A gift

My time here in Japan has been a mixed bag.

I haven't had to deal with culture shock, but I've struggled with boredom, homesickness, and above all, loneliness.  The first couple of months were really hard.  The third was okay, and the last was actually pretty good.

During the hard times, I relied on Sundays at church, and the kids at school.  Church recharged my batteries, and gave me hope and comfort.  The kids at school were really fun to teach, and they were usually happy.  Teaching them was a joy.

I am returning home in a few days.  As a farewell gift, the students at one of the schools gave me origami.  Unfortunately, I am not able to take most of it home.  I really love all of these gifts, I'm sad that I can't take it with me.  But I did take pictures so I can remember.  Here is the origami (sorry if the video shakes a little):

You can also see a web album with individual pictures here.

Katzenklavier

This is an very interesting short film.  I love the feel of film noir that it has.  Be warned that it is a little "dark."

Frowning Thanksgiving Logo

Hmmm, when I saved this logo, I had a slight smile on my face (The picture of me in the logo), but now, since the compression is bad, it looks like I'm sad.  Oh well, I'm sure I will be on Thanksgiving anyway.  You know it's just great to be halfway around the world all by yourself during holidays.

UPDATE

I didn't really have a Thanksgiving, but I kept myself busy, and talked to my family the next day when it was Thanksgiving in America.  It was really good to talk to them.  In the end it didn't matter that there was no turkey or pumpkin pie, as long as I was able to spend time with my family even if it was just over the phone.

Ya gotta luv the Brits.

I wish all ATMs did this.

Zombie Candy Corn

Here is some more awesome artwork that is a t-shirt from shirt.woot.com.  It is not as clever as the last one, but still very amusing.  Happy Halloween.  Click on the picture to enlarge it.

New Logo for Halloween and a funny picture

I thought that since this month is October (aka the month of Halloween) that I would give my blog a nice Halloween theme.  So my new logo is a picture of me in the Catacombs of Paris.  Kind of creepy, huh?

And today I saw this hilarious shirt on shirt.woot.com.  I thought it was also fitting for Halloween.  Here it is:

World Traveler

Everyone says I'm becoming quite the world traveler. I guess that it is true. I did a Study Abroad this summer and now I'm living in Japan for a semester.

My tally so far for this year (And I am including the USA):

• 3 continents (North America, Europe, and Asia [If you get really technical, it is only 2 since Japan is an island])
• 7 countries (USA, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom [England and Wales], and Japan.)
• 2 oceans which I have crossed (Atlantic and Pacific)
• 3 mountain ranges (Rockies, Alps, and whatever this one in Japan is called)
• 10 Airplanes
• 4 or 5 Airlines (United, American Airways [Worst airline ever, AVOID their international flights at all cost!], North West -operated or something with Delta, Ryan Air, and ANA) I have also flown American in the past.
• Countless trains
• 1 taxi
• Church in 4 languages in 5 different countries.
• Previous countries before this year (USA, Mexico [2003], United Kingdom [England & Wales from 2003-2005]) That brings my total to 8 countries!

I know my travels pale in comparison to many people, but I'm am glad for the experiences that I have had and I am now having. I'll try to fill in some of the details from this summer and this semester!

The Results Are In

How do you think I look with a beard?

Only eight people voted on my poll, but it is a surprise! I thought that I looked somewhat okay with the beard - but not great.

Half of the voters voted that I looked awesome with it, a quarter thought that it wasn't so great, and another quarter was split between apathy and apathetic support for it. The greatest surprise was that nobody voted that I looked terrible.

I am clean cut and clean shaven now, and I need to remain so for awhile yet, so those who weren't too fond of the scruff can rest easy.

Vote now!

I reopened the poll, so if you haven't voted, please do.

Facial Hair

Don't forget to give me your opinion of what you think of my scruff.  Answer the poll in the sidebar.

I'm generally not one to have facial hair.  As much a pain as shaving is, growing it seems to be just as bad.  Its one of those cases of darned if you do, darned if you don't.

However, I grew a beard over the Christmas break.  It started out for medicinal purposes, because I was not supposed to shave around my wound (see last blog entry) but I decided to grow it until school started again.  I grew it for about a month and then shaved on the second day of school.

My hair was also starting to get long.  I remember going to my mission reunion during the first weekend of October and thinking that my hair was a bit long and that it needed a cut.  Here are a few photos of me with my scruff before I cut my hair.

And here a few of me with my beard a while after my hair was cut and just before I shaved.

I decided to try out a few thing while shaving my face.  First I tried a goatee.

I don't think the goatee worked so well.  Next I tried what my roommate's friend suggested which is apparently some sort of Puerto Rican thing.  After that I tried just having a soul patch.

Honestly though, I don't think anything works on me other than clean shaven or possibly even my somewhat full, but sketchy beard.  So here is the final product after about a month being very hairy.

The day that I finally chopped it all off seemed so cold to me.  Who would have thought that a little scruff could make such a difference with how cold my face felt.  It is sad to say, but I miss my scruff.  It was also interesting to get peoples reaction on how they thought I looked with my beard.  It was very polarized.  Either people thought it looked great, or they thought it looked terrible.

What do you think?  Answer my little quiz at the top of the sidebar.