I am exhausted. Contented, but exhausted. I have spent two weekends in a row traveling up to Montreal, and have been training too much. I am looking forward to relaxing a bit this weekend.
I spent the first lovely weekend in Montreal, drinking tea, eating way too much food, training, and enjoying Gabe's company. We spent about 8 hours on Saturday just walking around, visiting Old Montreal (incredible), eating shabu-shabu (yum!) and checking out the sights. We wanted to see the Circ du Soleil, (which is from Montreal), but there weren't any tickets available until the middle of June. It worked out okay, though, because we ended up being so tired from walking around, we just went home and crashed.
The following weekend I headed up there again to check out a seminar given by Doran Sensei at Karl's dojo. The seminar was really amazing...lots of good aikido and new stuff to play with. It felt really great to train with a light hand again (everything at my dojo in Boston is so rough and aggressive), but the weekend went by too quickly. The only ride I could find back to Boston left at 9:45 p.m. We got into Boston at 2 a.m. Monday morning, but I ended up not getting home until 4:30 because the two other people riding with us had only been living in Boston for a few weeks and had no idea how to get to their houses. Needless to say, I was exhausted all day Monday, and I still feel like I haven't really caught up on sleep, but it was definitely worth it.
There was testing at New England Aikikai on Monday, and though I was tired, I really felt like I should go. It has been hard moving to a new city, training in a new dojo with new rules, but I feel like it has taught me a lot about myself, about humility, and about what I want in my life. In Reno, I had been getting ready to test for my next rank right before I left, but ended up being way to busy with packing and saying goodbye to actually follow through with it. Testing in Reno happens every month, so it is no big deal when you aren't ready...there is always next month. Here, testing only happens every six months, which seems like a long time to wait. I was having a hard time deciding whether or not I wanted to test here (this dojo is in an entirely different Aikido federation than my previous dojo, and I don't really feel to attached to it yet). I am so glad that I chose not to. Lets just say that the tests were really rough and didn't look very good. Though I am a bit embarrassed to go back to Reno without having advanced in rank (when a lot of my friends there have), I know that rank really pretty arbitrary (like age). I have been training hard, and I know that every day my aikido improves, and that in the end, aikido is about personal development, not about comparison to others. Little by little, I'm chipping away at that stupid thing called ego and trying to perfect the lifewaza. We'll see how it goes.
May 30, 2007
May 21, 2007
Where have I been?
I realized today that my blog has fallen sadly behind the times. And, as it would probably take way too long to update you on every little adventure I have been having, I'll just give some of the highlights:
Montreal:
I have spent two incredible weekends in Montreal, Quebec to visit Gabe, and am planning two more in the next two weeks (: All this Montreal adventuring is probably going to make me fat, since every time Gabe and I get together, manage to eat really, really well (too much cheese, wine, cake, honey, yum). But, I train enough Aikido and do enough walking around to not worry much about it. It makes me a little bit uncomfortable that I don't speak any French (save bonjour, bon soir, merci, and Je ne parle pas Francais ("I don't speak French")), but I have enrolled in a French class starting in a couple of weeks. Almost everyone in Montreal speaks English as well, but I just don't feel like it is fair to make people have to speak English just because I can't speak French. There is nothing like staring someone blankly in the face when they ask you a question that you don't understand...
Boston:
The weather here has been gorgeous. There are so many incredible plants to look at and flowers to smell, it is really intoxicating, especially when I come home near dusk and the light is all golden and the air full of flower perfume. Now I understand why people get sad when the move from somewhere green to Reno. I appreciate the beauty of the desert, but it is definitely much more subtle than the "in-your-face" greenery here. I was doing laundry the other night, and found a huge patch of wild mint growing behind the house...looking forward to drinking some fresh-brewed mint tea and making spring rolls (:
Gabe and I took a walk to the Arboretum (500+ acres of trees in the middle of the city) a couple of weeks ago to enjoy all of the plants, and decided to climb this hill that looks out over all of Boston. When we got close, we heard someone playing the bagpipes, and as we rounded the corner, we realized that this guy was standing at the top of the hill bag-piping to the world. We got our own little (semi) private concert as we watched the sun set over the city. I have always had a fond place in my heart for bagpipes (thanks, Gigi). It was awesome.
Aikido:
I have been getting more beat up than I care to admit, but I don't really have much choice in the matter. I am feeling a little more comfortable in the dojo here, a little bit less like an outsider, though I still know that this style of training is not what I want to be doing in the long run. I am learning a lot, though, and I guess that is all that matters.
