Back from Japan!

Hello Birdies!
So as you know, I disappeared from this blog for a while because I was IN JAPAN.

JAPAN.

It was super exciting! I LOVED it.

Although I made a Tumblr blog for the trip, I ended up not using it because I didn't have the world's greatest wifi over there. No surprise, but although I had a data card, I tried to use that when I needed to Google Map or translate something. So I'll probably delete that blog or maybe make post-trip posts on there about it. Who knows. I also made a Bonjournal for it because I like the idea of writing up my trip and exporting it as a fancy, minimalist PDF. So I'll probably do that actually too.

Anyways, I'll make another post about the trip later, once I finish uploading pictures of the trip onto my computer. I've been home for a couple of weeks now, but I've been really busy getting ready for my senior year of school, getting another job (cause you know, who needs a social life when they're broke?), and going to leadership training.

But be prepared for an exciting rest of the year of posts! I got some great stuff planned and I'm really excited to share my trip with everyone.

Japan Update!

Dear Birdies,
After doing much research into the thought of keeping an online travel blog and app, I made the decision to blog my trip to Japan on Tumblr. I made this choice because Blogger unfortunately doesn't have a very good mobile app and although there is a decent mobile app I've added this blog onto, it doesn't always seem to keep my posts updated when offline.

But since I've been using Tumblr for about a year now (you can follow my official Tumblr blog here), and knowing that it's decently easy to use and you can not only post a lot of different content easily (as well as reblog stuff), but you can customize it easily.

I also thought about an online travel journal/app called Bonjournal. And while it looks really nice and I love the idea of being able to download it as a PDF, you can only put in three photos per entry and you can only do photos and text. So while its just generally really pretty and has a nice PDF download, I like the idea of keeping videos, photos, text, and anything all in one place.

So I started this blog: July in Japan. You can follow all my updates on there if you wish since I'll be posting there as often as I can. I also have an official blog for the trip at the program's blog but since I'm not sure what all kinds of content I can post on there or how often, I decided to make the Tumblr so I can post as often as I want and post anything I desire on it (although I won't post anything inappropriate on it, but I like knowing that its mine to do with as I please).

Sareh

I'm going to Japan!

My Japan coloring book.

I am SO excited to share with everyone (literally everyone, I'm pretty sure my family and friends are SUPER annoyed by now) that I am going to Japan during the month of July! My goal is that since I'll be in this really awesome cool place that I'll get to blog about it every day! (Or every other day...once a week, we'll see!)

So be prepared for some awesome pictures, videos, and stories as I explore JAPAN for a month and if you follow me on social media, I'll be posting there too. I'll hopefully try to make some cool blog posts commenting on what I've learned doing research for The Messenger series vs what I observe while in Japan. Hopefully, I'll learn some cool things that can really help the books and maybe the trip will help clear up some things I've been confused about (research will only take you so far folks).

I'll be in Kyoto for three weeks and then Tokyo for a week before heading home. While in Kyoto, we'll be visiting the golden pavilion, seeing the Gion festival, taking a class on Japanese literature, art, and culture, and lots and lots of other stuff!

The Top 15 things I'm most excited for! (In no particular order)

Some guide books I rented
from the library

1. JAPAN
2. The Bullet train
3. Seeing the Imperial palaces (or touring through the gardens)
4. Visiting the Fushimi Inari Temple (its a temple famous for its hundreds of red torii gates). Excited for this because kitsunes are the fox messengers of Inari. 
5. Touring Japanese gardens
6. Gion district (that's where the geisha are)
7. Tokyo skytree
8. Japanese cuisine
9. Visiting other temples
10. Golden pavilion
11. Kabuki theater
12. Museums
13. Shopping! All the shopping in both Kyoto and Tokyo!
14. Heian shrine
15. hot springs and public baths 

I've always wanted to go to Japan because I think its just so different from America in many ways and that if I was going to study abroad, I may as well do it in a place I'm really excited about. It also so happened to be that the timing was just right this year so its the perfect time for me to go.

