Day 4--Well, dang.

Today I learned that I can't let 1) the torrential rain or 2) other people limit my experience, or else I will have a very limited experience here. I shouldn't be afraid to just go off and do stuff, even if it's at night.




All we did was go out to the dollar store, then to Hamanomachi which is a big shopping area a few blocks away from our apartment. Then we just came back. We were gonna go out again, but it was raining hard and Mai had work to do for her online internship so we didn't. The least I could've done was go to Suwa again, if not try to go someplace new. But it was raining and gonna be dark soon...

But I still do feel afraid. In France I spoke much more of the language and I always felt there was at least a slight possibility, if I didn't have my camera out and didn't wear flip-flops, that they might think I was French, that I might be able to blend in. Especially since I knew my way around the metro basically after the first day. Here, I will always be a foreigner. I will always be babied. I will always be new. If by nothing else, by the mop of blonde hair on my head. Doing stuff alone brings a certain vulnerability--if I don't know something, I have to *gulp* ask.

In France I had at least 30 people to go and do stuff with, or at least a guaranteed 7-8. And we all had cellphones and could text each other. Here I have exactly two other people. And no cell phone. And this town is smaller than Paris, of course. But, it's all in your attitude, all in how you view things. I'll use what I have to my advantage. :) Because there's only 3 of us, I'll get to know my fellow interns super well. :) Yay I'm excited. Because Nagasaki is smaller, I'll get to know the different neighborhoods better and start having local favorites. I'll make the most of my experience and not compare it to the past. It's just a different kind of enjoyment.

I think I'll book back on this and laugh. "Ha--she was afraid to ask people or take the tramcar!"

This isn't studying abroad, so I have to treat it very differently. It's not a cozy adventure the way most people experience it, the way mine was. It's just regular plain old life, with a job and cooking and cleaning...but in a completely new city.

Tomorrow if they don't want to go do something fun I'll just go out and do it anyway. >:]