BUT I'M SITTING HERE ON MY BED WITH A DS STYLUS HANGING FROM MY LIPS AND A CONVERSATION JUST ENDED ABOUT HOW MISERABLE AND DEPRESSED AND WORTHLESS I AM
AND A PICTURE OF MY EX-BOYFRIEND S UP
WHO'S FUCKING AT HARVARD AND HAS DONE STUFF FOR NASA AND SENT SHIT INTO SPACE
GOD I'M FUCKING TIRED OF BEING MUNDANE AND PATHETIC AND NOT FUCKING DOING ANYTHING WITH MY LIFE OR ACHIEVING ANYTHING OR GOING ANWYHERE
I'M IN ASIA
THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO FIXALL THIS
GOD I'M JUST SO FUCKING DONE WITH EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW
You would be surprised with how many people in your life could be going through depression at this very moment. People hide it like a paper bag over their heads out of fear of being judged, made fun of, seen as weak, or just not taken seriously. Depression should not be taken lightly, it holds us down from our purpose and potential in life. Those who tell you that it doesn’t exist have never experienced depression in their life, therefore not understanding the symptoms and how it’s something that cannot be fixed in a day! So if you think you are depressed or if you think you know someone else who is, please talk to a friend, a family member, or anyone else in your life that you trust - never overlook the possibility of seeing a doctor for more professional help!! Your feelings are real, your feelings are shared upon millions. Don’t hide it, talk to someone about it. With the right help, you can rediscover your confidence and begin life anew with our undying love and support!
We are right here!!
A volcano in central Japan erupted in spectacular fashion, catching mountain climbers by surprise and stranding at least 40 injured people in areas that rescue workers have been unable to reach. Another seven people were missing.
The injured, unable to descend 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) Mount Ontake on their own, are staying in mountain lodges, said Sohei Hanamura, a crisis management official in Nagano prefecture. Thirty-two people had serious injuries, including at least seven who lost consciousness. (AP)
Find more news related pictures on our photo galleries page.
I’ll actually probably have to make this a couple posts, since it has been a very L O N G, what, 15 days?
A mural I saw in Ulaan Bataar on my first day, and is the main image that's stuck with me
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The plane from Korea to Mongolia was much cooler and much nicer than the one we took from the US. >:/ Almost made me disappointed we were only on it for 3 hours. Look at this ludicrously cool remote.
Hi Yuebert.
We got into Mongolia at about 11-ish, and our guest house at 12-ish, so we all just fell into bed.
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Our first day was a free day to wander about the city, so we were divided into five groups (we were pre-assigned groups during the last semester of school based on on-trip responsibilities; mine is Media, so taking pictures and making the video at the end) and given a couple locations to try and find. In Cyrillic. So the first thing I did was look up a pronunciation guide for Cyrillic characters, so I could at least try to ask aloud how to get to these places, since interacting with people was part of the challenge. This ended up being THE most useful thing I have done on the trip so far, I think, and has served me enormously well; I’m one of the only ones in the group who can read Cyrillic characters, now, and though I don’t necessarily know the WORDS, I can at least recognize things to some degree.
Our places ended up being the Parliament Building/Government Palace, the Mongolian Circus, and what would have been Ganden Monastery if my group had actually managed to get there on time. ;;;
Of course, it was most useful because it ended up being my first sight and taste of Ulaan Bataar. And what a city it is.
Ulaan Bataar is a fascinating place. It’s a city that’s rapidly growing, but it reminds me of an insect trying to leave its shell—it first has to rip itself apart before it can get any bigger. The roads are in disarray, with huge cracks, and pot holes, and the tile sidewalks are coming apart, with holes where tiles were, and loose stones, and everything is covered with dust and dirt. The city is very dry, and I think it carries into the aesthetic a bit. It’s not an ugly city, but it’s… I’m not sure how to put it, really. After Korea, the difference was really very striking.
This isn’t to say it’s a bad city, though. Ulaan Bataar has lots of little places and restaurants and stores, and parts of it are really beautiful. It’s a very old city, that’s all, and not taken exquisite care of.
Although for the love of Christ don’t get me started on the cars here.
If you look REALLY close you can see that there is someone trying to turn left into a line blocked full of cars
I’m so tired of nearly getting hit by cars, and having to glare my way across a road I have no choice but to jaywalk, or even better, trying to cross a crosswalk when I have the little green walking person and people are stilly hurtling through their right turns with complete disregard for all pedestrians. Grrrrrrrr, fuck the traffic here.
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First day of class! We would usually meet in a large, empty room in the side of Lamrim Monastery, a small Buddhist monastery and temple run by a man I know only as “the abbot”, who’s good friends with Nima, my professor’s husband, and has always been extremely kind to the PacRim groups, at least since ’99 when he, Nima, and Professor Benard met. Lamrim is about a thirty minute walk from our guesthouse (although you can do it in about 20 if you risk the sideroads).
