I Love You

I love you.

I can't help it. I know you can't help feeling the way you do, but neither can I.

I love how you make me feel special, and I love how much we've grown together.

I love that you bring out the best in me, and I love that you allow me to be myself.

I love seeing you interact with other people, and I love that their lives are happier because of you.

I love how patient you are with those it is hard to be patient with [although this does exclude your family sometimes].

I love to feel your arms around me, and I love how my heart does "wowzer" flip flops when I see you.

I love to see and hear you smile and laugh, and I love knowing that I've brought laughter into your life.

I love you despite your flaws, and I love that you've continued to be my friend despite mine.

I love you depsite your past.

I love you for our present and what we've had the last few months.

I love you for the future we could have.

I hurt when you hurt, I'm happy for you when you are happy, I want nothing but the best for you.

I LOVE YOU.

Another Excerpt

Here is another excerpt from my semester abroad:

Types of Music

Squeak squeak [pause] squeak squeak [pause] squeak squeak squeak. The rain we've been walking through has left a layer of wetness on the streets, creating the perfect medium for us to make our own music. Squeak squeak [pause]. Our legs provide the rhythm, a small twist of the ankle generates the sound. Squeak squeak [pause] squeak squeak squeak.

I keep looking for music in each of these ports, and feel like I've failed. But I've come to realize that there are other types of "music" that we hear every day. Car horns honking in Beijing; the squeak of bicycle tires in Vietnam; people chattering in restaurants—sometimes in English, sometimes not; bugs chirping/singing near the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, so loud you can hardly hear yourself think (What kind of insects are these? Can they be found in the United States, or are they native to Japan?); the silent rhythm of kids who can't hear speaking to each other using sign language. These are all types of music. Sometimes, they can be breathtaking and absolutely beautiful; other times, you want to rip your ears off. But if you truly listen to what is around you—the annoying clicks of keyboards, the sounds of vacuums at 3:00 in the morning, the rhythmic pounding of waves upon the shore—you will realize that the music of this world is everywhere, it transcends all realms of race, gender, class, place of birth, language, etc. (And if you listen hard enough, you can hear my favorite music—the sound of a smile.)