台風！！

(たいふう / taifuu): TYPHOON!!!!

In a few hours, Typhoon Melor will hit Kanazawa! I've never experienced a typhoon before, so I'm pretty stoked. Although tomorrow is supposed to be the first day of classes, they might be cancelled! Typhoon Day!

Beautiful City and the Well of Truth

Sign on campus: 金沢大学　（かなざわだいがく / Kanazawa Daigaku）: Kanazawa University. That's Marcell on the right, one of the other Tufts guys, though he's originally from Hungary.


Kanazawa is amazingly beautiful. Of all the places in the world where I have been, I think there's no more photogenic city I've ever seen. The city is beautiful and a ton of fun, the other international students are amazing (and the most cosmopolitan group of people I've ever known), and the university is vastly exciting. Besides the other Tufts guys, I have friends here at KUSEP now from Germany, Finland, Ireland, Russia, Korea, China, Czech Republic, England, Australia, and of course Japan. My room is fantastic--it's got every amenity I could ever ask for and then some. Today I did a lot of shopping, and I didn't get a rice cooker (YET), but I did get a bunch of useful things. It's really really late because there's ALWAYS awesome stuff to do, but I wanted to get in a quick post here. With some pictures! Check out my photos on Facebook (just uploaded a bunch), but here are a few for the blog too. Photos of my room are to come--still decorating (though I finished moving in), so I haven't really taken any yet.

Today we did Alien Registration and the Japanese Language Placement Exam, also. I now have a booklet called You Too Are a Citizen of Kanazawa! Plus, I got my personal hanko name seal: I am "Well of Truth"! Bitchin, as they say.

Now...here's the place where I live!


Street in front of Kenroku-en, the night of the Moon Festival.

Autumn moon reflecting off the stream at Kenroku-en.

Koto players underneath the moon.

Saturday early afternoon on campus, before classes have really gotten started, so there aren't many people about.

This is my university now.

City tour day! The Tufts group, led by Makiko Kura (in the background, our Tufts program assistant director), all spent the entire day exploring different sites all over the city. It was an incredible, wonderful day. The food everywhere, by the way, has been pretty amazing.

This is where I live. The big green area in the middle back and slightly to the left is Kenroku-en. To the right of it in the other hill is the samurai castle.

Tufts-in-Japan 2009-2010
In the Geisha District of Kanazawa

A view of Kenroku-en in the daytime.

In a special exhibit room at the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. It's awesome. I'd certainly say it was the best and most interesting collection of contemporary art I've ever seen. (This was before we visited the ukiyo-e woodblock print museum.)

The most advanced sink I've ever seen. Automatic water, soap, and dryer in one bowl. They all work really well and they are efficiently integrated. What a concept!

One of many gems.

I came very close to buying this track jacket! I have decided that I won't ever leave Japan without buying a track jacket.


Special thanks to Rich Marchewka for the camera that produces the most spectacular pictures. Rich, if you're reading this, you'll soon see some photos from summer! Thanks again!

はじめまして

hajimemashite = Nice to meet you!


After roughly 25 hours of travel (though it also seems I slept through most of it), PLUS a 16-hour time change, I'm in my own room at the International House at Kanazawa University. In Japan. With all of my stuff, plus some welcome gifts and stipend money. Such a welcome! We arrived here at the university after midnight, but now...I'm here! The other students in the program seem to be really awesome and diverse--a couple of guys from Egypt, a girl from Russia (I'll get to practice Russian!), two students from Sheffield, England, a Chinese guy, a guy from Finland...the list goes on, and everyone is really nice and excited to be here. I just realized that I haven't slept in a bed since...well, it's the day before yesterday now, so I'm looking forward to getting in that super comfortable-looking bed. I haven't seen much Japan yet, since I slept most of the way here from Kansai International Airport and it's dark, but the view from my balcony is pretty cool. YES I HAVE MY OWN BALCONY! The room is really ridiculously nice--there's an awesome balcony overlooking what seems to be a field in the middle of campus (I'm on the second floor), a heater, dehumidifier, air conditioner, internet access, vacuum, refrigerator, induction heating plate, closet wardrobe, shower/toilet/washroom, kitchen sink, and a bed that looks to be amazingly comfortable.
So with that said I'm going to bed!

