An update

So we have Thing to Discuss.
Firstly, today was my second recital (of three) that I'm doing as a part of the requirements for IB Music. I
don't know if I've mentioned it, but I have a serious issue with presenting things in public. It's taken me a little while, but I've finally gotten over most of my nerves for presentations done in English; and my French is finally at a level where it's not so bad either. But recitals, specifically those on flute, kill me. I also play the tuba in our band, and those solos aren't nearly as bad; I know that I'm not all that great, and honestly, if you're expecting something absolutely beautiful from a tuba solo, you're expectations are out of whack anyway. But a flute is one of those instruments; the ones that people play and are astounding good at. And so when I fail at the flute (which sometimes happens) it is so much worse than when I fail at the tuba.
Anyway though, at the very least it's over, and there's (essentially) no homework for tonight and nothing to freak out about anymore! Yay!


Secondly, there have been humongous masses of television shows that I've been watching over the past...two days. Whatever, I have no life, blah blah blah. This deserves its own separate post probably/actually, so I'll do that at some point. Maybe I'll just start doing weekly updates, on Thursdays or something (Thursdays because, if you remember from before, none of the shows I watch air then).

Thirdly, I have finished another book and amassed a large pile from the library as well. The book was called "Polite Lies" by Kyoto Mori, a woman who grew up in Japan, then moved to the U.S. when she was around 20 years old. She goes over some of the differences between the two cultures, how that affected her and how it affects other women she knows (both in the U.S. and Japan). I really enjoyed reading about the differences, though I am bit hesitant to repeat some of her views due to the fact that she seems like she seems a little biased in some respects (her mother committed suicide when she was 12, leading to the rest of her childhood being fairly horrible) and because the book is a little dated - about 10 years or so. It does make me wonder how Japan would be described by someone whose experiences there were happier.
In any case, while some things she talks about may be a matter of opinion, others strike me as fairly correct. The expectation that people will be able to read between the lines was mentioned in When You Are Engulfed in Flames actually, and I know from my own experience in attempting to learn the language that the difference between the words men and women use is very present.
The description of Japanese women was the most striking and the most disturbing thing for me. The idea of settling down being obligatory, and a career with a marriage is not an option; that marriage is not about love, but "suitability", which in turn is based on family history; the idea of so few options for hobbies and learning after high school - all of these exemplify the ways in which I do not want to live my life.
Stylistically, the book has some issues for me; it seemed a little disjointed in some parts, and didn't always flow very well. This usually happened within the chapters when she wanted to connect a couple of different thoughts with some real-life examples, and it ended up being a little bit awkward. Not bad, just inexperienced.
All in all, I would definitely recommend it.