzel.

Aria shachou approves!

Actually, that idea didn’t occur to me immediately when I was there last June. As some of you might remember, I had been considering going to study the US next spring to continue my English studies. But with the many ups and downs of the American economy these past few months, and the already high cost of living in some areas, I realized that I might not be able to afford it anymore. Also, the distance to home also plays a huge role – if it’s not Japan, I’d rather stay close to home, in Europe after all. And anyway, my main motivation was only to meet a couple of online friends there, so… no deal. I still took that ToEFL test, it could always be of use. Haven’t received the results yet, though.
As for the UK, I’d only be able to start in exactly one year, which is much too long of a waiting period. And I don’t feel like wasting any more time already.

So… my Italian friend ShiNN84 told me in IRC once “hey neko, if you want you could study Japanese in Venice, their faculty is one of the best in Italy”. And I saw daylight. Studying something totally relevant to my interests, in a city relevant to my interests? Perfect! FABULOUS! (too lazy to color)

So yep, that’s how it came about. I spent over one month pondering seriously about it, weighing the advantages against the disadvantages, and now I’ve decided: I’m going. East Asian Languages and Culture, perfect.

Sadly, that decision came a bit late so I would only start next February for the second term…. As such, beginning October, I will need to go back to Venice to hand in my documents for pre-enrolment. I can’t wait :D

770 words and counting… Jeez, why can’t I be this productive for my English assignments, I wonder.

All this said… Since I will have quite some free time until the end of the year more or less, I suppose I will try to shape up a couple of things around here. I’m not going to make any empty promises anymore, who knows what kind of shady excuses I will find next time. So I’ll let the future decide what kind of content I will provide – but at least I will really try to provide at least something of interest to both myself and you, the reader. I have many old series on my book for the next few weeks, amongst other things. And if I can manage it, perhaps one new series as well? In any case, I hope I can keep my new schedule up, and not relapse into this vicious cycle of procrastination, gaming and inactivity. I’m counting on you to wake me up!

~neko

P.S.: I’m still waiting for someone to join the thinkbox ;)