Life in Japan - Year 3 Days 280 & 281 (07-25-09 & 07-26-09)
Last entry for awhile, kids. Let's make it a good one.
It was Saturday so it began with laundry. And a call from my parents. We spoke about me coming home in a few days, crazy. They asked me if I wanted to help move my sister from Indianapolis and I politely said no.
In the afternoon there was a matsuri at the nursing home next door, and I went there for the first time. The last three years I have never been able to go - I was in America, or David was here the last two times, but this time, finally, I could go. So I did. I saw some of my students were there, and we talked. It was the last time I would see them, but it was good to see a few of them again outside of school. There were taiko drums being played, and there were a lot of food stands, actually. And everything was free, that was pretty great. I had a meeting for dinner, however, so I didn't eat much. I did get some tea to drink and an ice cream cone with melon sherbet.
When I left I saw my next-door-neighbor, Ishii-san, with a friend of hers, sitting outside the fence and looking in at the goings on - they had some of the food from the matsuri and were enjoying it at their own distance. She asked me why I was leaving so early and I told her I had to meet a friend in Tateyama. She asked if I was going to drive there and then drive back and I said yes, then she admonished me because if I did that I couldn't drink beer.
Only in Japan is a 70 year old woman going to admonish someone for not drinking beer.
So I went to Tateyama and I met Alfred for dinner at the Korean BBQ place. We talked about the end of our school years and about Japanese TV and about the place I'm leaving. I had a good evening and it was nice to see him before I left.
I did more packing in the evening, joy beyond all other joys.
On Sunday I went in to church. There was a DVD, it was a Pastor Joel "My smile will gnaw off your face" Osteen. And it was a DVD I had already seen. But I pretended to be interested in it, as they were trying to accommodate me on my final day. At the end of it all I was given my very own Japanese hymnal and then the lady who comes to church but isn't part of the family who runs it, gave me about a dozen folding fans to give as gifts for people back home. Holy crap. I thanked everyone, we had pictures taken, and then that was it, we were finished. I thanked them all and I left for the last time, they all stood outside and waved to me as I left them.
I went home and I cleaned out my car, then I did more packing and I came to a realization - I don't have enough room anymore. Both my bags are at the limit, and my carryon can't fit anything else inside of it. So I'm left with one option - mailing more things off. So I kept three boxes and I managed to fill up two of them (how? How? How is this still possible?). One of them I will send via airmail and the other via sea mail. I just don't understand at all how this is still possible. But things happen like while cleaning I found an entire bag full of gifts people gave me that I forgot about, and I had all of those fans, and things keep turning up. I'm sure I've packed things I have no use for but I am a pack rat, I have thrown away (at this point) four trash bags worth of things.
The airport has several post offices, I will go to one of them and have things shipped from there. I will just have them all boxed up and ready to go beforehand. Well, one of them I won't address as I will send it EMS - I checked and once again EMS is cheaper than regular airmail for 3.5 kilograms and it's even cheaper than economy airmail. This makes total sense, but whatever.
At 6pm I went to get my haircut for the final time. I have a 1500 yen off coupon that it has taken me 3 years to get full so I can use it, so I used the thing. When she finished, the lady who does my hair took my picture with her kids - I used to teach her boy and her girl in my children's night class. They were good kids.
I then drove to Tateyama to get one of the passport/money holders than goes underneath your shirt. I have lost my old one, it seems, I have no idea where it is. Also that was the belt type and I am not very fond of that sort. So I went to Jusco and they had one that was a lot cheaper than any other kind and I couldn't figure out why, it seemed better than the next most expensive one. Finally I saw that the price-tag on it had been covered up once - it had been a mid-priced one but for some reason was now 400 yen cheaper than the 'cheap' one. So I bought that.
Then I went to Cainz Home just before they closed and I bought some pens. I know this is going to sound crazy but I really like these pens and I wanted to have some more before I go to America and I kept forgetting to get them when I was in Tateyama. So finally I broke down and I got them - it was going to drive me crazy if I didn't. I got there at 7:45 and I was out by 7:50 - they close at 8:00.
I went home and I found that I suddenly didn't care about anything else at all. Apathy. I still washed all of the dishes, picked things up, cleaned out the 'fridge, the toilet, the bath, etc, I did this. But I found that I had no desire to do any of it. I was finished with the entire process. And yet I kept going on. I tried to return the bike charger and the bathroom scale to Sachiko-san but though it was only 8:30 when I tried all of the lights were out at her house, they were all asleep. So I left them in the enclosed area just outside their front door.
I hope that my bags are both under weight by the time I am through with them. I still have my dirty clothes and my toiletries to pack. This could possibly make or break the whole thing, I'm serious. Oh well. If they do guess what I'm doing? Pulling something out and making ANOTHER trip to the post office. OH BOY.
I hope I can sleep tonight.
Alright, so here's where we stand. Tomorrow I go back to the US of A. While there I will update once more with my final day in Japan and my journey home. And then I think that's it for this blog. I will make a new blog and post what my new blog name is sometime after. When I have it I will tell you all. This blog's purpose was to chronicle my life in Japan, now that I am no longer living there it doesn't seem right to keep using this blog.
