It's Just One of Those Days (Where Ya Don't Wanna Get Up)

Ugh. I had such a crazy morning.

My goal was to get my plane ticket to Australia. I needed to get the documentation for my reimbursement down to Canberra by November 30th and wanted to get it ASAP. I had a sinking feeling that I was running out of time.

Turns out, I actually was running out of time. Because of the snafu regarding my arrival date into the dorms in Canberra, I was actually going to get in one day earlier. Add to the fact that I really couldn't do that cheaper plane ticket via Hong Kong because the time between arrival in Sydney and departure for Canberra was too tight, and I was running out of options.

An hour's worth of searching at the Co-op travel agency led to a ticket that was 177,000yen. About $1700. My heart was falling, and I had a sinking feeling that I wasn't going to go to Australia.

&*%^$>.

Seriously.

So, with all abandon and muttering curses under my breath (at least I wasn't cursing in Greek, that would mean that it was REALLY bad), I left the co-op, got on my bike and hightailed it to the JTB on Sanjo. I got there in 15 minutes. My heart was pounding and I seriously was not exactly on the verge of tears, but I could willingly turn on the waterworks if I wanted to.

I go to the desk, and begin my search with the agent again. A ticket via Seoul came up, 100,000yen (about $1000USD). Woo-hoo!

Or...maybe not.

The flight from Seoul to Sydney was booked.

SERIOUSLY! Is everyone and their mother in Asia going to Sydney on January 27!

I offhandedly mentioned (in Japanese, of course) to the agent that I was there on Saturday and there was a ticket via JetStar, this Australian airline that is like Qantas. The agent got back to the computer, and typed away. At this point I was just thinking, "Oh feckit (or at least a bit more coarsely), I will just get the ticket even if it is $1700, pay in cash and put the rest on my card." (We can't use credit cards in the Co-op. Weird).

She takes the paper that had the Korea flights on it, and writes something on it:

1/27, KIX-->SYD 21:20-11:00 (1/28)
2/7, SYD-->KIX 12:00-20:00

Total: 101,000yen.
With taxes: 130,470yen.

Oh. Thank. God.

I hightailed it back to the library at the study abroad program that I am the CA for (because I have access to the wireless internet and a printer) and made my reservation for Wake Up! in Sydney. Printed out all necessary documentation for getting my reimbursement, and to prove to my teachers that yes, I am presenting at a conference. Last thing is to get confirmation for Wake Up! and to get my bus tickets ($30AUD total, not bad at all) to and from Canberra.

In fact, when I go to Australia on 1/27, I am making a connection in Brisbane, Mel's neck of the woods. Bit sad. But, I am only going to see the airport.

I ended up skipping the first half of my afternoon class because by that time I still hadn't eaten lunch, and I was not up for a cold sandwich. It's cold today! I wanted nabeyaki udon. So, I also skipped the first half of grammar too. But I did go to the second half and explained to my teacher (she is really cool) that I had to get my ticket today and I was having a hard time. Gave her the letter from the conference people, and a letter from me stating that I am going to be out of Japan during finals period. No problem. I take my exam February 8.

I am on my way!

Do I Come From the Land Down Under?

Come on, everyone knows that song.

I for one am not from the Land Down Under...

...but I am surely going to the Land Down Under!!

I come home after a trip to the Shimadzu factory (seriously it was dull, and this trumps everything right now) a bit down. I checked my email earlier via my friend's cell and no reply.

The-minute-I-turn-on-my-computer-and-check-into-gmail, a new email pops up (this is after I initially check it, I have a pop-up notifier).

I got accepted! Oh. My. God.

What's more...

...I got the travel stipend, room and board!!!

On a sad note, I will be going to Australia for the first time without Mel. And it looks like his return will be without me as well - his high school is having their reunion in October 2008, but I have school at that time, and possibly midterms as well.

So now I am celebrating by eating pastry and blasting The Cat Empire, one of my favorite bands from Australia. My day just gets better - they came out with a new cd!

OH. MY. GOD.

OH MY GOD I JUST GOT AN EMAIL FROM AUSTRALIA SAYING 'HERE IS THE FORM IF YOU NEED TO APPLY FOR A VISA' BUT I STILL DIDN'T GET AN EMAIL SAYING THAT I GOT IN IN THE FIRST PLACE SO I HAD TO EMAIL THEM BACK HELTER-SKELTER AND I STILL DON'T HAVE A RESPONSE YET!!!

And most, importantly...

DID I GET THE BURSARY?

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

You have NO idea of how much I am yelling at my computer right now, willing that gmail comes back with a response.

