The return of the blogger

Hello All, after much delay, I have decided to keep up the postings at this location. Nearly 8 months have past since my previous post and I have seen the winter come and go, the snow melt, the cherry blossoms bloom and fall and the hot summer come again. Today is hot and humid, the rice paddies are lush, green and fragrant. The smell of fresh rice growing, the sweet, musky fragrance, is something uniquely japanese I think. I'm on summer vacation at present though I attend school everyday. The staffroom is air-conditioned and I have my laptop to keep me occupied. Later this week I will visit Hiroshima and see the Atomic Bomb Peace Park - should be interesting.
Happy to report my sitar arrived recently, safe and sound from NZ. The kind people at the Space Station took care of all the ship and transport requirements and got it over to me here. I've recently purchased two new study books to assist in my sitar practice and am enjoying playing it everyday.
It's hard to believe a year has past since my first coming to Japan. Time certainly flies. The older one gets, the shorter the years become. But I am happy. I have another year lined up on JET though I'm looking forward to returning home to NZ next year in August. A number of my friends here in Japan have recently returned to their home countries as their yearly contracts expire. A little sad but there's a new wave of peoples to see and meet too so that keeps it interesting. It's a great place to meet people from all around the world and I have been diligently keeping a contact book of all my new friends who gather in Japan from various countries. Perhaps one day, I'll visit and look them up.
They say the second year is most interesting. This may be true. I have had a year to grow accustomed to the bizarre ways and workings of life here in Japan and now I don't really batt an eyelid and things that suprised me when I arrived. It's basic psychology, they call it 'habituation' - a decreased reaction is response to a repeated stimulus. To an extent, it's learning too, as I have experienced new information, my knowledge has grown through experience and I have accumulated a number of valuable little moments which I can ponder.
Also my knowledge of Japanese has increased significantly to the extent that I can make reasonable conversation and understand what's going on.
I find myself in a general philosophical state of mind (what's new!) over here. I contemplate the pursuit of happiness by the various peoples and the relativity of the here and now. There is so much going on, it's beautiful and mysterious. I like to respect each individuals way of being - to develop a relationship of love and non-judgement. There is a balance to be found in the here and now, poised between the continuity of infinite space and eternal time, a balance where the mind is a dynamic equilibrium in a perfect relationship with the supreme living being that is God of Mother Nature or whatever you like to call it - the Universe. And in that relationship exists the infinite joy of existence, devoid of attachment and longing, the perfect experience of paradoxical simplicity - it's good to be human.