Yes, I'm writing twice today! This won't be long... I just needed to voice my sincere appreciation for the existence of coffee (having just finished an iced Honey Milk Latte from Tully's). I went most of the summer without drinking caffeinated coffee, and there was a degree of pride in that feat (as anyone at CAJ can tell you, when the school year is in full swing, I'm a Tully's regular. In fact, when I went to Tully's last week after returning to Japan, the baristas all specifically welcomed me back with an enthusiastic 久しぶり--this roughly translates to "long time, no see!").
During the summer months, I can't have caffeine... when I'm totally ひま (that's a Japanese term for having spare time), caffeine makes me jittery and restless. My brain starts working so fast that time seems to crawl, but since there's no outlet for my thought or energy, I feel sort of trapped... like I need to do something really important, but there's nothing important to do. While I'm busy, however... caffeine is a miracle worker. I become alert and focused, I can think twice as fast and I can accomplish 10x as much as I would without the coffee. I also become more creative. I come up with ideas for my classes that I never would've thought of in a million years of concentrated (and uncaffeinated) focus. Thinking outside the box not only becomes easier, it becomes the standard.
So, as I settle in for a late afternoon/evening of prep-work, I raise a hearty mug to a wonderful beverage (and as I raise my mug, I can't help but also raise the question of chemical dependency... seriously, if you read that last paragraph and substitute the references to caffeine with another drug, it sounds pretty sketchy. Maybe I ought to hold off on the coffee till decaf becomes big in Japan...).
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