a year gone by
Today is the one year anniversary of my first full day in Kiryu, but I'm having a hard time articulating how I feel after a year of living in Japan. I'm experiencing that mixed sensation of "time has passed so quickly, but the beginning feels so long ago" which comes standard with any interesting phase in life... but I wish I had something more profound to say. Shouldn't I feel changed somehow? wizened?
The truth is that I feel mostly the same.
...my palette is more sensitive to sweets and I've encountered more types of seaweed and mushrooms than I could have imagined, but I still get a little bit too excited about colored markers/pens and stay up too late every night.
...my Seinfeld dvds still top my "most played" list and my homepage is still espn.com, but I have a handful of new stamps in my passport and 3500 pictures from my travels and school events.
...spending my first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from home made me feel like my childhood was over, but shouldering the tears of un-returned teenage crushes and joining 4-year olds crawling in the dirt to find bugs made me think that childhood is never over.
...at this time last year I was literally trying to find the summer festival, but this year I'm trying to sir up a fan base to come watch me participate in a festival activity.
I'm not sure where all of that paradoxical babble leaves me, but I've really enjoyed this past year and look forward to the next. My dad and brother will be coming to Japan next week, then I'll be coming home to L.I. at Christmas time. I'm excited to see family and friends (and to eat bagels and Antons)... to see the ocean.
So thanks for keeping up with me on this little adventure. I hope the year has treated you well and that you'll stick with me for round two.
The truth is that I feel mostly the same.
...my palette is more sensitive to sweets and I've encountered more types of seaweed and mushrooms than I could have imagined, but I still get a little bit too excited about colored markers/pens and stay up too late every night.
...my Seinfeld dvds still top my "most played" list and my homepage is still espn.com, but I have a handful of new stamps in my passport and 3500 pictures from my travels and school events.
...spending my first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from home made me feel like my childhood was over, but shouldering the tears of un-returned teenage crushes and joining 4-year olds crawling in the dirt to find bugs made me think that childhood is never over.
...at this time last year I was literally trying to find the summer festival, but this year I'm trying to sir up a fan base to come watch me participate in a festival activity.
I'm not sure where all of that paradoxical babble leaves me, but I've really enjoyed this past year and look forward to the next. My dad and brother will be coming to Japan next week, then I'll be coming home to L.I. at Christmas time. I'm excited to see family and friends (and to eat bagels and Antons)... to see the ocean.
So thanks for keeping up with me on this little adventure. I hope the year has treated you well and that you'll stick with me for round two.posted by Kris at
9:16 AM
1 Comments:
i miss me a kristine. everyone's jealous that japan's got you. real life is starting to materialize in my world too, and i'm starting to both freak out and really embrace it. oh, adulthood - i never thought it would actually happen. we need to hang out and pretend it's not happening. i'll be in japan as soon as possible. :)
By
byron, at 7/27/2006 1:21 PM
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