日本！！！！！

(にほん / nihon: Japan)

I AM IN JAPAN.

I'm enjoying free wifi at Osaka Kansai International Airport at the moment, having just gone through customs very quickly and easily (yet totally smooth and professional), now waiting for the "Jumbo Taxi" to pick me up and take me to Kanazawa University. I still can hardly believe I'm actually here, in Japan, to stay, for the duration. I hardly have any impressions yet--I was enjoying my time in LA up to the very last minute (I was in the audience for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien last night) and now suddenly I'm halfway across the world, with my awesome new guitar and a ton of other luggage.

Really, the overwhelming impression that I've felt so far is how very smooth it's all been. I slept through most of the flight to Osaka from San Francisco, had some nice conversation with the person next to me on the plane, read through my handbooks for the program, and now I'm here. Totally business as usual. It's certainly not a bad start though--I have a feeling that my experience in Japan is something that won't happen all at once. It'll be gradual. I expect that the first couple of months will actually be quite difficult (albeit awesome and tons of fun), considering my present challenges with the language, but it'll get better and better!

I think the other part of it, though, is that this is totally new. Yes, I've thought and talked about ways I connect and relate to Japanese culture, and reasons why I'm interested in Japanese culture, but there's nothing personal about this connection. I have no ancestry or family here. I'll be living in a culture probably more foreign than anything I've known before, and this time I'm on my own, responsible for my own space. I'm incredibly excited, but I'm feeling cautious to start. I've been wanting my own space more and more recently, and now I'm finally going to have it in what is undoubtedly for me the best way possible. Every minute I think about it, I realize it more and more--

This is going to be an amazing, unbelievable, incredible, unforgettable year...!!!!


行きましょう！！ Let's go!!

Rising Sun

Excerpt from an email sent to my brother earlier this summer while I was in Russia:

On Jul 30, 2009, at 6:59 PM, Alex Michaelson wrote:
I had a thought today, regarding some more reasons why I want to go to Japan. The culture absolutely fascinates me, and I feel drawn and connected to it. For one thing, I've heard many times that Japan as a nation is having a sort of national identity crisis, and that intrigues me in my own search for identity. The class I took called Introduction to Japanese Culture was fascinating, and the journaling I did for that class did a lot for me. [Moreover,] there are themes in [many] of the cultural products I've seen that I really like and feel drawn and connected to--the human drive toward happiness, [intense psychological confrontation], a penchant for random silliness, a sensitivity for wonder and romance, and technological awesomeness.


I've always known that I would study abroad, and Japan became my choice for several reasons, not to mention many of the wonderful and intriguing cultural products themselves. As I've grown to know myself better from perspective and experience I've gained this summer, I look forward now to Japan as a fantastic opportunity to continue doing what I set out to do--in simplest terms, to develop a confident, secure self. That comes from perspective, experience, personal space, self-reflection, and conditioning.

Everyone says it's going to be amazing, and it should be good for me too, whatever that means.

But I don't worry about what that means so much as I used to. I'm concentrating now on living my life the way I want to live my life, not on what may or may not be "good" for me.


Visa: obtained.
Flight: confirmed.
Housing: confirmed.
Airport transportation: scheduled at both ends.
Orientation schedule: received.
Shopping: almost finished.
Packing: in progress.

Six days.

"Go have fun!"

That's what the employee at the window at the Consulate General of Japan said to me today when he handed me my passport complete with multiple-entry Japanese visa good for 15 months.

I can hardly believe that I'm leaving now in 11 days. A year is a long time, and Japan is far away. It's going to be so good for me though, and I truly felt nothing but excitement at the Consulate today when I picked up my visa. When the man handed it to me at the window, I thanked him and then just stood back and looked at the visa for about a full minute. The man asked me whether everything was alright with it, and I said yes, it's great, it's fine, thank you! "Take it to the airport with the Certificate of Eligibility," he said. "Go have fun!"