I knew that I was going to study abroad this year because it was a goal of mine in college and that this year was the last year I could really could. And at first I was considering some other options from my school and although they would have been cheaper, they weren't going to places I was super thrilled about and they weren't studying topics I was super thrilled about, nor was I sure the timing was going to work out. But with the program I found, although its a bit more expensive, its going to somewhere I'm really interested in, and studying something cool as well.

Anyways, I'm really excited to go on my trip and I'm excited to share it with you. If you guys have any tips for traveling in Japan, traveling in general, or if you know of any things I should try or see, please comment below! Also make sure to follow me on social media and this blog and check in to see all the exciting adventures I'm going to have.

Book Review: The Watchmaker on Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

(From Goodreads) 1883. Thaniel Steepleton returns home to his tiny London apartment to find a gold pocket watch on his pillow. Six months later, the mysterious timepiece saves his life, drawing him away from a blast that destroys Scotland Yard. At last, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, a kind, lonely immigrant from Japan. Although Mori seems harmless, a chain of unexplainable events soon suggests he must be hiding something. When Grace Carrow, an Oxford physicist, unwittingly interferes, Thaniel is torn between opposing loyalties.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a sweeping, atmospheric narrative that takes the reader on an unexpected journey through Victorian London, Japan as its civil war crumbles long-standing traditions, and beyond. Blending historical events with dazzling flights of fancy, it opens doors to a strange and magical past.


I was really looking forward to reading this book, so when my school library got it, I immediately jumped on renting it. It took me about a week to read through despite it not being that thick of a book. But then, I was reading it at night an hour before I went to bed.

Anyways, pacing wise the book wasn't the greatest. In the beginning, the book wasn't the most exciting but it was definitely exciting. There were bombs and And the middle dragged. The ending
finally picked up.

I liked the characters in the beginning. Nathaniel was a protagonist that I liked because I felt I could related to him personality wise. And I also liked Mori as well. He was an intriguing character because you weren't sure if he was behind the bombs or not. And I enjoyed Grace's character because she reminded me of Alana from Tamora Pierce's books but she was a scientist, which was cool to see a woman being portrayed in the 1800s.

And as much as I wanted to really love this book, I just can't. Even thinking about it a while later, I'm still with the same conclusions. There was a lot of plot points that to me, didn't really seem to make a lot of sense. And I felt that the pacing was either slow or it dragged a lot. So the characters didn't seem to make rational choices, and a lot of things went unexplained. At the end of the book, I was left with more questions than answers. Questions to things I felt there shouldn't have been questions to.

There was a marriage towards the end of the book that I felt came out of seemingly nowhere and it wasn't really explained well. I felt the characters involved kinda talked about it, but their reasons weren't strong enough and I felt the whole ordeal could have been avoid, Grace's parents certainly seemed to overreact to her going over to Mori's that it was a bit ridiculous. While I saw Grace's point in trying to get married so she could get her aunt's house, I wasn't completely sold on Thaniel's reason. I did not feel that Thaniel was torn between two opposing loyalties when Grace got involved.

Overall, I felt that the historical accuracy was pretty on point, and that nothing popped out at me of being out of time for the Victorian period. The book made a big deal about the Irish at the beginning and as the book went on, that was a detail that seemed forgotten at times. The description seems to say that its look at "Japan's civil war as its long standing traditions crumble" will be exciting, but it was not. I did not get a sense of a civil war and the way that it affected Japan's traditions.

I haven't studied too much yet into the Meiji period, but from what I do know, I can say this, the way the atmosphere of Japan was portrayed as seems correct though. Ignoring the part about the civil war, I was fine with that.  I wish though that we would have seen more looks of Japan and how it affected Mori later on.

