Category: College Life

I am tired of just updates?

I am tired of just updates?

by eastasianlover ♥ 4 Comments

Hello everyone, ‘sup?

Yes, I am tired of providing just updates of my life but it so happens that I am entangled in so many things, that even though I wanna write regularly, I just am unable to. You do understand that ‘so many things’ includes anime and drama watching, right?

Also, my 2nd semester at CMU is over now, so I am a bit relaxed. Work starts again in one week, although I am still giving time to library work till the end of month. Pretty good hiring manager we have in the library, he let me work for extra 2 weeks.

Anyway, I just thought I would post a reflection of my last sem before moving on on this blog as well as in my life. These 5 months have been the most hectic months of my life. I have never had such a mess of my routine, not even when I was preparing for those gruesome engineering entrance tests. But after everything, I have a decent GPA, had good food throughout the semester, time for language classes and CMU anime club and I was successful in earning my daily expenses for all five months. I am very proud of the fact that I was kind of able to juggle everything despite the belief around me that I won’t be able to (including me and my family, just to add). I’ve probably never enjoyed my tremendous work this much as well.

And, I have come to fall for books once again, though my internet addiction doesn’t leave time to take up many. I am trying to avoid my laptop these days and pick up some more books including some bilingual books. I hope I am able to stick to my plan. Also, been trying to get back to 9-4 sleep schedule. It got messed up thanks to my 2 night shifts per week. I don’t regret my 2nd sem at all though, like I have some regrets in the first sem in terms of courses taken and work I did. I could’ve definitely done more and I discovered my immense capacity last sem.

Regarding my language learning journey, well, I have stopped giving time to Japanese altogether. I want to start again with Wanikani but it will take some courage to see those 1400 reviews and 400 new lessons. As I said in previous post, I took up Russian out of pure curiosity and although, now I know the alphabets, I am still losing interest. I don’t know if it was Duolingo or just me being lazy. I’ll try to attend the whole beginners course again in summers, hopefully I’ll regain the interest. Since, I had experience with Italian, I decided to try Spanish this summer and it’s super easy thanks to the 5 months I dedicated to Italian, though I don’t remember much there, to be honest. I do, however, recognize the similar words in Spanish and Italian. I am still continuing with my Korean classes, and have moved to intermediate level. Just need more practice. The pace of the classes I am attending is amazing. Just that I need to practice all those somewhere.

All in all, I have come to realize CMU community is one of those, which inspires you to achieve new heights. I have never been that eager to absorb knowledge through reading/ surfing. I keep pestering my friends at Indian Anime Club to study with me so that they and I, all remain motivated. I never had that urge to improve my knowledge in BITS (not that I am furious about that or anything, it had its own pros. If not for BITS, I would have never discovered my passion for East Asian culture and foreign languages). So anyway, I want to read more and more books now. My job at library has made me discover so many books, I can simply spend my whole summer holed up in library and reading books. I obviously, cannot be Elon Musk, reading 2 books per day, but I wanna keep my pace at 3 books per week now. Of course, my research would take up majority of my time, but hopefully I’ll utilize my weekends then. Not only I have access to CMU’s library, I know what books to find where in Carnegie Library as well. So, I can just go there, find a corner and start reading. Argh, it’s so frustrating, why didn’t I rediscover my love for books sooner? Anyway, it’s time for me to go finish the latest book I am reading.

See you guys next time, hopefully with a review.

P.S.: As I said above, it’s a matter of proper time management and help around you. If a lazy person can juggle research, 5 courses, 2 night shifts per week with classes on the same day when the night shift ended (including one compulsory presentation on one of those days) and cooking at home, any one can! I have always been an advocate of good home cooked healthy food and I managed them all. And this is coming from a person who used to spend all her time in bed watching anime all the time, once. It won’t be wrong to say that what I did last sem was a kind of an experiment, and a successful one at that, to test my limits and to prove to myself that it’s not impossible as I was told by people around. There are a whole lot of people who say, all hail frozen stuff, they become your life because no time. Well, honestly, to each their own. But I definitely did it. Also, I had lots of help from my friends  when it came to courses. So right help and right techniques, do help.

My Penny Pinching Secrets

My Penny Pinching Secrets

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Continuing from my last post I think it’s about time that I write a bit about my finances. I won’t elaborate much but I am glad I am maintaining at about (500 +/- 30)$ per month including rent, utilities and groceries.

