Lately I have been having days where I feel really nostalgic. Yesterday I was thinking about my past and how so many little choices have changed my life in so many big ways. Which University I chose affected my chances to come to Japan again. Of course, choosing a University isn't really a 'little choice' but it had a huge impact on my life which I didn't expect at the time. When I chose Michigan, I was pretty much just thinking about which name would look better on my diploma.

Then I came to Japan and took Japanese classes at Kyushu University. The second semester I was placed in a level 4 class. Maybe if I'd have spent a little more time studying and a little less time having fun I'd have been placed in a level 5 class. Visa versa, if I'd have spent less time studying and more time having fun, I'd have been placed in a level 3 class. As it were, I was placed in the same level 4 as Jin. At the time, there were 2 level 4 classes and ours was later in the day. I hated being there so late and seriously considered asking to be moved to the earlier class but, well, I was just lazy and before I knew it the semester was 1/2 over so I figured there was no point. While I'd met Jin before, (we'd even been in a class together the previous semester) it was in that class that I first became aware of him.

So, then I headed back to America and U of M. I thought I had one more year to go but because because of a transcript mixup, I had to go to my counselor who informed me I could graduate at the end of the semester. (Maybe I should have been seeing him more often!) Because I was so caught off guard and I had no real idea of where to go next, I headed back to Japan after that semester.

Because I'm here in Japan and with Jin, I've had the opportunity to meet some Swedish professors, all of whom turned me on to the charms of Sweden and the possibility of studying there. Incidentaly, another small decision lead me to want to go back to school. After I graduated from Michigan, I thought that more school was the last thing I wanted but one day I decided to take a trip to my local library. I checked out a couple of books-one book of short stories and one called The Rape of Nanking. It was after reading the short story book that I remembered just how much I have always enjoyed reading and writing. And the book on Nanking showed me how interesting history can be when not in the context of a textbook. I began to think that maybe I should go back to school and maybe I can do something with these interests.

So, here I am, a little less than 4 years after making that fateful University decision. I'm living in Japan. I've got Jin. I'm studying Korean. I've become a history buff. In about 5 months I'll hopefully be moving to Sweden where I'll be getting my Master's degree. After that who knows. Maybe tomorrow I'll take the train instead of my bike and end up sitting next to some big movie director who wants me to star in his next blockbuster film. It seems as likely to me as all of those other things did 4 years ago.

Anyways, this is not what I had planned to write about tonight. I sat down to tell about my dinner tonight with some of my students but, now I'm tired and I have a busy day tomorrow so I guess the story will probably never be told.