Well, I've been a college graduate for five weeks now. I was thinking today about how fast the graduation ceremony went and kinda wish I could go back and do it again, just to solidify it in my head. I'm in a much better emotional state to graduate from college than I was five weeks ago.
So far this summer I have been spending a lot of time with my family, working with my parents is turning out great. Just being around to observe the daily jokes and laughter that I have missed out on in the last four years has been wonderful. I went boating with the family once, have seen my grandparents a few times, have swam in the pool, and have watched a lot of Greys Anatomy, CSI, and Alias. It is SO nice not to have papers to write and tests to study for. I can't explain how amazingly wonderful it is to be done with school, at least for now.
Tomorrow is a busy day. Sort of. I have to pack, clean my room, write a ton of thank you cards, and get ready to head to California on Sunday. I am heading to LA for a few days to see friends and take care of some stuff for Japan. On Thursday morning (very very early) I'm hitting the road with two friends (Faith and Karen) to travel up to Seattle for my friend Jameson's wedding. While I am in Seattle I will also be spending some time with my childhood BFF Liz. Then I'll be going to Oregon to visit people and hang out until the next weekened which is my cousin Cadie's wedding. My mom is flying up for that and driving back with me, which includes a pit stop in Boise, ID to see my grandparents. Overall I will be gone almost 3 weeks and will be in at least 5 states. It will be a fun little trip before I head off to Japan.
Speaking of Japan, I still can't believe that I'm actually going... its starting to sink in though. I am very excited, but it is still very surreal. Especially the part where I'll be a teacher there... thats weird. I was at the chiropractor today and put teacher under occupation instead of student... it was one of those small yet significant moments in life. It probably won't fully hit me until I am driving on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car, unable to read the street signs, and am just as tall (if not taller) than everyone around me. lol. Then I'll say, "how the heck did I get here?" :) I have started trying to figure out some practical things such as: do I need a local cell phone while I'm over there, what will I need to take with me for my apartment, what will, unfortunately, need to stay here because of the cost of shipping? I'm studying Japanese and have learned about half of the hiragana alphabet so far. I have no idea what anything means but it is so exciting to know how to pronounce the characters and even recognize them in stores and on websites.
I'll be posting another video when I get back from my Pacific Northwest trip but wanted to update before then just to say hi to everyone. These weeks have been pretty low key and boring, other than the constant thinking about Japan stuff and working for my parents. I miss my friends at APU a lot and am so excited to see them in a few days.
I hope everyone is having a blessed summer so far. I love you and miss you all!
Jess
