The Rish is back

So I am growing my goatie back out, and I looked in the mirror after I finish shaving off my cheeks and neck, and I can't help but put on a broad smile. One of those smiles that you can't wipe off your face, makes you feel a bit sheepish and really giddy. You know how I felt, like the Rish is back. I know it's vain to think about oneself in that way, but seriously, it was like I'm back. I was happy to see me. It's been a long time. I first shaved about 1.5 years ago, I think because I wanted a new look, well, I know exactly why I shaved but I am not yet one of those people that can bare their soul on a publicly accessed space, so I won't tell you exactly why. Let's just say thay I needed a new look. And now, after realizing some things, most importantly the importance of taking it easy and having fun, and after going to Tokyo and feeling like I left me heart in Club 911, it was time to grow it back. I think one of my friends told me that my goatie suits me really well, and I was just like, enough of this, I'm not meeting any girls here, so I might as well stop being modest and put my best looks forward. That's when I decided to grow it back.

Since I believe in history as a tool to understanding the present, lets go back a bit. I've had a goatie ever since I started having facial hair, which translates into my first year of high school. I never went without it, it was like my best friend, my strongest supporter in times of trouble, my companion during the ups and downs on the rollercoaster of life. I always had it, and once I shaved it off during my last year of college it was like I wan't real anymore, an existential enigma floating in the void between two realities, one with facial hair and one without, and I hadn't yet crossed the border into the one without. Have you ever read C.S. Lewis, the trilogy about the silent or strange planet or whatever? Hmmm, actually, C.S. Lewis always seems to have some alternate reality his characters get transported into, something that requires a magic key or a special door (Chronicles of Narnia - I know you've read that, if not, well, I hope you still had a meaningful childhood). Mine requires a Mach 3 Gilette and some hair conditioner (my equivalent of shaving cream - it works better than anything you might buy, and you can just get the cheap stuff). Actually, recalling my past tense, I remember, I did shave it off once before, right before high school graduation. Hmmm, and I shaved it off my last year of college, maybe I always shave it off when a big change is happening, and then once I adjust to the change, I grow it back. I decided to stay one more year, recently I have really started to feel adjusted to Japan (like comfortably and confidently adjusted), and here I am growing it back. Who said keeping a blog doesn't help one figure things out! And, I have proved my statement, learning history is an excellent tool to understand the present.

Who knows, maybe the Rish coming back is a sign of greater things to come. Maybe I will even start teaching things that I want to teach, try and make my students come up with a rap song, or write a haiku in English. The possibilies are endless when you can do what you want to do. Aaah, but isn't it good to have facial hair.