JTA Musings 1: Preserving my Sanity

     10 days to go till my 1st JTA semester ends.

     (cliche ahead) Seems like yesterday when my first day of JTA sem started and now here I am, struggling with the requirements from papers to presentations to long exams. Now I understand why JTA sem can be such a hell -juggling with four major subjects and one tough core subject! That's for the record. Yet as for my situation, pairing up JTA with Recruitment Week, well you could imagine fusing a week-long school event with your academics O.O But that's another story! I'll share it here next time [when I will finally have my free time back again, after this sem ends!]

     Back to JTA sem. I could still remember having a bet with my blockmate for whoever will breakdown first, loses. Haha. I personally pictured myself giving up on my requirements and just end up crying. But surprisingly, I haven't reached that level yet. Even during the Recruitment Week [which was my personal bet] when we would report to school 6am everyday (OMG that really was torture for me) and with all the piled-up quizzes and requirements which I temporarily neglected, I was still fine, I didn't breakdown.  Good for me! :)

     So here's a short list of what probably kept me sane these past few [hell yeah] months:

     KOREAN STUFF. I know some people would roll their eyes at me, thinking that Korean stuff is crap, listening to songs and watching dramas in a language which you yourself don't understand. Yes but what can I do I don't mind listening to songs which I can only comprehend a very few words and definitely I don't mind watching Korean series -duh that's why there's such thing as subtitles! Watching series like these really keep you sane especially when serious school stuff are eating you up and taking most of your free time. Though I felt guilty watching these stuff knowing that there's so much to do and so little time, I feel happy squeezing these stuff in my free time and I still manage to do everything on my checklist. So for this JTA sem, I'm proud to finish THREE dramas! :D

Personal Preference  

Another story with a gay theme haha

 

Full House

I love the Three Bears song! I shall learn it in Korean :D

My Girl

I think this is my favorite among the three :)

     So if you wanna know more about Korean dramas, click here and for online series, MySoju and Dramafans are my bestfriends.

      Also, Taeyang's smooth dance moves and sexy voice also did the trick and helped kept me sane -other way around? :). He's like Korea's Justin Timberlake, although he's short. Toinkz. And his performances tend to get a bit steamy to the level that one of his concerts was strictly off limits to minors :D

     Here's the music video of one of his songs. And the dance version is really worth embedding here :))

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     FOOD. I've been eating quite a lot so I won't be surprised if someone will say that I've gained weight. I can't spare an hour for jogging or any other exercise.Not to mention that I'm an emotional eater. TSK. So screw those test results that made me eat happy food which are basically Korean ice cream ,chocolates, bananaque, Hong Kong stir-fried noodles, Wicked Oreos, frozen yogurt, burger, seafood and etc. :)

     FAMILY AND FRIENDS. I really think I'm screwing up my social life because of this semester and I'm pissed about it. I can't believe I'm postponing catching-up talks, hang-outs, whole day bonding 'till the 22nd! I'm such a bad friend and I really feel bad about it.  Still, weekly dinners and lunchtimes with friends, texts from my dad and wake-up calls from my mom are also one of the things that kept me sane this semester. Yeah!

     FACEBOOK. Of course.Seeing group photos where I'm tagged kind of comforts me from the screwing-up-my-social-life thing :D

     MOVIES. I'm looking forward to so many movies that I really can't wait to say goodbye to this stressful sem!

     SLEEP. Really I'm surprised that up to this time I'm still able to get enough sleep. I'm sure I'm not slacking off. Maybe sleepless nights was just an exaggeration? Or it could be overrated.. Or maybe I just couldn't hear my alarm no matter what. :)) 

     KOREA. Though this may not be my first choice, yet I'm really excited to go abroad that we even already made a partial list of the things to do when we're there :D :D So please, South Korea, don't fail me. just make friends with the North and everything's good.

     last but not the least ...

