Yes, I am back in the US of A. And, it’s completely strange, but not altogether horrible. I don’t think it’s quite hit me though that I’ll not be returning to Russia; that’ll come later, I suspect. Right now, I’m visiting some dear friends, so the excitement is a distraction from my having to contemplate such things. When I get back to home home I’ll probably feel more of the culture shock that people mention after having traveled/lived abroad for an extended period of time. It will be interesting, for sure.
studying abroad–her name is Russia
a summer affair ends with sweeping
It’s August now. I’m not sure what I was doing those few weeks of July, but I woke up this morning and saw I have lots of piles of junk I don’t really want sitting around my room. It probably had been a part of my plan to get rid of these piles, yet now it seems they’ll sit around for some indeterminable amount of time. I have rearranged my bookshelves. They look tremendous. I also uncluttered my corkboard while keeping that haphazard, cool look that hip teen catalogues promote.
Well, it seems I’ve already exhausted myself having written an entire paragraph. Until we meet again, keep a keen eye to the eastern horizon.
when I feel smart I do smart things
This past week I’ve really taken to practicing Japanese, something I’ve neglected since being home for the summer. And what-ho to my surprise and joy, I still think it’s fun! I was pretty convinced I’d still like it, seeing as how I’ve decided to study it particularly at school, but since my mood can be as predictable as the weather forecast I couldn’t be entirely sure. Rosetta Stone is truly a great language learning tool, and even though version 2 isn’t nearly as streamlined and pretty as its successor there’s a lot of great information packed into it. If I keep at it I just may be able to speak Nipponese one of these days. ばんざい！
making mountains into mole hills
Today, rather, yesterday I hiked a lovely little offshoot of the Appalachian Trail. What makes this one especially nice is the waterfall at the trail end which flows majestically off a large rock face into a crisp, refreshing pool. I’ve thought occasionally that it’d be a nice routine to start every day with a little jaunt up to the falls followed with some morning stretches in the water’s mist, but only occasionally. I guess my desire to spend mornings in bed trumps my ambition. But honestly, I do love a good hike, so maybe I’ll at least try to make it a weekly to biweekly event.
Speaking of things I love, The Little Mermaid is an awesome movie. Even 20 years later the animation still holds up while the characters have actual personality. It’s nice to see after being plagued by less than sub–par animated films from more recent years. Really, what happened to quality? But I am looking forward to The Princess and the Frog, especially because it marks a return to 2D animation. It looks like it just might be a revival of the entertaining, clever, good Disney movie. Here’s to hoping.
momentary pain and discomfort, or a thursday malaise
I spent almost the entirety of the day shoveling piles of dirt from one place to another as part of the larger process of building a rammed earth house. It’s a pretty cool project, one that’s been in the works for the past four months, I’d say. Construction began with the laying of a river rock foundation, piece by piece, stone by stone. I mostly avoided this portion of the work because it was frustrating and slow, like if Tetris were a game that wasn’t fun and didn’t have the catchy yet paranoing tunes playing in the background. But that finally got done and the whole thing was capped with cement, so now the actual rammed earth part of the building begins! A better, more complete explanation of the “Boden Haus” can be found elsewhere for those whose interest has been piqued by my riveting prose.
So, as for shoveling, it’s an incredibly exhausting mode of physical exertion. Not to sound too much like a wuss, but I’m more sore from one day of this than, oh, nothing else I’ve done in the past year. In a way I’ve found the experience refreshing, and I’ll probably put in a few more days worth of digging before everything is said and done.
desirous woman, online 
You must be logged in to post a comment.