One Week From Today

We've all had a quiet Sunday here at home and now we are busy getting ready to go out for dinner to celebrate my mother and father's 29th anniversary. We're going to a late dinner at Jack's Grill in south Edmonton. I'm excited and will likely over look the seafood to have some meat, especially considering I leave a week from today. Much organizing and planning has been done and crunch time will soon arrive, meaning it will be time to pack. I am in the fortunate position of having packed up my life to move overseas once already in 1999 for my exchange to Japan. Even though I am surrounded with unknowns about such things as where I will be living and what I will be doing. It is hard to know the detail from 9000km away. I am still the picture of serenity. It's curious being so unworried about what lies ahead because many would characterize me as up tight about such planning and just a plain stick-in-the-mud about rules. All things aside I feel very undercontrol. Maybe ask me the same question later in the week.

This picture haunts me; forgetting something. It could be something big; such as forgetting my passport or plane ticket, or something small, like my lucky socks. As long as we don't leave any detail to chance, I imagine the whole move will go smoothly. My parents, when they visited Shikaoi last month, brought with them a big MEC bag containing my winter stuff and some books, to be left at our friend's house there for me. Also, in a worst case scenario, over the next two months, there will be two groups from Shikaoi visiting Stony Plain, who my parents will be hosting. An unusual situation but very convenient as a backup. A week, a week I keep telling myself. It hardly seems reality yet. All the images of a large packing process in progress around the house are seen but it hasn't hit me yet. Maybe I'm thinking about something else or I'm still digesting it. Certainly, my body is telling me something is going on as my sleep has been fretful most nights lately. This is a very unusually situation for me. My whole family and I sleep like the dead. Seven more sleeps. Seven more sleeps.

Ah, here's a picture from the top of the hill at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, which ran from Aug. 4th to 7th. The Birdsell tarp, quite full, was of course much closer to the stage. I mention this, with some degree of pride, since we ran the tarp early each day- very early. We had to be very organized because we shared the tarp with many friends and family; imagine the Birdsells invading a small country (but only thing being conqured is a piece of land- 8'x11'- for our tarp). I would also like to say, with no pride but will happiness, that this was my 11th year attending the festival. Not a record, but man we know the ropes. Hopefully I will post one more picture if I can find the digital image in my parent's HD. Shout out to my good friend Pat who joined us.

Just to add to this; in some small way listening to music, outside, in the sun, is as close to paradise as I can ever imagine. Just watching the sun depart the Alberta blue sky and dip slowly behind Edmonton is awesome; add great tunes and its transendental.

By now I have fully recovered, brought back to reality by this computer Im typing on. A brand new 12inch silver powermac (aluminum actually). It doesn't make me look cooler, or sexier, or more stylish with the bling... but I will be able to do lots of writting in Japan on it. I named it wower. Hopefully I will also be posting a picture of it too. Also of note, I just ripped like 300 CDs on to its HD which is something I do not plan on ever doing again- ever.

...Busy packing...

Well, I just got back into Stony Plain a little while ago and had dinner. Yummmmm. Steak. I have been eating so much beef lately. I don't know what it means but I don't mind. I'll be eating practically no beef in Japan.

It's very nice outside so maybe I will go and lie on the hammock for a couple of minutes.

The conditions of this post are similar to the last one I made-- in that thunderstorms are again rolling in. Lamentably, this is the last post I will do before taking apart my computer and moving it to my next stop, though short, in Stony Plain. My room is pretty well empty at this point. Just my lamp, radio and computer on my desk and my bed- which has always been a little sad. And boxes and boxes of stuff on my floor, some of these boxes have also escaped and migrated downstairs.

However, being from the west and young, I have no shortage of access to high-speed internet, meaning; I will still be able to make updates everywhere in between here and the time it takes to re-setup my computer in Stony Plain. My question is this: why am I so thirsty at the moment?

This will have to be a quick post because I hear thunder in the distance. I'm just in the process of packing up my room to leave for Stony Plain on Sunday. I've always enjoyed organizing stuff-- in a strange way-- and it actually feels pretty good to be sorting through all my stuff. Lots of things are being thrown out or recycled. Just put on some tunes and go at it. I'm being rather ruthless in what I'm throwing away. Some boxs I haven't looked at in years and if I haven't been in a box for over a year, I probably don't need the contents. It looks like a grenade went off in my room. Still lots to do but I'm going to the tea house at 7:30pm.

The above picture is a scene from Sapporo. This is the biggest city on the island of Hokkaido and about a 2 hour train ride from Shikoai. The picture is not very clear but I didn't take it.

I want to be reminded again of the very exlierating experiences found in Japan. This image is actually taken from Osaka, but is representive of the vibrant street life in Japan. I cant wait to walk these lively streets again.

This is a picture of Obihiro station, a local train station in the next nearest large-city from Shikaoi. I will most likely be getting to know this station quite well.

This post can now be found here.

This is a test of Gmail image capabilities.

Stony Plain and Shikoai

Shikoai is a small town located in central Hakkiado. I have been there twice twice before, once in 1997 and again in 2000, so I don't feel as if I'm decending into a completely foreign experience. Basically, Alberta and Hakkiado, in an effort to make the world just a bit smaller, started a fruitful twining relationship between eachother's towns. Stony Plain has been fortunate enough to be twined with the freindly town of Shikoai (pop. around 6000). I will soon been leaving (Sept. 4 actually) to become one of Shikoai's two english teachers. I will be directly contracted to the Shikoai Board of Education which means several things. I will not be tied to anyone school, the contract states I could be teaching High School , Junior High, elementary, kindergarden, other teachers or town employees. As rare as it is for a blog to post rumor, word from Shikoai is that I will propbably be facing off with elementery or junior high school students. For many years I have wanted to return to Japan so if work I must to that end I will (I still think I received the better half for such an opportunity). I would like to express my thanks for all the help and support from my parents, extended family and family-friends.

Some things I wish to accomplish with my stay in Japan is making sure I represent Stony Plain well and ensure my students learn thier studies. I will also try very hard to resurrect my old Japanese skills and improve on them with constant practice. An added goal for myself is to try to produce some form of creativity and write. Write about what? Well, that is getting ahead of myself and so is this post. I still have months left until I leave for Japan so read on...