I’ve been cagey about discussing my religious beliefs on this blog, apart from that religious history I posted a few months ago. I’m a Unitarian Universalist, something which I’ve never hidden from anyone, but UU a bucket religion: it carries what you put in it.
Can I tell you a secret?
Image: The bamboo grove in Arashiyama, near Kyoto
I woke up a little past midnight this morning. Since arriving from Japan a few days ago, the time difference hasn’t been kind on my working habits. I’ve woken up at 3 or 4 AM, read blogs and written, and showered before dawn has even started.
I’ve thought about how to write a post-trip update. I don’t care for travelogues; my friends write them often after their own vacations, but it’s too dry a format for me. I prefer impressions, but too much happened in two weeks to summarize nicely.
I’ve had some frustrations since my return. Besides my flip-flopped sleeping habits, the weather here is much warmer and more humid, the land flatter, the buildings shorter, the people inhospitable impolite. Getting around is comparatively more difficult. On the other hand, understanding what everyone says, and being able to read every street sign or piece of literature, is some compensation.
No, I won’t be writing a 4,000-word travelogue, or a week-long series of essays about things I learned on the trip (although I considered that!). Instead, here’s one thing I decided, with what I encountered or learned that led me to this.
I’ll be sporadically out of touch for the next couple weeks, as I spend time exploring a beautiful and complex country. Oh, and riding many, many trains.
This is my first time overseas, but not the first time for members of my family. I never had an opportunity to go when I was younger, as the programs offered by my high school were too expensive, and I didn’t qualify for those at my last college. I spent a very long time saving money for this kind of trip, as well as the past twelve months planning and paying for it. Suffice it to say: it’s been a long time coming.