The Clock Keeps Ticking

I missed the 10 month update! Sorry~

Firstly, my dad was here all last week. I had a good time hanging out with him, and the parting was not as dramatic as in April when I had to say bye to my mom; after all, I'm seeing him again in less than a month. So...

How's life here?

It's been pretty good lately. I don't really know what to say that I haven't said before- my Japanese is okay and getting better, I have a few friends, etc. It's just life- I feel like telling you all much more would be letting you in on more personal details of my life, which isn't exactly the smartest thing on the internet... I can say, however, that I will be sad to leave Japan. I've grown attached to this country and quite a few of its people. I'll miss having rice with every meal, the TRAINS!, my tatami room, the way people change shoes every time they go into a building, the fashion, the respect- I really like lots of Japanese culture, now that I've gotten used to it. But, of course, I'm going to miss the people I've met here the most: all of my host families (except for that one), my Rotary club, a lot of my teachers, and my school friends. I don`t even want to think about saying bye to Daishun, who promised me he`s coming to the airport even though we have to leave at the ungodly hour of 5am. Luckily there`s Skype, though- whoever made Skype is essentially the savior of all exchange students ever.

There are things I won`t miss, like, you know, sexism and foreigner isolation and my lack of language skills and such, but for the most part I really love Japan, and look forward to seeing where my connection with this beautiful country takes me. I have no intention of stopping Japanese language study, and although I doubt I would ever become an English teacher- the most common foreigner occupation- here (my students would not survive the first day, not with my amount of patience for kids who don`t take language seriously), who knows, maybe I`ll end up living here. I dunno. We`ll see.

So I`ve got three weeks left, and I`m hoping to make the best of them. And I as sad as I am to leave Japan, I`m also really looking forward to seeing my American friends and family again, and then getting ready for my senior year and college. And going to the pool, because I haven`t swum once this year- despite living next to a lake- and I miss it. And seeing my dog. And I`m going to be making changes too, of course, starting with a clean out of my room (I can`t believe how much stuff I have that I never use, and that`s just from memory.. I`m sure the real thing is worse!!), and getting my parents to teach me seriously how to cook, because I`ve discovered that it`s an invaluable skill. I`m gonna have quite a bit to do when I get back, wish me luck :)

I guess that`s it for now... I`ll talk to you all later :)