I was about to practice some Japanese by reading (and translating) articles on news manga but had a sudden change of mind to keep trying to clear my mail inbox. Currently it's at 65 messages. I deleted a few off the top before I figured I should probably start at the bottom to make the process quicker and to check on things I had ignored for far too long. One such thing was an e-mail I had sent myself. A reminder that read:
"why not write a blog about traveling, friends in different places, going to Japan...?"
There went my plans to practice Japanese. I'd seen this reminder countless times but perhaps the timing, the fact that I saw it while about to practice made me think a little more and just go for it, write.
I just got back from a fun little vacation in Rochester, NY, visiting a bunch of friends from college. I hadn't been there since last May and it was really great. I honestly thought last May was the last time I would see a lot of those people. Ryan, Amanda, Bucky, Julie, Summer and others greeted me happily and I got a chance to relive the old days a bit. Of course, I also got to relive the awful goodbye and the thought that I may never see any of those people again. That said, because the vacation happened at all it gives me a little bit of hope that maybe I will in fact see some of them again in the future :)
However, Bucky, Ryan, Amanda and the others are only one group of friends among many that I love to hang out with and visit. Apart from my college friends in Rochester, I have my friends from (and not to mention my parents in) Puerto Rico, friends in Cleveland (and now Cincinnati, I'm looking at you Dillon and Kathy), friends in Virginia, friends in upstate California and then my peeps out here in the Bay area, to name a few. They say home is where the heart is. If that's the case, I have a home in all of these places and my heart is divided (therein the blog's title). My goal is to slowly but surely cycle through all of these places, seeing all the faces I've laughed with and doing fun stuff with old friends.
I can add to these places one particular location I don't have friends in... yet: Japan. Why bother with that one at all? Well if you know me at all you probably have some clue as to the attraction to Japan; attraction being a very loose term. One of my long term goals is to go to Japan. That is, not just go visit for a week or two (or three please, thanks) but to be there for 6 months to a year or maybe even more. I previously applied to the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) programme (<- yes they use this spelling) but didn't get in, much to my - and my Japanese sensei's - dismay. She thought I was a shoe-in and she would know as she's one of the official interviewers for the program. Alas, it was not meant to be, at least at that time. That said, that's not the only means of going to Japan, perhaps the easiest, but not the only way. I'm certain God's placed a calling in me for Japan so the path of my life will undoubtedly cross that land at some point. If He opens that door nobody will close it. I just hope I have enough sense to walk through it instead of by it!
In the meantime, I hope my friends wherever they are hold onto the little bit of heart they wrenched from me when we parted ways. I'll make sure to take care of the bit of theirs that stowed away in my suitcase when I left.
