The Lighthearted Wanderer

...can refer to many things, but today I am thinking that it has something to do with what happens with a person returns somewhere after some period of time and can't help but remember the previous visits there. Symptoms include: - Frequently beginning sentences with "Last time I was here" or "Where I was here last time" - Comparing one's surroundings to those of the previous visit - Remembering one's mental state and life state during the previous visit, and reflecting upon whether or not one has changed much since that time Caution:  Place Memory and associated symptoms can be triggered by a variety of factors. One may be going about normal daily activity (such as walking or buying food) and suddenly recall a moment from the past. Don't be alarmed, that feeling that time is passing both slowly and quickly is completely normal... And no...that fear that you have about time passing so quickly that you will one day wake up and find you...

The past week has been kind of ridiculous with regards to travel, here's the overview: Fri, Oct 14: Straight from school to Maiko station to Sannomiya to Osaka Itami airport Sat, Oct 15: Gakuentoshi -> Maiko station -> Shirahama (fail because the Nada Fighting festival got rescheduled to a different day) -> Himeji -> Itayado -> Gakuentoshi Sun, Oct 16: Gak -> Sannomiya -> Arima -> a round on the Kobe Port Liner -> Harborland Mon, Oct 17: Gak -> Kyoto (I won't even go into the travel fails on my part from this day) Tues, Oct 18: All over Kyoto with mom, boyfriend, and his parents :) and then back to Gak Wed, Oct 19: Gak -> Sannomiya -> Shin-Kobe -> Hiroshima to see castle and Peace Park Thurs, Oct 20: Hiroshima -> Miyajima island -> back to Gak Fri, Oct 21: an anomaly! just to school and back and today? maybe Osaka? Here's a pic from each day! Himeji Castle (with main tower under construction) Another Kobe...

To going on a weekend trip with no idea of where I was going, but simply putting my faith in the drivers... To singing roadtrip songs and being on a firstname basis with Christina, Alanis, Natalie, and Beyonce (okay well she's on a firstname basis with everyone)... To freezing cold streams and steaming hot onsens...and making friends with locals while everyone is naked... To jumping off rocks and screaming like your life depended on it...and to all the support from your friends after your epic fail landing left your legs, butt, and arms tingly shocked be essentially unharmed... To barbequed cookies and rediscovering the wonders of Costco... To drinking games and terrible dance moves... To being in a place so beautiful that the word beautiful sounds insufficient... To wonderful memories, of being young and remembering that these are the stories I'll remember when I get old, and so now is the time to live those stories :)

"when I was choosing this car, I had a choice between airbags or tinted windows" "---tinted windows, ftw!" What did I get myself into???!

Not typical by any means, but I promised my bestie Sonia that I would write one of these, and today seems as good a day as any :) So here is my today... 6:35am Woke up to my alarm and immediately looked out my sliding door to see if the weather was rainy or or not. Just clouds at that point, but looked like it could open up to rain any time. Usually I wake up at 6:50/7ish, but I woke up early today to look at the weather. And so I waited, why? 7:00am Because I was waiting for my vice-principal (kyoto-sensei) at my visit school (the one I go to on Tues and Fridays) to see if the school's sports festival would still be held. Due to weird liability/travel expenses, I wouldn't be able to go to the school's sports day and would instead be sent to my regular school. But if it was raining, they would reschedule sports day and I would go to the visit school and teach my classes. But alas, it was simply cloudy, and the sweet kyoto-sensei informed me that I should just go to m...

A post that I know will do very little justice to all the amazing festivals that I have been to in the past 2 months...but better late than never! Sorry in advance that it's very picture-heavy... Fireworks in Kobe Harbor - August 6, 2011 The first time I got to hang out with some Hyogo ALTs since Orientation :)  And I know this is super creepy, but isn't she so adorable?? To-kae Festival in Nara  - August 13, 2011 Fields and fields of candles in paper lanterns in pretty designs...the great surprise was coming across these giant bamboo poles with carved out holes, it was really quite beautiful when in the summer night. Daimonji or Gozan no Okuribi Festival in Kyoto - August 16, 2011 It was one of the hottest days of the summer, and the crowds and crowds of people added to the heat. But there was something really nice about chilling on the river bank with a chuhi and some buddies just watching the flaming kanji burn itself out... ...

Slow day. Same story. Typhoon warning, no classes. All the teachers in the staff room talking but I don't understand anything unless the nice librarian who comes to sit next to me during staff meetings clues me in on what's going on. But at least I remember what I actually wanted to write about today. So by now, you've probably seen/heard/read of this  NY Times article  about education and whether schools should be focused on building character and what does it mean to have good character. I'm linking it here not because this post will actually be referring to it but that while I was reading I remembered what I meant to write about. And also because you might as well go read it if you haven't already...even though I'm only on pg 5 at the moment, many have called it a worthwhile read. I would finish the article first and affirm or deny that claim, but when I remember what I want to write about, I tend to want to stop everything else that I am doing so I ...