Let me first get this out of the way: Yes, I haven't posted much of anything about our trip. It was great. I haven't written anything about it because I'm sort of crushed under the weight of my own expectations to write something insightful. So instead, if you want know stuff about it feel free to ask me specific questions. I know it's a cop out, but if I don't get past this point, I may never write again. =) Assorted information will of course be revealed as it relates to things I want to write about, but don't go looking for some big definitive travel post (as if anyone would anyway.)

On to other things! Despite my having been enrolled in kendo class for close on a year now, because of my own schedule flakiness I have lagged behind other students in the class, and yesterday was the first day I got to put on the full armor for practice. Now, U of T kendo club seems to be one of the foremost in the area (country?) so as you might expect, there are a lot of people there who are very serious about kendo. What this translates into in class is an expectation that things are going to be done correctly, and a focus on actual practice rather than hand-holding training of beginners. Please note that these two goals are to some extent mutually exclusive. Not only is putting on the armor really quite complicated (it has its own knots and everything), but because it is a Japanese martial art, you also have to do it the *right* way. Last night was successfully executed, if a bit frustrating, but I am not looking forward to next practice where we're expected to know how to do it already.

And why, of course, would we bother putting on our armor if we weren't going to hit each other? This morning, in addition to my usual post-workout soreness, two out three of my target areas are swollen and/or aching (head and wrist; stomach seems to have survived intact.) We have a special practice on Saturday where there will be testing, and my first attempt at an actual bout. The senior student who was helping me yesterday said, "Don't worry about it, just keep charging at them." Probably sound advice, but I think I will take the Advil before practice tomorrow.

Since we did the part of our trip that involved a train ride through the Pyrenees Mountains, I have been sort of obsessed with the Belle and Sebastian TV show that used to be on Nickelodeon. I have been trying to find a cheap copy of DVDs of the series, but so far my usual anime outlets have struck out. Apparently, people aren't interested in the heartwarming story of a boy looking for his mother and a giant white dog who only wants to be understood.