That's what I aim to do.

I'm in another in-between period right now, nearing the end of my six weeks in LA between summer travels and my year abroad. I've accomplished nearly everything I was serious about doing during this time--I've made some money, spent as much time with friends as I could, traveled around the city, discovered the library, gotten some things to prepare for my trip, gotten my computer fixed (and even upgraded), and even gotten a new guitar. I haven't been blogging, reading, or working out as much as I'd like to, but that has taught me some important lessons about free time, routine, and personal space. Anyhow, I've been doing those things and actually a lot of cool stuff, but something peculiar seems to have happened.

Peculiar? Maybe not so much. I'm referring to what it was like to come back to LA after such a crazy summer of traveling. My dad picked me up at LAX and took me back to the house, and when I walked in...it just didn't feel like coming home anymore. I've grown up a lot in the past several months of my life, and part of that is wanting to move out and away. I'm looking forward to having my own place in Japan--even though it will be tiny, it will be mine and mine alone.

I'm a sentimental guy, that's no secret. I finally finished Travels With Charley, and Steinbeck says a lot of great stuff in it, but in the final chapter he says this about a great journey:
"I speculated with a kind of wonder on the strength of the individuality of journeys and stopped on the postulate that people don't take trips--trips take people. [...] Who has not known a journey to be over and dead before the traveler returns? The reverse is also true: many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased."

The thing about that book is that it took me at least two years to get through it. "How boring it must have been!" one might think--but no, I actually enjoyed it so very much that I kept stopping to let it soak in. I could always tell that Steinbeck was also a sentimental guy, and his ideas have a way of really getting to me.

It's late again and I'm thoughtful.

Downtown LA on Monday. That "US Bank" building is the tallest in LA and across the street from the huge Central Library, where I found and checked out a copy of Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan by Alex Kerr, on the recommendation of a friend who experienced the JET program as a teacher of English in Japan for a few months. The building on the right, in California Plaza (between 3rd and 4th streets on Grand) houses the Consulate General of Japan on the 17th floor. Can you believe that these clouds and tall buildings are Los Angeles, of all places? Maybe the palm tree is a clue, but it didn't feel anything like the LA I knew. I rather liked it, though. Downtown LA is pretty damn cool.

Concerning Birthright

Standing at Masada at sunrise, overlooking the Dead Sea and the Jordan highlands. I'm wearing a shirt that I got at the Bedouin camp the night before.

It sounds too good to be true, right? A free trip to Israel for 11 days? Round-trip airfare from JFK to Tel Aviv, guided tours, trained security escorts, meals, hotels, museums, hikes, tours, a camel ride, swimming in the Dead Sea, side trips, discussion groups, concerts, travel assistance, and more...for free?

When I first heard about this Birthright thing, I was very, very skeptical. How could it possibly be free? What does this "Taglit" organization get out of it? What's the catch? Am I obligated to go to some kind of "Jewish re-education" or pledge money or become assimilated into something? What are the hidden fees? Am I even eligible?

I'll tell it straight. My mom isn't Jewish. My dad is Jewish...ish. His family comes from mostly Jewish heritage, though he personally never had a Bar Mitzvah, and neither did I or my brother. Still, we always celebrated Chanukah every year, and most years we would go to my grandmother's house for a Passover seder dinner. However, that was almost the entire extent of Judaism in my life while I was growing up--ask any orthodox Rabbi and I'm simply not Jewish. My mom comes from a Protestant family, and though I went to a synagogue no more than three or four times total in the first eighteen years of my life, I've probably been to church at least a hundred times, not to mention having been inexplicably baptized at age ten. Even so, with all that Lutheranizing and acolyting and communioning, not to mention the continuing Christmas tradition (and yearly Easter baskets of chocolate as a child) in my family's house, I grew up feeling more at home in the company of Jews, even though I was even less Jewish than pretty much any one of my relatively very secular Jewish friends.

So what's the deal here? Did I fool some bizarre organization of questionable motives into giving me a prize package worth thousands of dollars that I didn't deserve, using my own questionable motives? Not at all.