I’m only taking one class at the moment, which I thought would be the schedule—one a month, relating to the country we were in. But that is not the case. This class I’ve started—Tibetan Buddhism—will begin here in Mongolia, and end in India, which is several countries down the list. When I’m in Japan, I will apparently be taking three classes concurrently. K I am not looking forward to that.
Anyway, this class is, again, Tibetan Buddhism, taught by our faculty director for this semester, Professor Benard. I’ve never had a class with her, but I have some friends who have, and…. hmm. But it hasn’t been too bad so far, and it’s clear that she ~L O V E S~ being on PacRim, so it’s been mostly good so far. I had no idea why we were studying Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, at first, but as it turns out, Tibetan Buddhism is the main religion in Mongolia, from both before and after Soviet control. Mongolia has its own indigenous religion, but Buddhism is EVERYWHERE, and very important to its culture and history.
My textbook. It has a pretty cover, which is apparently a form of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Amusingly, (although probably by design), our first day of school was also the first day of school across all of Mongolia. That was pretty neat—except for when the learning center across the street from our guesthouse started BLARING MUSIC at 7 in the morning to celebrate. I have to at least applaud them on their sound system. DAMN. It was so loud, and so clear. OUR class started at 10, so I didn’t exactly appreciate being awoken so early.
Today also marked my first visit to
~ * ~ * ~ THE STATE DEPARTMENT STORE ~ * ~ * ~
God fucking bless the State Department Store. You can find anything you need in its enormous six floors, including a supermarket, clothing, TVs, souvenirs, a food court, and high-class stands selling expensive cosmetics and Gilette razors.
The number of times I have gone to the State Department Store at this point is kind of disgusting, and laughable. But it makes an excellent landmark, and it really does have nearly anything you’d need.
Granted, that first day I didn’t manage to find any of the things I needed—I just went to the (bathroom and then the) supermarket portion, and bought some crap. XDDD
The marshmallow legs reminded me of the marshmallow treats my dad would get me sometimes, and *cough*thelabelsaidwizardPRINCE*cough*.
And then when I returned to the guesthouse, we had no water.
None. None at all. For the entire block. And of course, I had to use the bathroom. o_____o And not the kind you can leave sitting around. =_______= (Sorry if this is gross for anyone—for some reason everyone on my trip just ~L O V E S~ talking about poop, which makes NO SENSE to me, but alas.) I ended up going to a bakery across the street and using their bathroom and hanging out with some of my PacRim companions, which was good, but it was still a bit of a hassle.
A WORD TO THE WISE TRAVELING THROUGH ASIA: Learn to throw your toilet paper in the trash, not to flush it. Mongolia is one of the countries that will ask this of you, but I’ve been told there are several others, too. Lisa’s pretty sure the pipes were routine maintenance, and not because we clogged them with our toilet paper, but still, the latter’s what we all thought, and it came as a harsh reminder to try and throw it, not flush it.
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Today was only remarkable small ways. I got some of the things I needed from the State Department Store (a coin purse, a patch for Mongolia, my mom’s fridge magnet); a group of us went to gelato, which was kind of expensive but very tasty; we went to a Chinese restaurant and I struggled to eat it; etc. etc.
The next day we would be going on a three-day excursion to the countryside, so I mostly just… packed and got ready and such.
As well, since the next day was the excursion—and I’m going to give it its own post—this might be a good place to break off this post, since its pretty long and has lots of images as it is.
Please look forward to my next post, the DMZ trip hopefully ‘cause OOPS I still need to write that the three-day excursion to the Mongolian Countryside!
machisudachi replied to your post:Monglian Posts! ..... wait....
Blog at your own pace, otouto :D Your blog should be on your time and for your own pleasure before anyone else’s! That being said… I look forward to reading your posts~ XD
Heehee, thanks Aniki. : D I'll try my best, but I definitely WANT to make posts... hmm...
But my first post for Mongolia will go live tomorrow night! : D
Hey guys; I'm not really going to be able to post for about 10 days, so... sorry
The DMZ post and posts about Mongolia are going to be late; but I'll try to get them at least WRITTEN while I'm out, so I can get them queued soon. I'm afraid I'm totally useless at this blogging thing ;;;
I just have absolutely no desire to go to bed tonight. Or I guess, soon. But I still want to sleep at some point and get 8 hours of sleep, even though I'll be going somewhere early in the morning. Mmmmm. >:/
Started reading Divergent tonight, as I ended up watching the movie on theflight from Korea and found myself rather taken with some of the concepts in it.
I keep finding myself having to blink and remember where I am and what I'm doing and the real world.... I'm dreaming, for the first time since this trip started, and since even longer, I think, as I struggled to get ready for this trip and I didn't read or write anything.
I don't really know if it's bad good or bad. But... I'm dreaming again.
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