i'm not that kind of girl!

konishiwa, friends,

thanks for all of the good words about making it up and down the mountains. i was sort of fearful about how the rental units would respond, but mama, in true form, cheered me on. she also shared a wee bit about her recent trek along the appalachian trail with mrs. leone (suspiciously, she makes no mention of daddy and mr. leone -- i suspect that they were either golfing or at a bar...).

so, while i was cruising along mt. yotei, one of the revelations i had was about the kind of person i am. i realized that i was NOT the kind of girl that likes to climb mountains. i actually shouted that out to the ether. rob and aika are at the beach today, which leads me to revelation number 2: i am not the kind of girl who can do a lot of outdoorsy stuff and then jump right back into it.

i am a certain kind of girl (insert your own damn joke here...jerks), but not that kind.

i guess that, as can be expected, i have done some self-exploration on this trip. rob and i had a running "argument" as to whether or not he should be, at 30 years old, dating a 22-year old. after some long conversations, and after watching SIDEWAYS, i think it is just fine.

first, this is rob's new best friend:

does that explain everything? my brother is a remarkable person who has done things and gone to places that i cannot even imagine. they are not better or superior things or places, just different. i may have said this before, but his goal is to make people happy and to change the world, one person at a time. if there is anyone who might be able to do this, it is rob and his friend.

however, i've been to places and done some things that he cannot imagine. not better or superior, just different. one of the great things about spending time with one's siblings is seeing how we've evolved from basically the same gene pool and environment. a shout-out to the parents for raising us so well.

SIDEWAYS revealed a side of my life that rob doesn't understand, just as hiking a mountain revealed a side of rob that i didn't understand. i know the insecurities of paul giamatti's character and i love the idea of sitting and having a picnic with some valued friends. i like cooking and drinking wine and laughing and telling stories. not better or superior, just different. perhaps the world could be a better place if we recognized that different things are okay, too.

so, in order to balance out all that sap, here's my favorite thing from the onion this week:

that goes out to michael and jason.

now happily back in sapporo civilization (though there is a chance that rafting may be in our future for sunday), where today's activity involves the acquisition of a robe, the japanese name of which is completely escaping me.

i had a sort of curious thing happen at the onsen last night. we went to yet a different one and as i was starting to strip naked, an ancient woman who was sort of the attendant came over to me, pointed her long bony finger at my tattoo and said "no no no." i then remembered rob saying that some onsens forbid tattoos because they are the symbol of the japanese mafia, the yakuza. after a bit of back and forth, we settled upon a solution: she got me another little onsen towel and tied it loosely around my tat to cover it up. she was most pleasant about it. but isn't the idea that i could be a member of the japanese mafia sort of amusing?

i'll leave you with that. more in a bit.

gotohellifyouhatefreedom,

volansake