Japan: What a Trip

There comes a time towards the end of most vacations where you've had a good time, but you're ready to head back home and sleep in your own bed and see your friends. No offense to any of my friends, but that time never came for me in Japan. I completely fell in love with Tokyo, and didn't want to come home.

I spent the vast majority of my time in Tokyo itself, but there was so much to do that there was never a dull moment. Whether it was being completely and utterly lost in the red light district of Shinjuku, playing pachinko in Ueno, or people watching in Shibuya, I was always up to something. Staying in hostels was probably the best choice that I could have made, because I met so many interesting and fun people! Who else would I have done karaoke with, had it not been for the people I met at the hostel?

Spending a night in a capsule hotel was really interesting, too. There's way more space in there than you would think! You can sit up, or just watch crazy people pretending to time travel on Japanese TV (the best parts are the advertisements, though). And Japanese people are stylish! Some of the styles are very over-the-top, and some are very conservative (never before have I seen so many suits and ties), but almost everyone is trying their hardest to go for style.

Good thing the German guys that I met had met Kazuya, or how would I have gotten in to that crazy hole-in-the-wall bar with only Japanese people and no tourists?

I could really go on endlessly about the trip, but needless to say, I'll have the memories that will last forever. If anyone is thinking of going to Japan, then stop thinking, just do it!

San Francisco

As of the 4th of July, I'm a resident of the state of California. I've got an awesome apartment on Bush street between Powell and Stockton--near Union Square where there are a lot of tourists. It's interesting because whenever I walk outside, I hear a whole variety of different languages and accents. It's really neat, although I suspect after a year its novelty will have worn off and then some.

It's also the first time that I've lived without any roommates. To me, this is refreshing and fun. It's nice to get together with friends whenever I want, but also to be able to relax and avoid all possible forms of human interaction when I feel so inclined. This is helped by the fact that I'm connected to the fastest internet connection that I've ever owned.

Also starting work at Mochi Media has been really good. There's a lot of new stuff to learn, though, so I'm not able to crank out as much code yet as I would like. Their primary web development environment is Pylons, which has a decidedly different worldview than Django. I definitely think that there are good things and bad things from both sides, and hopefully the good things can eventually be shared. I'll definitely revisit this once I've got more experience on the Pylons side.

Cheers to travelling around the globe, living independently, and learning new things! Because in a nutshell, that's what I've been doing.

Up next: A series of screencasts.

Iowa State University

For the past four years, I have attended Iowa State University, pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science. Finally last month, that process was over. Degree in hand, I can't help but think back about all of the truly great memories, experiences, and new friends that were made possible by going to Iowa State. Not only was the extracurricular experience great, but at the same time, I feel like the education was top-notch as well. For anyone that knocks state schools, tell them to try to keep up in my Essentials of Programming Languages class with Professor Lumpe.

Tokyo, Japan

I recognize that this point in my life is the last time (for a while, at least) that I'll be able to do something crazy and go to a foreign country for two weeks. The logical choice would have been to go to France, since I minored in French and know some people who live there. That's why I didn't do that. Instead, I'm doing something that I've always wanted to do, but never have: go to Japan.

I know there are some crazy things going on all the time in Japan, and honestly that's what's so exciting to me. It's a completely different culture from our own and up until now I've only had glimpses into that culture. I'll have a ton more to say about this after the trip is done, along with a dizzying amount of pictures, so stay tuned for that if you're at all interested.

Mochi Media

I have accepted a position at Mochi Media, where I'll be working with some ridiculously smart and talented people. Not only that, but I get to use my favorite technologies, like Python and Erlang. In the case of Erlang, Mochi Media is actively pioneering its use in the web space with its open source project mochiweb (most recently noted for being a key component in Facebook's chat feature). Contributing to open source, using languages that I like, pioneering the use of established technology in new ways, working with smart people, and having a great business model to boot. All of that combined makes me one hell of an excited guy!

More practically, what this means is that I'm moving to San Francisco! Hopefully there'll be more Pythonistas there than there was in Iowa. Whether there are or not, one thing is certain: there'll be a lot more to do.

I'm a bit bored right now, and it's a feeling I'm going to savor, because starting next week and into the foreseeable future, boredom is not a feeling I'll be having much at all.