Halfway Through the Whirlwind

Hello friends, coming to your live from TOKYYYOOO. Lol what, last post Italy, this post Japan, when did I get so international? Oh yeah that's right, when I forgot to blog about my actual life. That's why I've decided to catch up at 4:30 am before my Japan adventures start for real! (Aka I passed out too early and woke up D:)

The second half of spring semester was actually fantabulous once I made the life changing decision to drop studio. I'd like to say that I spent that extra time focussing on other school work like I was supposed to be doing...but much of it went to extracurriculars and actually spending some time with friends. Soon it was time for ring delivery! We threw on our fancy wear and took an Uber downtown to the financial district. Honestly it wasn't very eventful.  You mainly just walk around enthusiastically (obsessively?) taking pictures with every single person you can recognize.  But damn, receiving this brass rat. It makes it so real - that we are bound to this institution.  Some people were ecstatic to be receiving theirs, proudly showing off MIT on their fingers, but for me it was definitely mixed emotions. Happy to reach the halfway milestone, but also worried that I won't live up to this thing. Maybe a little apprehensive about this heavy hunk of metal restricting me for the rest of my life - a constant symbol of both motivation and oppression. You might look at me and come to the conclusion that I hate it here. But on the contrary, I don't. Maybe I don't have that blind admiration (that many freshman have), but I think I've learned valuable lessons here so far, and I am looking forward to learning much more over the next two years. Now I'm just rambling, damn.

The end of the semester was drawing to a close super quickly.  Before long, both the ADT showcase and the DT shows were upon us, along with their respective prod weeks (yay!) I was so proud and happy to watch my Bad Females killin' it all through the week. All of their handwork paid off! My first time choreographing was really a p awesome experience. I mean, it had it's ups and downs, but it makes me really look forward to next semester! I'm also really going to miss the seniors who I've become quite attached to this semester :(

Last but not least, my final 4.302 project. Cecile and I ended up doing a project titled "Sometimes I Think..." and people could use this tumblr to submit their thoughts. Afterwards we made an installation to display all of the submissions, handwriting them on 250 colored cards.  It was pretty emotional having to read through them all one by one and writing down other people's words of pain, worry, happiness, regret, and hope. Due to response bias, more than half were definitely negative thoughts, but they were thoughts that a lot of people could really connect with.  They're things we all think about some time or another but are too scared to tell anyone else. Fleeting thoughts questioning our self worth, ability, and image.  Thoughts that people think make them weaker than others. Thoughts that I thought made me weak.  We then attached four little tags on each card to allow people to comment and strung up the whole thing in Lobby 10. Watching the installation was such a crazy moment for us. Students, tourists, little children, and the elderly all crowded around, reading and commenting on the tags, their faces changing with each post they came across. Random passerbys bending down to scribble their thoughts on a complete stranger's thoughts. My view of the MIT community became one of hope, and although my professor was not ecstatic about our final project, in the end I didn't even care. I wonder if that's a good or bad thing. During our review, I was touched as all of our classmates vehemently defended our project. The support and feedback we received from the MIT community meant much more to me than the words of one professional. Will I ever make it in the art world with a mentality like that? Haha I guess we'll wait and see :)

I can't believe I am halfway through college! It feels so unreal. T- two years until I have to become a real person, which is admittedly very scary, but trying my best to make the most of the rest of my college life! I'm really looking forward to next semester ^_^

Anyway, time to caption this collage-spam and take a quick nap before I wake up for our flight to HOKKAIDOOOO. I'll try my best to fill this thing with live-updates all summer!

Went drawing with Michael in the Esplanade! Nature shots from our walk there. Catching up with Chan over brunch at Cafe Luna. Random juggler at a party. ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI with ADT people. Sitting underneath a stairwell. About to ride a zipline in the middle of the night!

FOOOD. Clearly a lot of ramen as you can see- an Hmart opened near us with some p good food options (Sapporo Ramen and GoGoCurry!) so I went with Eunice and Dabin. Melon soda, mmm. More ramen with Sophie as we talked about our upcoming Japan trip! Lunch with Yuta as he quizzed me on vocab. Sushi pizza (damn it was good) with Matt and Nolan when he came up to visit us. 

$20 taped to a table. Minerva appearing while I was sunbathing and taking pictures of a tree. Me with the cutest golden retriever in the world.  Weiwei lifting while studying...Giant chalk propaganda for ADT show. Dead roses in an MIT Architecture water bottle....(accurate). Me and Dobs in classy black ties. Pool under the influence of alcohol. Minerva being a parasite. Poor Tanya. 

Ring delivery with friends! <3 also lol they gave us flasks (as modeled by Kevin)

Yay more pictures lol. Botton one with ADT people!

Ahaha more pictures. Check out my new high-lo. I bought it for the event but it's definitely gonna get a lot more wear out of it! (plus the back has a cute cut-out...you're just gonna have to take my word for it)

SHOW PICTURES. All ADT except for the one that says DT on my shirt lol.

Yay post-show and pre-show pictures! Me and minerva. Yellow Fever dance w/ our lovely choreographers for who we bought cute animal suits. My beautiful Bad (Fe)males in all of their black and gold glory. All the friends we convinced to join ADT this semester lol. Dabin so sexy~

Writing writing writing, building building building!

Cecile and I looking surprisingly untired after our all-nighter to finish the project!