H-Japan is My God

Oh, how I worship my ListServ. I get emails about jobs (though I qualify for those in about 7 years, still nice to know that there is hope), conferences, events, books, etc. Through H-Japan, I found out about the conferences that I presented at during my time in Japan.

The closest thing that I can possibly get perhaps to worshiping some sort of deity for the H-Japan ListServ is going to Kitano Tenmangu Jinja - Kitano Tenmangu is the patron saint of calligraphy and students.

I get this email from the H-Japan ListServ today about this week-long series of workshops/mini conference of a sort at one of the top uni's in Australia (no, it's not in Sydney, it's in Canberra).

I am intrigued. Piqued, even. My interest is very piqued.

I look at the website.

"Squeeeeeeee!!!!"

Looks like right proper good fun - fun in both a geeky way (because this conference really does tailor to grad students and helps foster networks) and they have these things called a bursary.

I have never heard of the word "bursary" myself until I went to London - it is a fancy-schmancy word for "scholarship." Leave it to the English to make a nice word, then leave it to the Yanks to totally change things about.

This programme (note the English/Australian spelling everyone!) provides bursaries of up to $1000AUD for those that are overseas to cover travel costs. After a little quickie email conversation with the convenor (read: English way to say "director") of the Japan section, I am eligible to apply.

Very simple application: fill out a form, fax it and then send an email to the convenor with a one-page abstract of your current work. Applying for the bursary was simple as well - you just circle "Yes" on the form if you wish to be considered for it.

Form? Check
Fax form? Will do Monday (office hours are over and I would prefer to fax it during office hours, since Australia is in a similar time zone as Japan).
Abstract? Have it typed up, but I need to fix the formatting, plus update it a bit with what I have done last semester.

Wish me luck! I will get this all done before the September 30, deadline and I find out November 11.

In the meantime, I am going to go say a small prayer at Kitano Tenmangu this Sunday.

Conference SPLAT!

(Note: I do have access to internet. That doesn’t mean I want to pay for it. So unless I happen to get to the Apple Store in Ginza or Shinjuku, these posts are going to be uploaded when I get back to Kyoto, but will be dated on the day that I write them in Word.)

So, the conference is over and done with – now the REAL fun begins! To be quite honest, as much as I was happy to present my work and try to get some feedback, I had a lot of trepidation. I am still getting used to the whole “present your work at a conference, be prepared to be chewed up and spitten out in a good way.” The only constructive criticism that I got? That I should not use the word “abate” because it is an intransitive (or was it transitive? I forgot) verb. The one that I should really use is “mitigate.” Constructive, that.

Granted, I was terrified. I was nervous. It was my first time at this particular conference, and my first time at a conference that was run by THE professional association for my field. So, in effect to be all Japanese and use onomatopeia: SPLAT. Literally. It was even worse than the time I presented the EXACT SAME THING (albeit with some updates this time around) last December.

There is the main conference that is held in the States, but each country/region has their own English-language confernece, and the one I presented at was the largest one in Japan. So it’s pretty big. But not as big as the main one – at the main one, graduate students are not even allowed to present.

In spite of my morning splat in terms of speaking I did learn a few things about presenting:

1) Until you are very well established in your field and you really, truly know your stuff to be comfortable talking about it in front of 20+ people, then prepare a speech and read from it. Notes won’t cut it.
2) Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. Seriously.

Nonetheless, I got some mega conference-ing under my belt and am slowly getting more used to it. It was a lot of fun in that I actually met people – two girls to be specific: Kukhee and Jessica. They are both in a similar field, but good fun – one is actually on the Monbusho like me, but doing her Ph.D at Tokyo Uni. In fact, I am going to meet up with them for dinner this Tuesday in Shinjuku and one reason why meeting them was so much fun was because as Jessica put it – “It is GREAT to finally meet a fellow academic who cares about fashion!” I actually sat next to Jessica during a panel and left early, but ran into each other for lunch. Then we sat and talked for about 2-3 hours. I met Kukhee through Jessica, as the two of us (Jessica and I) split up for different panels. And let me say this – the food at the reception was killer. So yeah, in spite of my severe stage fright, cofnerneces are fun. Especially when you get to meet people like Kukhee and Jessica – you have really good conversations and you have fun ones as well.

It was quite all geeky but in the academic geeky sort of way. Given that I was the newbie and one of the youngest people there I just listened and watched a lot. I also asked a lot of questions – but not at the panels. Through Kukhee I met one professor who recently got his Ph.D at a particular uni that I am seriously eyeing for grad school; although he was not say a first or second year student who is still on campus most of the time, he told me he had a good experience and it is a good atmosphere. It’s not like one school which is out in the middle of nowhere, leading everyone to be all chummy, but rather a chummy-not-chummy sort of atmosphere. Meaning, everyone knows everyone and works together but it doesn’t mean that they are all up in everyone’s lives. There is more to life than just what is on campus; but in the case of the city school it is precisely because it is in the city.

