Let's Go to Japan vs. Italian Rain

I've been seriously contemplating participating in a Study Abroad program, and after attending a conference to fish out some information at the U, I feel like it might actually be a strong possibility. I would like to go Fall of 2012, assuming I bring my GPA back up to where it should be in the first place....And assuming I can save enough money to get out there.

In all my pondering of Study Abroad throughout my school years, I have always had Japan as the number one place I would like to go; however, after attending that conference at the U, I am starting to feel really good about going to Italy. I would still absolutely love to go to Japan, but the more I think about Italy, the better of a decision it seems. Still, it's been a toss-up for a while. I still haven't completely decided, but learning Italian for my major would probably be better than Japanese, and I have every intention of learning Japanese regardless. Plus, I've already traveled to 2 Asian countries, while I've been to absolutely no European countries. I know it will be a whole different cultural ballpark.

So for now, I'm still on the fence, but I'm definitely leaning toward Italy.

The ultimate decision. Japan or Italy? Japan?......or Italy?..........

Japan?

or Italy?

It's What You Need

10 things that I love about my family are:

1-That they are just as weird as I am.

2-That we are all good at different things and complement each other's personalities.

3-That we all have a good time playing board games for hours on end.

4-That we can go on a vacation and have just as much fun spending time with each other as we could sight-seeing and going out every day.

5-That we are almost all the same age mentally, haha.

6-That I will always have a place to go no matter what happens or what choices I make.

7-That I will always have people to turn to when I'm upset, even if it's just by phone.

8-That I will forever know that someone out there thinks the same way I do.

9-That I can learn from their mistakes, as well as my own.

10-That I will have these people in my life forever.

Happiness

10 things that make me happy are:

1-Using complicated words incorrectly and seeing people nod as if they know what I'm talking about. I've decided they either don't know any better or they can just read between the lines and know what I mean despite everything.

2-Playing sentimental games from my childhood. Music from Zelda kind of makes me want to cry sometimes.

3-Validation/Hearing someone tell me exactly what I need to hear. Whenever I feel like I'm not doing as good a job as I should, someone invariably comments in such a way that I'm able to figure out where I stand.

4-Laying in bed late at night listening to enya on my ipod. Love. Especially if I just showered. Clean, comfortable, warm, awesome.

5-Finally finding time to do things with friends. It always seems like a hassle and such a time consuming task, but when I actually do it it's so simple and fun that I wonder why I don't do it more often.

6-Getting a lot of really small things crossed off my to-do list that have been nagging at me for weeks.

7-Figuring out what path I need to take. Whether it's with school, work, dealing with a problem, or with friends, it's always a relief to figure something out and feel good about a decision.

8-Feeling prepared for something. I hardly ever am, but when I am it's fantastic.

9-Music. All of it. Love it. Want to eat it, occasionally do. What?

10-Randomly friendly people. While it may be incredibly awkward to have a complete stranger walk up to you and say something that seems totally arbitrary, it almost always makes me smile. People who are confident enough with themselves to interact in a positive way with those they don't know make me incredibly hopeful for mankind.