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Hello everyone, sorry I haven’t written lately. I’ve been sick and busy and tired and all that jazz….but despite those excus- I mean reasons, I should have written sooner.
There hasn’t been much of a change to my lifestyle… Still no decent furniture or appliances, I wash my clothes in the bathtub, and refrain from purchasing perishable food….making money for the 2 minute noodles guy let me tell you.
On a more frustrating yet inevitable note, I have had to ask mum and dad to help me out financially. I’m annoyed at myself because I did soooo well on the not spending thing for a long time, but a splurge here and a splurge there (cushions, rug, towels larger than your head, and a trip to Kyoto) took me over my limit.
In waiting for this international transfer, I have learnt that for all of Japans technological advancements and achievements….the banks are backwards! They have these AWESOME atm’s that count your money instantly and put it in your account (and can even accept COINS!), but they told me that an international transfer may take 7-10 days! Mum had to send money to a bank in Kyoto which will then send it on to my bank….bizzaro… but knowing that it’s coming from somewhere…somehow….makes the stress level easier to bear. I’m nearing the deadline date for bill payment etc, so I am very much looking forward to breathing a sigh of relief.
It feels like life as usual. I wake up, go to work, buy some food, go home, rinse, dry, repeat... I have a routine now, but still take pleasure in simple things. There’s a woman I see most mornings from my balcony, riding around the bark with a baby in the basket of her bike. Such reminders that I’m not in Australia make me smile, as well as make me think of home. It’s a double edged sword to notice these differences. I get happy because I am experiencing things here, but in experiencing things here I know I’m not experiencing things back home.
Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t have regrets about coming here. It is by far my greatest achievement. I had a goal and I went for it. It’s nice to know that I can follow through on my dreams. As for life’s little annoyances, I have a big Band-Aid to stick on them……. I’m in Japan!
I might be feeling homesick sometimes, but I’m feeling homesick - in Japan!
I might have to cut out 300 activity cards, but I’m cutting them out - in Japan!
I might have a train going past my apartment at 5 in the morning but it’s going past - in Japan!
I might have to work late to make worksheets for my students but I’m working late - in Japan!
See how it works? It’s a super Band-Aid. Apply to any situation, make sure area is dry before application, do not swallow, if it gets in your eyes, please consult a doctor.
Today is Day one of the Spring Sports Meeting, an interschool competition that is important for all of the students. I think that performance in this will determine eligibility for the national competition later in the year I am going to watch the soccer game at 1pm. Yay! And I don’t have to wear a suit…yay!
I am off now to go an watch them play, will update later….
Ok I watched the game, and sadly, we lost by a whopping 6-0. The language barrier was most evident here, because I really wanted to tell my students, hey, it’s ok, don’t worry about it, you played really well….but all I could do was nod at them as they walked past and try to look encouraging. My body language must be improving, but my Japanese certainly isn’t. No, that’s a lie….I have a few words here and there, I’m not up to forming actual sentences yet, but I can catch a word here and there in conversations and generally know what people are saying to me. When I don’t know, I just make my confused face and they start miming until I get the answer. It’s like playing charades all day long!
tToday is day two of the spring sports meeting, but sadly we didn’t fare too well in many of the club activities and so there aren’t as many games today. This means that for the whole day I get to sit at my desk, try not to fall asleep and look busy. I am actually busy planning for lessons in the coming week, and I had to head to the bank to pay rent and do other important things, but I decided to take a small break to give you an update since I have been so slack lately.
The weather has most definitely taken a leap towards summer. It’s like someone turned on the global oven. Last week or even 3 days ago it was breezy and rainy with the occasional day above 17 degrees, but now it’s 30 30 30 and summer is back with a vengeance. Yesterday was soooo hot and the poor kids were out running around in the heat. You can feel it through the windows too, you know that static kind of feeling when it’s boiling outside and the sky is so still because the wind isn’t blowing and even the bugs want to stay put? Well that’s the heat we have here at the moment.
The rice fields are thriving though, and it’s a real change to the dry heat we get in Oz where everything wilts in the heat. Here you can see long fields filled with water, bright green shoots reaching towards the sunlight. The parasols have come out too, and I am tempted to get one because they’re so pretty, but then I think what’s the point? I’m mostly indoors and tanned already. It’s too late to go for the fair skinned look. Maybe I should head south to Okinawa and learn to surf and be tanned all year long…
That’s all for now. I7ll try and do something so I get some more pictures this weekend. I’ll be heading into Kyoto next Friday for a work meeting so will definitely get some more pics then, but life here has settled down a bit. I’ll have to make my own adventures. Maybe someone will come and visit me and we can go explore. I wouldn’t mind having some Kyoto-ites stay over…but there’s nothing for them to sleep on and my futon is exactly that…MINE. Will look into getting some guest furniture and making my house clean enough for company…
Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment…it proves my existence…
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Kathy
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Just to prove your existence chica....hehehehehe. I always thought it was amazing how the seasons changed like..boom!...one day spring, next day summer! At the end of summer there'll also be a day with amazingly strong winds and then it will be autumn just like that. I ended up being very good at looking busy by the time I left Japan. In fact, I could also yawn without opening my mouth. I'm sure it won't be long before you start doing it too! It's good that you're taking pleasure in little things now. Just beware of the three month super deep depression period and try to remember those things that you used to think, 'Wow!' about. xx miss you