Not so much sleeping naked in a sun beam all day, as chilling in front of the comp as I listened to the teeming rain. I did 1 brief excursion into town and rode around the neighbourhoods on my bike in the rain. It felt good to get out. I got back with some groceries just as a downpour was about to start. Nice timing.
I think I can honestly say that I am finally enjoying the thought of living in Japan. I find that there are things around me that I want to engage with and experience. I have more of a draw lately to cultural aspects of the big city of Tokyo that I want to be able to take in. Things like, the National Museum has an exhibit of Ukiyo-e prints until Dec 4th. I was thinking of going today, but I think I'll stick around here and maybe go next weekend. I would like to go find some flea markets, just to see what I can find. I am learning a little bit more of the language, which I still have little desire to fully learn, but it's nice to want to get the difference between 'kore' and 'are' (pronounced ko-ray and a-ray). I have had my thoughts move more toward being aware of leaving. It's different before. I used to think of leaving in the sense that it felt so far off and I wanted the time (we're talking pretty much just the months of July and August during the unbearable heat and humidity, I've learned I will never be able to live in South East Asia) to go as fast as possible. About a month ago, I started to see things through the light of being aware of enjoying them while I can because my opportunities to do so will soon be no more.
Things that I will miss when I leave Japan:
I will miss the oranges that have come out this season. It's Japanese oranges season. They're sweet and juicy and easy to peel. I usually eat between 2-4 everyday. They aren't uber cheap, but they certainly aren't expensive, especially when you buy them off the street. And I do literally mean "off the street", or maybe I should be more specific and say "off the sidewalk" cause that's where you can often buy the best produce.
I will miss buying produce off the sidewalk. It's usually some cute old man just sitting out there with a truck parked on the street, a couple of tatami mats put down on the concrete sidewalk and the producing sitting out there in baskets, complete with dirt still on them. You know they're fresh when. The clams on the other hand...not so fresh I would think. I haven't bought clams from the guy who sells them. I think that's one experience I'm willing to bypass, in honour of all the other experiences I would never get to have if I were to take that one.
I will miss alternate forms of transportation from motorized personal vehicles. I will miss Drlfan, my most fabulous bike. I like that it's the norm for so many people to ride their bikes around. Of the four "families" in my building, only one (the actual family with kids, the rest of us are single occupants) has motorized vehicles. I have to admit that it causes me to not want to leave my house tomorrow as I will have to brave the rain, but when compared to owning a vehicle it's an occasional nuisance. I will also miss the trains. I won't miss being stared at on the trains, I won't miss the over-crowded trains at peak times, I won't miss missing the last train of the night and being stranded in what ever place you are until five or six the next morning. But generally speaking the trains are a cheap, easy and reliable form of transportation. And a great time to catch up on your sleep.
I will miss sembe. It's this fabulous rice crackery snacky goodness that's crunchy and yummy. It's not rice crackers as we know them, or rice cakes. Sembe is completely different and I will miss its crunchy goodness.
I will miss having the opportunity to trek into the coolest, hippest, craziest mega-city in the world. There are so many parts of Tokyo that are just insane and I do like being able to have the opportunity to be thankful that I don't have to live in that world everyday but to enjoy it in small doses. I had the thought before back in the early summer that if I could be married to some rich guy and didn't have to work and could live up in shwanky Roppongi Hills or somewhere cool like Omotosando and I could have indoor heating and cooling, I would possibly really enjoy Tokyo. Tokyo has a lot to offer in the way of restaurants and arts and shopping and parks and interesting people. It really is a world class city.
I will miss [name deleted to protect the innocent].
I'm sure I will make a bigger list of things I will miss when the time comes for me to go. As is I'm just barely half way through my jaunt here. It's just not time to think of leaving yet. I have become more aware of the things that I enjoy here and as such I am aware that I will miss them when the time comes.
