(I would like to go to Japan) Well it's been a good couple weeks. I had a very good 40th birthday and have been meeting with all my friends to say farewell. I've known a lot of these people over the three years I've been here in England and many of us are starting to unroot and look farther afield. I think science is appealing to people who have a bit of a explorer in them. I guess it makes sense since science is about discovering how the world works. I think I will be able to keep in touch with most of these friends.
I have to admit that this move is so much better than when I left Wisconsin. I think it is because all these friends are expats themselves while everyone I was saying goodbye to in Wisconsin is settled. I still think my bird/tree analogy fits really well. When a child is asked to draw a tree, many will draw a bird in a nest in the tree as if the tree isn't a tree unless it has a nest. But the bird is transient and so is the nest. The tree is stationary. I think those of us who desire to travel or live in other countries are like birds and those who live in the same area they were born in are more like trees. I think some trees feel they need a bird so they hold on tight and try to prevent the bird from flying away. And I think some birds get confused and think they are part of the tree. But birds fly and trees don't. It's really nice to have met other birds :)
I've also sold more things but I've had a setback with my motorbike. I think ebay might be my only option now. I'm running out of time. I think I might have found a way to sell my versaclimber. I have maybe 5 more big things I need to sell/gift. After that I'm down to the precious things which come with me and miscellaneous stuff which can then go in the bin or to charity. I'm going to aim for having the bulk done (or on the way out) by Wednesday and definitely by Friday. I want to make sure every ball is in play by the end of March. My visa paperwork might be done by the end of March so I'm hoping I can go to the Japanese embassy in London the first week of April. Hope hope hope....
Oh I had one amazing synchronicity this last week. I brought several apartment listings with me to my Japanese language class in Cambridge. I wanted to ask my teacher about the prices and terms. I was a bit worried that I was being taken advantage of, but it turns out these are very average for the areas. Well my teacher was reading the one I like the most and he said : wow midorigaoka, I used to live on midorigaoka (street), that is a very nice area, I loved living there. He is going to look up his old address and see how close this apartment (mine hopefully) is to his old place. I mean what are the chances given how huge Tokyo is!! Very cool. Just another sign that this really is the right choice for me.
My Japanese is slowly coming along. I'm about middle in my class, but I've learned a lot. It's a very good class and it would have been fun to carry on with them. I think I'm learning in a balanced way though. I'm remembering my hiragana pretty well and I'm remembering some words and phrases. I was reading through the lyrics of a song by ayumi hamasaki and I was able to able to read most of the hiragana. It is such a wonderful feeling to be able to look at Japanese and be able to see recognizable characters and words. I'm even starting to recognize a few kanji characters. It's hard to describe, but it's an amazing feeling of eureka and joy. I really love learning new things. I think it might be time to get a kanji dictionary. Should be a good way to spend the last of my Borders Bookstore gift money.
So there it is. Another rambling blog entry. I guess it could be worse.
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