For those of you still in Japan checking up on Champon Adventures from time to time, thanks and I hope everyone's holiday travels to exotic locations around Asia were rewarding and inspiring. I am interested to hear about everyone's travels when you get back so please update your blogs and post some photos. I have been a little sparse on my posts since being back in St. Louis, but here is a rough idea of what I've been up to.
I arrived back in St. Louis in early October fresh of two months of awesome travel in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. I embraced unemployment for a bit, but then had the chance to do some basic carpentry at a house that my friend Ben was rehabbing:
(Ben plans on selling the house in the Spring then going to apprentice with master glass-blowers in Italy. Check him and Biscan out at Fuoco.org)
While I was doing all that, I was just throwing out my resume to all kinds of companies in St. Louis, looking to do some kind of entry-level computer work. I had it in mind to work at some company's computer help desk or technical support. I got no calls and continued to work on the house and really cultivate my enjoyment of free time.
Finally, I got one phone call from a small software company out in the suburbs of St. Charles. The woman said my resume landed on her desk and my experience matched what they needed. Hmmm, a computer dude who spent the last three years travelling and trying to teach English in Japan. Well I had to go in and find out what it was about. Over the course of two interviews, I learned the position was a software consultant, travelling to various sites around North America and teaching clients how to use our customized Events Management software. Travelling, teaching and technology: I can do this. Fortunately I was offered the position and will start on January 16th. I was hesitant to accept the first offer that came along but like they told me, it seems like a pretty good fit for my interests and skillz.
So in about a week and a half, I will bid farewell to unemployment and hello to a 35 minute commute (on a good day), the grind of a 9-5 (8-5+ actually, ouch!) and a packed lunch (what? no school lunch?). It kills me not to have an international air ticket purchased and waiting for me. I suppose I am almost completely adjusted to being back here in the states after so much time away. I guess regular employment is the last step in the reabsorption process. (Either that or becoming a preferred customer at the local Wal-Mart.)
Although I miss life in Asia and will continue to long for travel and the surprises and treasures of everyday life in Kumamoto, I am also embracing some familiar pastimes here in St. Louis. I've been able to get together and play basketball with my friends and sibblings quite regularly, in addition to taking up running once again with my sister Katie as main motivator. Katie and I have been active member of the St. Louis H3, a Hash group that goes off every Sunday afternoon. We have both hared already. Also, just being able to flip on a TV most nights and watch the NBA is amazing and something I will never take for granted. I loath most of the crap that is on TV, but I will never not watch basketball.
One thing I had taken for granted and vow not to do so again is the access to great libraries. I have read a bunch of books since I've been back. A lot of them have been about Japan or Asian culture in general. It is fascinating to read about this after experiencing it for three plus years. I read a book called Confucius Lives Next Door: What living in the East teaches us about living in the West by T.R. Reid. It was a fascinating book that attempts to provide a background on interesting cultural quirks in Japanese and Asian society. Interestingly, the teachings of Confucius are the fundamentals of living and behavior and in turn, a stable society that generally exists throughout the countries of Asia.
Another book which I recently started to read is Amy Tan's newest book, Saving Fish from Drowning. I was so excited to read this book after I read the review. It is a fictional novel about a group of Americans who mysteriously disappear on an isolated mountain lake in Northern Myanmar (Burma). Sure enough, it is based on Inle Lake, which I recently visited during my week in Myanmar. I was intrigued by the strong spiritual aspects of the hill tribes and little towns around the lake. Although the author was unable to travel to the military-governed nation for research, the book promises to be an interesting look at Myanmar's culture and political situation from the standpoint of a fictional story. I am excited to read it. Even the picture on the cover of the book is similar to a photo I took:
or maybe this one...
One other book I just got and will read in the next week is by one of Japan's greatest modern novelists, Haruki Murakami. I thoroughly enjoyed two of his other books, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and The Wild Sheep Chase. It's called Underground and is actually an in-depth investigation into the mysterious Aum Shinrikyo Cult who were responsible for the terrible sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995. Murakami's fictional works are incredibly detailed in character development and often have amazingly bizarre twists. I can't wait to get into this one.
Before I start my new job on the 16th, I will be snowboarding for a week in Colorado. Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail. I can't explain how excited I am to get up on the mountain and rip it. Exactly one year ago I was recovering from a week boarding in Nagano and getting ready to go home for Joe and Michiyo's wedding followed by a week at Vail. I am quite lucky to be able to spend a week snowboarding with no guilty feelings that I should be looking for a job; work starts 8 am sharp on Monday morning.
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