As I said last time, I have heard and read many stories where a lot of students couldn’t afford their rent or food. Hence, they would live in shabby places and eat noodles to save on time and money. Honestly speaking, I draw my inspiration from them. I am fortunate to have enough to live in an apartment and eat all my meals everyday. However, I won’t deny that I still live a frugal lifestyle, without spending much on luxuries. But if I do find something which I would regret not buying later, I do go ahead with that purchase. Before I start, I would say that after my rent, phone, internet and electricity bills, I am left with about 80$ a month for groceries and other things.

Now, it is not to say that I cannot ask for more. I definitely can. But, to be honest, loans scare me. Debt is always scary, even if you have a job with you. Also, it doesn’t fit right with me that I ask my parents for money beyond absolute necessity (this is the Indian scenario and parents support their children financially till whenever parents wish). Hence, I try. Keeping my budget under 500 has been difficult. It means less occasional outings whether for food or vacations or just shopping. I did try some things to earn from here and there, since I was a new student and couldn’t really get an on campus job last sem. So, what did I do? Here is a list:

  1. I got my rent reduced because I agreed to live in living room: We are three students sharing a 2 bed 2 bath apartment (sharing an apartment rather than having your own studio apartment is always cheaper). Hence, the third person had to manage with living room. I agreed to live in the living room for a reduction of 50$ per month in my rent. With a separator, it pretty much feels like a room/ private space to me. So, I am happy. For that, your flatmates need to be adjusting though. My flatmate who has a private bath in her room was fine with her rent increasing by 50$ per month, then only I could do this.
    rent-reduced
  2. I signed up for various apps where I could save/ earn money: Ok, so this is bit of a stretch, but I signed up for various grocery cashback apps which give cashback on select grocery items in their catalogs. They are especially useful for people who eat (especially cook) non-veg and have drinks. I haven’t cashed out anything from these apps yet apart from an Amazon Gift card of very small amount from ReceiptPal and 27$ worth check from InboxDollars very recently. I won’t review any of those because there are plenty reviews out there. However, I would list down what all I use:
    1. InboxDollars: This is a survey site where you can earn money doing various activities apart from taking surveys. The thing I like the most about them is their TV section. I put the TV on on the website and keep doing my work. After sometime, it does ask to click a button to confirm if I have been watching the videos, but even if I am not, I can just refresh the page and the playlist of videos starts all over again. (They have put a cap of 50 cents per day recently which is disappointing!)
      I recently cashed out a 27$ check from them after three months of joining. That too, because I did not know about the earnings from TV section. Earnings from occasional surveys add up too.
      Beware that this is not a place where you can become rich or earn your rent. But it’s enough to make about 30 bucks per two months passively. If you do surveys (which are hard to qualify for, just a heads up) and other stuff actively, you can earn more. People say they have made upto 70$ per month on the site being more active. Well, grad students don’t have that much time.
      Right now they’re giving 5$ to any new member who joins. And if you’re interested, you can use my referral as well: InboxDollar Referral
      inboxdollar
    2. Apps like Checkout51, Ibotta, Shopmium, SavingStar: They all are apps which give cashback on groceries you buy. They have new list of items every week and you just have to unlock that particular item and scan your receipt. While Ibotta has many selections, they generally need membership details for the given store and Aldi is not there (the place where I do my major grocery shopping from.)
      Checkout51 has number of stores but their variety  in items is dropping down. However, these both would be my go to cashback apps. I haven’t cashed out anything from these yet but it never hurts to get some cents back on your purchase every time passively. One day, they will all add up. Walmart’s Saving Catcher is another option if you do your major shopping from Walmart. I’ll write down the referral codes for these too –
      Ibotta: rflsgnl (if you sign up using this code, you earn 10$ and I get 5$).
      I still don’t know how coupons work, but if I ever get time, I would like to try those too!

    3. Apps like ReceiptPal, Yaarlo: I particularly like Receiptpal because you get a 1$ increment in Amazon Gift card for each 16 receipts you upload on their app. It can be anything whatever you buy. You read it right! I did sign up for Yaarlo but I am not very happy with its earnings. Nonetheless, nothing goes in snapping a picture or two of your grocery receipts. Another app is ReceiptHog, similar ot ReceiptPal, however they don’t have any space with them and I have been on the waiting list for 3 months already. I won’t really recommend that.
      Referral Code: Yaarlo: 4AUCKPG1667
      The only catch here is, none of them is super fast. For some, it might be time consuming to just check out offers too. I check them out on bus or when I am idling around with social media etc. But trust me, when I received that 27$ check on 5th Jan from InboxDollars (I had won a 10$ worth target gift card too earlier), and when I deposited it to my account, I was overjoyed. Seeing that account balance going up always makes one happy.

