Though it's hard to explain, up until now my feeling of traveling back and fourth in Japan and the US has been bitter-sweet. I love the people and places I know in both countries of course, but none of my friends or family from here would ever want to come to Japan with me, and conversely, I never saw (and seldom converse at length with) anyone I met in Japan while in the US. I guess they all just figure it's a matter of time before I come back to see them again. Still, whenever I want to see one side, I have to abandon the other. For a long time, I felt kind of like when I sit at a gate in an airport waiting to leave. Even though I can see where I am clearly through the floor to ceiling windows it seems like I'm neither here nor there: 7,118 miles away from one and emotionally departed from the other. I'd been this way for so long that I began to believe that this is just the way things have to be for someone like me... but it's amazing how fast that can change.
Over the course of a few days I found myself suddenly overwhelmed with the beauty of my acquaintances and my situation both here and in Japan. For the first time this weekend I introduced my exclusively English speaking family to some of my dearest friends that don't speak English, and in doing so closed a large gap in my life. For an all too brief few days we all sat and shared our conversations, culture and even food with one another. I know my being an unquenchable optimist sometimes leads to my exaggerating certain events, but it's not an understatement to say that I have never been more content.
[ add comment ] ( 8 views ) | permalink |
( 3 / 132 )
This Easter was a pretty good one for me. Oddly enough, it looks like the majority of the eggs got died by yours truly. Typically this is a tradition one of my two sisters dominates... and I dare say they're much better at it than I am, but things just turned out really busy this year. It's weird being a grown-up DAH!!!
I ended up playing flute for 4 masses, which had me taping and hole-punching sheet music clear from Holy Thursday to Easter morning. It all turned out well though. I only managed to lose one piece of music and I think the conductor forgave me. It's always interesting to watch the way different churches do the triduum ceremonies too. Admittedly though I do feel kind of awkward when they set me up too close to the altar on good Friday. All the priests coming out and plopping on their faces right in front of me makes me feel like a giant black and white dressed dork waving my very obvious light-reflecting silver dowel of "HEY LOOK AT ME!"
Speaking of Jesus, on good Friday I also had the delight of joining the Good Children Social Aid and Pleasure Club (a New Orleans' local neighborhood improvement society) for an enthusiastic bout of Jesus Christ Superstar karaoke. I even won a prize in the raffle following it which was held to benefit their annual Easter Parade (in which, sadly, I did not participate this year).
Easter itself was pretty fun too. My parents hid baskets for us at their house again, despite the fact that the three of us are now ranging from 23 to 29 years old. Then I got the chance to party with the whole Baudier clan at my aunt and uncle's in Luling, before heading back to my apartment in Baton Rouge.
Well guys and girls... welcome to the dry season of holidays. We'll have to invent our own reasons to give gifts and see eachother till December. 'Shouldn't be too hard.
[ add comment ] ( 279 views ) | permalink |
( 1.8 / 288 )
Calendar