But I digress. Back to Tokyo. I forgot to mention yesterday, that while I was huffing and puffing during my first foray into the Tokyo train system(s – there are three major train system,s all of which share stations at some points but you have to get out then back in if you want to transfer from one line to another. It’s messy but I think the NYC system is crazier), I passed by a sumo wrestler. He was wearing kimono and doing something with his cell phone. He wasn’t that big but you could tell that he was a sumo wrestler. I actually did a double take.

After the conference today, I went over to a neighborhood a little west of Ikebukuro, where one of the members of my forum, Mark lives with his family. I had asked him about changing my tragus earring to something that I can take out myself for when I have to (say, wedding – I don’t think a tragus piercing would go well in wedding photos). He invited me for dinner and I had a really good time. His son is so adorable!

I got back to my hotel at about 11pm – at first I was a bit nervous on going around Tokyo at night by myself, but Mark pointed out that the Kansai area is a bit more dangerous, especially with the yakuza presence (the Japanese mob) which is really well established in Kobe. There are girls in the miniskirts with over $1000 in their bags who come home piss-drunk at 3 in the morning and it’s totally safe, he said. I just have some trepidation because I don’t know Tokyo; at first, I didn’t know Kyoto, but now I am totally fine with it. Add to the fact that I am by myself and just meh. But I am getting more used to it.

Ok, for the LAST TIME...

...I am NOT a professor!

Get it straight!

I did not write it anywhere in my application. I know that you think that that is the safest action so that you do not offend anyone, but when you have the 5 different options for salutation (Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms./Dr.) and I do NOT choose `Dr.` obviously I am not a doctor!

In other news, I just got my official notification that I was accepted to the Asian Studies Conference Japan in Tokyo this June - in my Spam box.

Doctor Ja Arimasen, Kenkyuusei Desu

To all the professors that read this blog:

What was it like for you when you first saw your name in print?

I can easily tell you how I felt.

As my crazy grammar teacher goes to explain the concept of surprise with intransitive verbs (the devils themselves) – “‘Oh my god-do’ desu.”

Multiply that by a million.



This weekend was the East Asian Urban and Architecture History Conference – everyone probably already knows this by now. Obviously, since my paper was accepted, I knew that it was going to be published – but it’s quite another thing when you ACTUALLY see it in print and you hold the physical copy in your hands. The longer version of my undergrad thesis is on the internet, but books and journals are still preferred.

When I got my hands on the conference proceedings, I searched for my paper. When I found it – in Volume II – I just kept looking at it. That’s my NAME! Interspersed with people who have PhDs and graduate students with Master’s degrees, my name is THERE! The volume has an actual ISBN number! I practically molested the book – I just kept hold it and turning back to my paper to look at it the whole day.

I was a bit nervous about my presentation – I had timed myself and was a bit over the time but I figured I would just play it by ear and talk really fast. I was supposed to be second in my panel, but the first person wasn’t there so I went first. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t very prepared to go first because I knew I was going to be second. I wasn’t able to get to my last slide, but that was alright.

The kicker was when the moderator (who was Japanese) tried to pronounce my last name. It’s pretty simple for a Greek name, but imagine if it was something like “Hatzicharalambous.” She says my name but calls me “Dr. Marangos.” Again they do that – oh dear, it is a nice feeling but I still feel that I need to correct them because it’s not true. Plus, I was still afraid that with my presentation, my head was going to be put on the butcher block and I have this feeling that students have a bit more license to make mistakes. So in front of everyone, I say “Iie, sumimasen, doctor ja arimasen, kenkyuusei desu.” (Sorry, but I am not a doctor, I am a research student.)

The interesting thing is I was placed in the “Modern Urban Planning” panel. The “modern” part I get easily – rule of thumb is anything after 1868 is “modern” no holds barred. I don’t do Tokugawa/Edo stuff so I am not in the fuzzy area – at least in that respect. What is fuzzy is under what sphere does my project really belong to? I thought I would be under “Modern Urban History” if anything but either the organizers know better, or there was too much in the latter panel and not enough in the former.

