Back in Kansai and Back Out the Door

I am finally back in town for a day, although I’m off to Kobe for training this afternoon and then have tickets to Summer Sonic, a huge music festival in Kobe/Osaka all weekend. The biggest or most familiar act at Summer Sonic this year is probably Coldplay or maybe Prodigy (or “THE Prodigy”, as the poster says...oops), but there are about 40 bands from all over the world coming. They play one day in either Tokyo or Osaka and then switch cities for the second day. It’s going to be hot (in the 90s) and tickets are a bit pricey, but I was really kicking myself when they sold out last year and I didn’t get to go. And it’s been way too long since I went to a music festival... can’t wait.

Adjusting Back
I know I’ve written then before, but the trip home really was exactly what I needed and I’ve been doing well since I got back (especially now that jetlag is finally gone… no more 4am mornings!). I guess culture shock never goes away, it just changes, and there are always ups and downs when living in another culture, but I am definitely doin’ just fine, as Mary J. Blige would put it.

I went out to dinner in Harimacho with a new Aussie that just moved into the neighborhood and Chris last night and we ended up just standing by the river and talking for a few hours afterwards. On the bike ride home, Chris made a comment about how I seemed different. Like I must have missed everyone because I seemed so content and happy right now, more talkative in a way. The thing is, I am happy. I miss everyone at home but the response that automatically came out was that I feel like I live here now vs. just visiting for a while and I am more comfortable. It’s a test for me in some ways considering this is the first time in my life I have been in the same environment for 3 consecutive years (literally, have never – not even in college – been in one place, doing the same/similar thing for that long). I have also passed the point when I thought I would go and have undergone some major transitions here more than once now, which maybe changes your mindset. We’ll see how things go, but for now, thumbs up.

I think the volunteer work I'm now doing actually has a lot to do with these sentiments. I’m getting a lot of satisfaction out of it and it’s providing a lot of the changes I am looking for while allowing me to still sort of stay doing the same thing. The people I work with are the same way, too, so it’s good to be involved with a crowd like that.

Tokyo
Tokyo Orientation was a blast. It was busy with 6:30 am shifts (another first with catching the first train to get to work) and late nights (usually ending with me dropping into bed), but I had an excellent time. I met a few new people, particularly a lot of business folks I have been communicating with via email and finally got to meet face-to-face and even reconnected with a childhood friend, Carol, living in Tokyo.
I was really glad I got to go to Disney Sea before the conference started and I definitely feel like I know Shinjuku better at this point, too, but most of the time in Tokyo was spent inside the hotel. A friend and I also went to Harujuku on Sunday morning to see the “cozplay”, but the girls don’t actually come out until around noon, so we ended up just strolling around Meiji Shrine for a while. I really would have liked to have gone to the Ghible Museum, Contemporary Museum of Art and the Yasukuni Shrine as well, but I was just too tired when it was all over and decided to take a train home after we finished packing up (and shipping about 40 boxes worth of publications!). We probably ruined some peoples’ 5-star hotel experience when they walked into the Keio lobby and it looked like a shipping container, but at least we got it all out (and sort of without breaking the bank... good day for the Black Cat!).
I decided to take the Nozomi, the fastest bullet train, back to Kansai from Tokyo but there were a lot of delays due to the bad weather (in Osaka) so I didn’t actually make it home until after 10pm. I guess Osaka just got hit with a bad storm (I guess the power went out in Amagasaki, which is close), but my coworkers said we didn’t even get a drop in my area so it’s funny that they stopped the trains just for the rain. I think the train companies are trying to change the safety regulations so it’s more strict (one train actually derailed in the area I live in and killed a lot of people when it went into an apartment building the year I came), but I hope that doesn’t mean that they delays on these trains is becoming more commonplace. It’s already been bad this summer and sitting standstill for an hour used to be unheard of... especially for the shinkansen.

Work
School is slow. A lot of people are gone and there are no classes, but I still have to come when I'm in the area. Some of my students just came back from Australia so I’ve been talking to the chaperones and looking at pictures. There were actually a lot of problems during this trip, but ironically, all of them were rooted in the students from the other school that accompanied my school this time. The homestays seem to have gone really well, though, and even my principal said he practiced his English a lot. I feel bad for one of my students who had to go to the hospital with a teacher during the layover in Singapore because she was sick on the plane...only to discover she was sick because she had cramps and was menstruating (how embarrassing!), but I’m not planning on bringing it up when I see her.
I’ve got meetings in Kobe later today, another business trip to Yashiro next week and another retreat the next week at I am working at, so it’s a busy couple of weeks ahead, but I’m excited.

I think I’m going to head out since I biked to work again, but more later. My computer has now actually died, but Apple is going to give me a new one since it's under warrenty. Worked out in my favor because I'll get the new operating system... but that also means no home computer until the new one arrives (and my office blocked a bunch of websites this week, so I'm no longer able to surf the net as freely as I used to be... even YouTube is blocked!?!). At least I bought that external harddrive a year ago and have good about using it.

Anyways... adios and enjoy the weekend :)