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July 23, 2008
Yakitori over Fireworks
Summer vacation began in earnest on July 12th, and it has been punctuated by periods of either travel or idling at home while studying and cleaning. Truth be told, it's been pretty productive and I've been pretty happy with the way things have gone for the most part. Yesterday I went with my girlfriend and met several old coworkers at the Nagoya Port Fireworks Festival, an annual event which is a lot of fun; albeit crowded. In fact, it was so crowded that while we went to get some chicken (aka yakitori), we waited in line so long that the fireworks started. Not my first choice of things to do in a festival, but it was a nice escape nonetheless. I got to trade stories with my old coworkers about our respective lives.
While they seem to be doing well, I felt a little more validated in my decision to change jobs earlier. The vacation is a definite bonus, and I'm feeling the benefits of it now. The thing that I told them that stood out the most was that I actually enjoy working now, unlike my last year or so at the old company. It helped to put things in perspective.
I also was in Tokyo and Yokohama for about 4 days and 3 nights last week, mainly visiting Mike, an old website coworker who is now a foreign exchange student in the Tokyo metropolitan area. We didn't do much sightseeing per se (this was visit #8 for me to that area so I didn't have any place in particular that I wanted to visit), but I tagged along with him for a bit to see what his campus life was like. Afterwards, I stopped over in Yokohama to meet my old camp coworker Andy, who I hadn't met in person for over 2 years. That was a fun stopover; Andy has been one of the main people encouraging me with Japanese study, and we had a great time talking about how our lives had changed over the last 4 years. I think I can say it's been for the best.
I will lay low for now until Friday morning, where Mike will come here and we will make a two-day run around the Kansai region, hitting up Nara, Himeji, Osaka, and Kyoto. This is all thanks to that wonderful discount train ticket that I've spoken so much about, the Seishun Juhachi Kippu. Following that I am off to Beijing for four days and three nights with my girlfriend, which will be an interesting adventure in its own right. I just got my tourist visa from the Chinese consulate so aside from packing luggage all the preparation is ready to go.
It's certainly not a boring month. August will pale in comparison, but that's fine with me. I'd much rather be spending my time and money traveling with friends rather than drinking non-stop, so at least this is time well spent. And, during the down-time I have (like today) I still get in study so in a sense the time is hardly wasted. We'll see where things go from here.
Posted by paul.koehler at July 23, 2008 12:58 AM