the last night
Well, it's my last night in Japan. And I'm staying up all night so that I can sleep on the plane.
The past two weeks or so, I've been rather eager to go home. As much as I like it here, if there's one thing you learn when you travel, it's that there's no place like home. I miss my parent's house, my apartment, and seabrook beach as well. I would love to go to Seabrook this summer, and I definitely would if I didn't feel bad for already asking my boss for over a month off during the busiest time of the year - after only starting a couple months ago.
Yet now that it's a few hours before I head off to the airport, a different feeling comes, a feeling of... well.. like I miss this place already. And who know's when I'll return. Could be years, could be never - but certainly not soon.
One of the biggest advantages of being here is getting better at Japanese without effort. In america - if I don't actively study and practice, I will slowly forget - but being around the language here, even if I don't say a word - I'm subliminally learning when I hear people speak it on the street, and when I see it written everywhere.
I feel like I've made a few baby steps up in maturity since I've been here. I often reflect on things I've done in the past - but when I'm in another country, another environment, my ability to reflect on things done gains an extra perspective, and perhaps becomes a little more objective. I've looked at many of things I've done, consequences I've faced, consequences I've avoided, and those yet to come. While it's always been my goal to improve myself in various ways, having a better understanding of things at this point, I think I have a leg up on where I was before to make changes for better.
I do long for one more night-walk along the Sumida-gawa. That's the river next to where I stayed last year; last time when I came to this country with almost no knowledge of the language, no solid acquaintances (other than my travel buddies) who could help if there was a problem, and no idea. So I'd spend many nights walking along the river - watching the endless lights of an endless metropolis reflect and move with the waves. The waves have a personality - and after time they become your friend on those nights when your wallet and your mind are empty. Unfortunately, being a ways out of Tokyo, I didn't get the chance to take a good long walk along the river this time - but it's one friend I can count on to be there next time.
There were many things I noted on my computer to write about during my trip - many of which I never got around too. (btw, I seem to be noting things much better lately - document my visit to japan, commenting my code and logging changes and bugs, among other things).. They don't really match the tone of this post - and after this I'll be back in America where writing about my trip like it's still happening will loose it's punch.
Well, the birds are chirping. I'd guess it still dark, but not for long (btw you know you've spent a little too much time on the computer when your first instinct is to look on google earth instead of out the window lol). Soon I will head out (out like a fat blind kid in dodge ball).. I'll spend a while in the car, a while in the train, a while in the station, a while in another train, a while in line, a while at security, a while in at the gate, a particularly long while on the airplane, a while in san fran, a while on another plane, a while at the baggage claim, and a while in the car. In that order. My poor ipod battery....
See you on the other side.
The past two weeks or so, I've been rather eager to go home. As much as I like it here, if there's one thing you learn when you travel, it's that there's no place like home. I miss my parent's house, my apartment, and seabrook beach as well. I would love to go to Seabrook this summer, and I definitely would if I didn't feel bad for already asking my boss for over a month off during the busiest time of the year - after only starting a couple months ago.
Yet now that it's a few hours before I head off to the airport, a different feeling comes, a feeling of... well.. like I miss this place already. And who know's when I'll return. Could be years, could be never - but certainly not soon.
One of the biggest advantages of being here is getting better at Japanese without effort. In america - if I don't actively study and practice, I will slowly forget - but being around the language here, even if I don't say a word - I'm subliminally learning when I hear people speak it on the street, and when I see it written everywhere.
I feel like I've made a few baby steps up in maturity since I've been here. I often reflect on things I've done in the past - but when I'm in another country, another environment, my ability to reflect on things done gains an extra perspective, and perhaps becomes a little more objective. I've looked at many of things I've done, consequences I've faced, consequences I've avoided, and those yet to come. While it's always been my goal to improve myself in various ways, having a better understanding of things at this point, I think I have a leg up on where I was before to make changes for better.
I do long for one more night-walk along the Sumida-gawa. That's the river next to where I stayed last year; last time when I came to this country with almost no knowledge of the language, no solid acquaintances (other than my travel buddies) who could help if there was a problem, and no idea. So I'd spend many nights walking along the river - watching the endless lights of an endless metropolis reflect and move with the waves. The waves have a personality - and after time they become your friend on those nights when your wallet and your mind are empty. Unfortunately, being a ways out of Tokyo, I didn't get the chance to take a good long walk along the river this time - but it's one friend I can count on to be there next time.
There were many things I noted on my computer to write about during my trip - many of which I never got around too. (btw, I seem to be noting things much better lately - document my visit to japan, commenting my code and logging changes and bugs, among other things).. They don't really match the tone of this post - and after this I'll be back in America where writing about my trip like it's still happening will loose it's punch.
Well, the birds are chirping. I'd guess it still dark, but not for long (btw you know you've spent a little too much time on the computer when your first instinct is to look on google earth instead of out the window lol). Soon I will head out (out like a fat blind kid in dodge ball).. I'll spend a while in the car, a while in the train, a while in the station, a while in another train, a while in line, a while at security, a while in at the gate, a particularly long while on the airplane, a while in san fran, a while on another plane, a while at the baggage claim, and a while in the car. In that order. My poor ipod battery....
See you on the other side.