Today marks 6 months since I moved to Japan. w00t!

I'm big on anniversaries and tradition so I thought I should say something. Something about how I've grown and changed as a person; how this experience has challenged, tested, and encouraged me; how my Japanese skills are making leaps and bounds...Well the first 2 are mostly true.

I do think I've changed...a bit...at least I hope I have. I just can't really identify exactly how I've changed. Probably b/c I've been here for most of the changing so it's not as apparent to me. Like how you got taller as a kid and your grandparents would always say, "Look how big you've gotten!" But you didn't really see it b/c you were the same size you were yesterday. (Or was that just me?)

This experience definitely has challenged, tested, and encouraged me. I've accomplished things I didn't think I'd ever be able to do (like killing my own cockroaches *shudders*). I think that after this, when I move back to the states, there really won't be anything I can't handle. Watch me eat my words two weeks in.

My Japanese still sucks but I guess I just have to accept that languages aren't for me.

To sum up, I'm so glad I decided to do this. I have no idea where I will go from here; but, I know the road leading up to that decision is an amazing one.

~IKA