Rainy days are the Best.

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Where does one begin a story, do they start at the beginning, if that is the case then we've 23 odd years of catching up to do. Does it start at the here and now, well its still 23 years later. Or does it remain timeless; I think this is the best spot. So here I am, 23 years into this thing we call life and starting a blog because I would like to leave a record behind, even if it is only for myself. I'm horrible at these things because I tend to want to write too much and get frustrated and usually give up or forget to write one day and once that happens its all to easy to stop. So why now, well for one it raining out and as much fun as it is to play in the rain it’s nice to stay warm and dry too.

"So wait who are you again?"

I would call myself average but I know now that there isn't anything average in this world of ours. As you know by now I'm 23, live in Connecticut, and a college student. I like history, running, blading, computers and ice cream. I have no skill with art or musical instruments but I would like to think that words are the brush that I can use to paint my world. I've lived my whole life in Connecticut but did spend one of the best years of my life in Japan as part of a study aboard program. When I graduate I want to travel the world and go to as many different places and meet as many different people as I can. To this end it is my intention to try and join the State Department and become a Foreign Service officer. I am trying to learn the Japanese language and to learn more about the world we live in. I find this planet to be truly filled with wonders and wish to explore as humanly and inhumanly as possible.

“Ok, what next?”

When starting any project, a goal is paramount for the success of the project. But as of this moment I don’t have a goal for this. I want to write but don’t know when or about what yet. Albeit there are plenty of things to write about whether personally or about the world in general. I will have to find the will and motivation in myself to keep this going and that is something that I would like to prove to myself in any case.

“And so it begins?”

Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far I think it possible for man to go.
Captain James Cook

From August 2007 until May 2008 I lived in Japan which is worlds away from anything I’ve known. I learned a lot about myself there and met so many great people there that it isn’t something that I will ever forget. I went there with no language training and an open mind and have come from it changed. Difficulties were aplenty, friends were the best, challenges of both the mind and the body were overcome, and the memories remain. I discovered the joy of learning a new language and the fun/frustration of trying practice it there (or just taking a friend and putting them in front of me to take the plunge). Spent way too much money at Starbucks but enjoyed every minute of the conversations. Learned that cooking is both an art and a science that I really need to learn but as long as I have good friends, I can just buy the ingredients instead. I joined a running club and decided that exercise is actually good for the body and mind. Got lost in Osaka only a hundred times but always found my way back home. Climbed Mount Inari what feels like a dozen times and wish there was still time to go again. Discovered a land and people that as different as they were, they were some of the most interesting and greatest people in the world. When people ask me if I want to go back I am always conflicted though, because of course I want to go back, but where I truly want to go back to doesn’t exist anymore, only the buildings and the memories. But now its time to look forward, while grasping the strings of the past.

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