The house life

My father has installed a water sprouting toilet seat in the master bedroom. Always too afraid to use these toilets in public Japanese restrooms (where do they get the water from?) I finally had a chance to use it at home. After pressing the button nothing happened so I looked down at the toilet only to have the water spray gleefully at me. Toilet 1 Kat 0. In the end it was a novel experience - next time you see one of those toilets try it out (I guess is the point of this paragraph).

So far the house life has been:

Beach trips- 2 (soon to be 3)

Crawfish trips- 2 (clearly I rank in order of importance)

Session (alone) - 4

Session (avec others) - 1 ):

Swimming pool - 2

Clubbing - 0

Movies - 3

Shopping trips - 3 (restaining myself - much)

Books read - 2

Friends seen - lots (: But still want to see more & more often!!!

The (end of a) dream

It's like this every time I come home now. Except for the suitcases of ME laying unabashedly open, strewn around the house, nothing changes.

I told A that it was as though I had awoken from a dream. His response was jokingly curt and to the point " I mean ... (br) you went to Japan (br) for 2 months (br) with your bf (br) paid by Harvard (br) to dance everyday." I guess it doesn't get more dream-eque than that.

And as my toes hit the hardwood floor of my living room and my brother and sister run around yelling at each other while getting in my way I realize I am not in dreamland anymore.

Oh well, off to the beach.

Eight weeks (4 of breaking), countless bruises, and several mishaps later

Everything is winding down.

Mentally and physically I am located near exhaustion. Where am I in terms of breaking?

Yesterday I took a class from a sub at ETC studio. He divided the class into three categories - based on skill level. I was placed in the middle group. The whole time I eyed the higher group thinking to myself "I can do that. Get down. CC. 3 step. Kick out. Hop up. Down rock. 6 step. Stomach. This is unfair, I can totally do all that." In fact, I was so focused on watching their routine that I completely failed to nail my easier routine.

Clearly this mentality is not helping me at all. I don't know how it is for other people - but it's always like this for me when it comes to breaking. It's tough to focus on the "easier" things that need improvement - 6 step, baby freeze, hitting downrock beats - because I always want to tackle those more impressive moves - swipes, windmills, miniflares, crazier freezes.

Where am I going with this? And why is there a traveling theme in my post?

The point is I have gone from complete nubsicle to beginner. It'll take a while but I feel that if I remain true to the music (or try my best to) and do my best to take on what I can I will always get better. This month has been tough to say the least. My left shoulder and knee are a source of constant pain along with my right lower back. The sad part is I feel I don't have any moves down that warrant pain from these locations but hopefully the moves are at a point where I can continue on learning without hitting these points again.

I will be going home 4 days earlier than originally planned because I decided that 8 weeks sounds better than 8 1/2. Also my hostel rental expires at the end of 8 weeks so... I'd be out on the streets or attempting Y(female)'s method of spending consecutive nights in clubs to avoid looking for a place to stay.

But, Japan! Won't I regret not seeing all the touristy stuff?

Hardly. Somehow on this trip, without being able to speak a lick of Japanese (oh, except for "up, down, right, left, front, back, leg, head, and arms) I have been able to communicate with people. Oftentimes it was because of Y's translations and we shared customs and stories. Other times they were proficient enough in English to speak a few words with me and we shared laughter. I will sorely miss the dancers I have shared good times with in Japan (Nari, Katsu, Takashi, Hajime, Kei, Sako, Tepo, Taichi, Curly haired kid, BUG boy, Yuki, airchair girl, Shy-N, windmill boy, Tiger, and Take & so many more). I love watching these people, admiring how good they are, and being surprised at how eager they are to help me out.

As for the rest of Japan, it's a mixed bag. The courtesy that everyone shows is admirable but could also be interpreted to be cold. The weather is terrible - hot and humid then rainy without warning (kind of like Harvard). The food is great but not what I could eat every day for the rest of my life (I guess favorite foods can only stay favorite foods if I do not eat them all the time). The high prices I can do without. The train system is great and convenient (though, again, pricey). The vending machines on every street corner - also a great invention.

Ah, gotta run to practice. As for those windmills - realized I had no where NEAR enough momentum on my collapse. This will probably take longer than the projected month. Well, until next time.