  3. I stopped eating outside: Not exactly. But yeah, I do my cooking entirely at home. Not only do I save money but my diet restrictions also has something to do with it. I am a vegetarian. I don’t eat eggs even in things like cake etc. but in US even pasta can have egg. Hence, I avoid all outside food whenever I can. A lot of people complain they don’t get time to cook because cooking takes up a lot of time. I have observed that with time, you start taking less and less time in cooking. Also, you can always spend less time on facebook.
    Home cooked food is fresh, healthy and cheap (I did some calculations and one meal comes out to be less than a dollar when I cook all the meals in a month by myself). And I will emphasize on healthy. My parents, who have always had healthy food in their youth are struggling in their 40s. I can’t imagine maintaining my body that long given all the junk I have already consumed. I want to keep fit with exercise and good diet. That is also one motivation behind me cooking everyday. I also save time when I make all my meals for the day in the morning. Or may be on Sunday and use them till Tuesday. Whatever arrangement works for you. That one hour affair pays me for the whole day(s). Proper nutrition also means more energy and better concentration.

  4. I participated in researches: A lot of colleges are involved in researches where they need help of human subjects. Not talking about experiments on you but just interviewing, aptitude tests kind of thing. Try to find if that happens in your college. Mine has a huge system where various studies are available. They don’t pay much but if doing fun activities for 20 minutes is giving me 10-15 bucks, I am totally up for it.
    The mistake I did was, I was too ashamed and egoistic to sign up for them for a meager amount. But when I participated for the first time, I found it to be a relaxing activity. The hospital and another university near me pays as high as 600$ for some studies. Without an SSN, that particular study would have paid me 150$. Not bad for 6 hours of your life. (I didn’t qualify for it though, so that’s that).

  5. Find an on-campus job: Goes without saying. It is the best way to earn money and add something on your resume. Because I did not have one last sem, I tried all of the above to make/ save some extra.

Some more things you can do is to stay away from subscriptions you don’t need. I don’t really watch TV, so I don’t have any netflix or hulu subscription. I use WhatsApp or free video calling apps to call home. Another thing I have heard about is, you can, in general negotiate your monthly bills in US. I have no experience in that at all though. Investment? Well sure, if you can. I don’t have that much money or aptitude to start investing in US yet, but some day soon.

Initial expenditures can blow anyone away. I spent whopping 2000$ in my first one and a half month here. After that, I have been trying to take care of my budget. I did start noting down all my expenditures. Writing down keeps my desire to spend more in check (or checking your account balance frequently 😛). I am not bothered about people saying that I am stingy. Because at the end of the day, I want to be in less and less debt without ruining my health.
I know the feeling of spending my hard earned money without any pressure of loans on me and I would like to achieve that state as soon as possible. Hence, I am not afraid, not concerned of ‘missing out on stuff’ right now. Nor do I forget to reward myself once in a while with good food or something I really wish to buy. I rewarded myself with food from my favorite restaurant very recently on finally landing an on-campus job. These kind of rewards keep me motivated to do better as well.

So, these were some of the things I have been following till now to manage my finances in US. What are your pet peeves?

(Pics credits to their respective owners)

New Year Greetings and Updates

New Year Greetings and Updates

by eastasianlover ♥ 2 Comments

Oops! I skipped two weekends again? Oh no!

Anyway, a very warm and happy new year to everyone. Another year has passed by and I already did a review of my 2016. However, I do think I wrote that post a bit early as a lot has happened after that. I won’t bore you with those trivial details, but I wrote in the same post that I would tell everyone a bit about how I came to love blogging again.

Some time last year, no wait, it’s 2017 and I am talking about 2015, so last to last year, I started feeling that posting on my blog at one particular fixed time had become a task. I had never heard of post schedulers and my schedule has always been erratic. Sometimes I had so much to write about, other times, nothing at all. For keeping posting schedule on track, I even tried to rope in some of fellow anime watchers and reviewers to do some guest posting on my blog, but they turned out to be exactly like me lol, and the plan failed. In the end, I was just procrastinating. I did it to the point that I would watch 10 shows, begin with the writing process, forget about the post and the show and the unfinished post would remain in my drafts, forever!

