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| The dream is over.Thanks for everything, TJT. | | |
| It seems yesterday and today are kicking off an early Summer with temps in the 90's or so. With my brothers and cousins coming back home and all under one roof, it reminds me of the Dillsburg Summers and all the good things to come. Hopefully the Pistons winning is one of them.
Lately I've fallen into a routine, for better or for worse: wake up, work, japanese, something random in the afternoon, piston's game, bed. Of course, there are a few other things that go in there but that's the basic outline. We set up a badminton net in our frontyard and it reminds me of 1180 Leffingwell where we had the setup and played on a daily basis. That game is, to me, the perfect balance of physical and mental exertion.
Recently I discovered eBay, and have been selling random things we don't need in the house anymore. Today my first sale closes, and I can feel the excitement in the air as 5 people are watching the item closely, ready to bid on it like crazy within its final hours.
My mom was giving this book to my grandpa, so I'm going to try and read it quickly before she does. I judged it by its cover, but hey, that works sometimes, darn it. It promises a good read about a land I miss. | | |
| Yesterday I took the trip from Dillsburg to Grand Rapids for the thousandth time, and it was as nice as ever. There have been some good times on those trips. Landmarks, signs of home, and a lot of good music.
Anyway, today was the graduation ceremony at Cornerstone. On top of a lot of friends graduating, grandpa got special recognition and a speech up on stage. He's a lot to live up to. Afterward I hung out with Miah and others at his open house right in town. It's been awesome seeing old CU friends after thinking it wouldn't happen again for awhile.
Tomorrow Miah, Steve, Josh, Kevin, Ben & I head to the U.P. for a few days up at the cabin at Lake Manistique. We're going to check out the pictured rocks, Tahquamenon Falls, and other Yooper delights. I'll take plenty of pictures.
I think Xanga is dying, and perhaps it's for the best. This thing served me well during my time in Japan, in order to keep everyone updated, but it feels like it's time to move on. Where to, I don't know. | | |
| Kara's wedding/family get-together was amazing. All the cousins (plus a few honorary cousins) were able to gather for some of the sweetest memories we'll have as family. In G.R. we did the usual: Mongolian BBQ, Yesterdog, etc. etc. We started carving all our names on the back of the seats at the round table, and I was among the few who were kicked out because of it (apparently it's not allowed anymore).The wedding itself not only went smoothly, but was laid back and fun, and right after we went to my cousin's cabin and spent the night there playing music, telling stories, and doing weird things with the campfire. Everything ended too quickly, but it rocked.
So now I'm back in Dillsburg, PA, waiting for everyone to get out of school so that there will actually be something to do here. I found a job at a place called "Country Market & Nursery", which involves pretty much anything with home gardening and patio furniture. It starts Monday, so we'll see how things go there. It could be the place I end up working until the Summer's through.
Anyway, I miss family and friends. That's about it for now. Oh, and I miss Japan, as always. | | |
| Time to dust this thing off and write another entry. Just as I sat down to write a powerfully dark grey cloud set in overhead, and now it's raining like crazy. Makes me remember when I was a kid and storms scared me to death. If I wasn't at home with Mom and Dad, I would seriously be fighting off tears while a million people were telling me it was going to be okay. And that was in Bangladesh, where the raindrops fall like fists and bee stings for hours.
I'm a little anxious. The JET program moderator from Detroit just emailed everyone, letting us know he posted certain forms online that will be due on April 28th. This, of course, means that we will be finding out whether we were accepted or not into the program a lot sooner than I thought. The whole thing is leaving me with butterflies in my stomach, and I've constantly been checking email to see if maybe we'll find out today.
I remember last year what it was like waiting to find out, and then what it was like finding out I wasn't accepted. When you put tons of hard work and hope into something that doesn't come through, it hurts. However, not making it last year was probably the best thing that could've happened to me in the end. The churches I was a part of and the people I met in Japan on my other trip changed my life.
Well, it looks like I'll be coming to Grand Rapids on Thursday to accompany somebody from ABWE visiting GRTS. Even if that doesn't work out, I'll be there by the 14th to attend my cousin's wedding with all 40+ of our cousins. Good ol' Kara. Sorry we never included you when we were younger. Now you're growing up faster than the rest of us, and you make us proud doing it. | | |
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