It was Saturday so it began with laundry. And a call from my parents. We spoke about me coming home in a few days, crazy. They asked me if I wanted to help move my sister from Indianapolis and I politely said no.
In the afternoon there was a matsuri at the nursing home next door, and I went there for the first time. The last three years I have never been able to go - I was in America, or David was here the last two times, but this time, finally, I could go. So I did. I saw some of my students were there, and we talked. It was the last time I would see them, but it was good to see a few of them again outside of school. There were taiko drums being played, and there were a lot of food stands, actually. And everything was free, that was pretty great. I had a meeting for dinner, however, so I didn't eat much. I did get some tea to drink and an ice cream cone with melon sherbet.
When I left I saw my next-door-neighbor, Ishii-san, with a friend of hers, sitting outside the fence and looking in at the goings on - they had some of the food from the matsuri and were enjoying it at their own distance. She asked me why I was leaving so early and I told her I had to meet a friend in Tateyama. She asked if I was going to drive there and then drive back and I said yes, then she admonished me because if I did that I couldn't drink beer.
Only in Japan is a 70 year old woman going to admonish someone for not drinking beer.
So I went to Tateyama and I met Alfred for dinner at the Korean BBQ place. We talked about the end of our school years and about Japanese TV and about the place I'm leaving. I had a good evening and it was nice to see him before I left.
I did more packing in the evening, joy beyond all other joys.
On Sunday I went in to church. There was a DVD, it was a Pastor Joel "My smile will gnaw off your face" Osteen. And it was a DVD I had already seen. But I pretended to be interested in it, as they were trying to accommodate me on my final day. At the end of it all I was given my very own Japanese hymnal and then the lady who comes to church but isn't part of the family who runs it, gave me about a dozen folding fans to give as gifts for people back home. Holy crap. I thanked everyone, we had pictures taken, and then that was it, we were finished. I thanked them all and I left for the last time, they all stood outside and waved to me as I left them.
I went home and I cleaned out my car, then I did more packing and I came to a realization - I don't have enough room anymore. Both my bags are at the limit, and my carryon can't fit anything else inside of it. So I'm left with one option - mailing more things off. So I kept three boxes and I managed to fill up two of them (how? How? How is this still possible?). One of them I will send via airmail and the other via sea mail. I just don't understand at all how this is still possible. But things happen like while cleaning I found an entire bag full of gifts people gave me that I forgot about, and I had all of those fans, and things keep turning up. I'm sure I've packed things I have no use for but I am a pack rat, I have thrown away (at this point) four trash bags worth of things.
The airport has several post offices, I will go to one of them and have things shipped from there. I will just have them all boxed up and ready to go beforehand. Well, one of them I won't address as I will send it EMS - I checked and once again EMS is cheaper than regular airmail for 3.5 kilograms and it's even cheaper than economy airmail. This makes total sense, but whatever.
At 6pm I went to get my haircut for the final time. I have a 1500 yen off coupon that it has taken me 3 years to get full so I can use it, so I used the thing. When she finished, the lady who does my hair took my picture with her kids - I used to teach her boy and her girl in my children's night class. They were good kids.
I then drove to Tateyama to get one of the passport/money holders than goes underneath your shirt. I have lost my old one, it seems, I have no idea where it is. Also that was the belt type and I am not very fond of that sort. So I went to Jusco and they had one that was a lot cheaper than any other kind and I couldn't figure out why, it seemed better than the next most expensive one. Finally I saw that the price-tag on it had been covered up once - it had been a mid-priced one but for some reason was now 400 yen cheaper than the 'cheap' one. So I bought that.
Then I went to Cainz Home just before they closed and I bought some pens. I know this is going to sound crazy but I really like these pens and I wanted to have some more before I go to America and I kept forgetting to get them when I was in Tateyama. So finally I broke down and I got them - it was going to drive me crazy if I didn't. I got there at 7:45 and I was out by 7:50 - they close at 8:00.
I went home and I found that I suddenly didn't care about anything else at all. Apathy. I still washed all of the dishes, picked things up, cleaned out the 'fridge, the toilet, the bath, etc, I did this. But I found that I had no desire to do any of it. I was finished with the entire process. And yet I kept going on. I tried to return the bike charger and the bathroom scale to Sachiko-san but though it was only 8:30 when I tried all of the lights were out at her house, they were all asleep. So I left them in the enclosed area just outside their front door.
I hope that my bags are both under weight by the time I am through with them. I still have my dirty clothes and my toiletries to pack. This could possibly make or break the whole thing, I'm serious. Oh well. If they do guess what I'm doing? Pulling something out and making ANOTHER trip to the post office. OH BOY.
I hope I can sleep tonight.
Alright, so here's where we stand. Tomorrow I go back to the US of A. While there I will update once more with my final day in Japan and my journey home. And then I think that's it for this blog. I will make a new blog and post what my new blog name is sometime after. When I have it I will tell you all. This blog's purpose was to chronicle my life in Japan, now that I am no longer living there it doesn't seem right to keep using this blog.