31 October 2005

It's official

Today I got my re-entry permit (it took *all day*... and it's a multiple re-entry permit, so I'd better do some more traveling before next September - I'm thinking Australia or Southeast Asia, what do you think?), so now that I'm all set, here is my itinerary for 秋休み [aki yasumi] (Fall Break):
Depart Tokyo 16 Nov 17:05
Arrive Houston 16 Nov 13:45 (Love the time travel)
Depart Houston 17 Nov 07:55
Arrive Newark 17 Nov 12:20
Depart Newark 21 Nov 18:35
Arrive Houston 21 Nov 21:22
Depart Houston 4 Dec 10:45
Arrive Tokyo 5 Dec 15:35

*whew* It's going to be pretty intense, but I'm really looking forward to it. While in New York/New Jersey, I should be able to see Darren, Brett, Julia, and Rebecca at least (don't know if I could handle much more honestly, so I'm sorry if we don't get to meet up!), and Fuji and I already have plans for 22 Nov (I'm trying really hard to find his birthday present, but it seems to be out of stock everywhere!). Other than that, I intend to do lots of "research" for the Sarai paper (assuming it's been approved by then), buy books for my own work, eat lots of homemade Indian food and pizza and burgers and Tex-Mex and Americanized Chinese food, and basically just be lazy. Hopefully I'll also see Stefanie and Joy, and maybe Lisa will even be home for Thanksgiving/her birthday, so maybe I can finally meet her fiancee Mike (oh, and hang out with Lisa too ^_~)!

And now two months of my 23-month fellowship are over. Crazy, huh? It's going by so fast! And I have yet to do any *real* work, though I am of course inhibited by my language skills. Ueda-sensei did affirm though that I need to concentrate on my reading and writing, so at least that is decided for 春学期 [haru gakki] (Spring Term). New plan on the table (I'm always coming up with new plans without finishing/fully-formulating any preexisting ones, aren't I?): enter a Master's program at a Japanese university next year, which would require finding funding for a third year here. (I'd been considering this before meeting her, but talking to Ueda-sensei reaffirmed that this would be a very wise move in the case that I continue with the grad school plan.)

So...
life here is always so interesting, and I don't just mean because it's Japan or whatnot. Today Phil and I went together to the Immigration Bureau and happened to meet Chris there. I was surprised, but Chris actually waited there until I finished, and then wandered a bit in Tachikawa with us. Normally Chris seems to prefer doing "crazy," "exciting" things by himself, whereas (as far as I can tell) Phil and I can be content with much smaller, "stupider" and quieter things. But in the end, he did end up leaving before/without us, not that Phil or I cared much one way or the other. Anyway, the point of me saying that "life here is always so interesting" is that, even in my class, almost *everyone* seems like such a character. I said this to Phil (after Chris left us, Phil and I grabbed a Bacon-Egg-Cheeseburger and Personal-Margherite (spelling?)-Pizza respectively at a fast food place called "First Kitchen"), and said that he and Emma (Swedish girl) were probably the main exceptions... but now I'm thinking about it, and I don't think that's true either. So, in the end, I don't think there's a single "normal" person in the class... no wait, maybe there's one. Anyway, being a people-watcher, it makes things interesting.

P.S. I eat *way* too much Pocky these days... but maybe it's okay today, since Dad did tell me to get myself some candy for
P.P.S. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! ^____^

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