It occurs to me the last post I made was during our second day in Japan and that was back in mid-April and since then I've neglected to make any posts at all. Hm.
Well, partly I blame living on plurk because it's so quick and easy to update life things and chat on there, but I also I blame life, and I blame being mostly buried in the RP side of DW.
That doesn't mean stuff hasn't happened though, and I suppose the big one was actually being in Japan for a month. I've been pining wildly periodically since we got back, so in a bid to get some of this stuff out of my system I figure it's high time I did an update about it.
( Read more... )
After that trip, I came back for my final week of work. I don't regret not running for a second year.
One of the more difficult things that happened during my last month was that I was assaulted while I was getting lunch in public. The actual event hasn't left any lasting marks on me, but I reported it to the police because the guy was still hanging around the area. The aftermath of that leading up to the court case and dealing with the police is one of the most stressful things I've ever done. I'm not going into tons of details here so much as I'm making this as a note for myself to look back on later, but I had my reservations about going to the police because they have a very poor history of handling LGBT cases appropriately.
The long and short is, while the police decided to charge the guy and take it to court, due to a mishandling on the part of the police and the Crime Prosecution Service over the nature of the charge, I was unable to testify as it would result in me giving up some of my personal rights and, ultimately, lying under oath to fit the charge. Unwilling to do that, the case was dropped after an incredible amount of unacceptable behaviour on the part of the DC handling the case. It was really horrible.
That aside, the leaving-do for work was one of the most awkward events I've ever attended, but it seemed a very fitting way to end a very difficult year, all in all.
In July, we moved out of London to Sussex since I'm doing my MA at Sussex we needed to be closer to the campus, so we're now living in a much cheaper place with a livingroom that has a direct view of the ocean and the horse stabled only a ten minute drive away. I love it, but I do miss London. It also means we're getting to bother![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
annephoenix a lot more and that's excellent.
The other good news is while I don't have a job anymore, I applied for and was awarded a scholarship toward my MA tuition fees, which has cut the overall price nearly in half and taken a huge weight off my shoulders.
I'm now just starting my second term of the MA and it's been quite mixed. I submitted my first two papers a couple of weeks back and I'm anxious about the outcome, but now I only have two more pieces of coursework to do and then the thesis and I'll have completed my MA. So already, I'm starting to think of PhDs and where/who I'll study with. It feels very daunting. But it seems like my focus is heading in the direction of HIV/AIDS and Japanese popular culture.
We also went to America to visit Skyler's folks over Christmas and got to briefly seepseudorca, but it was such a short trip and so much of it was taken up with writing papers that it didn't feel like a real visit at all. I think I felt overall a bit ambivalent about America this trip whereas in the past I was more excited. We did go see a live basketball game though (Atlanta Hawks v. Milwaukee Bucks) and that was really quite fun.
In nerd land, still kind of stuck in Sports Hell in terms of anime, still enjoying Kuroko no Basuke, very disappointed with season 2 of Free!, we got into Haikyuu!! which is adorable, and we recently started watching Yowamushi Pedal. So all the sports. I also watched the first season of the Fate/Stay Night remake and I just don't find it as exciting or interesting as Fate/Zero, for so many reasons.
Otherwise, I've been playing way too much Guild Wars 2 and need to tone it down and get back to working properly... But I just sorta like my cute losers a whole bunch. It's been nice to think about OCs again a bit :') Plus, with the GW2 Heart of Thorns announcement coming today my hype feelings are high. Must have a healthier relationship to this game though, it's a thing that must happen.
So yeah, it's been a busy, mixed year with lots of travelling and work and studying.
Well, partly I blame living on plurk because it's so quick and easy to update life things and chat on there, but I also I blame life, and I blame being mostly buried in the RP side of DW.
That doesn't mean stuff hasn't happened though, and I suppose the big one was actually being in Japan for a month. I've been pining wildly periodically since we got back, so in a bid to get some of this stuff out of my system I figure it's high time I did an update about it.
( Read more... )
After that trip, I came back for my final week of work. I don't regret not running for a second year.
One of the more difficult things that happened during my last month was that I was assaulted while I was getting lunch in public. The actual event hasn't left any lasting marks on me, but I reported it to the police because the guy was still hanging around the area. The aftermath of that leading up to the court case and dealing with the police is one of the most stressful things I've ever done. I'm not going into tons of details here so much as I'm making this as a note for myself to look back on later, but I had my reservations about going to the police because they have a very poor history of handling LGBT cases appropriately.
The long and short is, while the police decided to charge the guy and take it to court, due to a mishandling on the part of the police and the Crime Prosecution Service over the nature of the charge, I was unable to testify as it would result in me giving up some of my personal rights and, ultimately, lying under oath to fit the charge. Unwilling to do that, the case was dropped after an incredible amount of unacceptable behaviour on the part of the DC handling the case. It was really horrible.
That aside, the leaving-do for work was one of the most awkward events I've ever attended, but it seemed a very fitting way to end a very difficult year, all in all.
In July, we moved out of London to Sussex since I'm doing my MA at Sussex we needed to be closer to the campus, so we're now living in a much cheaper place with a livingroom that has a direct view of the ocean and the horse stabled only a ten minute drive away. I love it, but I do miss London. It also means we're getting to bother
annephoenix a lot more and that's excellent.The other good news is while I don't have a job anymore, I applied for and was awarded a scholarship toward my MA tuition fees, which has cut the overall price nearly in half and taken a huge weight off my shoulders.
I'm now just starting my second term of the MA and it's been quite mixed. I submitted my first two papers a couple of weeks back and I'm anxious about the outcome, but now I only have two more pieces of coursework to do and then the thesis and I'll have completed my MA. So already, I'm starting to think of PhDs and where/who I'll study with. It feels very daunting. But it seems like my focus is heading in the direction of HIV/AIDS and Japanese popular culture.
We also went to America to visit Skyler's folks over Christmas and got to briefly see
pseudorca, but it was such a short trip and so much of it was taken up with writing papers that it didn't feel like a real visit at all. I think I felt overall a bit ambivalent about America this trip whereas in the past I was more excited. We did go see a live basketball game though (Atlanta Hawks v. Milwaukee Bucks) and that was really quite fun.In nerd land, still kind of stuck in Sports Hell in terms of anime, still enjoying Kuroko no Basuke, very disappointed with season 2 of Free!, we got into Haikyuu!! which is adorable, and we recently started watching Yowamushi Pedal. So all the sports. I also watched the first season of the Fate/Stay Night remake and I just don't find it as exciting or interesting as Fate/Zero, for so many reasons.
Otherwise, I've been playing way too much Guild Wars 2 and need to tone it down and get back to working properly... But I just sorta like my cute losers a whole bunch. It's been nice to think about OCs again a bit :') Plus, with the GW2 Heart of Thorns announcement coming today my hype feelings are high. Must have a healthier relationship to this game though, it's a thing that must happen.
So yeah, it's been a busy, mixed year with lots of travelling and work and studying.
