Golden MCAT Jetlag

The end of April and the beginning of May provided some interesting times. I went back home to the US to take the MCAT. But to avoid being jet-lagged during the exam, I left Japan 5 days prior to taking it. Thankfully, I wasn't terribly jet-lagged while taking the test; rather, I was flustered from the short time limit and long passages and long questions. The most difficult thing for me on the test is the sheer amount of reading. Perhaps if I had a faster reading speed.

Speaking of reading speed, I notice that I've been able to read Japanese faster than when I was in college. Not a lot faster, but noticeable. Reading manga has helped; I should keep it up. I've been reading a karate manga called Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru, as well as Initial D, the famous car manga that made drifting popular. And since I've purchased the manga in Japan, they are only in Japanese. As seinen manga meant for older readers, there is rarely any furigana above the kanji (which gives the pronunciation), so it's good kanji reading practice.

I just started playing two new PS3 games: Bioshock Infinite and Borderlands 2. I hadn't played Bioshock 1 or 2 yet, so I wasn't sure what I was in for. Luckily, Infinite could be played without having played the first two, so I wasn't lost in the story. And boy, what a story. It touches on a lot of social and economic issues. No spoilers, but it's a very deep game, both practically and philosophically.

Borderlands 2 on the other hand is just a lot of sheer fun. It's a first-person shooter role-playing game. Basically, lots of guns, with the ability to use new techniques in battle. Very cool concept. The most fun aspect of the games I play is character growth and new abilities. Just like the anime/manga series that I love the most, like Dragonball, Naruto, Bleach, Hajime no Ippo, etc. Growth; that's what life is all about.

We hope this little cutie grows up well

Word of the Day: 成長　「せいちょう」　"seichou," or "growth," implying "growth into adulthood. The first kanji means "to become," as in the verb 成る "naru." The second kanji means "long" as in 長い "nagai," but it can also mean "head (of) ____" as in 社長 "shachou," the head of a company.