I've been here roughly 7 months now.
I feel like I've had a lifetime of experiences and yet, somehow it feels like I've only just arrived.
Around the end of January, my friend Akiko and I had a combined birthday party with all our friends. The first order of business that day was ice skating. You may not know this, but I can't roller skate or roller blade despite my best attempts to succeed. I thought my prospects for ice skating were pretty grim. But hey, I had to at least give it a shot, right? I got out on that ice and sort of barely puttered around for the first hour and a half, but by the end of the afternoon, I had become fairly proficient at drifting around the rink. Look, Ma! No hands!
Then we went to a burger place I'd never been to called Oatman's, a little ways off from the rink. Delicious food, delicious conversation--and in a very surprising move, my friends paid for me! Up to this point in the day, I already felt like I'd met the challenge of skating head on and succeeded with a modicum of success, so having my meal paid for pretty much sent me into a coma of content. Amid the laughs and the tempest of good will, I could really feel something there. The feeling that I knew these people. I'd grown to know them. There was real human connection there. Something that I feel college robbed me of at some point. I'm learning what people are really for again.
After that, we moved the party to karaoke, had a blast, and then all went home. Well, most went home. I stayed out all night in Tokyo, but that's a story for another day.
The next weekend, I went with some of those same friends on a trip to Hokkaido. The results can be seen in the previous post below. I think the images really speak for themselves. There were a few things left out: an unplanned trip to a greenhouse, tons of snow falling, seeing my friend Marc again, making a snow angel, etc.
Then, the following weekend, I went skiing with Akiko in Nasu, Tochigi prefecture. This was a first as well, and a deal more frightening than learning to ice skate. With skiing, you put your planks down on the snow, and you're off. Whoosh! Did I fall a lot? Oh, hell yes. I was quite sore the next day. B-U-T! Once again, I did it. By the end, I was whooshing along with the best of them... on the beginner slope. Still, I felt like a million yen (or 10,000 dollars which is a respectable sum no matter how you look at it).
Akiko's friend Yuki drove us, and on the way back, as we slowly proceeded down the mountain with our chain-covered tires, we slid across the road, stopping just short of hitting a wall and falling into a ravine. I felt strangely calm at the time. I screamed instinctively, sure, but I couldn't really comprehend that I was seconds away from a serious accident. We were all shaken, but unharmed.
The next day was Valentine's Day. A very special day deserving of a very special experience. Plus, my ass hurt like it had never hurt before, so I suggested to my friend James that we go to a hot spring over in his town, Washinomiya. About 7 dollars for 3 hours of sulfur-suffused bliss.
Yesterday, I went with Marisa to see an exhibit at the National Museum on Dogu, mysterious clay figures from the Jomon period (14,000 BC to 400 BC). It's not generally understood what the purpose of dogu were, but there are several theories. Wiki it if you're interested.
After that, I bought new shoes, we had sakura flavored steamers at Starbucks, met Devin for dinner, and and and you get the idea.
Here's the bottom line: I'm having the best time I've ever had. Overall, I'm happier than I've ever been. Life seems vaster, more full of potential, and people just seem more important than ever before for me. To meet, to change, to grow. There's so much to do and life is just about perfect.
Just about.
There's a serious problem, a missing piece of the puzzle that prevents me from being complete here. I think you probably understand, dear reader. It's the puzzle that no one's ever solved.
l-o-n-g-i-n-g
