Anticipation

Lately, I feel like I have been waiting. I'm not always waiting for the same thing, or even for anything in particular, but I can tell that something is coming. The warm weather, the summer months, the rain. I have a lot of things to look forward to this summer and I am impatient. But it's the wait that makes them so much more enjoyable. So I will savor it, if I can.  

As if to foreshadow good things to come, there have been some beautiful sunsets in Minakuchi lately. I hate to be in my house before dark when I can be outside and see THIS: 

 or this...

 I love living in the countryside. It's quiet, my neighbors are kind, and I only get a few strange looks when I walk around with a camera taking pictures...

 In other news, rainy season has begun. Starting tomorrow we are suppose to be getting our first typhoon of the year: Guchol. It's coming in from the south and passing through the center of Japan. Tomorrow's forcast: rain. Wednesday's forcast: rain. I actually don't mind, especially when I can relax inside in the dry warmth. It's an interesting change from cloudy and humid! Let's hope that it holds off until after I get to school, though! :)

I'll be here, trooping through the puddles! Catch you later!

Kyoto Higashiyama Hanatouro Festival

It has been a beautiful weekend, and yesterday I went to Kyoto to see the Higashiyama Hanatouro Light Festival. In December and March, parts of the city of Kyoto are illuminated with lanterns and lighting fixtures that create a path through the city. It's a picturesque walk through the city that stops at shrines and parks. You can see dancers and performers, eat festival foods from little carts, and even have a little picnic and sip a beer. My friends and I went together to wander along the paths with the hordes of Japanese families and couples. It was quaint, cozy, a little cold, and a lot of fun!

Light show on the back of the Chionin Temple

Storefront on the path up to Kiyomizu-dera

Lighting fixtures in the garden

Kyoto Nightscape from Kiyomizu-dera

As the weather slowly gets warmer, the people in Kansai are out and about, and I'm glad to be one of them. 

On a different note, today (March 11th) is the one year anniversary of the Tohoku tsunami and earthquake. Japan is still feeling the affects of the disaster and it is a continuing struggle for recovery. I can't pretend to know too much about politics or to be an expert on this topic, but I do know from living here that it was an event that touched every person in Japan. The country pulled together emotionally and practically to support each other, and they continue to honor that today in remembrance ceremonies and continuing relief efforts. 

Japan Times -- 3.11 Anniversary

The End and the Beginning

Although I'm reluctant to spoil my brand spanking new blog page with a crappy blog, I felt the need to place some text here. It's the end of a semester, which always gives me mixed feelings. On one hand, I love going home and seeing all my family and friends, but on the other hand I'm leaving behind HWS and my friends here for a summer. It'll be an especially long seperation, as I won't be coming back to Geneva until January. Wow, that's a long time. I can't believe my time at HWS has passed by so quickly already!

Whelp, what can I tell you curious readers at this point? Anything important you should already know, otherwise why are you bothering to read this? Random people who don't know who the heck I am, STOP READING NOW. I refuse to entertain you. Shoo.

Hmm... Ok, now what? I have a long summer ahead of me, so let's see if I can list off some things that are to come in my future:

1. Anime Boston
2. Claire's Graduation!
3. Eagles Mere for Fourth of July
4. Visiting Feebs in the Philippines
5. Visiting Nanny and Uncle Tom in California
6. Anime Expo with Aunt Liz, Aunt Karen, and my family
7. Leaving for Japan in September

Seeing it all written out it doesn't seem like that much, but for one summer it seems like more travelling than I usually do. After a hectic semester comes a crazy summer. I guess it's good that I like a little crazy in my life :)

Here's to the end of a crazy but amazing semester and a new and exciting summer!