When I first got to Japan, I felt rather discouraged to be quite honest; I was afraid that I wouldn’t get enough of the language or even master it well enough to get even to the contemporary Japanese works. Every era of Japan has different Japanese as one person I met at the conference pointed out – he changed from Taisho to contemporary Japan simply because the Japanese was too hard. I knew that with my project I have in effect signed up for academic torture but before I came to Japan I felt that I could do it. When I came here, I felt very discouraged and thought that it was totally pointless and that maybe I should have listened to the relatives and done pre-med. Maybe it was the result of watching too much Grey’s Anatomy (that show is ridiculously addicting). I surely wasn’t the only one with the “GA Effect” – however, Alisa and me know that it isn’t as glamorous as it looks. McVet, McDreamy and McSteamy do not exist in real life. Pre-med is just as hard as mastering Japanese and company but at least it was in English.

Pretty much, I was at a standstill – as I told Professor S. of Columbia, I feel that there is this really really thick concrete wall called “Japanese and the Archives” in my way and I am barely making a dent in it. I have a chisel the size of a toothpick. I need a bloody sledgehammer, dammit. And that is what is really frustrating.

Being at this conference helped a lot in terms of whether or not all this is really worth it. I got a lot of good feedback about my paper from various professors back in the States and as Professor S. of Uni Sydney points out, my project falls under various “fields” if you will –

1) Architectural History
2) Cultural History
3) Urban Studies/History
4) Urban Planning
5) Modernity Theory
and
6) The overall narrative of Modern Japanese history

According to him, this is a good thing because it can appeal to many audiences at the same time. It’s multi-tasking. Problem for me come this summer and next fall – um…which graduate program do I apply to? I would have definitely wanted to work with Professor S. ,as according to one professor I met here, he is the “granddaddy of urban history” (Columbia) but he is in Kyoto now. Not Columbia. Plus, I want to work at Columbia (may the academic gods shine on me PLEASE come 6 years from now) and word on the academic street is, “Don’t go to school where you want to teach.” So anything in NYC proper is out (including NYU) and that idea is down and out on both counts.

Applying to grad school (the second time around!) is going to be a hell of a lot messier than I thought. I need to make charts again. And start emailing a lot of people. And do a lot of research on the profs and use my sister’s account to hack into JSTOR to see what these profs have been writing about. I am totally clueless right now so many things to consider, like can I take courses from multiple departments such as History and East Asian Civilizations? Can I take introductory courses on architectural theory and methodology? Will all of this count?!?!?!?

Bah bloody humbug. Nonetheless, in spite of the fact that I am now more confused than ever at least on the “What subject am I?” question, some good things came out of this conference:

1) I am published!
2) I meet people – who actually like my project
3) I get some more ideas on my project
4) Got some ideas for resources on project
5) Eye-opener in terms of the confusing question of “What subject am I?”
6) Get practice speaking in front of people
and
7) I really know that my project is worth something.

I have to start on my background reading – I know of a few books that I am going to definitely need to read all of so I am going to get those off of half.com for my own reference and get those shipped over to me here. I am going to meet Columbia Professor S. on Tuesday so I will ask for some more suggestions from him, and read his books while I am at it. And look up this one Japanese guy – he was mentioned in a paper so I am going to look up that exact reference. I need to be proactive, so that’s why I am going to look up the book (And read Nippon VOGUE for fun as well. If I am going to read Japanese magazines, might as well start with a good one.).

Say a prayer – I am taking the plunge.

Is There a DOCTOR in the House?

I can't help but giggle.

I got a letter today from the people who are heading that conference at Kyoto this December. The one that a shorter version (with a BIG disclaimer on it) of my thesis is going to published at.

The kicker?

The mailing label says the following:

"Dr. (my last name), Maria"

DOCTOR!!!


OoOoO - it's a cool feeling, even though its about 6 years premature. There was no place on the submission form that I would have checked off the box for my salutation, so it was a mistake on their part.

However, there is a downside. Not so much as a downside, but something that makes me very nervous.

I have to "present my findings." As in, possibly be subjected to severe scrutiny and my face turning red and me stuttering. It's in English, thank god- imagine me having to do that in Japanese. I would have to make a speech, try to translate it, and then be totally clueless when I have to answer questions.

As Prof M. once told me, "Powerpoint is good because it puts the audiences eyes on the screen as opposed to you."

I am going to dig up all my maps and pictures that I was not able to use in my paper. Powerpoint is going to be my friend.

Published!

Everyone,

head on over to the following:

www.newpaltz.edu/asianstudies/nycas/

I am PUBLISHED!*

There is a Midwest Conference on Asian Studies and I am going to submit my thesis for that one just to see. Again, can't go to the conference, but if I am selected, this time the paper will be published in an actual, hard-copy, physical journal of undergraduate research.

No word yet on the Kyoto Architectual History Conference. I should probably e-mail that professor in Australia, since I got all my questions answered through him last time.

*If you count the internet as a means of publication. The link is dead at the moment, so I hope thats fixed soon.