- blackbird claw, raven wing, under the red sunlight -

Home, to a hundred-dollar electricity bill(!) and plants that clearly missed me, feet still swaying slightly - I hadn't noticed the sway after the last ferry, but there it is; the rougher ocean this time around taking its toll.

Home from Hokkaido.

Home from the facing of various fears - of onsen, of reading writing to others, of tequila shots (thanks; you know who you are.) And yes, I happen to have illogical fears. So goes life?

Home from an awesome holiday (it's weird that this journal was supposed to chronicle my daily life in Japan and it's really been more trip reports than anything else for the last few months) that was about ten times more chill than I'd thought it might be, but more fun for it, I think. Hokkaido was filled with great times, better people, and amazing food (crab! ramen! panda buns! gluttonous amounts of lamb and beer at the Genghis Khan enkai! candied almonds that burned our fingers as we pulled them out of the crinkling crimson cone and bustled through fifty-foot-high movie advertisements snow sculptures!) Also a lot of running for the train/subway. Did I mention how cool it was to finally see some snow? Seriously, that may have been one of my favorite parts of the trip; it's my inner Canadian showing, I think. Winter just isn't winter without it!

And it's really awesome to hear about interest in my writing, both in regards to this blog and the scribbles and short stories I've worked on in the past. (Despite the public nature of blogging, and the particularly high access to this - it's on my Facebook for heaven's sake - I still consider myself a relatively private writer, so this change is both wonderful and strange.)

In any case - here's to girl-talk and gossip and grapes from the bartender; here's to dancing under brilliant lights and drifts of snow that got into our shoes as we traversed the city; here's to thoughts shared and tumbles on the ski hill and taking over the ship lounge or kids' room as the mood swung us.

Cheers. ♥



...now to start lesson planning. (Home, also, to real life. ^^)