recap: Osaka + arrival at Nami's apartment
年２００９月９日４
16:00 ＠ Ｓtarbucks
today has been really rough. i thought being fatigued from lack of sleep was bad, but today i've learned that being completely drained of strength is worse. nevermind the mini breakdown i had last night, nevermind the mental stress from feeling like my competency with the language is at -50--no, those are nothing in comparison to the sheer hopelessness that now burdens my every bone and muscle.
which brings me to my next complaint. i miss america and its helpful, friendly strangers! :( i have been slowly lugging something like 65-70lbs. all day, when i myself weigh in at a mere 90lbs. maybe it's just because my size actually belnds in here, idk, but there's not been a single person to even ask me if i was handling everything okay. not even the "fellow foriegners" here offer me a glance of familiarity and understanding (in fact, i'd say they do their utmost to just ignore others altogether). and when your hands are riddled with blisters, your feet begging for rest after every block, your shoulders and back wanting nothing more than to double over into fetal position... let me tell you, "distressed" does not begin to cover it.
but moving on. despite the predominant troubles, i want to say i am definitely quite glad to be on the way to meeting with Tomoko and Taka. they went through a lot of trouble finding me last-minute travel accommodations to Tokyo, and i feel really grateful to have them as such awesome friends. :) ♥
also, azuki frappuccinos are, as i had hoped, made with gratuitous amounts of win. ★
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年２００９月９日6
07:15 ＠ Nami's apartment
I passed out around 8 last night right after eating some snacks from the conbini, so now I find myself having been awake since 5, with Tomoko and Nami still peacefully asleep.
I was so incredibly relieved to arrive at Nami's apartment yesterday. I don't think I'd ever wanted a shower so badly. I totally sweat like 50x more in Japan than in America. Actually, I'm not sure if it's just the humidity or the fact that I was dragging around all that weight, but... yea, definitely makes you yearn for a shower, or some rain, or a pond to jump into. =A=
Sitting here in Nami's apartment, I... don't feel as if I'm in a "foreign" land. I just feel like I'm hanging out at a friend of a friend's apartment, which... well, is exactly the case. Which brings me to really ponder what exactly IS "foreign". And as far as I can see, it's not as much as people make it out to be. The food's different, the scenery's different, the social norms are different... but underneath that, the people themselves aren't "different" in any new way than how you reading this and me writing this are different.
I think meeting Nami has helped me see this. Before meeting her, I wondered what would be "kosher" for me to do. Should I bring a gift? Are there any traditional phrases I should memorize? And will I feel awkward since we're strangers, or as if I'm imposing on her space? But the moment we did meet, the questions vanished. There was no pressure to obey any sort of traditional custom. It was just: Nami, meet Jeshika. Jeshika, meet Nami. College student A, meet college student B. HEY LET'S MOLD SOME CLAY.
And we did. We sat around the coffee table, drinking peach tea, talking and joking, molding clay, and listening to latino music.
Welcome to "Japan". Welcome to Any Other Country where tradition truly plays but a small role and the people you meet are more like those of your own country than stereotypes had ever previously let you imagine.
In short, welcome to The World.
"The world is just awesome."
★
16:00 ＠ Ｓtarbucks
today has been really rough. i thought being fatigued from lack of sleep was bad, but today i've learned that being completely drained of strength is worse. nevermind the mini breakdown i had last night, nevermind the mental stress from feeling like my competency with the language is at -50--no, those are nothing in comparison to the sheer hopelessness that now burdens my every bone and muscle.
which brings me to my next complaint. i miss america and its helpful, friendly strangers! :( i have been slowly lugging something like 65-70lbs. all day, when i myself weigh in at a mere 90lbs. maybe it's just because my size actually belnds in here, idk, but there's not been a single person to even ask me if i was handling everything okay. not even the "fellow foriegners" here offer me a glance of familiarity and understanding (in fact, i'd say they do their utmost to just ignore others altogether). and when your hands are riddled with blisters, your feet begging for rest after every block, your shoulders and back wanting nothing more than to double over into fetal position... let me tell you, "distressed" does not begin to cover it.
but moving on. despite the predominant troubles, i want to say i am definitely quite glad to be on the way to meeting with Tomoko and Taka. they went through a lot of trouble finding me last-minute travel accommodations to Tokyo, and i feel really grateful to have them as such awesome friends. :) ♥
also, azuki frappuccinos are, as i had hoped, made with gratuitous amounts of win. ★
------------------------
年２００９月９日6
07:15 ＠ Nami's apartment
I passed out around 8 last night right after eating some snacks from the conbini, so now I find myself having been awake since 5, with Tomoko and Nami still peacefully asleep.
I was so incredibly relieved to arrive at Nami's apartment yesterday. I don't think I'd ever wanted a shower so badly. I totally sweat like 50x more in Japan than in America. Actually, I'm not sure if it's just the humidity or the fact that I was dragging around all that weight, but... yea, definitely makes you yearn for a shower, or some rain, or a pond to jump into. =A=
Sitting here in Nami's apartment, I... don't feel as if I'm in a "foreign" land. I just feel like I'm hanging out at a friend of a friend's apartment, which... well, is exactly the case. Which brings me to really ponder what exactly IS "foreign". And as far as I can see, it's not as much as people make it out to be. The food's different, the scenery's different, the social norms are different... but underneath that, the people themselves aren't "different" in any new way than how you reading this and me writing this are different.
I think meeting Nami has helped me see this. Before meeting her, I wondered what would be "kosher" for me to do. Should I bring a gift? Are there any traditional phrases I should memorize? And will I feel awkward since we're strangers, or as if I'm imposing on her space? But the moment we did meet, the questions vanished. There was no pressure to obey any sort of traditional custom. It was just: Nami, meet Jeshika. Jeshika, meet Nami. College student A, meet college student B. HEY LET'S MOLD SOME CLAY.
And we did. We sat around the coffee table, drinking peach tea, talking and joking, molding clay, and listening to latino music.
Welcome to "Japan". Welcome to Any Other Country where tradition truly plays but a small role and the people you meet are more like those of your own country than stereotypes had ever previously let you imagine.
In short, welcome to The World.
"The world is just awesome."
★