This year, after joining CMU, I took a course in Science Technology and Innovation Policy. It was about 8 weeks course (half a semester) and we were asked to write a weekly blog entry in the latter half of the course. We were also supposed to write a weekly journal describing what we learnt in the class that week.

Now most of the people, including me, would say that when something you like doing becomes a necessary task to be done, it becomes boring, you lose motivation to do it. It was the case in here too, but I don’t know why, it actually became fun later. And I decided to take up blogging here again. I posted one or two posts right after my semester got over and I fell down in the trap of k-dramas and anime again. However, I haven’t lost the motivation to write till now.

And, I am yet to discover the reason for that. If I could apply that reason to everything I do, wouldn’t I start enjoying every activity, every task? I hope I will realize that sooner. Till then, I will keep going with sheer determination.

Side Story 1: How did you spend you new year? I spent my new year with running man, and maaaan, it’s so hilarious. The initial episodes are crazy. Finding the subbed episodes is tough of course, but people from respective fandoms of idols guesting on the show have done a great job and I am so thankful to them. I do hope SBS starts officially translating shows like KBS one day so that international fans can enjoy them too. They get to earn through YouTube ads, so why not?

Today’s song: This song has been my solace and motto for quite some time now:

I Am Finally At CMU!

I Am Finally At CMU!

by eastasianlover ♥ 6 Comments

Hi guys,

It’s been quite a while since I came to my blog (I have been monitoring my stats though, lol). And the reason is, *drum roll* I have been preparing for higher studies. I finally landed in US three weeks ago. And the college I am going to attend is Carnegie Mellon University. Studying in such a reputed university is a dream come true. Which also means more responsibilities and lesser time.

I couldn’t keep up my schedule while preparing for here, I can’t imagine if I will get time for writing. But I promise, I’ll try my best. So, the classes have started and I am still pretty confused about the classes I should take. I have registered for 4 courses, which everyone says is more than enough for a master student but I just feel like I am too free. May be because it’s just the second day of the classes.

But otherwise, the profs are cool, everyone is really helpful and what I like the most is the collaborative nature of the education here. No wait! On second thought, what I like the most is that you can eat and drink in the class and no one would bother you. Sometimes, when you enter the class, it’s smelling of salad, but yeah, pretty convenient.

Food reminds me, it’s really difficult to get used to American diet. I am vegetarian plus I don’t eat eggs in anything, not even cakes and stuff. On the top of that, I am not very fond of cheese either. So eating outside is no option for me anyway. I generally cook for myself, but I need to improve in this field too *sigh*

Oh, the free goodies! Yesss! I need to brag about it! I am sure this is the culture of US colleges, but there are so many events that take place everyday. And we get so many freebies, like anything. Which is a good thing, I think. I just hope I get funding for my masters from somewhere. That’s a challenge too.

Anyway, I’ll go back to cooking dinner and try to take time out to post some pics from Pittsburgh and CMU. Or maybe some trip I take in US since it’s a new chapter and a new place….

Farewells and Exams and Final days

Farewells and Exams and Final days

by eastasianlover ♥ 2 Comments

“Yo b****es! I’m back!” (Just Kidding)

After a long break of one month, I am back. It’s farewell time here, farewell to the place where I stayed for 4 years, farewell to people whom I got to know and make great friends with, farewell to a phase of my life and most importantly, farewell to downloaders and easily available anime episodes on DC ｡･ﾟﾟ･(>д<)･ﾟﾟ･｡

And in the mean time, I have added 50+ anime to my list. Bwahahaha, my speed! (￣▼￣) And many are on my plan to watch list. I was able to get hands on a lot of good series. I’m sure I would be writing about them soon. That reminds me, this season’s anime line up is too good. I am liking most of the anime and I am always looking forward to the episodes (though I know they’ll come on saturday or sunday or monday lol)

But my language studies went in a slump, same as my will to write. I mean I haven’t even finished with my Thailand’s journey (-_-*). Not that it has come back, but I am writing now because I should. 1 year back when I started writing, I was just writing for my sake. Then, sometime later it became a task – not fair. Now, I am a little refreshed and I have a lot of material to talk about which includes anime and anime.

