As excited as I thought I was going to be to leave this country that has caused me so much stress and bitterness, I realized that the closer my departure date looms, the more mixed feelings I'm having. Not about my job, mind you. I'm more than thrilled to be leaving THAT behind -- good riddance! It's mostly my friends I'm sad to be saying goodbye to.
It's the one big downside to being an extensive traveler and living overseas. The friends we make abroad tend to become the closest. I think this is a result of not only being in a foreign country as foreigners -- therefore, needing to "stick together" -- but also because the very reason you're overseas in the first place means you already have more in common than many of the people you know back home. Of course, this isn't true about ALL people you come in contact with abroad. There are some definite weirdos here, for sure.
But I take a strange pleasure in looking around my living room full of my friends who all happen to be from different countries. Often times, Adam and I are the only Americans (aka Yanks). The usual suspects are English, Welsh, Canadian (Canucks), Australian (Aussies), New Zealanders (Kiwis), South African, sometimes French, and sometimes Irish.
Of course, besides commiserating about our jobs and difficulties of being foreign in Japan, we also enjoy making fun of each other's accents and various vocabulary. Chips vs. fries vs. crisps. Or "pudding" meaning "dessert" in British English. That was a tough one. How do you describe American pudding to someone who's never eaten it? Custard-like but thicker and in different flavors possibly....
Or how about describing tacos, tortillas, and enchiladas to someone who's never heard of them?! (I know..... Shock! Gasp!) I didn't even try... I just promised her I'd take her to a Mexican restaurant.
Anyone know the meaning of the verb "to snog"? It means to "make-out" with someone.
How would you respond to the question "How many stone are ya?"
"Ummm, excuse me? How stoned am I? Not at all, thank you!"
Well, as I found out after the giggling subsided, a stone is the English measurement for weight. (I know, how medieval right?) 1 Stone = 14 pounds. And here I was thinking everyone used kilos outside the US!
And of course there's the Aussie/Kiwi debate about the pronunciation of the number 6. Apparently, one of them pronounces it like "seeks" and one of them like "sex". Though of course to me they both pronounce them the same, but SHHHH! Don't tell them I said that!
Also, I guess we Yanks are the only ones to say the letter "Z" like "zee". Everyone else calls it "zed". Go figure.
As you can see, these past 2 years have given me endless linguistic pleasure, not to mention the perk of having friends in countries all over the world -- excellent for traveling! I'll miss them all terribly of course as they've all been a great source of comfort and companionship and they're all pretty cool to boot!
My only other regret as far as Japan goes is not having been able to see and go to all the places I originally wanted to. Hiroshima and Hokkaido come to mind here. However, we have taken advantage of our geographical proximity to other Asian countries, which was a major bonus. The reason for this was not only because the other places had beautiful beaches and cool eco-tours, but mostly because a 10 day vacation to Malaysia, Thailand or Vietnam would cost us the same as a 2-3 day trip to Hiroshima or Hokkaido. The choice wasn't that difficult! I'd love to come back here as a tourist some day and get to see the places I missed while I was "working". But, we'll see. There are many other places in the world I'd rather see and experience first.
I'm also nervous about coming home. I haven't lived in the Vashon/Seattle area for 6 years. That's a long time to be gone, and even though I've returned periodically, I'm constantly surprised and slightly disturbed by all the changes and how fast they occur. It should be interesting! I am looking forward to it, however. I feel it's time to come home and stick around for awhile -- get to know Seattle better, find a job, study some more and start doing something I really enjoy. I don't mean we're planning on settling down permanently, but for a few years at least. I need to be closer to my family now. I miss them terribly and talking on the phone just doesn't always cut it.
So here's our schedule so far (despite the fact that I applied for a job here which, if they contact me and actually want me might conflict with the road-trip.) We're flying to San Francisco on July 26th, where we'll pick up a car we're buying from Adam's grandmother. We'll drive up to Portland, spend the weekend there, and arrive in Seattle on Monday afternoon (the 30th). We'll have about 5 days on Vashon before flying to Costa Rica on Saturday, August 4th. We're enrolled in a language school there fore 2 weeks and then will be bumming around for another week and a half with my brother, Kirk, who will fly down at the end of the month to meet us. On August 29th, we all leave and part ways in Houston. Kirk back to Seattle and Adam and I on to North Carolina to visit his parents. We'll spend a week there before setting off on a road-trip that will take us through the southern and southwestern states. We'll visit friends along the way and see many of the national parks as well. We're due back in Seattle in mid-October! I'm really excited about it all and I halfway hope I don't get the job so I don't have to cancel any part of this trip that we've been planning for months and months. Though, it's a pretty sweet job, so I really do hope they contact me..... (crossing my fingers but trying not to get my hopes up!)
Anyway, here are a couple pictures from last night! We went to the Gion Matsuri (aka the Gion Festival) in Kyoto. I finally bought a summer kimono, a "yukata", which my landlady was nice enough to teach me how to wear and tie -- it's pretty complicated! I, in turn, was able to show Josy and Kendra, so we all went to the festival dressed up like everyone else! We turned a lot of heads since foreigners in yukata look really funny, and were asked for pictures a few times during the night, but it was a lot of fun.
Jessie, Josy, me and Kendra
Kendra, Josy and I on Shijo Street
Festival food stalls and my back.
One of the floats on the main street.
These guys chant and ring bells that are attached to those strings.
