Uni Field Trip

My easter holiday has been cut in half. For the next two weeks, I am off on a trip to Tenerife. Yippee should be my reaction but...it's not. For starters, I have to somehow make my way to the airport. That is going to be a pain in the ass. Then I spend a week in a hotel by a beach. Yay? I'm going to be spending the majority of the day designing a satellite with the rest of my group. Nevertheless I reckon the 'generous lunch break' and evenings should be enjoyable, hanging around with friends. Drinking. The highlight that I do look forward to is going up to the mountains (hopefully inactive volcanoes...) and using the professional telescopes.

In the end I will probably enjoy it immensely, but for the moment I'm just being pessimistic. I yearn for backpacking East Asia again. I worry that everywhere will eventually turn into the equivalent of South Thailand (Ko Samui, Phuket etc) and I really want to walk off the beaten track of the typical backpacker. There are several different types of backpackers; you have the beach hunting, party going backpacker; the outdoor, trekking backpacker; the cultural backpacker and so on. I'm pretty much the cultural backpacker. I love sitting down, relaxing and just watching people. Culture unites those people and tourism gnaws away it. So my dislike for tourism is pretty strong. When I enter the 'holiday resort' in Tenerife, my face will be a mixture of excitement and disdain.

I have also been thinking of the possibility of living in Japan for at least a few months after I leave university. It is quite feasible as I can see myself training in Shorinji Kempo for a large portion of my time there.