yakiimo

Congratulations!! Going to Japan is expensive (I'm saving up). I'd recommend the Lonely Planer Japanese Phrasebook for some useful phrases. There's also some not-so-useful ones... Found and Barnes and Noble! If you have any questions about customs, I'm sure at least one person on OB can help you. It's a wonderful opportunity!

What great suggestions! I think I'll go through here today after work and reply more in-depth and try out a few of these. As for right now, I have ten minutes to get ready to go!

Fasteriskhead hit it well. As a child raised on positive -everything-, I found that by having what many consider self-esteem bolstered by my parents in everything I did, it makes taking criticism in real life very hard. Heck, they're even taking the Honor Roll out of some schools because it's hurting kids' feelings if they don't make it on there! While most people tend to stick to the topic of over-confidence and snobbery in people, which is one type of pride, being so down on yourself is also another. I think self-confidence and a high self-esteem are important. While it's based on your own opinion of yourself, a lot of the time it's either upped or downed by those around you. That's pretty much human nature, since we're a communal race of critter. We need other people, more or less. When a child is, say, five years old? Self-esteem and general self-image tend to come from family. School is barely starting. When that child reaches eight or so, they are starting to come into their own person. They're forming ideas about themselves and all that stuff. Friends begin to have an enormous impact on how we view ourselves. Though most kids don't want to admit it, family still plays a big part. If you see a child in their early teens dressed in 'emo' or 'goth' clothes at school, that can also be a type of pride. They take pride in their 'differentness'. Pride can be on both sides of the esteem coin. It's an extreme. As for whether or not self-esteem matters? It matters very, very much. Self-esteem in school gives you the confidence to do your best. That's all anyone can ever really ask. My parents asked for that, chiding me for Cs and congratulating me for Bs and As. My brother and sister were congratulated for Ds, so I was treated differently. It helps you have the courage, knowing you feel good about yourself and your abilities (realistically), to give that oral report or go into that test with your head up. It helps you take the brunt of the bad, like failing that test you thought you'd do well on. You don't really dwell on the bad things that're happening to you. Self-esteem in the workplace helps you get the job done. If you're confident in yourself and what you can do, positive in your thinking, then there's a greater chance you're going to get the job done and get it done well. It'll help you prepare and give that presentation you were only given a week to come up with. It helps you get through the drudgery of paperwork and the ever-so-common workplace gossip. Self-esteem and a positive self-image isn't about bolstering your self-worth straight up into snobbery. This is about knowing your abilities and having confidence that you can give it your best. You'll be pleased with almost any outcome, and those you're not ... you'll try harder next time.

I don't have gamer rage or anything, so playing FF4 on the DS helps. Though "Earthbound" on the SNES really doesn't. XD Yes, I have a SNES. It's my husband's and sort of came with him when we got married! The thing about physical activity is that I do a lot of that at work as it is. Stocking the shelves and running all around a 10,000-square-foot building makes me very tired. I just want to unwind my mind and body after a day at retail. The physical activity isn't that hard, it's just when management is breathing down my neck, I get agitated more than anything and need to recover from that. Work v. school, though ... when you have crunch time for a project the worst your facing is an F or a meeting with parents and the teacher. When it's work, you can get fired. So having crunch time (like the 100+ price changes I'll have to do tomorrow!) can lay a little heavier on my shoulders than anything in school ever did. That's not to discount school. It's tough (I've been through it!) but work is a whole new thing when it's your absolute livelihood. I actually have several (thirty) sticks of Nag Champa in a box! I might bust that out tomorrow after work. I should be in bed right now, actually. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. And, Goddess Katana, writing about how much I wish I had help and all that from work, I realized, didn't help at all. So sometimes I'll draw my boys Jim and Chance. That helps a lot, too. Thanks again!

I've seen commercials for this show, but I have to admit I would never watch it. Two reasons. 1) What you do or don't do is your own personal business. Why use it to embarrass yourself just for money? 2) If you really love the person you're with (in the case of romantic relationships), shouldn't you ... not keep secrets from them anyway? It's just a silly idea for a show, if you ask me. I don't totally make myself out to be a saint, though. I watch the American Idol try-outs just for the bad ones. I adore Nanny 911 as a sort of "what not to do when raising your children" thing. But as far as "Date My Ex", "Nothing but the Truth", "Cheaters", "Wife Swap", all those types of things I stay away from. "Baby Borrowers", however, is a good idea.

