As you may or may not know, my host family consists of two parents, three siblings, and a dog.

So, while my Japanese is improving rapidly (by my standards) I'm still not at a conversational level most of the time, particularly at home where I mostly spout single-words and hope they get the message. My relationship with my host siblings is kind of strange because a) they don't speak a word of English, and b) they're all teenagers and I'm very much an interloper. They're also all super busy, particularly the boys, so I rarely if ever see them around (I can go days without seeing my oldest host brother).

Until this weekend I basically only talked to my host mom, maybe my host sister every once in a...

on the first of may, spain had its labor day.

everyone had work off. a group of friends and i hiked an hour uphill and shared dishes from our respective countries--in my homestay, we arent allowed to use the stove so i brought coca-cola. classically marketed american. in all, we were over 40 people from 12 countries from north, central, and south america, europe, and the nordic and scandinavian countries.

we differed in appearance, mindset, political affiliations, and languages. but we shared our thoughts, card games, food, and of course soccer/fútbol under the spanish sun.

getting back down the mountain, we got lost for about 40 minutes, but with fearless leading and good attitudes, we made it down. a great end to a great international day.

enjoy the spring! -aja

I've noticed that every time finals week rolls around teachers decide to give more and more work due on the day OF a final. I am currently working on an 8-10 pg paper due this week, not to mention a 10-15pg paper due Monday (the day of my final when I have a presentation too!), a 5-10 pg Music paper due on the day of our cumulative final, and I have a Spanish final and a Stats for Psych final to study for...really professors?! Yeah that's a little taste of junior year for all you future students! I feel so overwhelm that I cannot WAIT until Friday of next week..that is, if I survive...

Word to the wise: Be aware of what the professors put in the syllabus and plan ahead. If the syllabus says that there will be a paper and a final, think about starting it early. Also in regards to majors, if you are sure of the major you want to complete, start taking classes freshman year. Get ahead of the game.

Well that's all I can write...

Hello again, friends! Today’s post is going to focus on some of the various creative writing opportunities for students here at Occidental. If you enjoy writing fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction, then this post is meant for you!The first opportunity I want to mention is Occidental’s annual literary contest. Each winter, the English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) department holds a contest for students to win cash prizes for their original written work. The contest has three categories (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) and offers prizes of up to two hundred dollars for each one! In addition to the monetary reward, each author gets their piece published in Feast, Occidental’s Art and Literary Magazine. Along with the contest winners, Feast publishes a diverse number of other submissions from the student body. The most recent issue of the magazine was released this past...