Wishing I was in Disney World

Despite our power never going out, our internet had been down for three days due to a storm. Since I didn't feel up to braving the hoards of people swarming Starbucks, I spent my weekend going through all of the photos of my laptop. I have six and a half years worth of pictures on here! I felt quite a lot of nostalgia as I went from folder to folder, but I enjoyed looking through my shots from Walt Disney World the most. The Wilderness Lodge, pictured above, is my favorite WDW resort. It's the hotel my parents and I stayed in the first time I ever visited Disney World and we make sure to visit every time we make the trek to Kissime, Florida. I love nature of all kinds, but the environment embodied at the Wilderness Lodge is my favorite. The scenery calls to mind Yellowstone National Park with its tall evergreens, rivers rushing over rocky falls and even a small replica of Old Faithful. Nowhere else in Florida can you be transported so perfectly to the Rockies.  

do you speak Japanese?

日本語がわかりますか？　日本はとてもすごいです！

It may not be Japan, but EPCOT in Walt Disney World is the closest I've been to, "the land of the rising sun." Anime is what originally kindled my interest in Japan but I've found so many other aspects of the culture that I like. Though sushi may not suit my palate, I'm confident that the country has plenty of other culinary specialties with which to delight me. The indigenous religion of Japan, Shinto, is a fascinating theology and its influence can even be found in pop culture. Traditional clothing is wonderfully intricate and I've endeavored to collect every piece (of which there are many) needed to wear a proper kimono.

Japanese is a unique language, having no known relation to any other language families. Despite dedicating two years to the study of Japanese, I can only read and write at a kindergarten level. Learning three entirely new alphabets, one of which consists of thousands of characters, is a challenge I will continue to happily face until I become fluent in my most cherished of languages.