[Fanfic] To Learn Something New (ch 26)

Title: To Learn Something New

Author: Vianna Orchidia / Annasthacy Chashyme
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII Series
Character: Lightning Farron, Hope Estheim
Rating: K+
Genre: General
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII is property of Square Enix. I do not own the series and the characters, and I do not gain any profit from this fanfiction

Warning: I don't even know

sea /sea/ n the salt water that covers much of the Earth's surface (literary)

The sea is cold, is unforgiving. It swallows everything you throw into it, and throws up everything it wants to your beaches. It knows no boundary and yet it becomes a boundary for humans who want to go to the other side of the world, as it sends waves after waves of foreboding.

But the sea is ever-changing, too. Sometimes it is kind and warm. Sometimes it invites you to come and play inside its belly because it keeps way too many jeweleries inside. Sometimes it is not as cold as the blue mountain. Sometimes it's a deep jade.

And jade is Hope's eyes.

Lightning sees the sea every time she peers into his eyes for a second too long. A sea that sometimes runs amok, sometimes drifts idly. His eyes have a depth that sometimes entices her but sometimes sends her scurrying away too. Such a complicated being, Lightning decides one day. She chooses to keep Hope at an arm's length lest she catches herself staring into those eyes again.

That was the plan, anyway. But right now, she can't take her eyes away from his, mere centimeters away. She is nose to nose to Hope, with one of his big hands on her right cheek and the other on the small of her back, sending shivers up her spine. They are so close she can even count his speckles. She bets he can count her eyelashes.

And with slow movements, both of them decide to close their eyes at the same time, leaning closer and closer and—

Lightning lets the sea take her wherever it wants.

The First Few Weeks

I'm back for more rambling.

It's about life in Japan. The first month of it, anyway. I made a few videos about my trip and my dorm here, so check my YouTube channel. I have more projects in my laptop... but never actually got around to it. (Please send some cookies to energize me!)

So. Life here actually started on Monday, where the students of my program were gathered and led to the Ward Office to do some administration. 'Hey I'm here in Japan legally so here's my residence card.' 'Because I'm a citizen of Japan (though temporarily) I have to enter the health insurance program? Cool okay.' 'Yeah and also the national pension program. But I don't have any income here so I'll just apply for exemption on the same day I apply for it.' Yadda yadda. (There's a video.)

シの帰り道

October 6, 2016.

My previously silent phone suddenly bursted with messages once it's connected to internet.
The first message I read was from a classmate of middle school days.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Ah, so this is what it means to have the Earth crumbles beneath you feet, I thought. So this is what it means to have the world stop spinning on its axis.
 
I chose to open the message from my sister next. She simply asked if I could call her right away.
But I had class in two minutes, there's not enough time, there's not enough process in my brain to talk.
I ended up taking the 90-minutes class and barely listened to the lecture.

After class ended I hastily slipped out and found a corner before dialing my sister's LINE account. She treaded the topic carefully. But I had known. I had known what she was going to say.

My father is gone.

---

紅一葉

舞い散る朝に

永久祈り   ........................................... (1)

囁いた

温かい手を

さようなら   ........................................... (2)

濡れ瞳

埋もれられ愛

キラメクよ ............................................. (3)

経たぬトキ

シの帰り道

先発し ..................................................(4)

古い本

幾千語り

なくしちゃった .......................................(5)

くすのきく

遠い呼び声

ゆらゆらり .............................................(6)

悲しみも

喜びと舞う

美しさ ................................................. (7)

Packing Fiesta

New post coming through~! Like I said on the previous post, this time I'm going to rant about packing.

The final announcement for MEXT Scholarship – Japanese Studies was on early August, while we are expected to arrive in Japan on late September. We have about two months to prepare, but I was in the middle of volunteer activity out of town at that time, so my time was cut back for about two weeks :(

So first of all, I bought a suitcase, a carry-on, and a backpack. It's just a coincidence that my old backpack was getting worn-out and it's time to buy a new one, though. I got an electric blue 24' suitcase, a brown carry-on handbag, and a grey-red backpack. It sounds like an easy process; go out, buy, take it back. But nooo actually the hunting process itself spent about a month /orz. I had to hunt in two cities, about five stores to finally get the best deal.

Other than bags, I also had to buy shirts, pants, skirts, socks... All because I recently decided to wear hijab. Sooo yeah cue a change of style. All in all I spent quite a lot... Which only convinces me to save up as much money as possible from my monthly allowance in Japan. /shrugs/

Anyway, I've made a video showing the contents of my bags! That's the first time I filmed anything, the first time editing a video, the first time uploading videos—so please excuse the low quality. I'm learning. 

There you can see my suitcase first. Of course there are clothes. I also brought skincare products, cables, hair straightener (!!!), a pouch of toiletries, a pouch of accessories (the black one), and shoes. To be frank, this is NOT the final version of my suitcase, because there are some stuffs I haven't stuffed in there, lol.

The second bag, the carry-on, contains essentials I need during the trip. A change of clothes, a change of hijab, and a towel. There are also little trinkets I prepared for souvenirs for new friends in Japan :) There is actually a puch of makeup too, but I forgot to put it inside.

Last but not least, the backpack. I brought pens, my wallet, a pack of small plastic bags (this is essential for me, because I get motion sickness easily!!), a box of business card, a raincoat (the yellow thingy on the second compartment), a universal adaptor, and a fan (because I'm classy like that). The paper there is my preparation for my final thesis in college! I'm bringing along my future to Japan, haha. In this bag, I will also include my passport and laptop and camera and chargers.

I don't bring books to Japan. Mainly because I don't even have any to help with my research (what kind of a student am I) and I don't want to fill my bags with useless weight... I can find books there, afterall. (Yes, most likely in Japanese. No, I haven't the experience of reading textbooks in Japanese yet, so I'm diving headfirst.)

Other stuffs I plan to bring are: necessary documents, instant foods, instant seasoning, tea, coffe, etc. The instant food will be my life in the first weeks, lol. So much for adapting, huh.

Well... I guess that's it? There isn't much I can talk about here, I guess. I'll see you again in the next experience :)

[UPDATE!!]

I repacked my luggages! I had to take out four clothes and other stuffs to make room for more essentials I haven't put in. The contents of each bag is more or less the same though, nothing major change.

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Credit:
BGM: One Light - Kalafina
Tools used: Windows Live Movie Maker; Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX220 Digital Camera

About MEXT Scholarship - Japanese Studies (1)

Heya heya. 'Tis me, after a looooong while gone. Huh? Where have I been?

Places.

That is to say, I've been chasing my motivation to write to places. (Insert awkward laugh here.)

Soo yeah, yay for a comeback? I still have zero motivation to create stories, you see, so I guess I'll just stick to random posts... while actually giving useful information. Yep. I'm here to grace the world with my experience, along with some tips, about the legendary Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship – Japanese Studies! At least it's legendary in my school, lol.