hello, world

I may be far out in the middle of nowhere, but maybe if I write these words you'll still here me. Sometimes I just want to send everyone postcards, but I can't be bothered. I mean really, who even wants a postcard? Well, I can think of maybe one person.

Every now and then I just feel like writing jibberish. Quanderies leading nowhere. Questioning civilizations. Questioning the belief in "God." Like why must people kill for cartoons? Why must people carry so much pride that they must shed blood for it? Then I get angry comments though (and I also remember the mindless violence of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees)(and the mindless sexuality of another close relative, the bonobo). And then there are the frustrated readers searching for their daily dose of something else. I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone.

Life in Japan is like another dream. Things are very peaceful and flowing here. Everything is as it should be. Things feel secure. And in a land of a thousand earthquakes that is pretty extraordinary. Things do feel harmonious here. I am starting to like the way the kids all stand up straight and bow at the beginning and end of class. How they truly try to learn more than any kids I ever knew. Of course I've heard it's nothing like this in the cities. School is a whole different animal there.

I am finally feeling as though I understand enough Japanese to almost always recognize some key words. Hearing it has become so normal to me. I hear it everwhere. Now I am ensconced in the characters. I found this program online where I can just quiz myself all the time. It's great. I can be online and study Japanese at the same time. I love it. And I have a class in the city on friday nights. For around $45 I am getting 8 two hour long classes. Now that's a damn good deal if I ever saw one. And these aren't just any classes, there's a 2-1 student-teacher ratio (or a little better). This isn't just for JETs either, it's open to the public.

So I continue to wander around here in this land and I intend to for many more months. And then maybe I'll wander back to more familiar lands (surely to wander back again into other, unseen lands). Being a wanderer is really quite nice. (Hesse, a good man, wrote a book about wandering complete with drawings. It's my favorite of all his work.) It's all a mystery at this point though; the wanderer will follow his/her feelings and they will show the way. Thoughts are just complex or confused feelings anyway. Let's face it.