That again reminds me, we formed a small anime group in my college. Anime club was a dream which couldn’t be fulfilled. It’s nice to meet new people though who have same interest as me, at the end of the semester, talk about anime and have dinner. But the clashing schedules posed a lot of difficulties. After so many cancellations and reschedulings, we finally met… Finally, a small custom kind of thing from past two years…. I hope the juniors continue it after we’re gone.

So, anyway, I was thinking of doing a monthly post on “Why anime is not for kids only” starting from tomorrow. The main motivation is that a lot of people either think that they are just cartoons meant for small kids or stop after watching death note because that becomes the ultimate story for them, anything else unable to surpass it (which actually frustrates me a lot (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ I mean, are we anime lovers stupid or something, devoting our time to other anime if death note is the end? Not against the anime though, people do find it really different than what they usually watch. But so are the others… that nobody understands.)

Oh, yeah! I was talking about last days in my college. 2 days left and I’ll be out. These carefree days will be gone. And I’ll step into reality, from which I was running away till now, hiding in the 2D world. I won’t be able to do it anymore…….

Today’s song – This song has been on my playlist for quite sometime. And the name is so suitable – 

Look what I found!

Look what I found!

by eastasianlover ♥ 3 Comments

I found this book in our library! Our university’s library! There are three more novels like this. They are too high levelled for me. But nonetheless, I got one issued. Finally, an authentic Japanese novel! Owning it for two weeks is enough for me, even if I can’t translate the whole text 😀 😀

The Izu Dancer 3
The Cover
The Izu Dancer 2
Reads: A gift to the brothers and sisters of India, Katuro Koga, Japan, 3-12-64 (It’s so old!!!)
The Izu Dancer 1
The Cover Page
The Izu Dancer 5
One of the pages – Original Text
The Izu Dancer 4
The translated text

 

Today’s song – I have switched to Japanese Bands again and found 3! Now I’ve a lot of songs to post with my posts 🙂

Today’s from Scandal. This song is one of the OSTs for Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood – 

 

How language learning helped me in my interview

How language learning helped me in my interview

by eastasianlover ♥ 2 Comments

So, as I told in my last post, I appeared through the interview yesterday. Although language learning has been written on my resume from the beginning itself, nobody had asked me about it till now. Yesterday they asked me for the first time – about my level and all. And I told them the truth – what all I can do with Japanese and Korean and Thai. It took like five minutes of my interview. That means they were interested in that aspect of me too.

Yesterday’s firm (which is my employer now XD) was a first for me in many ways – I cleared my first GD of my life. The topic was related to current Indian political scenario and even a person, who doesn’t read much newspaper should be able to speak on this particular topic, coz it’s all over internet these days, you know?

So where was I? Ah! Yeah. The main thing I wanted to tell was that I was  a depressed soul before yesterday – going for tests and all everyday, missing classes (though I’m not that much of a class going person), the fun others already placed people were having and such were all frustrating me. I had started searching for a career in languages.

And then I came across this particular article where people had listed their experiences with languages and their current jobs. Quite awesome experiences. The only difference was, they all had degrees in modern languages or the particular language of interest whereas I am a complete self learner.

And then they said, “Oh! You’ve listed Korean and Japanese in your resume. Then you can do project in Japan!!” I was on the seventh heaven…… So yes, finally, my language learning did me wonders. 🙂 So now I gotta work harder for the languages and increase my level soon.

Today’s Song – Oh yes, the third and last song from my current playlist of DISH//. Technically, since my last post was published today only, I should’ve inserted that song only. But oh well….

Freedom

Freedom

by eastasianlover ♥ 3 Comments

Ok, so to declare, I’m finally free. I got placed today and now I’ve a lot of free time on my hands (or so I hope). It’s the best part of being a BITSian. If you’re a single degree student, your official courses finish in 3rd year only. All you’re left with is six electives which people generally start with their 2nd year. So by the time you reach the last sem, you’re done with at least 3 electives (That’s for 2010 batch or before. Now things have changed, so I think it’s 4 electives by the starting of 4th year.) To conclude, I just have 2 subjects this sem and then I graduate. So I’m gonna make a list here of what I’m gonna do which I soo wanted to but couldn’t till now. Here goes my list:
1. Languages – My language studies have lagged far far behind and I’m starting to have second thoughts about TOPIK this season. But I don’t want to give up now. So I’ll go ahead with it nonetheless.
2. Blogging – Ah my posts! I have watched and read so much already that I have tons of things to review, not to mention the trips I took in Thailand and haven’t posted reviews for them. I’ll start working on them now.
3. Coding – Although I was ranting about it recently, but now, I’ve seen the trend of recruiting and the firm I’m going to, also requires some amount of coding. So yeah, I’m gonna learn that.
4. Novels – Ooh the library, I’m coming to you. BITS Pilani’s library has got an awesome collection of novels and I’m gonna read as much as I can.
5. Drawing and Sketching – I soo wanted to resume with the designing and animation work. Now I can work in that direction too.
6. Coursera – I’m pretty sure, you must have heard about the trending MOOCs all over the internet. I need to catch up with the ones I’ve signed up for.
7. Reading – My GK is poor – like very poor. I need to read up a lot of material and improve in that area too.
8. Sleeping – Of course. How can the bucket list be complete without this? Gotta take a lot of rest now. No formals, no tests, no waking up early and dressing up, no going to 1 km far away institute to take tests in so cold a weather.

