さようなら
今何時ですか？ 日本に行く時間です！
I'm off to Tokyo for 3 weeks, for a Stanford Overseas Seminar on the development of the city since 1945. It promises to be awesome, though I'll probably feel like a big tourist and speak less Japanese than I did at camp this summer (the class is in English, we stay together in a dorm... study abroad this is not).
Still can't decide what my opinion of this summer is. Mori no Ike was awesome, and my time at home, while too short, was a lot of fun, but decidedly different from the summer after freshman year. I spent less time with friends - a lot of evenings at home - and felt like I had a lot to do on my own time and so did they given the relative lack of phone calls and invitations to hang out. Which is fine, I guess - totally understandable. I still feel really close to my core group of high school friends, and would like to spend more time with them, but I'm realizing more than I did last year that that's just not going to be the reality anymore. Who knows how many of us will even be back in St. Paul next summer... who knows if I will? I'd like to be... unlike some of my friends at Stanford who can't understand why I wouldn't want to stay on campus all summer doing research or something, I still feel like this place where my family lives is home to me, and I need time here. That feeling is just as strong as ever, though this summer at times felt a bit like coming home, unlocking the door, walking into the house and finding nobody there, just a note saying to unpack and help myself to whatever's in the fridge. It's still the same place, but it's not quite right.
Nonetheless, I'm still very glad I have a place I can come back to and settle right in, people I can have a lot of fun spending time with, and all the little pleasures of being here. I have some friends who say they can't stand living with their parents, after a couple years of college has gotten them used to being more independent. I don't see myself ever getting to that point. I've always gotten along well with them, and nothing much is different now. (Then again, my parents have always let me be pretty independent... even during high school, no curfew or anything.) Guess we'll see what the future brings. MN friends, it's been fun, hope to catch up with you all in December!
I'm off to Tokyo for 3 weeks, for a Stanford Overseas Seminar on the development of the city since 1945. It promises to be awesome, though I'll probably feel like a big tourist and speak less Japanese than I did at camp this summer (the class is in English, we stay together in a dorm... study abroad this is not).
Still can't decide what my opinion of this summer is. Mori no Ike was awesome, and my time at home, while too short, was a lot of fun, but decidedly different from the summer after freshman year. I spent less time with friends - a lot of evenings at home - and felt like I had a lot to do on my own time and so did they given the relative lack of phone calls and invitations to hang out. Which is fine, I guess - totally understandable. I still feel really close to my core group of high school friends, and would like to spend more time with them, but I'm realizing more than I did last year that that's just not going to be the reality anymore. Who knows how many of us will even be back in St. Paul next summer... who knows if I will? I'd like to be... unlike some of my friends at Stanford who can't understand why I wouldn't want to stay on campus all summer doing research or something, I still feel like this place where my family lives is home to me, and I need time here. That feeling is just as strong as ever, though this summer at times felt a bit like coming home, unlocking the door, walking into the house and finding nobody there, just a note saying to unpack and help myself to whatever's in the fridge. It's still the same place, but it's not quite right.
Nonetheless, I'm still very glad I have a place I can come back to and settle right in, people I can have a lot of fun spending time with, and all the little pleasures of being here. I have some friends who say they can't stand living with their parents, after a couple years of college has gotten them used to being more independent. I don't see myself ever getting to that point. I've always gotten along well with them, and nothing much is different now. (Then again, my parents have always let me be pretty independent... even during high school, no curfew or anything.) Guess we'll see what the future brings. MN friends, it's been fun, hope to catch up with you all in December!