Midori's Journal    see her bio

April 12 , 2008

Hi everybody,

It’s been another busy week, but the weather’s been really nice here lately. Spring term is starting off great! So far this term, I’ve been pretty busy, but at least I get to wear shorts and flip flops out. Last week our new school president Malin Adams were elected for the ’09 class. Congratulations to him! It was so exciting to hear the candidates make their speeches at All School Meeting, and it was definitely a close race.

Well, as my friends and I count down the days until summer, we still have to focus on our schoolwork and our sports. Even so, the entire mood on campus is so much more excited because of the spring. The senior class especially is having a lot of fun. It’s great that we can do our homework outside now! I’m really looking forward to the rest of this term, and I’m hoping it won’t be too stressful.

It was exciting seeing all of you newbies at revisit day! I hope you all decide to come; this really is a great school. I also hope that your hosts here were good to you and showed you all Andover has to offer.

My spring break was really fun too. I went back to Tokyo again, and then my family and I went to Guam to scuba dive and have fun on the beach and at the pool. It was very relaxing and a good time to get away from school, just as I began to feel really tired of the cold weather. I can’t wait for summer but first I have to get through the rest of the year!

Hope you all decide to choose Andover as you school, I’m looking forward to meeting you guys next year!

All the best,

Midori

My lovely sister Megumi

March 5 , 2008

Hey Everyone!

It’s been a while hasn’t it? Well let’s see… there’s been a lot going on these past few weeks. It’s seemed like this term just flew by. Andover Exeter was two weekends ago. It was extremely fun and Andover definitely beat Exeter. Out of the four varsity sports that competed for the winter season that weekend, girls and boys hockey and basketball, we won all but boys basketball. Slam (our step team) even performed fantastically. My friends and I watched the entire boys hockey game. It was intense! We screamed so hard when they scored and cheering was really fun.

Next week is finals week and so everyone’s quite busy trying to get ready for their exams. I’m pretty lucky because I only have two finals this term! This week has been pretty fun, there’s been three birthdays in our dorm. It’s been really great having yummy munches (food) to celebrate birthdays, especially after studying.

Girls from my dorm enjoying food from a birthday munch

After next week it’s spring break and I’m really excited. I’m going home to Japan again, and then my family and I are going to Guam to scuba dive. I’ll also be playing a lot of tennis to get ready for the last part of tennis tryout! I’m so excited but also nervous.

Nordic season ended last week, which was pretty sad. I really enjoyed Nordic, and I got to race last Wednesday which was a great experience and really fun! I was so happy that I got to try a totally new sport that I had never done before.  This year I’ve been able to do so many things I’ve never been able to do elsewhere, and Nordic is just one of them. Because there’s only one full week of school left, all my other clubs have started to wind down, yesterday was the last ARC (a program where we entertain and have fun with mentally disabled people), and Monday was the last time we met to write letters to pen pals. I’m a little sad that everything is ending but at the same time really excited for spring break.

So for you perspective students, acceptance letters are coming soon! Good luck to all of you, and I can’t wait to meet some of you at revisit day! Maybe one of you will even be shadowing me in April when you come see our campus and classes. Can’t wait!

Talk to you all later!

Midori

February 5 , 2008

Hey Everyone!

So this week is going pretty well. Today is Head of School’s day!!! Head of School’s day is a day in winter term, totally random, where our Head of School Barbara Chase gives us the day off. She does this by walking into our dining room and waiving around a field hockey stick at dinner the night before. EVERYONE went crazy last night; it was awesome to experience this for the first time. Even though everyone predicted that it would be today, and therefore waited for her to walk through the door, no one was absolutely sure so it was still really exciting and tense.

My friends and I have decided to try to get our homework done so we can go to the movies! It’s going to be a great day. Anyways, it’s nice to have just a relaxing time. I’m especially glad that Wednesday is Chinese New Year because I don’t have Chinese class! Not that I don’t enjoy Chinese class, but free periods are always fun. This week was also really fun because my friend Kyle is trying to learn Chinese, and its hilarious trying to teach it to him because he’s really bad at languages. For the Chinese new years festival on Wednesday night, my class is singing a Chinese pop song, and its going to be really good. I can’t wait.

Well its time that I get back to work so that I can get to the movies!

Talk to you guys soon,

Midori

January 23, 2008

Hey Everyone! It’s been a long time, I do have to apologize for this very late post, I’ve been extremely busy, with everything. Christmas break was very relaxing. I went back home to Japan with my sister, and we got to see our parents and dog again. I was somewhat bored because all of my friends had left for their breaks, so I did a lot of baking and cooking which was fun. My dad took me rowing for the first time, and I had tons of fun doing that too.

The first day back from Christmas break was my birthday! It was fun seeing all my friends to celebrate it, but it was disappointing that I just missed spending my birthday at home. So I was super excited to be turning 15, I had a great day, especially when my friends sung happy birthday to me in the cafeteria.

So getting back into the pattern of school was hard, I’ve actually had a lot of homework recently, but good thing it’s getting done. This past weekend I went skiing in Vermont with my friends Caitlin and Georgia, we had a good time. We also went sledding which was even more fun than skiing!

Well, I’ve got to go, but I’ll talk to you guys very soon (hopefully if I get my posts in on time! Sorry!)

Me, Georgia, Caitlin, her sister’s friend, and her sister getting ready to sled

Climbing back up the steep sledding hill in Vermont.

