Big In Japan

Rainy days bring a strange sense of contentment. For as long as I can remember I have always enjoyed just looking out the window and watching the rain fall.

It seems everything these days reminds me of Japan. After a week of sunshine, it began to rain yesterday and, opening my umbrella for the first time this year, realized that the last time I used an umbrella was in Japan. Suddenly a torrent of memories flooded back: the first umbrella I bought, which I forgot in front of the 7-11. The umbrella I bought during the typhoon when Sparks came to visit for the first time. My next door neighbor with whom I left my umbrellas (I had a collection by that time) when I left. I basked in the memories as I walked under the rainy sky. I think that’s what I like about the rain; its calming rhythm seems to ease my mind.

I suppose it’s not just the rain brings up Japan. Even sitting eating breakfast conjures up images. Finding that first box of “Frosted Flakes” on the grocery store shelf; Eating cereal out of a rice bowl (about the size of a tea cup, I had to eat two or three bowl-fulls at a time); Finding the big soup bowl in the 100yen store which was just the right size...

I catch myself tying it into most every conversation I have. Especially with new people, I have to struggle to start any new topic with “well, when I was in Japan...”

I know I will return one day, and at the moment most every action I take I take with the plan that it will get me closer to my return trip.

...and here we are some three months later. In the interest of keeping this post something near reasonable length, I’ll skip some of the small stuff.
I suppose the biggest event was the parting of ways between me and my now former employer. Let’s just say there was a falling out…
The next biggest note of interest is that the winter semester ended. This heralded several things. First, I got my grades back. As expected I did quite well in all but one of my classes. From the class I hated I got an incomplete, the first ever in my college career. I have yet to speak with the professor and I await response to the e-mail I sent him. Also with the end of the semester came moving day. Now, I originally moved into the dorm that I did because it was the “summer dorm.” This year, however, the college switched it up and changed summer housing, so I had to move. It took most of a day and a lot of back-breaking lifting to move all my junk the couple hundred feet that separated the two dorms.
I’m now all settled into my new room and relaxed from a week break between classes. I really did nothing over my “vacation” except look for work, play video games, and watch TV. Pretty successful vacation I’d say.
Today I had the first session of my only summer 1 class: Modern Japanese Literature. The teacher is the head of the Japanese department, and a pretty cool guy.
Tomorrow I have a day off (I only have class Tuesday and Thursday) so I leisurely get my homework done and still have time to spare. Ahh, isn’t summer nice?
I think that’s all I’ll write for now.