a thaumaturgical compendium

Made it through a day at Hakuo without going mad. Sketched out some ideas for the JET essay. I think I can write about international exchange. I got about 5 emails from people interested yesterday, and there are probably more around. One is a school in Arizona, and one is in New Zealand—both have full Internet connectivity. Before I start researching and/or writing, I should make certain the contest will be held this year. Last year, the first prize was $1500—nothing to scoff at. Anyway, the chances of success are slim if the teachers at Tachibana are uninterested.

Looking forward to going back to America. Sounds terrible, but it’s true. Though I’m busy all the time and trying to do a good job and everything, it feels like I’m just biding my time until the year is through. Almost exactly 10 months to go. If Jamie and I can manage to save a bit each month, we’ll return with a bit of a nest egg for reestablishing ourselves. If I go to grad school, it will eat whatever I save up in tuition pretty quickly. Except, of course, if I decide to go the IR/PS route…. hmmm.

However, it really is too early to be worrying about all this. I don’t even have the applications yet. Before the end of the year, I must:

– Write the JET essay (?) – Write the letters of intent – Redo my Japanese joint technology paper – Get letters of recommendation – Study for the Japanese Proficiency exam – Plan our trip for the spring

The new lesson went pretty well. It was a pretty boring lesson as these things go, but c’est la vie. H has been all big on doing more “international relations” rather than English conversation for the last month, but when I suggested we try something in that direction, he seemed very uninterested. I don’t know if it was that Ms. H was there or what.

Downloaded an EDICT reader so now I can look up kanji on the computer. I can’t get it to index by the number of strokes, but I can look them up by radical. Of course, tomorrow Jamie’s at city hall and wants to take the computer with her. Early tomorrow morning I will fax a note to city hall to make certain the fax is working. If it is, I can fax Coco’s, a phoneback service to the US, and the Fletcher school. Two years ago they admitted two people with GPAs under 3.0. I am very well qualified aside from the low GPA, so maybe I have some sort of a chance—but I doubt it.

Anyway, I better start getting ready. H has a birthday party. Mata ashita.

I’m sitting in the TV room in the midst of papers piled up all round. We decided to clean up all of our files and such. I ran into my old diary and am at a loss as to what to do with it. It’s messy and badly written, but includes some important events—my marriage, graduation, the move to Japan, my motorcycle accident, and lots of less important things along the way. Normally, I burn these things. Well, I’ll hold onto it for now. Folded inside was a list of things I would like to accomplish. They are fairly unchanged, so I’ll include them here:

To do/be…
1. I would like to become a skillful martial artist. Originally, this had been judoka, but recently, due to the difficulties with the local dojo and an interest in aikido, I’ve made this goal a bit broader.
2. I want to be able to play the piano fairly well. And maybe the classical guitar.
3. I want to become fluent enough in Japanese to be able to hold an intelligent conversation or easily read a newspaper.
4. I would like to get my pilot’s license.
5. I would like to be a fluent speaker of French.
6. I would like to become a competent sailor.
7. I would like to be more comfortable meeting and conversing with new people.
8. I would like to be a good diver.
9. I would like to be able to skillfully ski black diamond runs.
10. I would like to be able to juggle, do basic tumbling, etc.
11. I would like to be able to understand/design/build complex electronic devices.
12. I would like to be a good marksman.
13. I would like to race in rallies.
14. I would like to hang glide.
15. I would like to be able to play a decent game of tennis.
16. I would like to be in very good physical condition.
17. I would like to be well traveled.

I would like to have… (although, lately, this has changed to “to have use of”)
1. A cool car (Ferrari Dino, 348, Beck Spyder, Porsche 911/968, a Lotus Esprit, an Aston Martin, a BMW 8-series, ?)
2. A 40-ft. motor sailor.
3. A school of my own – -maybe on the East Coast, or in the Bay area.
4. An airplane—maybe amphibious.
5. An island house.
6. A B&B.
7. A good library.
8. A cool job.
9. A big dog.