As you may have picked up on, my posts have been few and far between recently. Life has been quite busy on my end of the world. I spent the last 2 weeks in Okinawa, taking tests for a potential Japanese translation job with the Army and also hanging out on the beach attempting something of a tan. In the process, I picked up a stray kitty and fell in love so I ended up bringing her back to Kyoto with me. Her name's Shisa, the warrior guardian dog of Okinawa, because she really toughed it out there. My friend, Elisha, and I found her on the side of the road almost ready to be smooshed by some evil cars. I quickly grabbed her and she fought bravely to bite and scratch me particularly because she couldn't see what had grabbed her because her eyes were all gunky. We cleaned her up, and I took her to the vets to try and see if there were any kennels in Okinawa. They told me the kennels were all full and to try the kennels in Kyoto, but by that time it was too late - she's a new member of the family now. I think her mom was hit by a car near the same area, and because she is only about 5 weeks old or so, she would have died by herself. I'll put up some pictures soon!
In other news, I'm busy finishing up my Fulbright project. I'll be posting my report soon for all who are interested in reading it and/or critiquing my thoughts. Seeing as how my government money ends soon, I need to get a job. I'll be working on that all next week. That, along with my law school applications that are going to be a major chore over the next month, will keep me pretty busy. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I am studying for the level 2 Japanese proficiency exam, which requires knowledge of 1000 kanji and something like 6,000 words, so I'll have to set aside time each day for those studies too.
Friends are coming and going from the area - that's one of the down sides to an international community. They always seem to be leaving back to their home countries or onto another place to study. A few honorable mentions are Assaf, Simon, Jocelyn, Sandy, Beth, Scott, Keiko, Chris, all my classmate from Doshisha last year and Sam Shepherd, the director of JUSEC. It's been a good year - keep pursuing your dreams and never stop travelling. I hope I have the opportunity to see you again in the future!
Posted by Kristen at August 16, 2003 06:45 PM
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