FIGHTING THE LONELINESS

When Tsubaki took me for a walk two weekends ago, we (or maybe just I) stumbled across a quaint little stone hut at the mouth of the trail entrance (we walked in the reverse direction for some reason).

Being the shy person that the Japanese are, he still has not called. But a source reckons he's shown interest (just not to me). Well, so be it. We're all meeting for some sort of double date do on wednesday since I get of work a little earlier than usual. Even though I did have a nice time with the lad and am intrigued, I am (not so) surprisingly detached from it.

The weekend past was a great one. Much too much to put in verbatim. I went to Ikoma to meet Lizelle and Misa and I learnt how to make umeboshi or umeshu which is the same basic alcoholic beverage used to make the more marketable "tonic" wine of the same pronounciation, yomeishu which is really Japanese and not Chinese as most people think. See how sly Japanese marketing is? Umeshu is simply ume + shoju + 3 months (at least) of patience. Like any good bottle of vino, it gets better with age. Add in a variety of herbal extracts and hey presto you have yourself some expensive "tonic" wine. So, as you can expect I took the opportunity to learn how to make my own "varieties" too ;-). Be nice to me if you want The Chilibuddy's very own personalized touch for your Christmas pressie. :-D

We saved the ethanol so we wouldn't waste away the evening at ballet. Modern Japanese ballet to Taiko drumming. Bizarre to say the least but interesting. They also did peices to The Gladiator soundtrack. Quite beside myself watching these Japanese butterflies flitter across the stage to the sounds of miliary might.

The engine is rolling. Finished my first application pack for graduate school and sent it off. I don't expect this one to come back with good news. I've possibly set myself up too hig but its more like, something to warm me up and whet my appetite.

9 more days. Excited and not. Keeping my hopes in check cause I don't want to make coming back here any harder than it is - but I intend of course to fully enjoy myself while I'm there. I don't know how that will work.

Audio: The hum of the A/C.
Biblio: Graduate schools prospectuses & applications.
Cerebrio: When did I lose my excitement for the wiles of the heart? When did I stop loving and loving life? Am I just a more "mature" and jaded shadow of my former self? Have my senses been dulled from being here? Or is my heart and God telling me something else?