May Sunshine (1-3)

Orchestra concert on Saturday.  I haven't played in one since sophomore year in college; I'm looking forward to it.  Janelley visited this past weekend and we went surfing.  I was on the struggle bus and got washed up on the shore; I'm alive.  Janelle however is a true Hawaiian.  I discovered that TOOL is the autocorrect of YOLO on our phones, and appropriately so.  I'm going to visit her one last time in Kumamoto before she leaves Japan and goes back to the homeland.


Golden week was okay.  Got to see my niece or baby second cousin; funny she calls me aunty (in Korean) so I assumed she's my niece but Jacki corrected me saying that she would be my second cousin.  Anyways, I pulled my wisdom tooth, my only wisdom tooth, with stitches and everything.  It's taking me over three weeks to get over it; currently overcoming festering bouts of infection but fortunately, I didn't get any infections in the end.  But I must note, the whole experience sucked a lot.  It not only hurt but scarred me for the whole week for making me unable to eat all the good food in front of me.


Light at the end of the tunnel is visible.

and it goes on

Had to fly back home for a week on short notice and it sucked. Ughhh. It was a huge trauma back at home with family biz but I came to terms with it and will forget about it . . But what else?

In the process of acquiring Japanese Driver's license. Obsessed with tea more than ever; trying to embrace loose leaf tea and get rid of teabags. Need to pick up cello practice after missing 2 weeks of practice. Healthier diet. More patience & tolerance with everything, lame or unfamiliar. Got a solid budget established for future rainy days without a roof.

Getting lazier than ever though with studying Japanese. I'm so tired of the same old book/note study method; I just want to go out there and speak!, make friends and stuff but how? So I guess I'm part of the city orchestra now but the rehearsal is only once a week for three hours. And plus the majority of the people there are old and busy. All things aside, it's so hard for me to get interested in something at all and stay that way. Why is that? It's not the language or the culture for sure because I like Japan a lot!

I know I can do it because I'm getting the hang of it. I can make phone calls, make appointments, attend meetings, & basically carry on daily conversations. I just need to stay focused and push through.

Contemplative

[Yeahhh right. I probably am like the last person in the room to ever give serious thought to anything. But the truth is I'm thinking ALL THE TIME nonstop. Right now, I'm thinking about why I can't pirate Shostakovich sheet music when I can with every other dead person's music, and then I find out it's copyrighted until like 2050. Where's the money going. And then what is the head of this office doing. He stood up once to get some papers from the printer, talked to the other office guy twice and he's back in his desk again. He just stood up, whoaaa. How could my finger still hurt when I hurt it over 2 months ago. Why is tea only good when the water is scalding hot. Do I want a second cup. Ughh the kitchen is like 5 miles away I'd be like the second person to stand up and actually move in the whole office after lunchtime. Why am I wasting my time on this chapter when it's only about keigo I'll hardly ever use. Why does Fall from Vivaldi's four seasons make me feel like I'm being scolded. Is there another reason why the head of the office gets the wooden desk set . . and I can sit anywhere for hours just as long as it has bearable conditions, and think incessantly about pure garbage or anything insignificant what is up with that.]

Not Really. Going snowboarding this Sunday with biddie Janelle. Couldn't go last weekend because of mysterious cold. Will probably drive to the place . . What should I do in March?

2012

But before that, where has 2011 gone? Actually, a lot happened in 2011. Just before I was about to get off the struggle bus after completing econ seminar, I realized that I haven't found a job after grad yet. And then the last semester of my college career happened with my loves Ryan & Nic. Slept through countless applications, sweated through some . . it was a major "SS" and then somehow I got sold on going to Japan as an ALT. Great news was that 3 of my good friends college were also going to Japan. Sweeto!

Life in M town Japan has been great to me so far I should point out. Even with the daily road rages (whoa you thought Indiana drivers don't know what they are doing but naw), and other things like having to freeze in the 50 degree weather & resort to the northface ugg combination (you thought you left that behind in college but naw) because buildings have no insulation, things have been super chill. If I were to pick one thing that made it chill, I have to say it was the people. Food can be terrible, music unbearably dissonant, weather nonstop vom, but it's really the people that can make it or break it. And the ones I met are incredibly diverse and entertaining to be with.

It was winter vacay in no time, and I reunited with my college friends in Bangkok. 2011 curtains dropped with a show (specifically a huge SS, in Thailand). Just for your eyes, I present to you one of my favorite pictures from the trip with the caption, "No I won't buy you a drink but I'll dance on your pole".

To conclude, 2012 will top 2011. More people to meet, things to see, learn . . I'll keep blogging when I can.