(no subject)
So I'm back in Otaru.
I got here on Sunday at 7 am with my parents, having taken the train (several trains) from Kyoto. On my way in, seeing Otaru again, I felt an unexpected crushing feeling. A small, panicky "What am I doing back here??" Maybe it was just 7 am after 18 hours of train travel and being at the end of four weeks traveling with my parents.
Sunday and Monday I toured around with my parents. It was good to be able to show them my town. Much easier since I knew all the good places to go, etc. Tuesday morning they got the train back to Tokyo to fly out on Wednesday.
And I went to Fuku's place.
Fuku is the cook at Skampo. His work day starts around 4 pm and ends when there aren't many customers left and Kinchan (the barman and owner) decides to close, usually between 1 and 2 am. He works 6 days a week - Mon - Sat. His apartment is up a very large hill, about 30 minutes walk from Skampo going down and 45 mins walking up. My old apartment was about 5 minutes away, no hill, so he stayed at my place a lot back when I had it.
So on Tuesday I got to his place, took a nap, walked him to work, took a bus back and then wondered exactly what I was doing here. I did a lot of laundry.
Wednesday I did the same, did a little shopping, cleaned his bathroom (desperately needed), and wondered some more.
Thursday I got internet access, once again demonstrating that I immediately lose all productivity once I can chat and read email. However I felt a lot better so that's something.
Yesterday I got a cell phone (making me an actual person in Japan), came back home, and then soon went down to Skampo to meet up with some friends.
Now it's Saturday. I walked Fuku to work, walked back (it's great exercise!), played around chatting, internetting, and playing computer card games. Finally tore myself away from that to do dishes and some laundry. Going back down the hill soon to watch the rugby Tri-Nations championship at Skampo.
So what am I doing here? Fuku was going to start a restaurant but that fell through (I'm glad. It wasn't a great situation really). I was going to help with that, but instead I don't really have anything to do. I've contacted some old students and I'm going to try teaching lessons privately but I don't know how that'll work out. No clue if I can make enough money to live off of doing that. Even if I can, what am I doing so far from home and friends and family, etc?
But the mornings have been awesome. We wake up around 11 or 12 and then just hang out until whenever it's time to leave. It's really pretty here and the weather's been nice. Wind blows through the trees behind the apartment and it a wonderful sound to wake up to. I've been making breakfast. Nothing fancy, just eggs or whatever. But it's all very nice and pleasant.
It's just strange when I'm here by myself and not sure what to do with myself. And not having any income makes everything that much more difficult and stressful.
I got here on Sunday at 7 am with my parents, having taken the train (several trains) from Kyoto. On my way in, seeing Otaru again, I felt an unexpected crushing feeling. A small, panicky "What am I doing back here??" Maybe it was just 7 am after 18 hours of train travel and being at the end of four weeks traveling with my parents.
Sunday and Monday I toured around with my parents. It was good to be able to show them my town. Much easier since I knew all the good places to go, etc. Tuesday morning they got the train back to Tokyo to fly out on Wednesday.
And I went to Fuku's place.
Fuku is the cook at Skampo. His work day starts around 4 pm and ends when there aren't many customers left and Kinchan (the barman and owner) decides to close, usually between 1 and 2 am. He works 6 days a week - Mon - Sat. His apartment is up a very large hill, about 30 minutes walk from Skampo going down and 45 mins walking up. My old apartment was about 5 minutes away, no hill, so he stayed at my place a lot back when I had it.
So on Tuesday I got to his place, took a nap, walked him to work, took a bus back and then wondered exactly what I was doing here. I did a lot of laundry.
Wednesday I did the same, did a little shopping, cleaned his bathroom (desperately needed), and wondered some more.
Thursday I got internet access, once again demonstrating that I immediately lose all productivity once I can chat and read email. However I felt a lot better so that's something.
Yesterday I got a cell phone (making me an actual person in Japan), came back home, and then soon went down to Skampo to meet up with some friends.
Now it's Saturday. I walked Fuku to work, walked back (it's great exercise!), played around chatting, internetting, and playing computer card games. Finally tore myself away from that to do dishes and some laundry. Going back down the hill soon to watch the rugby Tri-Nations championship at Skampo.
So what am I doing here? Fuku was going to start a restaurant but that fell through (I'm glad. It wasn't a great situation really). I was going to help with that, but instead I don't really have anything to do. I've contacted some old students and I'm going to try teaching lessons privately but I don't know how that'll work out. No clue if I can make enough money to live off of doing that. Even if I can, what am I doing so far from home and friends and family, etc?
But the mornings have been awesome. We wake up around 11 or 12 and then just hang out until whenever it's time to leave. It's really pretty here and the weather's been nice. Wind blows through the trees behind the apartment and it a wonderful sound to wake up to. I've been making breakfast. Nothing fancy, just eggs or whatever. But it's all very nice and pleasant.
It's just strange when I'm here by myself and not sure what to do with myself. And not having any income makes everything that much more difficult and stressful.