The wind in my face, the water all around me, the sand between my toes, and the burning sun on my face all come together to make me feel really alive.

I went surfing today for the first time. It was truly amazing. I went to Enoshima, to the south west of Tokyo, and one of my new favorite places. It gives SD a run for it’s money. The waves were really small though. It was a good time to learn to surf.

If you haven’t done it, then I highly recommend it. It’s not that tough if you get a long board, and it can be done at any age.

I’m on a two week vacation. I have two goals on this vacation. To relax, and to write.

I need to relax. The last few months have been killing me. A lot of issues have all come together to make the perfect storm. Work has been the major factor, but it’s not the only one. Being a single 30 year old in a country where it’s next to impossible to meet new people has also played its toll on my mental status. Now that I can speak conversational Japanese, I’ve learned that it’s actually a hindrance. It seems that as long as I can’t understand what people are saying, then I’m a novelty. At this point, I can understand a lot. Not everything though. When someone hears me speak in Japanese, they just don’t want to talk. When I speak in English, I get a flurry of questions. It’s so strange. Being able to speak the language has taught me so many things that I would have never picked up not knowing the language. For example, I found out that I sound gay in Japanese. There are words that are for men and there are words for women. Being a man, I have spent a good majority of my Japanese conversations talking with women. The men that I speak to insist on trying to speak English. Oh well… Time to relearn all that I’ve learned to make it more masculine. But I digress.

Secondly, I have started writing. It’s not very good, and I don’t plan on doing any publishing, but it’s a way for me to get things out of my head. I’m 20 pages into a piece (at least half is pure crap), and my goal is to get about 20 more before the end of my vacation. I’m more of a speaker. I’ve never been able to put my thoughts onto paper very well, so this is more an experiment of dedication than anything else. I am forcing myself to write. Hopefully, I can get the general idea written out on my vacation. Chapter lists and so on.

So, now to the vacation. I’m currently in Tokyo. Tomorrow, I have no idea where I’m going to spend the afternoon. I’ll go to Kawasaki tomorrow morning to drop my things off at my friend’s house, but I’m going to just wander around Tokyo until 7:00 when I’m meeting a different friend for a concert. If anyone has any requests for pics, let me know. I have some time to kill over the next few days. I may go back to the beach after this sunburn clears up (I hate being white sometimes). After that, I’ll spend some time in Kanagawa. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep traveling through my vacation, or go back early. I need to do some paperwork and go to city hall in Koriyama to extend my visa for another year. I’m not sure how long that will take. I also don’t want to spend too much money, as I plan to come back to the states for a couple weeks later this year. Maybe for Thanksgiving again. I had been planning to come in October, but it looks like that plan is going to fall through, since one of my coworkers has already put in for vacation during the entire month of October. I’ll figure all that out later. It’s time for sleep now.

Anyway, I have posted my most recent pics on my twitter. You should be able to see it on my homepage.

Talk to you later!

Oggy