(no subject)
What you are about to read was written on September 3rd, 2009 at approximately 4:00pm Pacific Daylight Time on board Korean Airlines Flight 002 from Los Angeles bound for Tokyo. It is presented to you unedited and unannotated.
Hello. My name is Altaeron. I'm 24 years old. I was born and raised on the Pacific coast of California. Would you like to be friends?
In college, I studied Japanese. I still do not think I am very good at it, but I have spent the last 2 years working as a government translator in Hokkaido. Right now I am flying on a plane back to Tokyo after a two week respite in California. My new job is in sales of anime figurines. I must admit I am rather nervous about it, as I have no experience in anything other than translation. I hope I can pull this off.
Lately, I have embarked on an ambitious attempt to make Japanese friends. My life in Hokkaido was a solitary one, and I realized that I could not survive without a network of friends in the Tokyo area. I have been in some ways very successful. I have friends I can turn to, and I seem to be making new ones every day.
However, the relationships are fragile, and I still make mistakes. Many of these are still Internet friendships, so I could find myself cut off at any moment. But for someone who has spent his life struggling to make friends in the real world, I'm surprisingly good at turning what were "merely" Internet relationships into something more. I really hope these people will forgive me for my silly Japanese and many extreme idiosyncracies, because deep down all I want is to be their friend.
And beyond friends, I'd like to experience romantic love at some point. Every single day of our lives we're bombarded with the message that love is the fundamental characteristic of human life. But I still don't think I've experienced it myself, even now at 24 years old. Does that make me less than human? I've had many sleepless nights over this. I was never a good-looking person, and I have a feeling things won't be getting any prettier in the years to come. I do not know if I have that in me, and such if I really am human, but I'd like to hold out hope that one day I might become one.
Anyway, for the first step in my new life this flight has worked out really well. LAX was as empty as I've ever seen it, with almost no lines anywhere. I got an aisle seat with no one next to me. The flight left early, and there's been no turbulence. Hell, even the movie was halfway decent. Terminator Salvation this time as opposed to The Ghosts of Girlfriends' Past or whatever the title of that god awful stinker was. I also couldn't see the screen then either, which certainly didn't help.
We should be landing in about 6 and a half hours, and then I will be spending one night at Narita before moving into my new apartment in Yokohama. I know there won't be anyone waiting for me at Narita, which is somewhat depressing though hardly new. The only time I've ever been welcomed to Japan was when I arrived on JET, first in Tokyo by volunteers and then in Sapporo by my supervisors. I think I'll know I've succeeded in Japan when I have people waiting for my arrival in Japan the way my close family and friends do in California. I don't know if that'll ever happen though.
On Wednesday I start my new job. 10:30am in the morning, an hour later than normal. There's going to be a welcome party during lunch time on the first day, and I hope I make a good impression on my coworkers. There's a meeting scheduled for that night from 6:00 to 8:00PM which I will be expected to attend. Who knows what'll happen then.
Sigh. Stability sounds really nice right now. Four straight pages of whining. Time to focus on the warm delicious bread roll which I have just been handed. See ya.
End flashback section
A quick update: I am safely at my new apartment and mostly unpacked. It's small but well-furnished (widescreen TV and a washing machine) and is within walking distance of my new job. It is right next to a major thoroughfare though so I am a bit worried about the noise. More concerning right now is this sore throat I seem to have picked up on the flight. Please God let it *just* be a sore throat. It would really suck to have to call in sick the first day of work because I have the piggy flu aka THE EVIL PLAGUE OF DOOM. Yes. So here's hoping that's not the case.
Anyway, that's it for now. Apologies for the long whiny post. Goodnight.
Hello. My name is Altaeron. I'm 24 years old. I was born and raised on the Pacific coast of California. Would you like to be friends?
In college, I studied Japanese. I still do not think I am very good at it, but I have spent the last 2 years working as a government translator in Hokkaido. Right now I am flying on a plane back to Tokyo after a two week respite in California. My new job is in sales of anime figurines. I must admit I am rather nervous about it, as I have no experience in anything other than translation. I hope I can pull this off.
Lately, I have embarked on an ambitious attempt to make Japanese friends. My life in Hokkaido was a solitary one, and I realized that I could not survive without a network of friends in the Tokyo area. I have been in some ways very successful. I have friends I can turn to, and I seem to be making new ones every day.
However, the relationships are fragile, and I still make mistakes. Many of these are still Internet friendships, so I could find myself cut off at any moment. But for someone who has spent his life struggling to make friends in the real world, I'm surprisingly good at turning what were "merely" Internet relationships into something more. I really hope these people will forgive me for my silly Japanese and many extreme idiosyncracies, because deep down all I want is to be their friend.
And beyond friends, I'd like to experience romantic love at some point. Every single day of our lives we're bombarded with the message that love is the fundamental characteristic of human life. But I still don't think I've experienced it myself, even now at 24 years old. Does that make me less than human? I've had many sleepless nights over this. I was never a good-looking person, and I have a feeling things won't be getting any prettier in the years to come. I do not know if I have that in me, and such if I really am human, but I'd like to hold out hope that one day I might become one.
Anyway, for the first step in my new life this flight has worked out really well. LAX was as empty as I've ever seen it, with almost no lines anywhere. I got an aisle seat with no one next to me. The flight left early, and there's been no turbulence. Hell, even the movie was halfway decent. Terminator Salvation this time as opposed to The Ghosts of Girlfriends' Past or whatever the title of that god awful stinker was. I also couldn't see the screen then either, which certainly didn't help.
We should be landing in about 6 and a half hours, and then I will be spending one night at Narita before moving into my new apartment in Yokohama. I know there won't be anyone waiting for me at Narita, which is somewhat depressing though hardly new. The only time I've ever been welcomed to Japan was when I arrived on JET, first in Tokyo by volunteers and then in Sapporo by my supervisors. I think I'll know I've succeeded in Japan when I have people waiting for my arrival in Japan the way my close family and friends do in California. I don't know if that'll ever happen though.
On Wednesday I start my new job. 10:30am in the morning, an hour later than normal. There's going to be a welcome party during lunch time on the first day, and I hope I make a good impression on my coworkers. There's a meeting scheduled for that night from 6:00 to 8:00PM which I will be expected to attend. Who knows what'll happen then.
Sigh. Stability sounds really nice right now. Four straight pages of whining. Time to focus on the warm delicious bread roll which I have just been handed. See ya.
End flashback section
A quick update: I am safely at my new apartment and mostly unpacked. It's small but well-furnished (widescreen TV and a washing machine) and is within walking distance of my new job. It is right next to a major thoroughfare though so I am a bit worried about the noise. More concerning right now is this sore throat I seem to have picked up on the flight. Please God let it *just* be a sore throat. It would really suck to have to call in sick the first day of work because I have the piggy flu aka THE EVIL PLAGUE OF DOOM. Yes. So here's hoping that's not the case.
Anyway, that's it for now. Apologies for the long whiny post. Goodnight.