Wow, I somehow skipped the entire month of April. Too busy studying and partying. :) I have officially graduated magna cum laude with majors in International Studies and Sociology from Illinois Wesleyan University.
I have official dental clearance from the Peace Corps (the letter came in yesterday) so now all that I am waiting for is my medical clearance, which will definitely be much tougher to pass. We'll see! I will be volunteering at Heartland Human Care Services this summer, assisting an English class and tutoring one-on-one. I also applied for a job as a receptionist to earn some money over the summer, but if that doesn't work out I won't be too sad about it. More time for vacation!
If you can't tell already, I have been pretty much chillaxing since graduation. I am watching Battlestar Galactica, various anime series, and various network shows; rewatching Stargate SG-1 in preparation for Gatecon, and annoying the poor volunteer coordinator to make sure I can get my required English tutoring hours before my Peace Corps assignment begins. I have also been keeping up with the k-pop fandom (I appreciate Super Junior's BONAMANA album, f(x)'s NU ABO, and the Wonder Girls' 2 Different Tears - I bought the last eight tickets for their Chicago concert!). My friends also created an entirely new card game based on the binary numeral system so I had to (kind of) learn how to count in binary.
The highlight of my vacation so far has definitely been Anime Central, the Midwest's largest anime convention. I have missed the past two years so coming back to it was so much fun! Friday my friend and I first went to H-Mart to buy some yummy Korean alcohol (막걸리 and 소주) and eat some delicious Korean food (부대찌개).
I went to a Naruto panel (yes, I watch it and yes, I enjoy it), a Fullmetal Alchemist panel (lame since the panelists failed to show up), Whose Line is it Anime? (absolutely hilarious), Soul Eater panels featuring Japanese voice actors Yumiko Kobayashi (Black Star), Narumi Takahira (Patty), and Kouki Uchiyama (Soul); a Fairy Tail panel (spoilers galore!), and amv viewings. I somehow also managed to fit in manga shopping (catching up on series I have been behind on for a year). Needless to say, great day!
Yesterday I went to a One Piece panel (I can't wait to see how the current anime arc ends!), a Soul Eater panel featuring Kaori Nazuka (Tsubaki), autograph sessions for the Japanese Soul Eater cast (all the voice actors and the producer), a Soul Eater panel featuring all of the Japanese voice actors as well as two English voice actors, the masquerade (kind of - it was streaming live), amv contest winners viewing, and said friend's birthday party! I also bought more manga and the cutest onigiri shirt!
Best ACen ever for me, probably because I actually attended panels instead of spending all of my time in the dealer's room! Right now I am biding my time before my graduation party for the family. I know that some of my relatives will be like "why isn't she going into something useful, like nursing?" but I am very happy with my decision to go into the Peace Corps even if I am unsure of my career path after my service ends. I'll hopefully be updating this lovely blog more now that I have loads of free time, so please bear with me, my reader(s), and thanks for stopping by!
