Watashi no Tomodachi...

What would you do with a surprise week off?

Relax? Catch up with work? Clean your apartment? Read? Watch T.V?

The night I found out that I had a week off, I pulled Lonely Planet Japan off my bookshelf and began reading. I was going to take full advantage of the week given to me. As I sit here, surrounded by the piles of stuff left unattended, I am not thinking of the papers that need to be graded or the dirty dishes waiting in the sink, I'm thinking about the everything I've experienced in the past week. At the end of one week, I feel more than ever thankful for the friends I have here, whether it's hurling insults at the judges of 'So You Think You Can Dance,' buying groceries for dinner together, hiking in the Japanese Alps or skipping like a child through Disney Sea, I love and appreciate every second I spend with each of you. I often find myself wanting to write a blog entry in dedication to all the friends I have and well I guess this is it. Life would not be, could not be, the same without any one of you.

This includes all those of you back home too for all the emails you send, all the pictures you share and all the support you give, I honestly don't think I could do it without you. I don't think I say this enough. I appreciate all the conversations I've had especially with friends that I've reconnected with. I love that my friend Nat called me to just chat the other week. I love it that my friend Michele, whom I shared a very messy locker with in high school, may visit me next April. I love that I still know what my girl Trish's current favorite song is. I can hardly contain the excitement I feel for the impending Givogue Invasion. To be able to share Japan with the most important people in my life is something that cannot be parallelled. It began last year with the visit of Vern and Rick to Tokyo, let it continue with sisters and company. The thought of having the three Givogue girls (5 counting the nieces) together in Tokyo is overwheming in it's amazingness! Mark my words: Comedy will ensue. Another story, much like that of the fax machine, the dragonflies or the arm pull will be added to the book of Givogue lore that is pulled out and referred to whenever we want to point out how silly we are.

Recently, I've made decisions that have forced me to make pretty drastic lifestyles changes and if I didn't have the support that I do, then the changes would be that much harder to live. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. To everyone who has listened to me as I try to figure out the right balance. If I didn't have people to discuss them with then I believe my decisions wouldn't be as informed.

This blog entry was supposed to be about my first day off and I will get to that soon, dear readers but right now there's an important phone conversation to be had.