Hellooo.. 27! Taking Stock

It is my 27th Birthday, if Facebook, Skype or some other app has not informed you already. I like the sound of 27, it is far enough from 30 for me to causally say I am in my 20s (I will still say this when I am 29.x years!). Although I worry about becoming old (70 and beyond really scares me), I realize I am still far away from that and I need to live in the moment. I am going to do one of those “taking stock posts” so bear with me!

This is the dilemma I am dealing with!

Making: Research plans for the next 3 years, a PhD doesn’t come easy. In spite of how impressive that might sound, it is more like I am in a long, dark tunnel of research papers and there is still no end to the said tunnel, no light in the distance. It has been 3 weeks at JAIST, I love it here.

I am also making plans to bring J over by the time the October (autumn) semester starts. So far, the nearby pre-school has accepted the application 🙂

Cooking: random recipes I google from the internet. They require some spices and ingredients I am never sure where to buy from especially when everything is in Japanese. Sometimes it turns out great, sometimes it is hardly edible. I live to learn.
Drinking: Kenyan masala tea. Ahhh..
Reading: Research papers. Random articles on various topics saved on the Pocket app. A new novel I got from a friend.
Wanting: September to come quickly, I am ready to book my ticket home for a holiday and to come back with J! Also, the Samsung S6 could come in handy. A birthday present, anyone?
Looking: at the mountains behind my apartment every morning as the sun comes up, I live up in the mountains in the university student housing. The university itself is up in the mountains. In the evening, I see Kanazawa City twinkling below me from the front veranda. There couldn’t be  a more ideal location. Just type JAIST into Google maps and use street view to see a piece of my world 🙂
Playing: nothing. No physical, no computer games. I have become a boring person.
Wasting: time watching series online instead of carrying out a series of “projects” I had set out for myself this year.
Wishing: for the time-space continuum to be conquered so I can teleport instantly to my family in Nairobi.
Enjoying: driving around in a friend’s Mercedes Benz (friends let their friends drive their expensive cars)
Waiting: for this Saturday to arrive so I can go see the snow wall in Tateyama with my friends.

Snow Wall at Tateyama

Liking: that the weather is getting warmer and warmer. On some days, the temperature rises up to 23deg and I can pretend I am in Nairobi. Nairobi just has the perfect weather.
Wondering: if life would be much simpler if the people we liked also liked us back with the exact same intensity, of course the reverse is also true
Loving: that I am getting used to life in Japan so much, and loving it here. Especially the JAIST environment, a high tech research center in the middle of nowhere. Like it could be in a sci-fi movie. Of course the disadvantage is that there is nothing around, transport is not so convenient and the only convenience store closes at 9 or is it 10pm!

JAIST in the mountains

Hoping: to get a car very soon, I am starting to feel as if I am taking advantage of my friends! A girl needs her own wheels especially if I will be bringing J here.

Marveling: at my son who is now speaking, and singing. His second birthday was just under a month ago.

Needing: a car very soon, oh I already said that. Okay, needing the Golden Week (a week long series of holidays here in Japan) to quickly arrive so I can take off to see Kobe with friends.
Smelling: Fresh mountain air, every morning, and practically every day I am outdoors at JAIST.
Wearing: shorts with more confidence 🙂

Spring in Kenrokuen Garden

Following: my self-imposed schedule has proved impossible. I have 2 hours scheduled for exercise each day and I haven’t done any in the last two weeks.
Noticing: just how everything has become green .. Spring is truly a time of rejuvenation.
Knowing: and accepting my limits
Thinking: about my family and wishing my little brother all the best as he embarks on the road to becoming a certified doctor. He just started his internship year.
Feeling: happy. Sleeping well lately. In spite of the lack of exercise.
Bookmarking: How to dye your hair wiki page. I learned that to get the best results for vibrant colours, you first need to bleach black hair. That is why I am currently sporting a bleached blonde look. Purple coming soon. Wait, I could be going through some late quarter-life crisis or something. But as long as I am a career student, I still have some freedom to express myself 🙂
Opening: 10 to 15 tabs on my browser and watching as my laptop gets the blue screen of death after Chrome has “eaten” all the 4GB RAM.

Google Chrom Vs RAM

Giggling: whenever I watch/read Cyanide and Happiness comics. I don’t get always get the dark humour but when I do.. some are downright hilarious.
Feeling: grateful to be alive, in a world full of suffering notwithstanding. Happy birthday to me!