A Howler, Introspection

This morning was wet, but there wasn’t a whole lot of wind, and I was a little disappointed that there were no gale forces out there waiting for me. All the same, I geared up in my full typhoon gear and walked to the train station.

The station seemed lonelier than usual, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Once I got to Takasago I figured it out – there weren’t any students around. As I walked to school I was afraid that I missed a memo or something. When I arrived at school, the huge bicycle parking lot was empty, and then I knew something was up.

Inside I was told that since the typhoon was approaching they had asked the students to stay home. We stuck around until 10 a.m. and then the principal confirmed that the warning was still in effect, so we definitely wouldn’t have any classes today.

Around lunchtime Mr. Hayashi organized a trip to the local Chinese food restaurant for some lunch, and on the way back he dropped me off at the train station to go home early. Apparently the typhoon was set to hit between noon and three o’clock.

At home I spent time studying, got to call my dad and wish him a happy Father’s Day, and chatted with Kuniko on the internet since she was also home early. During late afternoon the wind started to pick up, and even now as I write this it’s still blowing pretty well. There is no rain along with it, and the sky looks pretty clear.

For dinner I cooked up some pork and rice, with a ginger sauce that I came up with – it tasted great. After dinner I studied a bit more and then spent some time just spacing out – thinking about the future.

As I come to the end of a year living in Japan, I’m spending some time thinking about what I’ve accomplished here, what I might have accomplished in the USA during this time, and what I might be able to do in the next year. I find that a little controlled mental exercise like this is beneficial and helps put things in perspective for me.

Even though I’ll be here for another full year, that time will go quickly. It doesn’t hurt to think about what I want to do after that year ends. My options are limited in some ways by my educational background, ethnicity, and language skills. Strangely enough, my options are also broadened by those same attributes.

This hasn’t been the first time that I’ve given the future some thought. This topic will be bouncing around in my head for quite a while. In the end it boils down to deciding what I want to do next. The last time I asked myself that question I did anything and everything I could to get where I am now. Today was the first step towards discovering my next adventure.