Any suggestions for me that I can add to the list? I think I can take up a musical instrument too. Also, look forward to a lot of reviews – be it places, mangas or dramas. See you soon…..

Today’s song – I have only this song for now from my newly discovered J-Band Dish//

From Thailand to Pilani – Last thoughts on Thailand

From Thailand to Pilani – Last thoughts on Thailand

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hi all,

I am back to Pilani where my college BITS is situated because placement season has started here. I still am in love with the life I had for the past six months and it’s hard to adjust back here. Not to mention the chilling winters.

I know I said I would update on my several last trips in Thailand and I indeed had fun in mountains there. Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are really cool places to visit. But I really didn’t get any time to even update my Erawan Waterfalls post after 4th level which I said I would update that very day.

So I’m here to reminisce about my last week in Thailand – 9th to 15th Dec and my recent life. I with my friends came back from Chiang Mai on 9th morning. Went straight to office and slept a little in the office itself. My friend had the leverage to take a leave so she did that.

10th was a holiday so I went to Bangkok all alone. But my fate, I had less money than I thought left with me so I had to come back earlier than I had planned. But I wanted to buy gifts for people. I could only buy chopsticks for some Japanese enthusiasts in my college. Damn! I should’ve asked for money on monday itself.

Rest four days went into last parties with everyone and farewells to us. Enjoyed a lot. Thais are really fun and caring as well as carefree people. I learnt a lot from those around me. They know how to enjoy life. Indians are a bit lacking in that. I was fearing if I would be able to reach India considering the protests going on but everything went on smoothly (except the excess luggage I had to pay for and then my worst experience at IGI International Airport, India but well, that’s not Thailand)

I would just say I had time of my life there and it’s the best thing that could happen to me in my college life. One must surely go to Thailand and enjoy life there. I generally don’t get attached to people or places but this experience really is unforgettable. I will rest my main post here for now. Many photos are to come in one-two days (Since I am jobless right now. Chemical companies, where are you? TT_TT) but I can’t promise anything either.

Side Story 1: I had prepared gifts for people there. I wanted to do more but since I got my stipend second last day, I had to go for old style wooden photo frames and company color printed photos. The people whom I gave them to did seem touched by the gifts and I got Korean chopsticks from one very dear couple as a return gift. Now I own the things directly from Japan and South Korea. Very happiieeee!!!!

My Korean Chopsticks
My Korean Chopsticks

Side Story 2: I had my first job interview yesterday. At least I was comfortable and did not shake in between. I would still say I am lacking in my technical knowledge and I really won’t deny that fact. If I had technical knowledge, I would’ve got better grades. But how do I tell people that I love learning by doing? Those textbooks don’t appeal to me, what attracts me are the real life equipments. Sigh!

Before everything else, I need to update my previous post. So much work >.<

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Above are some of the things which were kind of very amusing to me. India has variety of fruits but the fruits of Thailand are very different and tasty. And you can get the already cut and packed fruits very cheap. The best part, you can eat them coz they look hygienic.

About Christmas tree, yes I haven’t seen those big trees in India. You may find small ones and I don’t know the trend now but there, the Christmas spirit is much greater than here.

Food is really delicious too. At least I didn’t have to see people savoring them before me considering I am veg. They had veg food for me too 🙂 Ah! So hungry! Gotta go and grab something…..

What Am I Doing?

What Am I Doing?

