Back on Track

Yeah, damn right! That's the hope anyway, to get back into a good rhythm. Summer break was immensely restful and very fun, and Brent's visit made it all the more the awesome experience (especially for him I'm sure). Five weeks flew by and some of what I have to show for it is a reduced bank account, sore body parts from my bike fall, and a pretty good tan.

And now it's time to get back to the life I chose to start almost two years ago.

I can believe it. I wanted to say I can't believe it - meaning how fast the time has gone - but then I realized that everyone says that. Why don't you believe it? Perhaps a better way of phrasing it would be, "I have been unaware of the large period of time that has passed, and am treating it as if it were a much smaller period of time, and upon reconciling the two, I realize that what I feel I experienced and what I actually experienced are two very different senses of passed time. I can't believe it."

Anyway, diatribe concluded, today is Tuesday, the second day of the second term of the Japanese school year, also the second day of school of my second year as ALT on the JET Programme.

It went really well! While the JHS kids are stuck in morning tests, the elementary kids are in full energy mode. I doubt they sat around all summer, but when I remember back to my life as a student, by the end of summer break, I was so ready to get back to school, to see my friends, to wrap paper grocery bags around my textbooks, to sit in the hallway and goof around, to just have something to DO!

And such a desire remains as an adult. I enjoyed my time off, the days spent lazing around the apartment, putting everything in order, reducing clutter, cleaning, catching up on my laundry, etc. If it weren't for my trip up to mainland to visit Sam and meet Kerri, and for the two weeks Brent spent here, I think I'd have gone out of my mind. Perhaps that's not exactly the case; I would have been studying Japanese, doing more exercise, and taking more photos. But you get the idea. Time off is great, as long as when it ends, and we have something to go back to doing.

This week, I'm back to doing. I picked up my Japanese studies again and am happy that I still remember what I spent the past six months learning. Exercise (running, leg training) is on hold as I wait for my left knee (or a ligament or tendon therein) to stop bothering me, though swimming has proved to be beneficial. Karate is also on hold. Bike lessons have pretty much been bumped to the weekends (7 lessons to go, the final being my practical test, which I'm going to ace!).

There is one more piece of awesome news. But I'm not going to type it here just yet. If you didn't hear it from me before you (eventually) read it here, my apologies. But I don't think you'll hold it against me.