And I'm back...

So I'm on the plane and I'm a little teary because I'm leaving my friends and family and my lovely island (it's MY island) behind yet again and suddenly over the speakers comes a flood of crazy sounds and I'm thinking to myself "what the hell?" and then it dawns on me...it's japanese. So of course I instantly start to cry. Because that's the kind of girl I am. It was just so fabulous to be able to talk to anybody, anywhere about anything while I was home that it seemed really overwhelming to go back to only understanding a fraction of what's going on around me at any given time. I'm pretty much back to normal now but it was a bit of a shock. And I think I scared the little old lady sitting across the aisle from me so that was a bonus. :-) It's a strange thing living somewhere where you can't speak the language. Especially when you're planning on staying indefinitely. I think in some ways it would be a much more enjoyable thing if you had a specific date that you knew you were going to leave. That way while it would still seem scary and overwhelming at times you could just tell yourself you were on a big adventure and when you got back home you'd be able to look back on it all with humour. But for me there's really no end in sight and I keep telling myself that one day I'll know enough japanese that I'll understand it all and it'll be such an accomplishment that I'll be this super fabulous version of myself and I'll be rich and fabulous and have all designer clothes and a penthouse apartment in the heart of Tokyo and hundreds of really great shoes. And I don't even like designer clothes. What can I say, we've all got quirks. On a side note, I dyed my hair on my last night in Vancouver and it's now a really delicious red that makes me very happy so it's not all bad.

And what's with this jet lag? I've never had jet lag before. When we moved here last summer I was a bit tired and crazy feeling but I functioned semi-normally and made conversation and all that without too much difficulty but last night at work I was pretty sure I was going to die. I felt alright during the day but once I got to work...yeah. I'll be surprised if I don't get a complaint or two from my students. Good times. At one point I was explaining to my boss that some of my students were laughing at me and I wasn't sure why but it could've been because I always joke around with them and yell at them to stop laughing at me so naturally that makes them laugh more or it could've been that they were talking about me and they were laughing because they knew that I would ask them why they were laughing which I did which made them laugh more or...you get the idea. He just looked me straight in the eyes and said, "you really are tired aren't you?" Which I was.

Kohsuke made me pancake breakfast today. It was good. We had real maple syrup on them. Mmm.

And now I'm done.