Redundant, Redundant, Redundant

I've had a rough week getting back into work after vacation, and I'm struggling a bit to settle back into my life in Japan. I felt overwhelmed with the workload that was waiting for me (who wouldn't be slightly affected by 600 e-mails?) so, even-keeled as always, I decided to work a couple of days until 1 or 2 in the morning to try to catch up quickly. Note to self: not a great strategy. Instead of overwhelmed and behind, it left me mostly caught up and super grouchy. Oops.

Lately I've noticed how much I appreciate simple routines. I guess it took me three years to figure it out, but a great tip for overseas living is to establish routines to normalize life. The other day I was driving to work at about 8:00 AM listening to the radio (AFN - Armed Forces Network - has one American station that we get here; it's great and it changes formats every few hours to accommodate everyone) and the regular morning DJ was on. Let's call him "Stank" (not his real name). I listen to Stank whenever I can, and although it's no Mark & Brian Show, he's funny and I really enjoy it. His show is called "Morning Airstrike" (yeah, I know, but I've gotten used to it) and I like keeping up on what's going on around Base and hearing what he's been up to. I guess because I had a morning show that I listened to in Portland during my daily commute (hi Nelson & Terry), it's fun to have the same thing here. It's the small things.

I would like to apply the same principle to other areas of my life and establish some other routines to help me readjust to being in Japan. I think it would help me get back into the swing of things. However, I have two or so weeks of travel coming up, so that is going to have to wait a bit longer.

But today I'm grateful for things like Stank and for AFN. They help make me feel like I live in a normal environment. Which is kind of true, or true enough.