A New Semester Begins in the Life of Priscilla Stafford

It's certainly been a while since I wrote in my blog, isn't it? ^_^ I must say, I had a very interesting couple of weeks and though I possibly couldn't write every, single thing that happened, I'm going to try to summarize it all very nicely.

First of all, I went back home to Japan for Christmas and was soooo happy to see my parents at the airport. I've missed them so much but strangely enough, as soon as we started talking, it was like I hadn't been gone at all; like it had all been just a quick trip to the airport and back. :P

I had a wonderful time in Japan, being with my family, dogs (awww... soo cute!), and the church of Kanto Christian Church. Went caroling, had the church Christmas party, did special music with the 'Hawaii group' plus Maria (thanks Maria!), and had a great Christmas dinner at home. Well, actually, the Christmas dinner took place the day after Christmas. :P Sunday was pretty busy.

Unfortunately, my holidays didn't consist entirely of all fun and games as on the 31st, my family got a phone call that my grandmother who lives in Seattle passed away suddenly. It was quite a blow on everyone and a big shock to hear. As you can imagine, though we tried to book a flight at the earliest possible day to get to Seattle, because it was the New Years, the earliest tickets we could get was for the 4th of January. On that day, my parents, Naomi, and I left for Seattle, cutting my stay in Japan a little short. (on left, picture of Nana with my parents; on right, pictures of the family)

Though it was a sad time in Seattle, it was so special being able to see all my relatives. I know Nana was so proud of her family and would have been happy to know that we were all able to be there for the memorial service. I was happy to spend a few extra days with my parents as well.

Naomi and I left Seattle on the 9th (Monday) and arrived late that evening in Hawaii. It was hard saying good-bye to my parents again but I'm hoping that they'll be coming to visit Hawaii perhaps before the semester is over. It was nice feeling being back in the 'Hawaii house' again with Erin and Maki already there. Unpacked (which took a while...) and went to bed.

The next day (today) I had a very full day as I had three classes. Woke up at 8:00 and made it just in time for my History 282 class at 9:15. At first it was a little unnerving because I was exactly on time so everyone was sitting down quietly and look soooo 'serious' and 'scholarly'; compared to me who was rushing in, slightly out of breath. :P Mr. Cassity gave his usual 'beginning of the semester speech', all about 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease'. lol! There was one girl I knew from last semester's History class so there was one familiar face. Overall, looking over the syllabus I think this writing intensive class won't be too bad which I'm thankful for.

History finished at 10:30 then I immediately had to go to my next class which starts at 10:45. Luckily, the two classes are in two building very close to each other. ^_^ So I won't have to run like crazy or anything to make it for the class after History, which is Theater 221. Maki's in that class with me and there were two other familiar faces, both who I know through ASL class. It seems like it's going to be a really fun class so I can't wait to get started!

Class finished a little early so I went down to the bookstore with Maki so I could get some schoolbooks I needed to get. It was really crowded and the lady at the cashier I was unfortunate to line up behind was very slow so it took about thirty minutes to pay for the books. :S Crazy...

Went home and had lunch while watching the first half of Shanghai Noon. Did some computer surfing and cleaning up; took a 'micro' nap then Maki and I headed back to campus for our 3:15 Geography class. It was a really full class and people from all over the world; New Jersey, Boston, Seattle, Colorado, Chicago, Marshall Islands, Guam, Australia, and quite a number of Japanese students, too. Our teacher is quite 'young' compared to other teachers; she's 28, still working on her PhD and it's only her second semester to teach. So she seemed a bit 'nervous' and talks really fast.

That class finished early and when we got home, Naomi and I relaxed together in her room and watched a movie. We're both still tired out from our trip so for the rest of the evening we were pretty groggy. lol! Got to video chat with my parents which was fun as we exchanged 'airport stories'. ^_^

Had leftovers and meatloaf for dinner then I had my House M.D. program from 8:00. Good episode, though I'm going crazy as one of the subplots for the series doesn't seem to resolve at all! Well, I guess that's the way it's supposed to go, otherwise the series wouldn't grab audiences to continue watching for a whole season, huh?

Afterwards, was on the phone for a bit with Nichelle, just catching up on what's been going on and how our classes are going. I'll be seeing her tomorrow which will be fun. ^_^

I'll be walking to my 9:15 class tomorrow so I'll be getting just a bit earlier than usual. :P Good night! Over the next few days I'll try to put up pictures from my time in Japan and Seattle. Ciao!