hey all,
So first off, please relax and most importantly, don't panic, as Douglas Adams has constantly reminded us. This weekend went really well. Friday night, I spoke with Michi a little bit, and I spoke with my randomly met ALT friend. He gave me some great advice, and just ranting about my problems usually helps a lot.
Saturday morning, I spoke with Bri for quite a while before we started the usual routine of shooting at imaginary people. The one friend that I really wanted to talk to seems to have vanished without a trace. Later, Saturday afternoon, Michi and I met up, and talked on the way to the grocery store, bought groceries, and sat down and talked even more before making dinner: nabe, which is basically some fried, then boiled chicken, plus lettuce, mushrooms, green onion, and some noodle-like substance. The whole mixture is boiled, then dipped into soy sauce, and eaten. Simple and tasty.
We watched Fight Club, and this time since I knew the movie so well, we put on the Japanese audio (it is hard to eat and read tiny subtitles at the same time), which was an excellent decision, because I was listening to what they were saying, and it didn't match the subtitles at all. To my great surprise, Michi seemed to get the movie right off the bat and we got to talk about it for a bit afterwards as well. In case anyone is wondering, she thinks that I am Edward Norton's character, and she is Brad Pitt's character. Wrap your head around that.
Today, I went rock climbing with the outdoor club and did much better than last time. Michi wanted to come, but had a party with her inlaws. Can't win them all.
Tonight I need to go to bed early, so I can get to work a little earlier, and go jogging with some of my teachers and students. I'm shooting for 3.8km each day, but that might be a bit too much. We'll see.
The plan for the next few weeks is to not see Michi at all, at least in a dating context. She might come to some of my rock climbing events, and I might go to some of her yoga classes, but until Valentine's Day, the plan is to give each other a little time and space. She needs to get used to having a needy, somewhat anxious foreigner as a boyfriend, and I need to get used to having a busy, "quiet-loner", Japanese person as a girlfriend. I have the JLPT to study for, she has an extra law license to study for, and neither of us really needs to rush things the way that we have the last four months. I think up to this weekend, we've been handling both our tough situations as best we could, but I think after this weekend, we can do so a little better and with each others' support.
So in this context, what does the title of this post ("Over") mean? Well, January is almost over, and the end of the school year (and my current contract), is coming up at the end of March. My housing contract is finishing up about half way through March, as well. A lot of things are coming to an end, but many things are just beginning. To borrow a phrase from Rosencranz & Guildenstern are Dead: "look upon an exit as an entrance leading somewhere else." As I did when I first came to Japan, I'm going to try to look upon the challenges ahead as opportunities to learn something and better myself, as opposed to obstacles and road blocks impeding the flow of my life.
Cheers,