Another thing that bugged me about the book was the "dazzling flights of fancy". There is magic in this book, although you wouldn't realize it until about halfway in. No one in this book ever addressed this, where the magic came from, if Mori was the only one with it, and other things. The book was more alternative history/science fiction/light fantasy. And I wish that the fantasy elements would have been dealt with more. Thaniel never seemed to be bothered by any of it, except for the fact that Mori could have been creating clockwork bombs. The only person with a dash of common sense in this whole book was Grace and even then, I question her. 

The biggest thing that brought me out of the story was in the end when we find out that Thaniel and Mori are in love and on their wedding night, Thaniel leaves Grace for him. And honestly, it was such a deal breaker for me. As Grace thankfully pointed out, it was ridiculous and rude of him and cruel. I get wanting to go through with it because you feel stuck, but once they had married...well there had to have been a better time to break things off. Like, I dunno, BEFORE the wedding or at least wait a while after you've been married. Or even just leave her at the alter. I just lost a lot of respect for Thaniel as a protagonist and it almost ruined the book for me.

Not only that, but the relationship between Mori and Thaniel seemed so sudden to me. It was as if it came out of no where. There were probably signs before hand, but they were so subtle I didn't catch them. I guess in a way, I give my complements for not being so obvious, but it was such a shock. In a way to me it seemed as if the author suddenly decided that she wanted to throw them together and then never went back to change anything about their friendship. 

Overall, this book had a lot of potential, but it was lacking in a lot of places as well. I'm disappointed in this book and I definitely think it could have been better if it had been longer and the author had taken the time to flesh out parts of the book a little bit more. Its almost there, but not quite yet. 

What is a Word War?

So I don't think I've ever posted about Word Wars before and that's a great writing tool I've neglected to tell you all about.

Word wars are a fun way to get writing. All you need is at least one other person and a way to keep time. My friends and I usually go by minutes because we live in different time zones, but the minutes are still the same. Word wars are commonly used for getting writing done, but we also use it as a time to focus on completing anything that needs to be done.

Basics of a Word War

1. Someone calls the "war" (i.e name your time): for example, for 20 minutes starting at :15 (as I am writing this). You can name any amount of time that works for you. We usually do it in segments of five. 
2. When the minute time reaches :15, everyone begins writing or doing homework or whatever you're planning to do. And then for that 20 minutes, you're not supposed to do anything else but that one thing. 
3. Once you've reached 20 minutes, everyone regroups to announce what they got done. If you wrote something, we usually share what we wrote to get feedback or to just share. We also announce the amount of words we wrote.
4. (If you're writing) Whoever got the highest amount of words, "wins" bragging rights for that round. 

Word wars are just a great way to get yourself writing or doing anything that needs to be done, Its especially helpful if you're not feeling motivated or if something is overwhelming because you can take it in chunks of time and then take a break. And if you're doing it with a friend or several, then there is other people there for feedback and motivation. 

You could also do a word war by yourself, just set a time and write for however long you desire. But they're usually more fun with friends.

The main point is to just have fun, get motivated, and get stuff done.

So as long as you remember those three main points, you'll have a great word war.

If anyone wants to try one, we can start some in the comments below. Let me know!

Sharing Links: 12/23/2015

So I just realized I haven't shared anything in a while, so I've decided to share some great articles I've been reading and a couple of intriguing websites. Plus some videos on people who see colors and sounds with words and music!

Websites

Online Etymology Dictionary- This website won't have every word, but if you've wanted to know the history behind a lot of words, take a look here!

Medium- I've heard this is a blogging website and a lot of people post articles and blogs here. So check it out if you're looking for more to read.

Articles
Due to haven't shared anything for a while, I'm sharing my favorite recent articles from some websites I subscribe to.

Quartz- This Free Encyclopedia has Achieved what Wikipedia has Only Dreamed Of

Paul Ford- What is Code?

