class and travel plans

My first Japanese language class was a great experience. The campus is beautiful. The teacher was engaging. The material was presented at a quick pace, but not too quick. It made me happy.

After all those fairly dull Technical Writing courses I'd forgotten how much fun it is to learn a new subject. And the facilities are amazing. I arrived early and wandered around to take it all in. You know I spent 9-ish years at the University of CA, Santa Barbara campus -- 4 years to get a degree, about 5 working full-time -- and it's amazing how much I've forgotten about actual student life. The cafeteria, the long lines for textbooks, the parking weirdness. Must've just blocked it out. I even sat in a left-handed chair at first but I figured that out soon enough.

All the work I did studying for our Tokyo trip really paid off. I had a head start on pronunciation and basic greetings, so that was nice. I'm really glad I signed up - even if the GPS died half-way there and all the extra stress of driving and parking somewhere new in the rain and dusk.

I keep pushing myself into change forgetting that it totally unnerves me.

In unrelated news, it seems like the distance between weekends is directly proportionate to how short the weekends seem.

This morning I booked a short trip to San Francisco for the beginning of next March. With that and our trip booked to New Orleans it is turning into a major travel month. The good news is if I don't take any vacation time between now and then I will have exactly enough Personal Time Off (PTO) saved up. Better not get sick then!