Hello, and thanks for reading! It has been so long since I have blogged, so let me catch you up with what I have been up to.
Soon after I went hiking at Bear Harbor I moved to Ukiah so I could get ready for the upcoming school year. I had a very difficult test to study for, and passing it meant that I would not have to take a class I didn't want to take, and would allow me to graduate this December. So, I locked myself in the house and studied around 8 hours a day for a week. It was torture, but it paid off because I received the necessary credit, allowing me to graduate this December, and not have to wait until next May to graduate, and saving me from paying the tuition that has risen every semester I have been a student. I am now in the Fall semester which I am quite certain will fly by easily. I am taking 7 units, and am also consumed with various deeds necessary to graduate.
One thing I did other than study in August was work at a 49ers game. I manned an on-field parabolic microphone for KPIX (San Francisco's CBS). It was my first time at Candlestick Park since 1999. It was a nostalgic moment walking onto the field as my childhood memories of going to Giants games were all at Candlestick. The stadium is definitely in need of some repairs or replacement though. It is so rusty and run-down! I ran into some people on the film crews there that I had known from my work in 2007. I even saw a photographer, and a cameraman that I met in Tokyo at the MLB event I worked at. The cameraman was the guy from Salmon Creek.
The noteworthy event in my life was Monday, September 1st when Miho came to visit me for a month! I picked her up at SFO and we drove straight to Truckee from there. We relaxed until Wednesday, when we went to Donner Lake for a swim.
Jet lag and a bike ride Donner Lake
Making curry that night
The next day we went to Reno and went bowling, saw a cirque-style show, and stayed at the El Dorado downtown!
The following morning was the Reno Balloon Races so we woke up at 4:45 and went to that event! It was very beautiful so I will let the pictures do the talking.
Early morning and setup
The first balloon up for the patriotic opening ceremony
So long Japan! Thanks for treating me nice, and making me feel like a part of your family! You changed my life, again!
My two semesters at Waseda University have come to an end, and I have moved back to California to finish school next semester at San Francisco State University. My last week in Japan was spent in Chiba with Miho. We had a great time playing Nintendo Wii, cooking, eating, playing tennis, throwing water balloons, ETC. I flew out of Narita International Airport on July 29th.
After a layover in San Francisco, I flew up to Humboldt via a propeller driven aircraft. The pilot pointed out numerous fires burning in the Northern Californian mountains as we flew.
I stayed in Humboldt for a little over a week. I was hired to film at Reggae Rising music festival again so I spend 5 days working there. I had a good time and got to meet one of the musicians that I have been listening to the most the last 5 years, Gentleman, from Germany. He was really polite and full of personality in person. I have been around many celebrities in my life but this is probably the first time I have been star struck.
With Gentleman, and Gentleman performing
I turned 23 on August 6th, and spent the day working in the yard at my Dad's house. I am honored to have lived this long and hope that I will live to quadruple this age!
Right before leaving Humboldt I went on a hike with long time friends Robert, Kenny, and Morgan. We drove to Bear Harbor State Park and hiked the Lost Coast Trail to Wheeler Beach.
When we first arrived I was excited to see elk for the first time in a long time. However, by the end of the trip I was wishing they were nowhere near me! It was around dusk when the hike ended and as we were approaching the parking lot we realized that we were surrounded by elk who were hidden in the tall grass. They were also in the trail, and in the parking lot as well. The one in the trail was the one with the biggest antlers so we were really nervous getting around him.
Bear claw marks all over this tree
Check out the video from the hike. If you go to YouTube to watch it, I believe you can see it in high quality.
I am currently in Ukiah where I am staying as I get ready for the Fall semester to begin. Saturday was my sister's bridal shower so I got to hang out with my whole family in one place. The next day some of us had a barbecue and took some fun pool shots with the camera's timer feature. It took a while before we got the timing right, as you will see.
All blogs found on this site written before 2009 have been imported from MySpace. Some may not look too pretty, and some of the pictures won't enlarge, but it is a small price to pay to not have to deal with MySpace's primitive blog setup anymore!
I recently graduated San Francisco State University. I majored in Japanese and minored in International Relations, and spent a year studying at Tokyo's prestigious Waseda University. I grew up in a very rural area of Humboldt County California. That remote setting built up a lot of ambition in me to get out and chase my dreams. Thanks for reading!
