Monday, July 10, 2006

Almost a day off...

Wilderness Miki at the Lookout Some Photogenic Sculpture Entrance to Kinkokuji Temple in Kyoto Kinkokuji Temple in Kyoto Kiyomizudera, Kyoto Ryoan-Ji Temple Rock Garden The Golden Temple, Kyoto, Japan
I finally have a moment to relax. If only for a second.

After not having a two-day weekend for over three consecutive weeks, it was nice to have only a short Monday due to an early morning staff meeting. I've just returned from it now and will make my way out again as soon as my laundry is done.

But in the meantime, an update opportunity! Oh, giggles!

The last month or so has been quite the adventure. My parents were due to arrive in Japan on June 17th where they would've been joining me on a two-week holiday across Japan. The prospect of which excited me greatly; not only could I see the parts of Japan I've yet to see (read: Tokyo) but also get to see Lynne and Larry after a long six months away from all things home. I started salivating at the thought of a surprise batch of Mom's cookies.

Unfortunately, my father had a bit of a heart "episode" which was later upgraded to "attack" and the trip was put off for the time being. It was a complete blessing in the way because old Dad's perfectly alright now, and the heart attack was so minor that he wasn't even completely sure he had had it. Larry's ticker is still tip-top and he's okay. I'm relieved. It could have been terrible if something had happened on the plane or even here in Japan. Confident as I am that I could get us both help and subsequently to a hospital if there was a health incident while my parents were here, the environs would have added to the stress of an already stressful situation.

In both the long and short run of things, I'm entirely happy that my parents were not able to come. Everyday there are people having heart attacks who lose to them immediately. Pops got a knock on the door and his heart attack even wiped its feet before coming in. No damage to the heart and a strengthened artery and Dad joins me in the ranks reinforced
MacInnises (MacInni?)
with Six Million Dollar Man upgrades (I for my hernia, now reinforced with some surgical procedure involving a damaged muscle wall and bionic Teflon mesh, and Dad for his remolded artery). How cool is science?

Saying all this, I still can't wait for them to arrive for their rescheduled November vacation to the Far East, which should be right near the end of my own adventure here in Japan. I was allowed to cancel the vacation time I booked and reschedule it for the end of my contract. Less rain then, and now we have more time to plan our agenda out. I now plan on arriving in Thailand come December. From what I understand, this should help us avoid the rainy season in some of the areas we're going while still allowing me to be back in Canada by June of next year. I'll be all traveled-out by then, so would all of you please-please-please come and visit me wherever I end up. I've decided I definitely need to be on Canadian soil for a little while. I was telling my friend Alex yesterday that I know and understand what it means to identify as a Canadian now more than ever before, but what its like to live the life is starting to escape my mental grasp. Being here has changed me. You all know it. For one thing, I have never been this bad at email in my entire life. And I'm more a citizen of the world, more a pacifist than I was prior to arriving, and living without an internal fear-gauge for the first time in as long as I can remember. Maybe I'm just finally coming into my own, but it sure feels good.

Back to the email thing, I suppose that I'm always just a bit busy. Were there countless university hours to spend in front of the computer? There weren't, but I managed to find hours anyway. As a result I slept in a lot, missed a lot of classes and probably got less than I should have out of some of my courses.
At the time, I found this particularly easy to justify in my electorate classes. Missing them was a breeze. But I know now that if I do decide to return for some graduate work, it'll have to be all or nothing. I've learned a lot of discipline with this little stint in the workforce.

Now time seems to stretch a little bit between each commitment. I'm lucky in many ways because I know a lot of great people in the Himeji area. I try to see people whenever I can, but there's less time for everything as things are busy. A few of the teachers have been on vacation over the last little while so I've been working some extra days to fill in for them. It's hard to deal with, especially in the face of losing your own vacation, but I'm glad someone got to have some time with their folks in lieu of mine arriving for me.

Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head.

Eye See You

Some great people are leaving Japan before me, it seems. My American friend Jesse left to go to China and study kung-fu. Seriously. He's a good guy to have on your side. And so very amicable! But now, to lose two lovely people I've met here (and in the same week!) is heartbreaking! Both Miako and Miki are leaving this week to embark on their own adventures. Miki-chan is off to study at Carleton in Ottawa and in a playful twist of irony, this Canadian remains here in Japan; Miako is commencing her two-year round-the-world travel with about $20,000 to her name and time to kill, starting in Thailand and Nepal. I imagine that she's going to see it all. Selfishly, I don't want you guys to go anywhere, because we'll all miss you both. I nonetheless endorse your journeys whole-heartedly and demand pictures from time to time.

Miki and I did get to see Kyoto last weekend and I'll throw up some pictures from that trip shortly. It was her first time there, so I was her gaikokujin (foreigner) tour guide. It was kind of fun showing a Japanese person around Kyoto because it's such a cornerstone of old Japanese culture and incredibly well preserved. Our visit to Kinkaku-ji remains a definite highlight of the trip. The Golden Pavilion of Kyoto. Majestic. I regret to say that I have yet to see a kabuki show, and seeing as how I'm a theatre alumni, I find it disgraceful. Apologies to the following wonderful Guelph faculty: Alan Filewod, Harry Lane, Allan Watts, Ric Knowles,
Sky Gilbert, Kim Renders, Judith Thompson, and Jerrard Smith.

Don't worry. I'll get there eventually.

Have to run. The laundry's finished and I have an appointment with punishment. More details soon.

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