Janel's Place

Yup I'm back. How different am I after this experience? I don't know. I learned a lot of things over there. Maybe I can list a few before my brain shuts down.

1. Patient perseverence. I didn't hear a lot of complaining over there, granted it may have been in Japanese. I decided I would get a Ph.D. and I will eventually get it, it's as simple as that. When has complaining ever really accomplished anything? I guess I should ask the liberals, they might know. *OUCH,* I know, but blaming George W. Bush for the effects of hurricane Katrina is a level of pure liberalism that almost astounds me but not really. I'm used to it.

2. Everyone is interesting. I find myself wanting to strike up a conversation with absolutely anyone, and it tends toward a generally friendlier me. I like animals so much more than people sometimes that I was headed for being a crazy hermit in the woods someday, but I think a long summer without them changed that for the better. People can be real pains in the butt, but there are quite a few genuinelly nice ones in the bunch and you may just have to sift thorugh a few PITBs before you find them.

3. Slow down and choose words carefully in order to be understood correctly. Who doesn't need to hear that? But the language barrier gave me some good practice.

4. Be nice to foreigners. Help them out, especially if they can't read, and just be a friend to them.

I'll bet there are more, but I am now losing it. Coffee is wearing thin. I think I just squashed the fly that escaped Tuesday night, so provided he/she didn't find a husband/wife in the past 2 days I have just saved the world from the monster tsrRNAi fly that may reap fly vengeance on the human race and shake our frozen heads off or stick us with pins and dissect us alive.