Lenny Article

• The Lenny Interview: Bobby Eckstein, Sexual-Assault-Prevention Educator
• Girlfriend in a Coma
• The Sickest Girl
• Padma Lakshmi: Endometriosis Is Real, and It's Staggering
• An Interview with Dr. Tamer Seckin, Endo Expert

Fast Company Articles

• How To Design A Video Game With No Graphics
• What If We Just Gave People Enough Money To Live: 2015 In Basic Income
• HOW THE FOUNDER OF HOLLABACK! MADE A CAREER OUT OF FIGHTING STREET HARASSMENT
• Why Making Movies is not for the Faint of Heart. 
• War, Peace, and Techonology: A History of the 20th Century Through Color Trends

National Geographic

• See How Six Communities Around the World Are Adapting to Climate Change
• This Is Your Brain on Nature
• Krampus's Sidekick? Fanged "Vampire Deer" Explained
• How National Parks Tell Our Story—and Show Who We Are
• 500 Years of Virgin Mary Sightings in One Map
• How These Communities Save Energy—and Time for What Matters

Videos:
I was recently really fascinated by these videos on Synesthesia, so I thought to share. Plus, in the last video, the girl plays the violin.

Synesthesia: The Science Behind Seeing Sounds & Tasting Color

Hearing Colors: What It's Like To Have Synesthesia

What's It Like To Hear Colors? - A VR 360° Synesthesia Experience

Movie Review: Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens

So I recently went and saw the new Star Wars movie almost on accident (basically the thing we wanted to do didn't work out so we saw this instead) and it was a fantastic choice.

Overall, up front, the movie was awesome. I'm going to try my hardest not to give away any spoilers so this post might be really vague.

I think one of the movie's greatest strengths was its use of humor. I never thought of it before, but all past six movies were lacking in humor and this movie was not shy about it. I also loved the little digs occasionally at itself and the way the actors reacted to some things. It gave the movie a slightly more lighthearted side that I think is more reflective of 2015 then the other movies. I think its a smart choice to help draw in new Star Wars fans and to help them relate better to the characters.

One of the other great things I loved about this movie was the awesome scene footage. There were moments during the movie that were quite really, breathtaking, and at other times were simply just moving to see. They really played with the mood of the scenes and I thought did a great job with the special effects and editing.

The new characters were awesome in their own right. The main girl, Rey, was my absolute favorite. She was a hero and I thought really brought the movie together. A lot of people were calling Finn the new "Luke", but I think its more Rey then it is him. I personally loved Rey more then I did Finn, I thought her character was stronger and she did a fantastic job for this being her first, big time role.

 Finn's character was also strong and at times, the most real and funny character in the movie. Looking back on it now, I think almost that his character just wasn't as strong. Some of his motives seemed a big overdone or unexplained. And although he was more of a reluctant hero, he seemed to be more of a sidekick to Rey.

Now there are some parts about the movie that disappointed me. While I enjoyed the moments where it echoed the earlier movies and the homages paid to it, and also how Leia and Han Solo came back for another go, I thought that at times the movie seemed to recycle too much of the old movies and its tropes. At times it was too much like the old movies and certain parts of history for comfort and I thought I would have enjoyed seeing more new ideas brought to stage.

That being said, I loved the way we saw Han Solo and Leia's relationship in this movie and how we saw what happened years after the last Star Wars movie where we left them. I also thought there was an interesting dynamic with them and the new "Evil Dark Overlord" but in a way, it wasn't anything new or surprising.

In fact, it was slightly unexplained to me and I felt his character could have been explored more. I enjoyed his character and thought he was a definite strong antagonist, but he was also a slight disappointment. Something about him bugged me. If anything, I am super curious about his mentor that was introduced in this movie.

Then there were the points in the plot that were seemingly unexplained and I was left more confused then enlightened. And while there are parts of our characters that are still a mystery, they have lots of room to explore those. But I also felt there were those missed opportunities to explain things that they might have not realized were unclear or they cut them out due to time.

Overall, this was a great movie and I definitely would recommend it. Even if you're tired of Star Wars (like I am of Harry Potter), I would go see this movie for the fantastic shots and the humor and Rey and Finn because I'm definitely rooting for them.

Sincerely,
Sareh