The Kitties:
I let Miles and Rosie out into the yard a couple of weeks ago--the day was just too beautiful to keep them inside. They both had their claws removed before I got them, so they aren't really supposed to play outside, but I caved. Rosie couldn't really deal--she just kind of stuck by the door, slinking down really close to the ground, trying not to be seen. Miles, on the other hand, went nuts, tasting every plant he could find, rubbing himself on the warm slate, sniffing the flowers, exploring. He was good for the most part, until he saw another cat...I have never seen him so pissed off before. He chased the poor kitty across the yard, down into the street below, and had him cornered under a car when I found him. Silly Miles. When I yelled at him, he ran straight home, back into the apartment and spent the rest of the afternoon hissing at Rosie and I. Needless to say, I won't be letting him out again any time soon, even though he demands that I let him out every time I have the screen door open.
Reno:
I will be back in Reno from August 20th-27th for my friend Sandra's wedding. Good times, good times.
Work:
...is awesome. I love my job.
Friends:
I have been meeting some random people...mostly, a couple (Andrea is from Germany, Yiorgos is from Greece) who seem like they are really nice people. We will be having dinner sometime soon. It is easy to meet people, but hard to meet people you want to be friends with, especially in a city this large. I am finding it difficult, because I want to open up to everyone, which you can't, because people take advantage of you. I just don't have the time or the energy.
Books:
I am reading the "His Dark Materials" Trilogy by Phillip Pullman...I highly recommend it to anyone. I can't put them down.
And, that has to be it for now. I have to go back to doing some real work. I will update some photos when I finally get an internet connection at my house and do a little maintenance on my computer. Until then, you'll just have to be patient.
Montreal:
I have spent two incredible weekends in Montreal, Quebec to visit Gabe, and am planning two more in the next two weeks (: All this Montreal adventuring is probably going to make me fat, since every time Gabe and I get together, manage to eat really, really well (too much cheese, wine, cake, honey, yum). But, I train enough Aikido and do enough walking around to not worry much about it. It makes me a little bit uncomfortable that I don't speak any French (save bonjour, bon soir, merci, and Je ne parle pas Francais ("I don't speak French")), but I have enrolled in a French class starting in a couple of weeks. Almost everyone in Montreal speaks English as well, but I just don't feel like it is fair to make people have to speak English just because I can't speak French. There is nothing like staring someone blankly in the face when they ask you a question that you don't understand...
Boston:
The weather here has been gorgeous. There are so many incredible plants to look at and flowers to smell, it is really intoxicating, especially when I come home near dusk and the light is all golden and the air full of flower perfume. Now I understand why people get sad when the move from somewhere green to Reno. I appreciate the beauty of the desert, but it is definitely much more subtle than the "in-your-face" greenery here. I was doing laundry the other night, and found a huge patch of wild mint growing behind the house...looking forward to drinking some fresh-brewed mint tea and making spring rolls (:
Gabe and I took a walk to the Arboretum (500+ acres of trees in the middle of the city) a couple of weeks ago to enjoy all of the plants, and decided to climb this hill that looks out over all of Boston. When we got close, we heard someone playing the bagpipes, and as we rounded the corner, we realized that this guy was standing at the top of the hill bag-piping to the world. We got our own little (semi) private concert as we watched the sun set over the city. I have always had a fond place in my heart for bagpipes (thanks, Gigi). It was awesome.
Aikido:
I have been getting more beat up than I care to admit, but I don't really have much choice in the matter. I am feeling a little more comfortable in the dojo here, a little bit less like an outsider, though I still know that this style of training is not what I want to be doing in the long run. I am learning a lot, though, and I guess that is all that matters.
The Kitties:
I let Miles and Rosie out into the yard a couple of weeks ago--the day was just too beautiful to keep them inside. They both had their claws removed before I got them, so they aren't really supposed to play outside, but I caved. Rosie couldn't really deal--she just kind of stuck by the door, slinking down really close to the ground, trying not to be seen. Miles, on the other hand, went nuts, tasting every plant he could find, rubbing himself on the warm slate, sniffing the flowers, exploring. He was good for the most part, until he saw another cat...I have never seen him so pissed off before. He chased the poor kitty across the yard, down into the street below, and had him cornered under a car when I found him. Silly Miles. When I yelled at him, he ran straight home, back into the apartment and spent the rest of the afternoon hissing at Rosie and I. Needless to say, I won't be letting him out again any time soon, even though he demands that I let him out every time I have the screen door open.
Reno:
I will be back in Reno from August 20th-27th for my friend Sandra's wedding. Good times, good times.
Work:
...is awesome. I love my job.
Friends:
I have been meeting some random people...mostly, a couple (Andrea is from Germany, Yiorgos is from Greece) who seem like they are really nice people. We will be having dinner sometime soon. It is easy to meet people, but hard to meet people you want to be friends with, especially in a city this large. I am finding it difficult, because I want to open up to everyone, which you can't, because people take advantage of you. I just don't have the time or the energy.
Books:
I am reading the "His Dark Materials" Trilogy by Phillip Pullman...I highly recommend it to anyone. I can't put them down.
And, that has to be it for now. I have to go back to doing some real work. I will update some photos when I finally get an internet connection at my house and do a little maintenance on my computer. Until then, you'll just have to be patient.
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