I've been back in lovely CA for about 2 months now. It may sound silly, but that's at least the amount of time I need to reflect on the experience and let things crystallize.
So what of it? Well, here's a few of many post-Japan thoughts:
-Songs that remind me of Japan: Any Nujabes song instantly reminds me of whizzing by on trains, because that's all I listened to on them. Instrumentals with hip-hop beats, traditional instruments and melodies, watching the foliage zoom by in blurry lines, looking out the window and seeing little country-ass villages or just fields upon fields of rice grass with water reflecting the sky. I'm really glad I got to travel by train from Kyushu to Tokyo and back, because that's a huge part of my experience now. Also: Adele's entire 21 album.
-I got better at cooking in Japan. I retain my skill but now lack motivation to get even better. (I guess I'm "too busy" here.) I even bought some of the exact same things I used to eat there: Sapporo ramen, kyuri (cucumber), grapefruit, curry, asian-style-european-style bread. I guess JP habits die hard.
-Smell is the most powerful memory-inducer. I still have some of the shampoo I used there in my travel bottles, and when I use it, I feel just how I did when I took a shower there.
-Although I tried to consider "getting used to doing stuff alone" as a learning/growing experience while I was there, in reality I was just lonely. I'm not some newfound person who appreciates extended alonetime. I guess what I learned is that I'm a social person, I like/need to share my life and my thoughts with other people, and trying to change that doesn't really work.
-I appreciate my Japanese class and my Japanese club more now. (As if I didn't appreciate them before.) I just see them in a different light now. I feel like I know what people are talking about now. Japan isn't some great big mystery. It's a country, with people, and I feel a connection to that country and that people, no matter what.
-9 months seems like an infinity to wait until I can hopefully hopefully return in July 2012.
