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Liz and Alex have left Japan and my life - for the time being. Next year in June they'll be getting married in Vancouver and I'll be there. Alex proposed to Liz a few weeks back in Bali when they went on vacation shortly before leaving the company we all worked for. Congrats to them and I can't wait to see them again.
Part of the reality for any ex-pat is the fragile and often tentative nature of all the friendships you develop while living in a country you don't plan on making your permanent home. Somewhere like Japan, where there is a lot of money to be made if you come for a year and play your cards correctly, is especially notorious as a place that fosters good friendships between people and then people return to the reality of their old lives. I wish I could say that I will stay in close touch with everyone I've met here in Japan, but in truth, you can only hold the closest ones with you along the way. Sometimes that just involves knowing you'll see them again after some time apart.
And of all the Vancouver people I've already met in Japan, these two cats will definitely remain a part of my life. I miss you guys already!
I was blessed with a visit from Kat and Dan (as well as Marg and Greg, Kat's sister and brother-in-law) who were visiting from Korea on vacation a few months back. I have finally organized some of my photos so I thought that I would post this in tribute to them, as well as to guilt trip all of the rest of you who haven't found it in yourselves to visit me even though I make a great host.
(Just kidding!)
Big-ups to Alex and Andrew Yeung who DID come all the way to Japan for a visit, but didn't get to see me because of scheduling conflicts with my job. I love that you guys came out to Asia though.
Kathleen... Daniel... I still think about you day to day. Thanks so much for making it out here. It meant the world to me (and send me some of YOUR pictures already, would you?!)
p.s. I should mention that my parents have booked their plane tickets and will be vacationing with me here in Japan from November 3rd to November 17th! I can't wait!
Here's the onion of realization shedding away with time.
If only we could all grow wiser as we grew older. I'm starting to think more and more about the sirens going off on every one of Mother Nature's watchtowers. There is a short-sighted selfishness to every crime; with each ill-conceived folly we forget ourselves in the giant ongoing tale of life. What's worse is the idea that there are people who make enough money in the errors we are making as a species that they not only refuse to change it but do their best to hinder any progress that we would otherwise be making. It won't be long before there are some seriously heavily populated countries who will appear on the map as needing an energy solution, and there's only so much weight this planet can handle.
Our time is quickly running out. I'm going to live in a house built into the ground that stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter, with natural light seeping in through skylights at the surface. I saw a house just like this in a documentary released by the CBC about green energy some time ago, and it sounds like an awesome thing.
In other news, none of you will believe how busy I've been. In the next few days, I'm going to try and publish the photos I took while I was in Tokyo over the Obon holiday and all the other nonsense I've been up to. Simply writing about what I've been up to exactly might in turn violate some contractual terms of the company I work for here, so I can't be too explicit. Just know that I've been working really hard lately. Really hard. So my absence from the blogworld is not entirely based around my social life. There's not been much of a social life lately.
Well, I'll be back soon. It's time to cook some dinner. Donburi, here I come.
And one final note: thanks Mom. The cookies from home were delicious and were consumed in a frenzy of child-like nostalgia. It's been awhile.