The Taglit organization's stated purpose (they're the money behind Birthright) is simply this: they believe that it is the birth-right of all Jewish people to visit Israel. Therefore, they endeavor to make it possible for young Jews to visit Israel in the best way they can--and tons of them come back with positive experiences to report. In Taglit's words:

Taglit-Birthright Israel provides the gift of first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. Taglit-Birthright Israel's founders created this program to send thousands of young Jewish adults from all over the world to Israel as a gift in order to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry; and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people.

So what does that mean? Basically this:
If you are a young adult who can consider yourself Jewish, and you have a real interest in traveling to Israel, you are eligible. So when I went to the Tufts Hillel to find out whether this program is for real, I met with the Birthright coordinator, and I gave it to him straight. I told him that I'm technically half-Jewish (at best), though I would love to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to go to Israel. I continued, saying that my Jewish heritage from my father's side of my family had always been an intriguing sort of comfort to me, and I would like to find out more about it and sort of test how well I connect to it. Plus...it's a FREE TRIP TO ISRAEL. So that's basically what I said, and that's also basically what I told Shorashim as well, when they did their phone interview with me (which is really just a get-to-know-you sort of thing, to make sure you're genuine). "Genuine? What does THAT mean?"

From their website:

Q. Will this be a "religious" trip?

A. You may apply for the Taglit-Birthright Israel gift regardless of your Jewish background or affiliation. All Taglit-Birthright Israel programs will provide opportunities for participants to celebrate Jewish life together. Some Trip Organizers represent different religious movements, or Zionist ideologies. To learn how to choose among all the Taglit-Birthright Israel-approved trip organizers, please go to 'How to Choose a Trip Organizer'. By asking some key questions like, "How will Shabbat be observed?" will help ensure that the program you are choosing is right for you.

Q. This gift sounds too good to be true, what's the catch?

A. There is no catch, no strings attached. Participants are only responsible for a $250 US deposit, fully refundable upon their return home after successfully completing the program. Participants are under no obligation to Taglit-Birthright Israel, which finances the trip, or their Trip Organizer, who implements the trip, for any future activities or financial obligations. Of course, should participants decide to become more involved in the Jewish community, go back to Israel or explore other aspects of Jewish life, we encourage them to regularly check out the rest of the website for resources that may fit their needs.

Simply put, in ten years, this organization has taken over 220,000 (yes, two hundred twenty THOUSAND) young people from over 50 countries on free ten-day trips. What do they mean by "free"? I paid for only the following:
• Plane tickets to and from New York
• About a third of the meals
• Souvenirs
• A $250 deposit that was refunded about a month after the trip ended
• Return trip extension fees so as to accommodate my trip to Russia after the Israel program was over (not a required expense of course, though they make it VERY easy to extend your trip however you want by up to three months, not to mention MUCH cheaper than what the airline would usually charge)

But what about safety? "Israel is too dangerous--I wouldn't feel comfortable there" or "My dad/mom would never let me go" or "I'm afraid to go to the Middle East" -- let me share the following with you:
• I never once felt unsafe during the trip.
• We had an armed guard with us the whole time. TWO armed guards when in more rural areas.
• The organization carefully plans routes and checks conditions before going anywhere.
• They have taken over 220,000 young people on these trips, and I'm told their safety record is impeccable.
• It's in everyone's best interests to do their absolute utmost to keep everyone safe.
• Taglit lists all of their other safety precautions on their website. So does Shorashim.
• Chances are, you know other people like me who have gone on a Birthright trip and had an amazing time.
I understand that back in January, with the Gaza offensive going on, it was probably not the best time to be there. But during my time there, things were quiet. I would hate to think that anyone would be kept from going to Israel because of fear of attack. Besides that, El Al Airlines (one of the most popular airlines used by the program, and Israel's national airline) has probably the best safety record of any airline operating. I suspect you're in a lot more danger driving on a freeway or visiting many areas of many US cities than you are on a Birthright trip. If there's not a war or anything going on, that's no way to miss out on an incredible opportunity.

