full speed ahead

Should be sleeping, probably will be soon, but first...

The past two and a half days have been a blur. On the first night, my friend picked me up from the bus station and took me directly to the Aikido dojo. The classes, totaling about 50 people, were just finishing as we arrived.
As we stepped inside and removed our shoes, I reflected on how oddly similar I'd felt at the start of an elementary school class in my old teaching days in Japan. Soon, we were all going to be shaking each other's hands and inquiring about the general state of each other's being. 'How are you's would be passed about and when we finished, we would all smile and feel just fine.
This, combined with hug after hug left me feeling joyously remembered and appreciated. I also remembered the feeling of belonging to a community. This was possibly something I'd missed above all else. I was immediately accepted, after a year of struggling to be accepted and finally giving up. It was something valuable to be experienced, then and now.

Tonight, while shopping out on the Pearl Street Mall, I kept thinking of lesson plan ideas to try when I got back to Japan. I'm happy to be here, and happy to think about being there.

My friends have been really loving hosts and I wanna say thanks to them here, although they seem like family anyway...

Oh, it's way passed bedtime now. Phooey. Tomorrow's a big day: the start of a weeklong Aikido camp in the Rockies. Read more at:
I gotta get to sleep! G'night!!