"All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey..."

I haven’t written in three weeks because I went to California. It seems like a dream.

I maximized the time with my family. I saw so many friends. It was fabulous. I didn’t eat nearly enough Mexican food though. However, I did get in the bagels and matzo balls. I missed nearly all of the things I wanted to buy. But I did get the necessary basketball shoes and soccer cleats. My trip reflected the ups and downs of any vacation, like everyday in Japan, like any day in one’s life. I averaged 5 hours of sleep… still not enough awake time. I tried to spend as much time on the beach as possible. I managed a small trip to the Sierra which was lovely. There are so many things I want to write but I think these facts will suffice.

Year two begins… today was the first day of work. I like the vibes I feel. I like the situation that I see. I have another two weeks until classes and the madness gets thrown into overdrive. It’s really humid. I am really relaxed and happy to be back.

At times the vacation seemed more like work. But I made it happen that way. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been my kind of vacation. I had to try to kill myself for it to be worth it. If it was boring or I slept more then it would have been a waste of time. I wish I had another couple of days, but Fate brought me back… (Though I was tempted to relinquish my seat on the oversold flight for a day-long delay and an $800 travel voucher…)

My neighbors welcomed me home with signs, a prank and food. Perfect, say I. There is some cleaning that must be done, some errands to get to and some humidity to survive. Life is too short not to go at it full throttle.

Whenever I come back from being abroad, I have “enlightening” thoughts or feelings of my cultural analysis of America. This time the thoughts took different forms from the other times I have returned. To share: (1) lack of courtesy was rather prominent. (2) Idea of work- my asking people to do their jobs instead of their doing them. (3) The idea that one can maximize the “benefit” by doing as little as possible to gain as much possible; it’s not that one gains anything, but in proportion to the amount of work he or she does, the gain seems relevant. Economically correct, actually wrong. (4) Energy flow… healthy lifestyles breeds energetic and worthwhile living. On the contrary, unhealthy input produces directly detrimental lives.

Writing just to write. Blogging just to blog. Living just to live. No attachments. Just going with IT.

A wonderful recharger in California. I really miss that place… those special places… those special beings.