Salutations of Spring

Hey my spring bud readers!

Spring is here, and it's a great season. Every week I notice new types of flowers blooming, from plum trees to cherry blossoms, violets, irises, and many more that I don't have a name for. Japanese people may not have a lot of space for gardening, but they sure make the most of what little they have. Why have boring normal trees when you could have blooming or fruit bearing ones? It's exciting to go on walks and see all these bright colors popping out.

Spring is also an important season outside of nature. April 1st is the beginning of the year for schools and companies, so there are a lot of ends and beginnings. The air at school is fresh with new classes, new faces, and a healthy bit of bustle. Thankfully we kept most of the English teachers, but I'll have to get used to the different classes with new people. In any case, I'm glad to have real work to do again!

Recently I've had travel on themind. First with a trip to Osaka to see sumo, then a week long tour of Japan's southern island, Kyushu. Overnight hiking trip into Kamiyama, Spirit Mountain, and another hiking trip coming up. Also, if I can manage to book a bus and hostel out to Hiroshima, I plan to attend the Friendship Day at Iwakuni military base over Golden Week. Steen is coming out to Japan in August to share my life for a bit, and we're planning a weeklong stay in Bali. This'll be my first time into the rest of Asia and I am psyched.

I was a homebody for most of my first year here, but after all these recent experiences have a lot more interest in getting out and seeing things. Is hit and run sightseeing really worth the cost and trouble? I still haven't been able to answer that question for myself, but I guess either way I'm 'traveling', whether by seeing the backcountry of Tokushima or hitting major tourist destinations in Kyoto. When I went to Beppu I met a French woman who told me her perspective on travel. "You don't have to see the world to discover who you are. The more you travel to other places, the more you realize all the fascinating things about your hometown/state/country that have always been there if you only bothered to look."

Well, that's all for now. It's cleaning time, and I've gotta catch all those wily dust bunnies under the teacher's desks. Bai-bai!