Why hello, LJ, it's been a while!
I'm not entirely sure HOW long it's been, so there may be some repeat things, we'll see.
So I traveled all over Japan with my family, which was fun, but also really tiring. My brother made a great blog about it at http://pdidion.wordpress.com/, so check that out for details. Some of his spelling might be off despite our best efforts to proofread (hey, most of the time he was writing it at about 11 or 12 at night after a hard day's walking!) but otherwise it's a very thorough record of all we did and saw.
As for my personal impression of the trip, overall, a lot of it was nothing new to me, so I was generally less impressed with food, and the way people treated us. For my parents, who knew nothing about getting around, people coming up and helping us was totally welcome, but for me, it was irritating because I was sure I could figure it out myself. (This was not always the case, but I am stubborn and I don't feel like I've learned how to do something unless I do it myself.)
I think my favorite parts were the Ghibli Museum and Miyajima/Itsukushima Shrine. My favorite place to stay was definitely the inn/hotel in Miyajima, the perfect balance between hotel with all the usual conveniences and inn with the spacious rooms, fluffy futons and gorgeous baths.
I still don't miss Japanese food at all, but I do miss the baths a lot. I don't miss the weather at all. It was glorious landing in Chicago at night and actually feeling chilly for the first time in months. I was deliriously happy to be home.
I spent a very jet-lagged few weeks recovering from Japan. I would stay up really late and then sleep in until 9 or so, which is EXTREMELY unusual for me, and I didn't really start sleeping through the night until about a week ago. And even now I'm having a hard time getting out of bed. Still, spurred on by the long list of things I'd wanted to do for months that I couldn't do in Japan, I struggled to stay awake through doing my shopping for school, reorganizing all my mementos from Japan, preparing to move from my dying laptop to the new one, starting my Princess Garnet cosplay, and marathoning a TV series called Skins with Phillip. (Which was awesome, by the way.) It was a very compressed summer vacation. It's depressing to think that it's the last one I'll have in my entire life. Whether I finish both my minors or not, I graduate this spring. I have to confess, I actually hope I don't find work anywhere, because I don't want to leave home like this again. I had hoped that living for a year in another country would get me used to living alone, but I'm afraid it only made it worse.
Other notes... well, doing all this was really fun. It was everything I'd been longing for, except that it was far too short. I got to perform with the church choir for two Sundays, so it was just enough time to say hello to everyone, and then it was over. I can't wait to return to them for Advent/Christmas in December. Also, I started the Garnet project, and I managed to finish the poofy white shirt part of it. It's not perfectly like hers, but it's well-sewn, if I may say so, and I hope it will work well with the other parts of the outfit. I'm excited to do the jumpsuit part of it in December. That reminds me, preregistration for Ohayocon should be coming up soon...
Oh! For those of you who haven't seen my pictures on facebook yet, I had my hair cut. I'd been thinking of doing it for a while, actually, since Japan kindof totally fucked it up, and I was starting to get really curious about what a short hairstyle would look like on me, but I had to wait until I got home to do it, and I could really talk to a stylist about what I wanted. I was tempted to try the Alice Cullen look (I hate Twilight but I love Alice. I think someone should somehow get the rights to do a book or a movie just about her.) but I also printed out some other ideas to take with me. I told the stylist I wanted something above the shoulders, and I was cool with pretty much anything, as long as they didn't shave anything. Also, I wanted some swatches of a fun color, like blue or purple, because I've always wanted to do that, but never really could get away with it with my long hair. So I ended up with the look you see on FB. They told me anything up to my ears wouldn't work with my face type, so no Alice hair, but oh well. I wasn't going to insist on something they didn't think would look good. I find that usually if I'm at a good enough salon, following the pros is the best way to go.
I had really long hair (like almost mid-back) for many years now, and I can't remember ever cutting it above my shoulders, so this was a BIG change for me. I'm really happy with it, especially with the purple bits, but I'm unused to having to style my hair, so that's a little weird. I'm going to enjoy this for a while, but I'm also going to enjoy playing with it as it grows out. I will probably grow my hair out to where it was again, because I love doing intricate braided hairdos and stuff. So basically, this was a change of pace, but nothing I intend to do forever and ever.
I helped move Phillip into his very first dorm room at the University of Cincinnati last Tuesday. (God, that already feels like much longer ago than that... o.o) He's technically a junior, since he was going to the local branch of the university for a while, but it's his first time living on a college campus, away from home. (Only 30 minutes away, but he left his car at home, so he still lacks mobility.) I was a little surprised how hesitant he seemed to let us leave, and he seriously looked like a lost little puppy when we said our goodbyes and left him at the dorm. T____T I know how vulnerable I feel whenever my parents leave me at my dorm after moving me in to my room (yes, even though this is my fifth year I still feel horrible every time.) so I felt especially sorry for him. But, in typical Phillip fashion, as soon as he had a chance to meet some other people, he quickly made some friends and it seems he's already having a great time. He turns 21 tomorrow, so the parents are going to visit and take him out for his first (legal, in public) drink at one of their favorite restaurants. I wish I could go~!
As for me, I moved into my dorm yesterday, and man was that an ordeal. First, they didn't have my room keys, or even my name, at the place where I normally check in, so I had to do all that at the front desk of the dorm, Neil Building. I was freaking out inside until they finally gave me a key.
I had more stuff with me than any other year, but even then it wasn't quite enough. >.< Also, Dad forgot one of the wrenches required to loft the bed (again), so I have to wait until next weekend to really get all my stuff where I want it to be. It's uncomfortable for me to be living in a sort of half-unpacked state, so I'm afraid I'm going to be rather antsy this week.
However! I went into the suite--there are four girls, four bedrooms, two bathrooms. So, I have a bedroom to myself, a bathroom shared with one of the girls, and the living room/kitchen is shared with her and the two others. It's really nice! For one thing, the other three were already mostly moved in, so things were already looking pretty homey in the common area, and also I had plenty of space to move my stuff around in while I said hello to Kelly, the one girl who was there at the time. She and I seem to have a good bit in common, plus she and another girl, Amanda, have shared a suite like this before, so this is all familiar to them. The third girl, Yi, wasn't in at the time, but I met her later and she seems nice as well, if a little quieter than the rest of us. ^_^; My mom talked to Kelly while Dad and I worked on getting me moved in. Once we got the bulk of that done, we all talked for a while, and then the parents and I set out again on a quest for textbooks and Microsoft Office software. We thought we would buy it at the student discount at a store on campus, but naturally, it was closed that day. I refused to wait another day without the software I would need on the computer (I'm still shy of installing some things without guidance.) so we had to walk and drive all over the place to find some (and pay full price, unfortunately... >.<). But at least we were eventually successful. I felt much better once I had my laptop and the Internet up and running. I'm using a cable for now, but I think I'd better go and get the thing able to use wireless as soon as things quiet down a little.
We went to dinner, and then I couldn't stall for time anymore, and my parents left me at my dorm afterward. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I wish I could continue being a student forever, because I still don't know what kind of job I could actually stand for more than a year, but none of us can afford any more school for me, and I can't think of any more reasons to stay after this year is over. Besides, no matter how nice the dorm or my suitemates are, I can't bear to keep moving around like this, and be away from my parents and Phillip.
Still, I will try to enjoy my last year here. The first week is always the hardest.