     PAUL THE OCTOPUS. I keep seeing the word 'octopus' or 'pusit' in my FB news feed that I can't help but google what's the fuss all about. Oh, it's about a psychic octopus of the World Cup. Coincidence or not, funny how this Octopus managed to be 100% accurate in his world cup predictions. Some critics say he's just a lazy octopus going for the box nearest to him. Yet some even say that Paul, just like other sea creatures, is going for the box with the flag attached to it that has the brightest colors (red, yellow, shades of orange, etc). Still, Paul gets death/dinner threats. :))Whatever. His predictions are as accurate as J. K. Rowling's Professor Trelawney. Paul's the New Nostradamus, haha. In the finals, Paul predicted Spain, yes the one with the box nearest to him and the tank and the one with the most striking flag. And guess what, Spain won. And Spain's flag with Paul the King is a winner :)) Congratulations, Spaniards! and special mention to Andres Iniesta, the guy who kicked the ball towards Spain's victory :)

Paul, the Unofficial King of Spain

    2 minutes 'till 3am and I still haven't started on my Final Philo paper which is due 3 days later. And I still haven't studied for my Orals too. And I still haven't touched my Finance book. Really, I should just click the 'Save Now' button and time to go back to reality. No use escaping from it, and I have to wake up 5 hours later for our mock presentation practice! For what it's worth, I think this year is gonna be a good one. *crossed fingers* I really can't wait to cross out all the days in my countdown till 22! So Ingrid, Basyah! Aja Aja! Korea here I come! :)

* photo credits to dramafans.org and koreandrama.org and Yahoo Sports

An Identified 19th Birthday Wish

"what do you want for your 19th birthday?"

I've been musing over this question for quite some time, because honestly, i don't really know what I really want to get right now. And now that my Junior Term Abroad (JTA) dream is soon to be fulfilled (2 months left!) makes it even a bit more harder for me to think of something that I want for my 19th birthday. I'm not really crazy about gadgets, like i'm not a bit interested in upgrading my 2-yr old cellphone nor dumping my old laptop which is quite a b*tch if you ask me yet has been with me through all these years, helping me write all those A papers (HAHA) and letting me watch TV series (yes, one of my guilty pleasures) online.

so after months of observing my friends, people and everybody around me, thinking about what could possibly be missing in my life right now, I have figured it out. well, I think this is what i want at the moment.

a camera <3

no no i'm not a photographer to begin with but realizing that in 2 months i will be all by myself in Korea, and that i have this lust to explore and travel the world someday, (Asia first, then Europe, then USA haha), i guess a decent camera would be a good company.

if ever i do get one, then these three things would seem enough to sum up the scenes/things i would like to preserve on an image: motion, nature and art.

on a side note, i actually envy my other friends since they seem to know what they actually want in life and definitely never runs out things on their wish list while here i am still struggling for at least one potential wish, haha :))

but whether i would get this for my birthday or not, either way's fine with me. but i would also love to get myself my own camera with my own savings hehe well that's malabo since i don't really know how to save well :D

yeah, ONE DAY TO GO TILL MY 18TH YEAR ENDS :O NICE.

Plug It: the iPod Culture

My mom usually chastises me whenever I can't hear a word she says because both of my ears are plugged with authentic Apple earphones. Even with earphones on, sometimes you just get a feeling that someone's talking to you so when I asked my Mom, "ha? what is it?", she just shrugged of and bombarded me with never minds and funny-how-you-cant-communicate-with-your-daughter-who-is-less-than-a-meter-away-from-you looks and sermons. All because of an iPod :D

But she can't blame me for using my iPod since it was those instances when I was jogging or inside the car and the music on the radio really sucked :))

Alright, here are some scenarios/instances why I use my apple green player:

1. the music on the radio isn't just right for my mood. or it simply sucks, not to mention the most annoying DJs with their corny jokes and irritating laughs.

2. when not so tired, I can't sleep without my iPod playing me to sleep.

3. when walking to my classroom, anywhere or back to my dorm. i think this is becoming more of a habit. i just like to walk with the beat and estimate the number of minutes i spent walking by how many songs I've listened to.

