With Commencement only 18 days away (not that I’m counting or anything), people like to ask, “So, are you ready to graduate?”
Well, yes and no. It’s been a great four years at Franklin College, but I feel like I’m ready to move on to the next thing. (It’s nice to know what the next “thing” is!) Plus, I’m ready to be done with schoolwork, pop quizzes and final exams. However, there are so many people I’ll miss at Franklin; I’ve definitely made life-long friends here!
The follow-up question to “Are you ready to graduate?” is usually, “Are you ready for Japan?”
Again, yes and no. While I’m excited for the next big adventure, I don’t think I’m quite mentally prepared (there’s a lot to think about!), and I know for sure that I’m nowhere near physically ready.
When I think about packing for possibly two years in only two suitcases, the task seems daunting. I will definitely have to pack strategically, taking only the bare necessities. (I’m now singing the song from The Jungle Book, haha.)
Besides packing – an obvious step in preparing to move to Kuji – I’m also preparing/going to prepare in a few not-so-obvious ways:
1.) I bought a keychain. Yep, you read that right. The keychain says, “Life is a journey, God is my guide; we travel safely together, side by side.” Isn’t that cute? It just makes me happy! But more than being cute, it expresses exactly how I feel about flying to Japan to live for a while and is a nice reminder – it’s a journey, but everything will be fine with God by my side at all times.
2.) I’m thinking that I might give up rice this summer. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right!? I have a feeling I could experience some serious “rice burnout” once I’m in Japan.
3.) I went to Franklin Community High School and sat in on a Japanese class, as I wrote last time that I would. The class was learning how to write some words they already knew in the hiragana form of writing into the kanji style of writing. I was impressed by how much the students in the first-year class already knew! It was a great experience, and I’m glad I had that opportunity.
Here’s a couple of pictures from the classroom:
Well, yes and no. It’s been a great four years at Franklin College, but I feel like I’m ready to move on to the next thing. (It’s nice to know what the next “thing” is!) Plus, I’m ready to be done with schoolwork, pop quizzes and final exams. However, there are so many people I’ll miss at Franklin; I’ve definitely made life-long friends here!
The follow-up question to “Are you ready to graduate?” is usually, “Are you ready for Japan?”
Again, yes and no. While I’m excited for the next big adventure, I don’t think I’m quite mentally prepared (there’s a lot to think about!), and I know for sure that I’m nowhere near physically ready.
When I think about packing for possibly two years in only two suitcases, the task seems daunting. I will definitely have to pack strategically, taking only the bare necessities. (I’m now singing the song from The Jungle Book, haha.)
Besides packing – an obvious step in preparing to move to Kuji – I’m also preparing/going to prepare in a few not-so-obvious ways:
1.) I bought a keychain. Yep, you read that right. The keychain says, “Life is a journey, God is my guide; we travel safely together, side by side.” Isn’t that cute? It just makes me happy! But more than being cute, it expresses exactly how I feel about flying to Japan to live for a while and is a nice reminder – it’s a journey, but everything will be fine with God by my side at all times.
2.) I’m thinking that I might give up rice this summer. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right!? I have a feeling I could experience some serious “rice burnout” once I’m in Japan.
3.) I went to Franklin Community High School and sat in on a Japanese class, as I wrote last time that I would. The class was learning how to write some words they already knew in the hiragana form of writing into the kanji style of writing. I was impressed by how much the students in the first-year class already knew! It was a great experience, and I’m glad I had that opportunity.
Here’s a couple of pictures from the classroom:
The front wall of the classroom
Oh, and another thing that demonstrates how I’ve been thinking about Japan: I got some more Japanese body art on Saturday at the Grizzly Grand Prix festival at school. But unfortunately, it washed off before I could take a picture of it. It was the words “peace” and “love” in kanji.
Well, paz y amor – “peace and love,” as they say in Nicaragua – until next time! (I’m becoming so multi-lingual, haha.)
1 comment:
Daaayna,
I sure you will be fine with packing and getting ready to leave. There are a lot of people here that will miss you too. You have touched so many lives in so many different ways. One of those lives being mine. I am so lucky to have a friend like you and I want you to know you will be missed a lot!!!! I love you!!!!
PS: This has been one of the highlights of my week...Reading your blog!
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