Happy Birthday to Me...

My first birthday away from home was last night. I went out with Grace to have a pint at a local Irish pub. I ended up having two pints and a shot of tequila with some Japanese guy whose birthday is August 3rd. The bartender's birthday was August 1st. We met a baseball player who used to play for the Cubs (unless he was lying). Japan is a strange place.

I sit in a hotel in Sendai, Japan, and I feel far, far from home. I look out my window at the large city, squat and wide, and think about people I've left behind. Yet when I look back on my eight weeks here, the trials of school, the fun with friends, the language, the culture, and all of the things I've learned, I realize how very much I will miss this place. With the persistance of water rather than the cut of a knife, it has carved a place out in my heart and my head. Four more days, 3 festivals in Tohoku, and then Osaka (maybe visit Hiroshima). Then... back home. A bittersweet return.

I feel: Srreepy -_-