What sorts of things do you all do to relieve stress? Stress from relationships or school, family or friends? I work in retail (Wal*Mart actually (I know, "booooo!")) and I'm the department manager of the cosmetics department. It's a highly stressful job just because of upper management getting on my case. Sometimes I don't know what to do to unwind, so I end up tossing and turning all night long. My hours are 7am - 4pm, so I go to bed about 10pm and wake up at 5am! Then I'm at work all day long, trying to get everything done. Stock the shelves, do all the required paperwork, get my screen done that controls price changes (both mark-ups and downs), not to mention make sure all my stock in the back room is kept in order. I have one helper and she has discs in her back that are slowly deteriorating. She can't move very fast so that's just more work heaped on my shoulders. I vent about work to my husband on the way home, but when I get home all talk of work stops. I want to leave work elsewhere, but the stress is still there. If anyone has any suggestions of what I could do to help alleviate stress, that'd be awesome. As for video game suggestions (since I know at least one will mention this, and it'll be welcome!), I own the following: SNES, PS2, NGC, GBA, NDS, PSP, PC (obviously). So any good games to recommend for that would be awesome. Thanks in advance for all your help.

The best thing about living totally on your own is that you don't have to wait for someone to buy you something you want to eat. Let alone ask them! When it's time to snack, which is usually what I end up doing on my days off (I just want to relax from work!) it's time to bust out the essentials! Mochi. I have access to three different Asian food stores so I end up stocking up on Mochi, Kinoko no Yama (Mushroom-shaped chocolate and cookie snack. It just means 'mushrooms of the mountain'). Pocky (Men's Pocky, which is the dark chocolate kind). Another kind of mochi (this kind you have to boil, the other you eat right from the freezer). Anything with azuki in it! When I'm not craving azuki (that happens a lot), I go for chips. Cheetos, Fritos, regular Lays, Doritos. But when I'm at the computer, the Asian snacks are less messy so I can get more done without having to worry too much about getting crap on the keyboard. But since I don't actually snack that much, I end up cooking when I get hungry. Anything from a monstrous pot of minestrone soup to pancakes to baked chicken. But I end up pairing all this with iced tea or Mountain Dew. I normally just drink coffee the first part of my day. One pot is two cups for me! We also keep an ample supply of ice cream snacks in the freezer. MinuteMaid lemonaid things, the juice bars in the paper; Sticky Toffee Pudding ice cream, cake-flavored ice cream... really, just about anything. If I have them baked, I eat sugar cookies or pumpkin cheesecake muffins (sometimes I add in chocolate chips). But I think the main staple of a snack is mochi.

I'm glad that everyone has helped you to feel better. I just want to go against much of the grain from the rest of this thread. At the tender age of 13, I met a boy. I started dating him, broke up with him twice. At the age of 26, we've been married for six years. I want to tell you to love with all you have. I'm sure you've done that with all of your friends and loved ones, even this past relationship. I wanted to tell you that you're not too young to be thinking of marriage if you really and truly care about the person. I wanted to marry Will a few months after we began dating. Being 14 by then, my parents heard none of it. In 1997, he proposed to me. It was five years later that we wed, after high school. Everyone said it wouldn't work. Everyone said we would get divorced for marrying at 19 and 20. It doesn't always end. Don't lose hope that you'll find love at an early age. If everyone did, there's a good chance that many people would be awfully lonesome. I want to say that you're a beautiful person for wanting to plan ahead like you did. You're a beautiful person for loving with so much of yourself that you would consider marriage after six months of a relationship. My parents were wed after only three months and are still married after 26 years. It is possible, so don't be sad. Follow your heart and it will never lead you wrong. FFXII: Revenant Wings on the DS is a great game, just to let you know. FFIV on the DS comes out soon, too! Just a few more pick-me-ups heading your way. :) I'm not trying to discredit everyone else for their advice. After all, all advice is a take-and-leave sort of thing. I just don't want you to go through life thinking that your love has to have all of these restraints. You can find love in other people, but first you have to find it in yourself. It's much more fulfilling to have that love overflow into someone you really care for. I believe that you can do all of this. You just have to believe yourself. I think I've sounded enough like a fortune cookie, don't you?

Hey, everyone. I'm also new to both the forums and theOtaku page itself. I've not put anything in my gallery yet, though. I'm not certain I know how! Having been a part of several different art communities, I wanted something with a little more heart. A little more kindness and appreciation for the style of manga and anime that seem to be dumped on in many other places. By searching Google, I found this here! My anime discovery goes back many years to Voltron, Unico, and others. Even Little Nemo was animated by Japanese and I never knew it until I recently watched the VHS. But I finally learned what it was with the introduction of Ronin Warriors. Every day after school I'd watch Sage, Ryo, Kento, Sai and Rowen battle the warlords and the evil Tulpa. Then Sailor Moon came on early in the morning and stole my heart. My real adventure in anime art started there and hasn't stopped. Now I read things like Red River, Fruits Basket, Me and My Brothers, Alice 19th, Hana-Kimi, Translucent, Vampire Princess Miyu, Maison Ikkoku, The Demon Ororon, Kare Kano, Kare First Love, S.O.S., Ceres, Cafe Kichijouji de, and so many others that I can't list them all! I do prefer manga to anime, though. It's much more portable! It's also nice to see where a lot of the tales first began. And, in case anyone wasn't aware, yakiimo is a roasted Japanese sweet potato. :) My username is the same everywhere on Otaku. Thank you for your time!