Sophia.

It has been a pretty long time since I last posted. Actually, let me rephrase that. It has been a very long time since I last posted. Last April was nearly a year ago, as crazy as that is to believe...

To be bluntly honest, I'm torn over how to continue. Part of me - the perfectionist, organisational freak side - wants to backtrack and update all that has happened in my life over the past nine months. The other part of me wants to just pick up from here. To not worry about trying to fill a gap just for completion's sake. To stop trying to relive moments from the past and just recount the adventures from here on out. So, the latter option is what I'm going with.

Life has been busy. Stressful. But good. I entered my second year of university, which was a huge jump from first year - and since coming back after Christmas holidays, it seems that the second semester has been an even bigger leap so far. Teachers giving assignments in every class, huge projects looming with deadlines, essays piling up. But there's one thing driving me, one reward that's making the endless lists of vocabulary and complex grammatical functions and delivering speeches in Japanese worth it... and that is my year abroad.

Coming September, I'll be moving to Japan for a year to study in Sophia University. I am more excited than words can describe. It is in the centre of Tokyo, and will allow me to experience Japanese culture to the fullest, while still interacting with fellow international students. I know that it will challenge me as a person, stretch my language skills beyond belief... and will be a time that I look back on fondly as one of the best years of my life. Am I nervous? Yes. Scared? Gracious yes. But more than a bit ecstatic at the thought that it's so soon.

As a closing thought... I especially like that Sophia comes from the Greek word for 'wisdom'. And it is my earnest wish to gain exactly that during my time there next year - wisdom in how the Japanese language and society works, and wisdom to see what plans my future holds, and what part Japan has to play in it.

Jx