So I've been in Japan for about two months now. It feels kind of hard to believe that it's been that long already, although in retrospect I have done quite a bit. I find myself studying a lot less than I did back in the US, an occurrence that leaves me feeling a little jaded. I am supposed to be going to school here to learn Japanese, but instead I find myself meandering about, drinking way more than I ever have before in my life, or eating too many snacks and fooling around with my friends (both Japanese and foreign).
It's been a lot of fun, but I think I need to make the conscious decision to a) stop eating so much crap and drinking (I'm developing quite the excessive gut :X) and b) speak in Japanese and crack down on my studies. Not that my grades are bad or anything, but I really need to absorb what I'm supposed to be learning.
In other news, it's Fall in Japan! Coming from a part of California where seasons are nearly nonexistent, I have never experienced more beautiful leaves in my entire life. I spent a few days in the mountains last week, and the leaves were really rich in oranges, yellows and reds. The weather is also colder than I'm used to, so I'm learning how to layer and bundle up appropriately.
I keep wondering when I'll have to bear through waves homesickness. I had a bit of anxiety at the beginning of my stay, but I'm pretty accustomed to my life here already. It may sound kind of strange, but I find myself having a hard time remembering what my daily life was like back home. The idea seems foreign, disconnected as if it was a really long time ago. My heart aches for certain things from home, events or people that induce feelings of longing... but I never ponder too long on them. I know I'll be home again before I know it, or that we'll be in contact soon (thank god for Internet, really).
From my desk I look out my window at night and twelve stories below there's the dull roar of Shinjuku (students cheering, cards trolling on down the road, salesmen shouting to buy their wares), that Tokyo cacophony, resplendent lights glittering out in the distance below. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I am where I am, that somehow I managed to uproot and chuck myself on a plane bound for the other side of the world without a backwards glance. But hey, I'm here aren't I? And I'm doing just fine.
Anyway, I'm not really sure what this post was about... but there you have it - an update! C:
