Greetings and salutations!

On The Plane…

Sitting on an airplane, approximately eight hours after leaving Canada, the thought occurs that if there were ever a good time to write my latest blog entry, this would be it. It's rather strange…prior to leaving, people would commonly ask me if I was excited to be going. My response generally came in the form of "I'm sure I would be if I had the time to think about it..." or some derivative thereof - the idea being that I was simply too busy with all the many details of preparing to travel. This is certainly true to an extent; there was a great deal going on. But, more honestly, I just wasn't giving my imminent departure a great deal of thought.

I assumed feelings of exhilaration would hit while in the airport, or at least on the plane, but this has yet to be the case...perhaps when I land. The thing of it is that it's really just felt like 'another day at the office'. Not in the sense that I'm bored - but just that I'm what I'm doing seems very natural, very comfortable. My present suspicions are that this is a good thing and I hope to be able to settle into a comfortable routine in short order - a comfortable routine on the far side of the world.

Despite the madness of preparing to once again leave Canada most of the last couple weeks have been wonderful! Both the Anduro dinner party and a friend's wedding were superbly fun, and I was able to share excellent visits with several of my close friends. The time spent with family was also very rewarding. This included an evening out @ my uncle's ranch and the rare opportunity to visit with my Australian aunt & uncle. Time spent in both Red Deer and Calgary with my father and two siblings, including a day at the Daines Pro Rodeo (from which my burned neck is still recovering), was a genuine pleasure.

One highlight was a surprise party thrown for me by my brother at his new condo. It's not often I'm caught so off-guard and it was a fantastic gesture. ‘Props’ to my brother for putting that together right under my apparently inattentive nose.

Now I am back on an airliner, nearly 2 hours from my 'final destination' - Osaka. In many ways, I am uncertain of what lies ahead - but I do feel both confident and faithful about the path before me. Keep your eyes on this space for further updates and my ongoing ramblings. I hope to devote much more text to Japan than I did the last time around.

Stay tuned for more tales from Japan…

With Hope,
Joseph

Osaka, Japan | Tales from Japan | Surprise Party