28 September 2008

back to japan.. sort of

clearly, it has been quite a while since i have last shared my thoughts with these pages er this web window i guess.  much has happened since my trip to the southeast and the far east and im sad to say i do not have enough time nor web space to fill you in completely. ill do my best to give you the cliff notes version..
my summer in irvine was much needed, to say the least.  there is something about being 'home' that makes so much sense to me and i think after such a life changing trip it was important to adjust
back to the familiar.  but in reality, i was hardly in irvine for very much of the summer at all.  i enjoyed the 110 degree heat with the allen family at lake mead, nevada, i line danced with the entire kemp family in vail(see photo), colorado and 
i got to hike the switzerland-like mountains of lake tahoe. (by pass the switzerland reference please.. definitely a story for a later blog entry..)
it is easy to say that last summer was the best summer of my life, thus far anyways.  its amazing to see how each place you travel to,that each new adventure that you experience makes you not only appreciate what you have but makes you yearn for the familiar. its incredible the way the mind of a young girl works..  meeting new challenges every day and then finding that what you most desire, or what makes you feel most at home, is, in fact, what you knew all along.  i think many people know this fact to be true, and find it slightly elementary that i am just now figuring this out.  perhaps i really am growing up huh?
in any case, i am back in san francisco and loving (almost) every minute of it.  school is stressful for me, as always, and i am taking so many psych classes that i fear i will
 in fact go crazy.  but other than that i have been loving the idea of living in my apartment in the city and actually being one step closer to 'real life living.' a few weekends ago, my roommate and i made our way down to golden gate park to the japanese tea gardens (see photo).  it felt so great to experience this after having been to japan and how tranquil and peaceful the elements of that country and culture really are.  and i know this is strange, and i do realize that i was not even in japan, but i couldn't believe how much it really did feel like i was back.  the serene atmosphere, the beautiful japanese temple like structures, and even the day of overcast weather.. i might has well have been back in japan.  i don't really know what to make of this actually.. i guess perhaps asia is more familiar to me after all..
things do not change;
we change.
[henry david thoreau]