This was potentially going to be a bad week.
On Wednesday , I had a check up with my neurologist. It’s the first I’ve had since I began kendo just under a year ago, so I was concerned that all those whacks to the head might have done some damage.
Fortunately, my brain seems fine – better, in fact, than last year. So that was good news 
(There may be some bad news regarding a lack of platelets in my blood, but we’ll wait for the test results before we worry about that)
One of the best things about this week is that I got loads of presents!
Now let me explain something – I’m not a totally materialistic person, but gifts are one of my most favourite things in the world. If somebody gives you a gift, it means that they were thinking about you when you weren’t there. They didn’t forget you. Afterwards, you mightn’t see the friend for a while but you still have the gift. Even if I am alone, if I have something given to me by a friend then I am happy. It’s like having a piece of them with you. Any time a get a gift I keep it, use it, put it on display.
It works the other way too. I always spend ages picking out gifts for people. A gift should carry significance, it should convey how much you value the person. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Everything I give to somebody, I give because I genuinely think they will like it. I guess I get it wrong sometimes, but I always try. Maybe I spent too much time studying Anglo-Saxon literature but for me the custom of gift giving is a beautiful thing.
I love being in my room and seeing reminders of my friends everywhere
This is my massive haul from the past week:
-> First, a reunification. This is my friend Hazel who coined the term “freak power” when we were two misfit 12 year olds. I haven’t seen her in about…4 years. We met on Tuesday for a drink in Dun Laoghaire and it was like we had never been apart. If there’s one thing I hate about some of the people in Trinity, it’s the snobbery. There’s none of that with Hazel. She watches The Hillson MTV and is proud of it. Well guess what? I watch the The Hills too. And I love it. It was so refreshing talking to her again. Thanks Hazel
-> Next is Miyabi, from Kochi. Miyabi is the little pink doll hanging off the strap of my bag. She was given to me by Kochi, my Mixi friend. Kochi came to Dublin recently and I tried to meet him but it didn’t work. He’s a really nice guy though – he gave Kathryn a gift to give to me. I didn’t do anything to deserve it, so I was very surprised. And very happy. The Miyabi doll is now on the Miyavi bag and I think they look great! Thanks Kochi
-> Next is TWO gifts from Harriz. Whilst wandering about the wilds of South Africa, our darling senpai didn’t forget his amigos in Ireland (and Korea). I got a tribal necklace of some sort, with the symbol for “purity”. I’m not sure what that implies. Kathryn got one that said “Wisdom”. Hmmmm….. Even more impressive though was the incredibly awesome sarong! This is like a giant piece of cloth that has sooooo many uses. I guess you’re supposed to wear it but I had great fun wrapping myself up in it. For no reason at all. Brilliant! Thanks Harriz
-> Next up, chocolate and tenugi from Martin. Here’s the thing, if you don’t know him, Martin is one of the superstars of Dublin Kendo. Not only is his own kendo fantastically good, he’s a great person to get advice from. He always knows what to say and a nice way to say it. Last weekend he was the runner up in a big kendo competition in Belgium. This is the best EVER result for a Dublin kendoka. We are soooo proud of him. All of that should be enough, right? Well there’s more! Martin also happens to be the nicest guy IN THE WORLD. He’s our hero. So instead of only celebrating his fantastic result, he was thinking about us in Belgium. He brought us back yummy boxes of chocolates and pretty tenugi. I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve somebody like him in my life. Thanks Martin
-> This is a lovely post-card from Sanae-chan. She’s a Mixi friend too. I sent her a post-card from Korea. In return I got this, which shows areas of Kami, her region. The message on the other side is in Japanese, so I can’t read it all. Yet. She stuck stickers and photo-stickers on it too. It’s literally the coolest post-card ever! Thanks Sanae
-> Finally a Gackt DVD from Kathryn (and Robert). If you know me, you (should) know that I love Gackt. Gackt is life, ok? Gackt was one of the stars of NHK’s 2007 taiga drama “Fuurin Kazan” in which he played the sexylordwarlord Uesugi Kenshin. Gackt really took to the role and has participated in a number of Kenshin-related events. This is a DVD documentary about his role. And it’s sooooo hot. Anyway, I had seen the trailer for it but not found the documentary uploaded anywhere yet. Thankfully I have amazing friends like Kathryn (and Robert) who know all about this sort of thing. Now I have Gachan at my fingertips. Thanks Kathryn (and Robert)
Wasn’t that great? Can’t you just feel the love? I’m looking at all these things now as I right and I’m reminded of my super-cool friends. I’m so lucky. Thanks everyone!
Love,
Siobhán xxx
P.S. I don’t know why my skin changed colour from photo to photo 
