Today was practically the stupidest day of my life. No not really. But I'm sad because I didn't do anything. I have have A WEEK left. A WEEK. Really only 5 days, and only 2 of those days have long stretches of free time. I was planning on going to 日本町at lunch with Mari, but then she wasn't there and I decided I didn't want to go alone, so I just ate lunch at Luxembourg like always. Then after class at 5, no one was doing anything and I couldn't find anyone and didn't know what to do so I just went home. Sigh. It's okay, I'm still satisfied with my experience here and I only have a couple more MUST-DOS before I leave.


I never thought I would say this, but as I alluded to in my previous entry, the thought of going back isn't crippling or choking. I'm actually looking forward to it. It's a good feeling, like where you are AND where you are going. Usually I'm either hating where I am and wanting the future, or hating the future and wanting to stay paralyzed where I am. But this time I like both :)

Italy with Josefina and Iris for 10 days after the program, until Aug 11th. We planned it all ourselves! I've never been so independent. Oh money. The things it can do. I'm so lucky. Oh mother, I really hope you don't stay a chômeuse forever. :(

Lesson learned from this trip: traveling is better than not traveling, as long as money allows. If I had been smarter and thought about it/could have planned better, I probably would have planned to travel both before and after my program, to more countries/places. I would have researched more about the places I was going so I could be prepared with itineraries and lists. Also, I as I now know, the earlier you plan to travel, the better, even more than 6 months in advance to get the best prices. Sigh. Well this stuff will help me later in life :) I think I can deal with having a shitty small apartment, and budging food and necessities very carefully, in order to save money to travel. WORTH IT. <3

I want to LIVE in at least 3 different countries besides USA. France is one...even though I haven't really "lived" here...it's definitely crossing the line past tourist. Japan will hopefully be the second. And Peace Corps will be the 3rd. And WHO KNOWS! Who knows what opportunities will open up for me. I'm still very optimistic about all this.