Report henecks's Profile

Hey! I think I might have deleted one of your messages before responding when I was cleaning out my inbox a while back. How are you? What are you up to these days?

I suppose a lot has happened since the last time I talked to you, haha. I moved to Ottawa in May 2015 and have been here since then. I'm working in a federal government department and living with a friend of mine from university. I'm doing well. I've still been watching anime, though not quite as much.

How is everything on your end?

This is relevant to your interests.

Yoooo. When you return, send me a comment/message! I'm curious to know how you're doing.

My part of the US gets some of the coldest winters in the country, so having something of a respite now and then is nice.

I do remember your ramblings. Not in particular detail (though I could go back and reread), but those ramblings were why I decided to finally give S;G a try after all.

I certainly did go there. Including travel time spend on the airplanes, the trip took a total of twelve days during the second half of September. Getting lost while driving would have been less frustrating if the road infrastructure were to have some improvements, I suppose. Apparently, in Poland they indicate the direction the road goes in by listing cities far off in that direction (e.g. a major highway might list Gdańsk for its northbound destination, or Łódź for its southbound destination). Some of those are easy enough to figure out, but with the others, if you don't recognize the city name, you could wind up going in the wrong direction for a good long while. And some road intersections are not very well marked, making it easy to overshoot where you want to turn. I did like the abundance of roundabouts, though. I wish there were more of those in the US. They're quite helpful, and easier to deal with than normal intersections.

As for how I spent my time, my traveling companion and I went all over the country. We only stayed one or two nights per city. I would have liked to stay longer in some of them, but it was necessary if we wanted to hit up all the different places on a trip this short. In order, we went to Warszawa, Bydgoszcz, Toruń, Malbork Castle, Gdańsk, Kraków, Wieliczka, Zakopane, Wadowice, Oświęcim (Auschwitz & Birkenau), Łódź, Łomianki, and Warszawa again. Some of those places we only passed through on our way to somewhere else. My favorites were Warszawa, Gdańsk, Toruń, Zakopane, and Kraków, in that order. Łódź has a Museum of Cinematography that I enjoyed a lot, and Wieliczka is known for its centuries-old salt mines, for which I went on a guided tour. I got to see the Tatra Mountains down in Zakopane and try out the special cheeses that city is known for. Gdańsk has a lovely Amber Museum, and Malbork Castle also has an impressive amber exhibit inside one of its buildings as a part of the castle tour. Toruń's Old Town is really nice. There's a Gingerbread Museum there, one that gives demonstrations on preparing the dough and using molds to create breads both for eating and decoration.

I could probably keep going on and on about the trip, but suffice it to say that I had a great time and hope to return in the future. Next time I want to focus just on one half of the country, and do the other half on a third. Maybe northern half first, then southern half second. There was too much to see, so I only got the highlights and what I absolutely would regret not seeing this first time around.

It's been somewhat cold around here, but this January has been much warmer than last January.

For some reason I assumed you had already completed the original visual novel. Oops. That site is where I found a translation of Youen no Valhalla, though before now I had not looked at the rest of the site.

I had a good time in Poland this past autumn. It was a lot of fun, even though we got lost every day while driving.

Hey, long time no see. I wanted to ask for your opinion of this title.

Hey! How is everything with you? What do you think of Utena so far?

My parents have some pictures, but unfortunately I don't have any on my computer!

I finished both of those books. The Peregrine was excellent, if a little repetitive. It contained some powerful passages that I will surely remember for some time. I need to read more nature writing. Murakami's novel (The Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage) was okay, but not particularly notable. Easily one of Murakami's weakest novels.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying your studies! Best of luck.

Everything is going well on my end. Just studying, reading, watching anime, the usual. I've been going for lots of long walks recently, as this is the best time of year for walks (fall). All of the bugs are gone, it's cool but not cold, and the leafs on the trees are changing colour.

We visited Quito (the capital), Esmeraldas (on the coast), Mindo (mountains and forests), and a few other places. We did a lot of hiking and exploring, which was amazing.

I've mostly just been reading The Economist lately, though I am finally transitioning back into reading books again. I ordered The Peregrine by J.A. Baker and Murakami's new novel, so I am excited to read those. Have you read anything interesting lately?

I'm looking forward to my next semester, yes. I can't wait to finish school, really.

How is everything with you? Work, family life, etc.?

No worries! I'm glad that everything is well on your end.

My summer has been pretty great so far. I spent two weeks in Ecuador visiting family and vacationing, and that was quite enjoyable. Now I'm just doing the usual—some work for my dad and then various hobbies. My brother (who lives in Germany) is coming home for a month starting in August, so that should be nice as well.

Hey! How is everything with you?

I would recommend reading a few of Kafka's short stories, say In the Penal Colony and A Country Doctor, and then jumping into either The Trial or The Metamorphosis. The Metamorphosis is my most acclaimed work, but I prefer The Trial, personally.

I'm actually really unsure whether or not I'm going to do a PhD. While I did say that I was mostly sure in my last post, my decision is constantly flipping back and forth.

I'm considering a PhD more or less because I enjoy school and doing research; however, I'm not sure precisely what I'd want to research and I'm not even sure if I wouldn't rather do another degree in something completely different. So, we'll see. Now I'm leaning towards working for a few years first and then deciding.

Glad to hear that things are going well for you!

I should read The Elements of Style, or something similar, myself. I haven't formally studied grammar since high school and, even then, only briefly, so it would probably prove useful.

I've been reading a lot of Murakami and Kafka in the past few months, both of whom I enjoy immensely. I'm interested in potentially writing some surrealist fiction, so, in that sense, their works are educational as well.

Grad school is going well; nothing major to report, really. Our department did have a mini conference today though, which was interesting. Also, at this point I am *fairly* set on applying for PhD programs, so next fall/winter should be exciting.

Heyy! How's everything with you? Watched/read anything interesting lately?