Friday, June 20th, 2008
So, I'm leaving for the airport in about 4 hours. Despite the presence of my suitcases, it still feels vaguely surreal. It's really hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm finally going to get to see the country I've been longing to visit for 10 years now. That's half my life.
I'm also glad to be leaving and actually doing something. I've enjoyed Texas more this summer than I generally ever do, mainly because it's kind of like the "anti-school"; I've been spending my time doing things I never have time for during the school year, such as web design and video games. I've also had a lot more time to think and reflect on the events of the past year, which has helped me to mend some of the wounds and move on. But, in the end, I still have this sense of everything becoming stagnant here. Being in this place for too long always gives me this sickening sense that I'm never going to go anywhere or do anything significant with my life, and I'm glad to be escaping that.
Aside from that, I think I just generally need a change of scenery and a change of pace. I've been incredibly restless the past week or so, having difficulty concentrating on anything and staring up at the sky a lot. For some reason, I've been craving thunderstorms—big, violent storms where the sky turns completely black and water comes down in torrents. It finally stormed here today, but it was quite a letdown; the sky was still very light despite the thunder, and the rain was no more than a light sprinkling. Houston usually experiences bouts of intense rain fairly frequently, but we've been having a bit of a drought all summer. Rainstorms are few and far between and often last a mere 10 minutes. Maybe Japan will bless me with more rain and thunder.
At any rate, I do plan to keep a blog of my adventures, though it won't be here. It'll be at xiehan.vox.com, and this time, the entries won't syndicate to here. I know it's perhaps not very convenient for others, but I have my own reasons for wanting to keep the two separate.
I don't know how frequently I'll update my Vox blog. I won't have Internet at my dorm, so I'll probably only be able to get online from school, unless there's a wi-fi hotspot nearby. I don't think I'll update here while I'm in Japan, though I guess you never know. If not, I'll see everyone in August!