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment

So yesterday, I didn’t have much work at the company, so I took out time to search about internships. What other resource better than wordpress? Alright, I just wanted to see what other’s experiences are and if possible, some opportunities, may be? That’s because, I had been discovering a lot of things here recently (like lucky draws and online free classes). So I thought, may be, may be, I’ll get to see some posts with internship opportunities?

That aside, I did get a lot of posts about people’s recent intern experiences and it was, seriously, fun to read them. A lot of them also told about things like what you can gain, how it helps your resume, and that today’s trend is shifting to hiring interns in the same company from doing job interviews to hire freshers. As I was reading various stories, only one thought was coming to my mind – “what am I doing?” I know I’m doing my training too (which actually can’t be called internship) and I do get a lot of time after and before that. But time is flying so fast. Almost a month has been finished and I haven’t been able to start what I had in my mind.

I have a lot of things I want to learn and do in my life, and I’m sure everybody has. But I keep realizing every now and then, that I’m not doing enough for it. Sure there are circumstances sometimes (in my case most of the times, but that may, as well, be an excuse) but one has to work hard. Every morning, I wake up with the thought, that I have to do something, something substantial so that when I go to bed and analyse my day, I can have that satisfaction, that yes, I achieved something today. But no. All I keep doing is watching K-Dramas whenever I get unrestricted net (i.e. out of the company). Sigh!

Oh! That reminds me, I was watching ‘We Got Married’ Khuntoria Couple. That couple has been the only one till now, which felt real real. I just love their chemistry. I know, it’s a thing of past. To tell you the truth, I have been against this show and even though, I watch it, I still am. I started this show with TeukSo couple. I know I am gonna cry I reach on the end for this couple. Now-a-days, it totally looks acting. But it still is cruel.

You make a pair and have them act as husband-wife for, don’t know, how much time. Isn’t it obvious, people can develop real feeling? Alright, they are professionals. I understand. But what I see is, the idols are, generally, not allowed to date (not that they don’t but still). And suddenly, they (some of them) get opportunity to share their life with another person (don’t tell me they share their life with their fans too, I know that but realize, it’s much more with that person). They do events for each other, even during concerts; preparing food, one house (though it’s only one day per week), going on vacations, meeting each other’s family and friends and even wedding photoshoots. And, after a year or so, they are asked to break up just like that. It’s so heart breaking for people like me, how would it be for them?

Khuntoria Couple
Khuntoria Couple

For those, who don’t know what “We Got Married” is, it is a South Korean reality show, where they make a guy from entertainment industry marry (not literally) a girl from the industry. They take interviews of idols and then based on their answers, choose the partners. The couple is not told about their partners and the first meeting is to know who that person is. The starting is always heart racing (I mean for the couples for whom I have seen the show). How will they react, what will they do, everything makes, at least, my heart, flutter. Then they start their new life, meeting each other once every week for filming weekly episode. For first few episodes, they get to know each other. Then they get a home for themselves (now they have something called WGM village where the pair gets home right away). There are members’ episodes too in between, if any one of them is in some group. They do activities and complete missions given by WGM team. it’s a lot fun, really. If you start once, you can’t stop, especially if the whole series has been aired. And you know what? The episodes are available with english subs with respective couples only in them. That means, if there are three couples at a time and you are interested in one only, you’ll get the episodes for them separately. The last part is their divorce, where they are just told to dissolve the marriage (which is why I dread starting it whenever I find that someone from my favorite group has been there). That’s all there is, to it.

What? You are saying I’m crazy, ranting for no reason?  Oh really? Then tell me, people make such big deal out of actors and actresses who film a drama together, which is generally 4-6 months? And, they have to be a different character. Here, they have to act as themselves (the irony!) and that too, for around a year or more than that (leave the exceptions). From a normal human being’s perspective (I’m not saying I’m normal but yes, I’m talking about me), I find it too painful. If I keep myself in their situation, I don’t think I would be able to bear it. So, people out there, who are working hard to entertain us, please don’t play with their hearts, even if it is for entertainment of some people. Ah! I again come to the point where I say, they are human beings also. No such post of mine goes without this line.

Huff! I’m tired after so much jabbering. So, I’ll take my leave for now and focus on my problem stated above. I’ll try to ‘try hard’ :P.

On the side note, I have been given the name of Japanese here in Thailand too. I just can’t escape the status can I?

Right now, I’m listening to f(x) (you can tell by mention of ‘khuntoria’ above), so, I’ll post this song today – 

My mentor in college life – My roomie

My mentor in college life – My roomie

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Although I love anonymity but I finally told my roommate about my blog, today. She was so impressed by it that she became senti,  and has read all the posts in one day(I know, I’m amazing. Thank you Thank you).