So what about my own experience? I will say that my trip to Israel affected me much more than I could have predicted, and I really felt a strong connection to the place that I couldn't have expected. I am more interested in Judaism, and I'm even thinking about having a Bar Mitzvah. "AHA!" you say, "THAT'S WHAT THEY WANTED, ISN'T IT!"
Well, yes, isn't it? I wanted the free trip to Israel, but isn't that sort of because I was curious about it? I was interested, and now that I've been, I've learned a lot. Besides that, it's no secret that Birthright is designed to make everybody happy. Certainly the Israeli government wins, because they get tons of tourism dollars and a lot of great press. Wouldn't you want young people visiting YOUR country and then going back home to tell everyone what a great time they had? The Birthright organization wins, because they are fulfilling their stated goals. And certainly, the young people win, because we get an amazing free trip to Israel. "BUT WHAT ABOUT PALESTINE??" you might ask. That's actually a great question--and I'm glad to say that nothing about my trip felt like being indoctrinated or proselytized. In fact, we had frank and critical political discussions many times, during which we learned a lot of history, got many different perspectives, and learned about the great complexities of the situation. I can't speak for other trip providers (so I highly recommend Shorashim), but I left Israel with greater respect and understanding for both Israeli and Palestinian peoples. I also truly became friends with several soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, and I have immense respect for them.

So it's legitimate, and it's true. I strongly recommend the Birthright program to anyone who is interested and remotely eligible. What do you have to lose? You just might discover that you have a lot more than you knew about to gain.


Check out the trip provider Shorashim - they're the group I went with, and their whole philosophy on the trip is extremely well-balanced, not to mention packed-full of awesome activities and and very welcoming to everyone.

When you sign up, tell them that I referred you, too. "AHA!!" you say, "SO YOU'RE GETTING SOMETHING OUT OF ALL THIS!!! TREACHERY!!"
Yes, it's true, they will give me a bit of money if I refer people to them that end up signing up for a trip, and there's even a possibility of me getting to go BACK to Israel for free (AGAIN!) if I get enough people to sign up. But why would I help Shorashim out if I didn't believe in what they're doing? I had a truly amazing time, and deciding to go for a Birthright trip was one of the best decisions I've ever made. If you have any questions, please email me or comment on this post.


IF YOU ARE GOING TO APPLY FOR BIRTHRIGHT, READ THIS:
1) REGISTRATION OPENS AT NOON EST ON SEPTEMBER 9. YOU MUST REGISTER (and pay the $250 deposit) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE ON THAT DAY! IT IS FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVED, AND THEY MEAN THAT.
2) TO REGISTER: Go to ISRAELWITHISRAELIS.COM (website for Shorashim)
3) Mention my name on the registration form! And send an email to gordon.dale@tufts.edu saying that I recruited you!

The Return

(Pictures to come--it will be more interesting then)

7-9 August: Last days in Saint-Petersburg. Final exam, final meals, final grades, SKA hockey game, walking around the city, Lenta-Fest part 2 and subsequent picnic, jazz club, watching the bridges, sunrise, making Uzbek friends and discussing shwarma across borders, great times hanging out with Russian friends Viktor (BROTHERRRR) and Ruslan (the wizard), the Central Naval Museum, trip to the airport, and the airport itself. My culminating ultimate moment in Russia came at the end of the band's set at the jazz club--I had finished my delicious drink and was starting to think about leaving, but a random guy struck up a conversation with me (in Russian of course):
Random guy: "Hey, do you know who else plays here?"
Me: "No, I don't know--it's my first time here. I think there's a calendar hanging on the wall over there."
Random guy: "Oh, it's my first time here too. Are you from Petersburg?"
I HAVE ARRIVED!! I thought to myself. My last night in Russia, and I am mistaken in not only appearance but also in language--for a local!!

I was detained and interrogated for at least 40 minutes by El Al Airlines personnel because apparently I was suspicious for several reasons: having such a ridiculous itinerary, only planning to be in Israel for one day, not being able to produce proof of where I would be in Israel and for how long... but I made it through. It was sort of cool actually because I knew I had nothing to hide... but I suppose if I'd had something to hide, it would have been hell, and with security like that, how could anyone pull something off?

