Tokyo and Life Abound

Wow, alright, so much to tell.  I met my bro and his friends in Tokyo last Friday, spent the weekend at Changeover meetings and ENKAIs for the new National Council for my non-profit (time flies!) and our Opinion Exchange with the government on Monday & Tues went super well.  Could have done more to write the thing, but did the PPT and presented the English.  Really easy, which is funny considering I remember being so nervous at the first OE last spring.

Took vacation time on Wednesday (yesterday) and checked out Nikko. AMAZING! SOOTHING. RELAXING. Imagine Kyoto jammed into an 8-block radius, set in a luscious forest.  Wow.  Somehow also got in the Harajuku cozplay crew on Sunday (4th time's the charm), monjyayaki (think less-cooked, Edo period-style okonomiyaki that's a Tokyo specialty) with a friend from Chiba and the lovely Ghibli Museum (cat bus is no longer freaky - believe I have come full circle). Whirlwind tour, but happy and content until the next time I visit Tokyo... even though I know it will be much later than sooner.

Even though I got back late last night (to an almost mask-free Kobe), it's almost 8 pm and I haven't been home long from work today (over 12 hour day).  Full morning of classes, then some planning, hosted the bro and his friends for a few classes and then a super-cooking-English-club-Bunkasai-planning extravaganza.  But things are good.

In the last few weeks things have been kinda intense, but my body is finally starting to have mercy and I've loved some of the small adventures (Japan wishlist... check!) at Spa World (AWESOME loc - can't wait to see the Asian floor if it's as good as the Europe floor & they even had "Dr. Fish"!!), exploring Osaka's Orange Street with a Japanese girlfriend and Ben on two occasions, BBQ and a whirlwind roadtrip to Ise Shrine and the Mie Prefecture coast for a day last week (thanks midterms <3).

Now I'm waiting for the kids to get back from their Rokko exploration to do some karaoke.  It's a bit later than expected (pretty much on par with the rest of their trip) and the apartment is PACKED... BUT, still nice to have them here.

Also came to some conclusions  - and surprising, life-changing, and inspiring ones - about my next steps recently, too.  Headed to grad school in the fall, most likely Boston bound.  That's way more info than I've been willing to share recently, but it's amazing how you never expect when and where some big leads and lessons will come from.  Tokyo was great for this.  Some of the schools I've been in dialogue with have been even better.  I can't wait until I can share more ;)

I'm going to head to the electronics store so I don't have to shower in the dark anymore (silly weird-sized lightbulbs that you can't buy anywhere... argh), but hopefully more details coming soon and lots of love.  'til then...