She has seen me grow from my first year (This was one of her lines in today’s chat with her) and I have seen her too (Alright, I accept. The change in me was way bigger). So I’m gonna bitch about her today (Ooh, I was dying to do so).

In our college, in first year, students get double rooms. We are both from the same region so we should have been fine with each other. But as I mentioned earlier, I am a socially inert person and like to be alone and work alone. Last two years before entering my college, I had worked alone only – my study room was my whole world. In the college, it took me two years to open up with people around and I think this hurt her the most. I talked very less to her. I had an inferior complex and she used to talk to other people more. (Okay, I am not making excuses and I am coming to my mistakes too!). And she and my other current friends seemed to be from a totally different world (Even now, when my sister sees my pics with my friends, she says I look like a country bumpkin T_T and here I thought I had changed for good). They had different habits, different styles and a lot of knowledge about worldly ways (which I didn’t have “initially”). And her habit of reading out loud! That I can never forget. Although I could never say to her, even after her asking me again and again, I did have problem with that. And that sometimes enraged me so much that I would go in the room of some other girls I had made friends with, at that time. How sad would that have made her. Oh God, how much did I make her suffer? Now, when I am writing this, I am realizing.

My biggest mistake was I didn’t even try to talk it out. I am one of those who keep things inside until it becomes a volcano ready to be erupted at any time, any place on anyone. But now I have been given a chance, I apologize for that. I don’t think, I would be able to tell you this directly, ever (And no discussions on this after whenever you read this, alright? It’s embarrassing!)

And then come the good days. The things I learnt from my friends, she has the biggest part in that – from about boys and boyfriends to curse words (and things which can’t be told 😛). Her influence totally changed me. She was the one, with two others in my circle who took me to the beauty salon, for the first time in my life, for things other than haircut, in my third year of college (Yes, third year OF COLLEGE, that too was almost end of it) verrrrry forcefully, since I am not particularly interested in make-ups and all. I don’t think I would have even given it a second thought if they hadn’t been with me (This is really becoming something but now I have started confessing then let’s see it through the end).

What else? Ah! She knows every habit of mine. She never, even once, complained about my love for East Asia. Rather she helped it grow. She had to bear with the Japanese songs (She even learnt some lyrics including OSTs of Cardcaptor Sakura 😛) and anime all the time. If she had stopped me at that time, I don’t think I would have discovered my real passion for east Asia. She knows the secrets even my sister doesn’t know (not that I have that many but you do need that one person in your life apart from your sibling and boy/girlfriend). And “boyfriend” reminds me, she desperately wants me to have a boyfriend. She still keeps asking me, if I have made one yet. (Haha! That is never gonna happen my darling.)

This post, I dedicate to my bestie. I know you’re reading this (Obviously, I’m the one who gave you the link). In the end, I would only like to say thank you for being in my life.

And I think this song would suit here: 

Frustrated! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Frustrated! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment

Yesterday, when my videos stopped working, I thought it was a move by my college due to sem end exams. Turns out, it is my laptop giving me problems. Flash player suddenly stops working! Wah! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

Its like being alive without my soul (#×_×). I can’t watch any drama or music videos. Me, the one who  finds excuses such as “I’ll watch just (just) one episode after finishing this chapter (though it never stops at only one episode hehehe)” or “I have done a lot of work, now time to watch (where a lot of work refers to reading one page absent-mindedly)”,  just to watch one more episode of my favorite variety shows like Kiss the Radio, Intimate note, Strong heart etc. etc. (list is very very verrrry long!) or currently going on dramas like Gu Family Book (awesome show with Lee Seung Gi in there (≧∇≦)/), can’t watch anything.  (T_T) No shows for today and God knows for how many days! (TT_TT)

I have tried everything to fix it (and everything means everything but that’s another story). I have another exam tomorrow but I haven’t started preparation yet. Why? Because I was trying to find a solution to the problem. This is too much! I give up! (;´Д`)

So, I have been watching the MVs I have with me, downloaded, again and again. And this song makes me a little relieved of my frustration (Coz I can’t watch the video, I hope this is the right one.) That guitar and the guitarist and the slow motions……. （〜^∇^)〜

 

Oh! Another one. They are soooooo cute! (≧∇≦)