_

December 11, 2007

Hey again! So this week is finals week and I’ve been studying like crazy! It’s actually not as stressful as you might think, besides the studying, I like being able to sleep in and only have one final a day. I still have to keep focused though, and make sure I don’t sleep in too late and that I eat properly etc. Anyways I’ve already finished my Chinese and Bio finals and I’m very happy about that! The only final I have left that I’m slightly worried about is History which is tomorrow! Wish me luck! So tonight I’ll be studying for that with my friends, and hopefully I’ll be prepared for tomorrow.

I’m very excited for winter break, and it’s only a few days away! I’ll be going home to Japan and I’ll finally get to see my parents and my dog again! My family usually goes skiing in Beaver Creek, Colorado, but this year we decided to change things up a bit. I also haven’t seen my friends in Japan for almost three years, so I’m VERY excited to see them; they’ve probably all changed a lot.

Well, I’ve got to get back to studying, sorry I didn’t have time to take pictures this week, I’ll definitely post some from my break when I get back.

Again, Happy Holidays Everyone!!

-- Midori

December 6, 2007

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it’s been so long! The weeks seemed to have flown by with Thanksgiving break and now finals coming up. Thanksgiving break was very relaxing, I had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my family, and spent some quality time with them. Although it was nice being away for a little bit, I was sort of excited to get back to school and see my friends.

This week we are preparing for finals, which is next week. After finals, we have winter break! I’m very excited. To make the Holiday season even more exciting, my dorm, Nathan Hale, is doing this thing called secret snowflakes which is basically secret Santas. If you’ve never heard of secret Santas it’s when you are assigned a person in secret, and you give them gifts, while also receiving gifts from someone who is assigned to you. It’s really fun! At the end, everyone finds out who they have. I’m very curious to find out who my secret snowflake is, and I hope that my secret snowflake likes my gifts!

What makes the weeks prior to vacation even better is that it snowed a few days ago! It was really nice, but It’s also VERY cold. The first day it snowed, there was a huge snowball fight outside of the library. It was pretty intense. Because it snowed, the Nordic team (cross country skiing) finally got to try skiing instead of running, which is what we did before it snowed. Although it was my first time on cross country skis, I still had a lot of fun.

Now I have to study for finals, but I promise to keep you all posted on how this next week and my break goes! Happy Holidays everyone!

Talk to you soon,

Midori

Me helping my friend put up Christmas decorations in her room.

Psyched about the first snowfall of the year!

November 5, 2007

Hi Everyone!

This week is Wellness Week which means it’ll be a very relaxed/laid back week. Wellness Week is the week where Juniors and new Lowers are educated about chemical dependency, therefore, everyone has less classes than usual. It’s great to have so much free time, but I still have to remember to do some work. It’s also nice to just hang out with friends during our free periods. Also, this week everyone is getting psyched for Andover/Exeter! Andover/Exeter is when a lot of the Andover sports teams compete with Exeter sports teams as a sort of finale to the season. This year Andover/Exeter is being held at Exeter, so there will be 10 busses leaving for Exeter this weekend. Tomorrow I’m going to go to Commons (our dining hall) to buy my Andover/Exeter t-shirt. The t-shirts are really cool by the way. I’ve also gotten some awesome blue accessories so I can be decked out in blue while cheering on our teams! This weekend is also the Sadie Hawkins dance…and yes I have a date.

I’m really excited!! Talk to you all very soon…

October 28, 2007

This weekend was extremely fun! It began with a much needed sleep-in on Saturday. After that, I went to breakfast at Commons, then relaxed with friends at the dorm. Because I am dorm representative I had to help out with the Halloween Dance set up in the gym. It was enjoyable to see all the old boxed-up decorations from last year, and already I was excited for the dance that was coming up later that night. My friend Daniela (also dorm rep), and I helped to set up the lights around the gym. There was a slight crisis for a while when the lights didn’t work, but we were able to fix it. Then we had to rush back to the dorm to carve our pumpkins for the pumpkin carving contest! When we got back to the dorm we discovered that our friends had already carved the pumpkins so we were set (by the way they did an amazing job and we won the contest)! The dance turned out to be a blast and I think everyone enjoyed it a lot.

My friends and I helping out at the Halloween dance

One of our pumpkins that won the Halloween pumpkin-carving contest

Talk to you soon!

October 23, 2007

After a very fun and relaxing parent’s weekend, I was sad to see my parents go. It was wonderful to spend time with them (the good food and shopping was only a bonus). On Saturday, my Dad, my Mom, my sister, Megumi, and her friend Molly all went to the Head of The Charles rowing regatta down in Boston.

Molly, Me, and my sister Meg at the Harvard boathouse while watching the Head of the Charles.

It was a great experience. Since my Dad had raced the day before, he was allowed to take us into the Harvard boat house and show us around, which was pretty cool. Afterwards we all enjoyed some delicious Japanese food (my favorite!).

The three day weekend left me totally prepared for the week to come. Classes were fine – the teachers were eager to start of the week with a bountiful workload, but nothing unmanageable. During lunch and in between classes, the buzz of “who will ask whom to the Sadie Hawkins dance” had begun. The Sadie Hawkins dance is the first semi-formal dance of the year, where girls ask boys! For juniors (freshman) this is a big deal. After we finished our homework, my friends and I searched online for the perfect dress…unsuccessfully. Who will I ask? Hmmm, that is yet to be determined.

Some pictures from the weekend:

My friends and I at Daniela’s Birthday celebration!! Happy Birthday Daniela!

My friends and I being crazy… as usual

Searching for the perfect dress….