Friday, February 26, 2010

stuff and things

One month is all I have left here. I'm torn about moving of course, like I always am. I'm convinced it's the right thing though, so that makes it a little easier.

In my perspective, Japan will always be a little bit bizarre. It's interesting the things I've gotten used to that I once thought were really odd. Like:

  • sweeping the dirt/grass. I still think it's odd, but I really like doing it, it's quite relaxing actually.
  • the nearly constant soundtrack that plays throughout the day at work. It'll feel weird not having music to eat, clean, and walk down the hallway to.
  • masks. I hate wearing them myself but I often have the urge to give them to anyone who happens to cough or sneeze near me.
And then there are the things that I will never get used to. Like:

  • phone noises. Just the other day I was in the teacher's room working on stuff, and I heard strange noises in the back of the room. I looked, thinking that we had a new handicapped student that I hadn't met. But nope. It was a co-worker on the phone.
  • certain clothing choices. I was in the teacher's room really absorbed by the work I was doing, when a flash of pink distracted me. I looked up, and one of my co-workers was running around with a bright pink apron on and a bright yellow bandana on her head. No idea what that was about.
  • men and very feminine pink. I saw an old man riding a pink bike a few days ago. Yesterday there was guy running past the school in a bright pink (like 80's bright) jogging suit. I've seen a man wearing a rather masculine hardcore biker outfit walking a chiuaua that was wearing a bright pink sweater.
I'm sure there are other things and I'll post them if I think of them. That's all for now folks!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

scattered

I can't seem to keep my mind focused these days; there's so much that I should be doing that I can't seem to do anything at all. Christmas was great, of course, and full of many "random" events that weren't actually random at all. January was good. This past Friday was kind of the best day ever because I got to cross another thing off my list: after 14 years of being a fan, on Friday night I was finally able to go to a Backstreet Boys concert, and it was...well I don't really know how to describe how much fun I had; I'll always love BSB. And now the first week of February is gone, leaving me with less than 2 months here. It's as official as it can get at this point. I've got the plane ticket and I've started packing. Why does it always feel so weird...

And why do people settle for lives they don't want? Why do people have dreams but trade them in for the standardized life the world sells us? Why do people look at me like I'm insane when I tell them I'd like to go learn about the gypsies in Romania, and be a sailor on a tall ship for at least a few months, that I'd like to fly a hot air balloon and go on a completely un-planned-out journey? Is it because of my gypsy-like childhood that I see the
world in vivid color, that I know there's too much out there to waste my life in a cubicle? Not that everyone in a cubicle is wasting their lives; I know that's not true. But it would be true for me. There's just....so much more out there....if I could just figure it out....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wwXfAFQoh8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn0lhsXHEhc