10 August: Israel again. An amazing day, all around--it's so wonderful to have friends all over! I got a ride from the train station in Tel-Aviv to Pri's house, where I had one of the best breakfasts EVER. Fresh egg, fresh-baked cake, a fresh REAL cappuccino, cottage cheese, Israeli salad, and other cheese and other food that I simply didn't have room for. Her mom took me into the city, and we had a great conversation regarding culture and politics and everyday life along the way. I spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon walking around the city, exploring markets and shops and taking lots of pictures before I headed to the beach. There's a pretty big Russian population there too, and I found a couple of Russian bookstores. On the beach, as I was setting up and preparing to sun myself, an attendant came over and started telling me in Hebrew about how I need to give him a certain amount of money in order to use the benches and lounges on the beach. I understood what he was getting at, though I asked him whether he could speak English. I did actually learn a few Hebrew phrases, one of them being "I don't speak Hebrew." I wanted to ask him whether I could simply lie on my towel on the sand for free, but he didn't understand me, so I asked him in Russian, and he understood! It was an amazing linguistic experience. And so I sunned.
I lay on the beach listening to kids next to me speaking Hebrew and cursing in Russian until Pri arrived, so then I swam in the Mediterranean while she watched my bag. Warm sea is wonderful!! Made me want to visit a tropical island sort of place. After that, we headed over to pick up other friends, and then spent the evening hopping around cafés and bars and restaurants in Jaffa, and I had some wonderful falafel and Goldstar beer (yes, legally!). It was so nice to hang out with them, talking about life, but by the end of the night my exhaustion from traveling caught up with me (and I suppose the Goldstar didn't hurt) and I slept in the car on the way back. It was a great day.

Then it was more travel--car, train, plane, bus, van, bus, car, in that order, all in one day, from Pri's house in the Ramat Gan suburb or Tel Aviv to Rachel's house in Lexington, Massachusetts. I studied Hebrew on the plane to New York, and found that I really enjoyed it. No problems with US Customs:
Customs Officer: (Reading my declaration form) "You have food?
Me: "Some packaged snacks."
Officer: "Go to the red lane."
...>
Customs Officer (Red Lane): "Do you have any meat?"
Me: "No."
Officer: "Go ahead."
I hefted my luggage out to the ground transportation curb, and immediately was greeted with a sort-of seedy private "cab" driver, who said something like "Hey buddy, need a ride?" and I ignored him, a response that would have been normal in Russia. "HEY, YOU COULD AT LEAST SAY NO!" he yelled at me once I had passed, apparently hurt. It made me think of basic human interactions across cultural boundaries, and, well, a lot of other things, but that's coming up in a future post.

Hanging out at Tufts and around Boston for two days was a ton of fun. I really wanted to do it, because I knew that by spending a year studying in Japan, I would be forfeiting a lot of time spent with Tufts friends. Fortunately, many of them were around campus even though it was three weeks before the start of classes, and I got to see a whole lot of wonderful people. I felt for the first time that I am really starting to appreciate my university. It's amazing what a couple of months abroad can do. I'll post pictures later.

Then it was overnight Greyhound (oh, yes) to Washington, DC, to spend three and a half whirlwind days with lots of family. There were actually a lot of Russians on that bus, though I was tired and didn't talk to them. Let it be said that Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan at 3:30 in the morning is not a fun place, but I really don't mind--I've gotten quite used to carrying luggage and waiting and making connections. Actually spending time in Washington was really wonderful, and I got to see three aunts, my grandfather, my great-uncle, a great family friend, and more--an awesome 98 year old friend of my grandfather (and his wife) had us over for coffee and lent me a book of essays by Amos Oz, insisting that she carry the tray herself. The woman speaks four languages--English, Spanish, Russian, and Yiddish. I also got to have brunch, courtesy of some kind and apparently connected family members, at the Cosmos Club by Embassy Row. What a meal! And then it was the Air and Space museum too, dinner in Bethesda, and a diner in Virginia. Finally, I got to Dulles, and it was strange to know that I was heading back to my parents and the house I grew up in. For the first time in my life, I arrived home to a house that really didn't feel so much like my home anymore. I guess that tends to happen.

