It's odd when the small things seem to converge. As my last days in Seattle here in the year 2003 draw short, tonight I was zoning out on Cartoon Network and they happened to show the last episodes of two of my favorite series of anime - Cowboy Bebop and Trigun. For those of you fortunate to have cable TV, you know what I'm talking about... Cartoon Network's Adult Swim (named for the fact that it carries "mature" cartoons: cartoons depicting violence, people getting shot, blood, smoking cigs, drinking booze, and the occasional sexual innuendo... all stuff not for the kiddies).

The picture of above is one of my favorite characters, the priest/bounty hunter Nicolas Wolfwood from Trigun... as someone else has noted, there's some interesting insights into both Christianity and the Japanese understanding of Christianity, from his character.

Anyways... as I reflect on the changing of the seasons in my life, there's always that interesting mix of excitement, fear, melancholy, and hope - it's an odd combination, like eating french fries with mayo or pouring ketchup on white rice. I don't know how else to explain it, except that when something is completed, there's a feeling of satisfaction... but at the same time, there's that feeling of floating, that odd discomfort as you anticipate the beginning of something new.

I suddenly have an urge to dig out my old journal I kept when I went to Brasil back in 2000 and see what I wrote then, as I was leaving off into another foreign land and culture.

Human nature has an odd affinity for closure. We don't always get even when we seek it, but for once in my life, I feel blessed that God is granting a portion of it. I forgot to mention that this past Sunday, Shiv, Dennis, Josh, and bunch of my friends organized an informal going away party / BBQ for me at Carkeek Park.

Not that I think ill of my friends or anything (haha), but I really was humbled and honored by the large amount of people who came. I felt very loved. Even my sister, the ninja she is, made a surprise appearance and debunked the common joke my friends have that she's just a figment of imagination, being that I and everyone else see so little of her. It was great to spend time with my moi-moi, Shiv, Maplewood gang, CBC people, and AACF friends. Lots of good eating as Mel Lu was grill master, lording over the burgers, sausages, and chicken.

I even got some exercise! We played a nice game of playground-style, 7-on-7, two-hand touch football... we played for about a whole hour, final score: 63-56 (9 touchdowns to 8). My body's still ache'n from all the running... probably more exercise than I get in a whole month, heh.

But yeah... closure. I'm glad I'm getting it these next few days until I fly out on the 24th. The week is already starting to fill up with appointments, lunches, dinners, and trips out to eat. Of course, part of me is sad that I'm leaving, but I know deep down in my soul, that this what I'm being called to do for a little awhile. A year to grow under a different sky, learn new lessons, and see things with different eyes...
posted by G at 2:20 AM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33