Busy as a bee

This is one of my favorite pictures I've taken. No Photoshop used here, just the beautiful colors of the natural world.

I'm working on my thesis like crazy, even though I have yet to do any actual field work. So far it's twenty pages long, and when all is said and done, including appendices and references, I think it's going to be between 80 and 100 pages. It'll be pretty amazing to have a 100-page paper sitting around, just to look at it and say "Hey, I wrote that!" Hopefully it will be worth it, 'cause I haven't had a real weekend in... I don't even want to know how long. The first partial draft will be sent to my director by Tuesday, and then I will BREATHE! At least, until the 24th, which is when I have to do my oral defense of the research proposal. It's very intimidating, but right now all my worrying energy is reserved for getting as much of the actual thesis done as possible before Tuesday.

I'm also getting geared up to head to Okinawa in only 34 days~~woohoo! This will be the most unique trip I've ever taken. I'm excited but also slightly nervous to stay with strangers the whole time and speak only Japanese for a month. But the way I see it, my life is an adventure, and I want to seize every opportunity I can. It turns out that my friend won't be able to travel with me after all, which is too bad. But at the same time, speaking only Japanese for that long will probably make me pretty ペラペラ when I get back. (Note to self: don't forget to bring a dictionary!)

Time to go back to the salt mines and chip away at the thesis, then plan three English lessons, then put together a presentation. Zoom!