Back in H-Town for almost a month now, I'm getting into the groove of life here. Water polo season is going strong, with the first tournament coming up this weekend. My only issue is the team's lack of effort at times (hope you're reading this!) but whatever it's all for fun anyway. Cooper convinced me to sign up for the Houston Marathon, so I've been trying to run more... did four 5mi runs in the past week which is a lot for me. Only 21.2 more miles, easy. The house is good, the garden is fruitful (so much okra!) and I've been tearing through HunterxHunter with Anna and Nathan lately which is great. On campus, research is progressing slowly but surely, and I finally started bartending at Valhalla. Life goes on!
Cheers,
Big A
Only one more week here in Fukuoka! I'm gonna miss it. This past week I visited Hiroshima, Osaka, and Kyoto briefly, and while I really liked Hiroshima, Fukuoka has a certain quality to it that is unrivaled by any of those cities. It's a homey city. This final week I'll spend time with friends(-s), eat at my favorite places, do some gift shopping, hit the beach one more time, and wrap up in the lab! Then on to Tokyo for a few days before heading home. I'm sad to leave but super excited to be back with friends, family, and easily accessible hobbies like water polo and music. Yeah, I miss it!
Cheers,
Big A
I've been in Japan for just about 7 weeks now. It feels so much longer than that! A little over 6 weeks in Fukuoka sounds realer for some reason. Life is good here - I don't have many obligations (including social ones, for better or worse...) and work isn't too intense, so overall I live quite the chill life. A guy I met named Parsa, who I dare to call my friend now, has made sure that I get out and socialize every once in a while which has helped me stay sane! We usually grab dinner or a drink and get into arguments over random geosocioeconopolitical bs until I get too passionate and he wins the argument. But it is fun. This past weekend I traveled to Kumamoto and Aso for a super cool hike, which I will have a longer update about in my travel section at some point. This week, I'll get some shit done in the lab before traveling to Hiroshima and Osaka for a few days for the Obon holiday. Then another week in Fukuoka before departing for a few days in Tokyo! I'm excited to go home - to see friends, family, etc. - but I know as the day gets closer I will start missing Fukuoka before I even leave.
Cheers,
Big A
That's right, I'm writing dates like a sensible person now. Probably because I'm in Fukuoka, Japan for the summer, and that is how we date things in the lab I'm working in. But also because it makes sense and is easier for organizational purposes. Japan has been nice! Everyone is quite respectful, if not overtly friendly (by Texan standards - although my grasp of the Japanese language surely plays a role), and I've gotten along well with lab members and strangers. Possibly my ONLY customary qualm is pedestrian sidewalk etiquette... there is no custom for walking on one side of the sidewalk or the other, which is very strange to me. Even in America, the worlds' pedestrian laughingstock, I feel like there is implicit understanding you walk on the right side, and when there approaches an incoming fellow pedestrian, both move to their respective right sides. Here anything goes! Other than that, everything you here about Japanese public transport efficiency is totally true. The subways, trains, buses are all impeccably on time, comfortable, and easy to use.
Cheers,
Big A