Another series of good byes

Her black dress swishes back and forth as she walks away down the street. The neon lights and blinking signs buzzing around her gradually shrinking form. I stand and watch and think, “This is the last time I will see her…maybe forever.” The street is so familiar…filled with memories of the past year…and now there’s one more new memory…the vision of a friend walking away after we said good bye.

I always look back when say good bye to someone…it’s just my nature. A lot of my last memories of friends are of them walking away. Part of me hopes the other person will look back and smile one more time…making eye contact and waving…I also like to watch them for as long as I can…making as much of a final memory as I possible.

Now that July has come and gone, another load of friends and acquaintances have moved on from Japan. It’s the big yearly cycle…July is a time for farewells and the turning of another page in the book of life. Right now I’m a bit numb to it…this being the 4^th time I’ve said a big sayonara to close friends. It’s hard and makes you scroll through your cell phone address book taking stock of numbers you’ll never call again. Some entries get deleted…a lot of them remain…as a last standing monument to the good times you shared.

One of my friends who left, Selena, told me, “Don’t be sad it’s ending, be happy it happened.” Her words are wise and true…but it still doesn’t help Starbuck seem any less empty on a Friday afternoon when you’re supposed to be sharing coffee and making fun of ridiculous Japanese outfits.

The people around you make your world…and my world has just been changed dramatically. It’s not over…it’s not finished…it’s taking on a different form. I’m not sure what course my life will take in the coming months…but I will carry my memories with me as comforts and reminders of the good times I’ve had, and are sure to have again.

3 Years in Japan!

Today is my three year anniversary of being in Japan. On this day 3 years ago, I was arriving in Tokyo with a massive group of other foreigners and jumping head first into the world of Japan. Let’s look back at some old photos from that day…

First meal (picture is blurry to simulate how my jet-lagged eyes were seeing things in reality). I had NO IDEA what was going on in the restaurant that myself and a group of JETs stumbled into shortly after arriving in Shinjuku. I ordered this by pointing at a picture on the menu. It's some kind of sushi, but I'm not exactly sure what it’s called…haven’t eaten it since.

First view of Tokyo! A typhoon was on the way! Ominous beginnings…

First new friends. This is the opening ceremony for the new JETs and the two girls in front are Ata and Nicky (from New Zealand). We became instant friends! Seating around and behind them are a mix of other Oita-ken JETs and in the back is my dear friend, Betsy, who is a Chapel Hill alum like me. All of them are GONE…having departed from Japan over the past 2 years. Seeing this photo brings back a flood of memories.

First trash can! The loveable character Domo-kun in trashcan form…the first of many things that shouldn’t be, but unavoidably are, cute in Japan.

As I sit here today and think back on where I started from, I’m happy to say that my experiences in Japan have made me a better human being. I’ve grown up a lot over the past 3 years and become more positive, more independent, more patient, and surer of who I am and where I’m going. I also have better hair.

Rant on Cats

I know that by writing this I’m taking another step into the all-encompassing, life-consuming world of cat-fixation, but I figure I’d risk it since it makes a good story.

Here’s the thing: I don’t like cats. And, I’ve seen how they can take over the lives of people. My grandma, Mema, started with one cat she “rescued” from a Wal-Mart parking lot and now is known as the “Feline Baroness” of southern Atlanta with the responsibility of caring for (presumed) hundreds of cats in her local area. She’s seen about 8 generations of the wild strays and while entertaining to everyone in the family, it’s also a bit disconcerting (in part because they all have names like, “mama”, “baby-mama”, “granny” “baby-sister”. etc. based on how they’re related).

Here where I live in Beppu, I’ve stumbled upon a community of cats (tame, wild, and insane) who live in, around, behind, and close to/by my house. There have been eight feline characters in play over the last few months and I’ve noticed how (despite my general apathy for cats) my life and theirs are getting rather involved.

Things started small…me saying hello to them when I returned home (something I felt obliged to due because four wild ones would greet me outside the front door) and gradually become more friendly when I started feeding them from time to time (only when my housemate asked me to). Then I got sucked into their local cat wars. For political and social reasons I don’t fully understand, only some of strays are welcome at the house while others are hated and shouted at if they turn up at feeding time. I joined the alliance of the welcomed cats (all nice folks except for the slutty female with a goofy eye) and did my part in shouting at the menacing black and grey cats who slink around sometimes.

This got a bit more complicated when I learned that the one indoor cat (and the only one in my opinion who should receive my loyalty or food) hates all the other cats and sometimes attacks me for no reason (to date, I have been clawed and bleed three times and bit on the face—with bleeding—once).

Whatever…the lives of cats are similar to the lives of teenage girls with petty hatreds and unexpected psychotic behavior…you just deal with it. BUT, despite my careful relationship with everyone, I found myself in the middle of constant problems. Inside cat and black cat fight and howl at all hours of the day and have even moved their fur-flying battles to the living room; slutty female now only glares at me because I gave her kittens away to a friend; retarded black/white cat won’t move out from under my car when I need to leave; and someone keeps trying to break into my room in the middle of the night via the window screen (which is nosily pulled open with claws!).

So here I am telling the world about my life with the cats…a sure sign that I’m on a path to become my grandma. I can only hope my creativity in naming my cat army with equal hers (love ya, Mema!).