4. when studying or doing something on your own, like reading or surfing the net aimlessly. as you can see, plugged earphones sometimes mean DON'T DISTURB :)

5. whenever I'm obliged to do some boring, manual stuff, my iPod never fails to save me.

6. also whenever I'm forced to wait for long periods of time :| I've got short attention span you know.

7. i also use my iPod to keep track of the time i spent jogging through the songs played.

8. when I'm in awkward position with someone whom I barely know and I know small talks won't save me.

9. when I get emotional, depressed or sad :>

10. I also listen to music whenever I feel like choreographing and creating dance moves in my mind

11. admittedly, I also tend to daydream of "music video" scenes in my head hahaha just for the fun of it :))

12. usually for brainstorming work, listening to music helps me in generating new and unthinkable (but i get to think of it because of music haha) ideas.


and what are the things I usually listen to?

anything that's good music. mostly hiphop, RnB, soundtracks of my life and of some my favorite drama series :P

iPods own 70% of the music player industry.
I'm a proud owner of an apple green iPod Nano :)

which brings me to a realization that maybe an iPod, or any music player, could really be a private thing, or an extension of self. The music synched in your iPod isn't something that the radio DJs programmed, it's usually rather of your own choice. Yes, your friends might help give you songs and new song suggestions but it is really our discretion in to what song you wanna listen. Miley Cyrus could be famous for Disney's sake but mind you, I've only got two of her songs in my music player: 7 things and The Climb -songs which i can tolerate ;p nevertheless, who knows who out there has Miley's complete copies of her album and songs.

Then, i can say that music players are a possible projection of our feelings and emotions. What we can't verbally express, we project it through the songs we listen to. Whoah! So what was I projecting/feeling during the times Lady Gaga's Telephone is on a loop? :)) Well, songs are created to express the singer's sentiments -it is an artistic expression since he find plain words direct, simple and straightforward. Idadaan nalang sa kanta. (Tell it through a song.) People can't force themselves to listen to songs they don't like -be it the lyrics, the beat or even the singer. As for me, I don't care if others think that people who listen to this particular singer is cool. If I don't like the artist/lyrics/beat, I don't like the song. I wouldn't bother damaging my ears with sound waves coming from a song I don't like.

If this is the case, then judging others through the songs in their music players seems too much. I can't call him emo just because he listens to Second Serenade or Paramore. I can't call her baduy, jologs, jeje, or cheap just because the songs in her iPod are obsolete and overrated. I can't call her sozy or cool just because she has the latest and hottest songs in her iPod. Judging a person by her playlist is like judging a book by its cover. Rather, why not take it as an opportunity to know someone better -what songs he/she likes, and why. You'll be surprised that knowing someone's playlist could speak well about the person, as well as or even better than online stalking or other forms of research :D

As for me, I listen to Lady Gaga, Paramore, etc and even KPop (Korean Pop) songs. but sadly I don't get to update my iPod since either I don't know the artist nor the title of the song I want to listen or my downloader's really slooow. My best chance would be to stumble upon a good song, know its title and artist, and hopefully download it or ask for a copy. but everyone knows that just like you can't have everything, you can't listen to everything :D

A little word of advice: please please opt to have a conversation with someone rather than immerse yourself in your own world with your music player and NEVER, if avoidable, wear earphones with people that matter. I know that iPods could create boundaries between the owner and his real world. there's really nothing wrong with trying to be alone in your own world for a while. but DONT go overboard. Mind you, the voices of the people you love are the best soundtrack you may wish to keep in your playlist :)

But if you can't really help but find that new person you just met at a party boring, or when things around you get dull, then I guess iPod to the rescue wouldn't be such a big deal. After all, music players are created for creatures with short-attention span in their genes. US :). If we don't like the song that's playing, then shifting it is as easy as pressing the right arrow button.


If you really love the song, put it on a playlist and a Repeat loop! :))
But don't overlisten or you'll end up hating your favorite song :DD