I've now been back in Los Angeles for about eleven days, and I've been back in America for two weeks. It was strange to come back to New York--I was sitting next to a couple of Orthodox Jewish guys on the plane, and I was happily studying Hebrew from one of the books I picked up while there, with Dostoevsky in my bag. I arrived to another different culture, and America that looked significantly different from the one I had left.

What a month it's been. What a couple of months. Hell, what a year! I've been so busy running around Los Angeles in the past 11 days or so that I've hardly had time to reflect, but I've got my computer back now (thank you, Apple!) and I have a lot to say. Expect more updates and reflections over the next month, leading up to my departure for Japan.

Back in America

Wow, what a summer it's been. I've been living out of suitcases for the past 11 weeks. The past six days or so have been insane--that itinerary I posted before it working out beautifully. I am now posting from my grandfather's house in Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA, just outside of Washington, DC.

I had an amazing time returning to Israel for a day and also visiting Tufts and Boston for two days. Friends are awesome. Now I'm enjoying time with family in Washington before I will return at long last to California (and figure out how to get a working computer!).

I had a wonderful conversation this evening with a 98 year old woman. She speaks English, Russian, and Spanish, and she's more active and spry than more 70 year olds I've seen. I hope I'll have even some of that kind of longevity!

So much to say, but this will only be a short update. What a summer this has been!

I will say, quickly, that I have been learning so much. I've had so many amazing experiences, and I've gained so much perspective on things--life, the world, me, everything. I really feel that I have been growing up a lot, and I feel less anxious and stressed. I've also made a ton of new friends. Anyhow, it's all a great experience!

Поступок

Literally, this word means simply "action" or "deed" -- something that one does. However, its connotation is of something profound or great, something significant.


It's the end of my Russian summer, and this will most likely be my last post while in Russia. I have the rest of today, then tomorrow and Sunday to spend in the city, and then Sunday night at 9pm I'm heading to the airport.

I had an invitation to go to Moscow for a night, but I chose to spend that time here instead, seeing a couple of museums that I wanted to see (The Arctic/Antarctic museum, the Maritime Museum, and maybe the Railroad Museum), seeing the city, and mostly spending time with some of my new Russian friends. I wonder whether a younger me would have jumped at that chance to go to Moscow. But now I have friends in Russia, and most likely whenever I return here I would make a trip to Moscow. I'll see it eventually. Like I said several weeks ago, I'm starting to see the bigger picture as something not quite so intimidating and scary. I suppose that tends to happen as people grow and age, deal with life and experience, and begin to comprehend existence.

I had a good conversation with one such friend a couple of days ago as we walked around the lines and prospekts of Vasilevsky together, concerning the steps that one takes in life. He mentioned the word поступок, the title of this post, and he told me about an American short film he had heard of that concerns a young man (not older than 25) who decides to leave his job and ride a bicycle around America for a year, armed with a video camera. (I'll find the name of the film later, as I must go to lunch very soon.) Such a drastic thing to do, yes! But I told me friend (Sasha is his name), I understand that somewhat. In some way, all young people go through this process when they go out into the world, and it can be something like that poem Ithaca that I posted here last month. For me, I simply knew that I had to go out into the world, a feeling that I couldn't avoid. Russia for me has been a great experiment, and I will wrap up that idea further when I get home.

This is the end of my summer in Russia, but I have gained so much from the experience. All that's left now is a couple of days--exploring this afternoon, clubbing tonight, museums tomorrow, packing, spending time with friends, and that will have been two months. Where did these months go? I'm left with an ability to speak conversational Russian, some random souvenirs, over a thousand photos, memories, thoughts and epiphanies, perspectives, and many new friends (I met a guy from Hong Kong yesterday and we ended up talking for three hours). One day I will return here. I've learned so much!

I spoke with my 89-year-old grandfather in Washington DC yesterday about some of these things. He's experienced so much in his life; I can't wait to see him next week.

On to the next adventure.

But first, our last Russian Table lunch!