Justin-Klein.com – Life of a Traveling Programmer

Giant Stride Entry into the pool.

Ohisashiburi everyone!

Well, I think I’ve finally come to fully accept and truly enjoy this waiting cycle that I’ve been in for some time now. Ever since I can remember I’ve tried to keep myself as busy as possible, so at first the mere thought of a “dead-spot” in my life was quite intimidating, particularly when it’s a dead-spot of unknown length. I started by trying to fill my time with as many productive projects as possible, but as these projects start to run out I became more and more uncomfortable.

“When’s the visa going to come?” “When can I start my career, start making some money?”

不安.

Look, ma! No hands!

But for whatever reason, this last month I’ve really sort of made peace with where I’m at. Which is a bit ironic because my departure date at last seems to be just around the corner. The company’s latest estimate is that I’ll be on a plane for Kyoto within the next couple of weeks. Yahoo.

Still, “making peace with the wait” doesn’t by any means translate to my sitting back and just staring at the wall.

…Actually I did spend a fair amount of time playing through the latest Onimusha game…and some more time catching up on a number of Japanese Dramas I’ve been itching to watch…

But aside from that, I managed to complete a few more of those long-desired projects! The first (if you didn’t guess by now) was scuba.
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Some, not all of the outdated computer parts I found and got rid of.

Last week I decided to tear through and cleanup everything I own. I decided that rather than allowing my stored possessions to sprawl rooms and garages at both parents’ houses, I’d thin it out until everything would fit neatly in a single bedroom closet. I can’t begin to tell you how many old Playstations, piles of computer parts, folders of schoolwork, and ridiculously undersized articles of clothing I found needlessly taking up storage space.

Most of the process was mind-numbingly boring, but every once in awhile I’d stumble on a particularly meaningful item – like a note Jeff and I had passed to each other in 10th grade math class, when we first became friends. Or the tiny pocket-sized picture book I bought to first begin learning Hiragana and Katakana.

Seems like so long ago…

Alright, back to Kyoto.

After a great satisfaction from completing the week-long project, an entirely unplanned week of fun began. First, a trip with Nick to Raging Waters, America’s 3rd best water park (according to the Travel Channel). The weather has been absolutely gorgeous lately, so a water park seemed like a perfect place for a bit of fun in the sun.
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