November 3, 2008
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Decisions, decisions!
For reasons known only to my subconscious I’ve had this song, You Know My Name by Chris Cornell (dude from Soundgarden and Audioslave,) the Bond Theme to Casino Royale, running though my head for days now. Best Bond song ever, in my humble opinion. Heard the new one for Quantum of Solace by Jack White and Alicia Keys. It’s shit.
So, election day is upon America tomorrow. I’ve made my allegiances clear, not that it matters since I’m not American. I’m not gonna discuss politics again either. I become more hard-line liberal by the day, though. Being in Japan has played a big part in that. When you see just how selfish, intolerant and ignorant hard-line conservatism is from the persecuted side of the fence it tends to affect you.
OK. So life goes on. A long weekend for bunka no hi (Culture Day) had me in my junior high on Saturday for its 50 year anniversary. Got to do some kyudo (Japanese archery) in the afternoon with the 3rd years. Normally every Thursday afternoon is chiiki sentaku (lit. Area Selection. Basically means the students have a choice of activities in the immediate area they can do, including taiko drumming, tea ceremony and archery.) I always go with the 3rd years to do kyudo which I’m getting moderately proficient at. On Saturday the kyudo club came to the school and set up a range for us to shoot. Always good fun to do. Sarv arrived Saturday night and Star Wars concluded at Matt and Dani’s on Sunday with Return of the Jedi. Sarv missed the last train back so stopped at mine for an extra night.
Sarv and I spent most of today just chatting and thinking about how we’d like to spend the remaining 2 months he has in Japan. He only has till January 3rd, in all likelihood, and familiar feelings of separation and loss are starting to loom. As such I’ve decided not to go home for Christmas. At over £1000 the flight was looking way too expensive anyway and my holiday is so short this year I would only get 1 week, max! This was not an easy decision by any means as I have been feeling a little homesick lately. I wanna see the family, my friends back home, just be in the UK again for a bit. But the cost of the flight for such a short time was weighing heavily on me too. This is the last time Sarven will live in Japan, most likely. He won’t spend another Christmas here. Ever since NUFS we’ve all known the pain involved. Separation. We are family too. At least I feel that way and I like to believe everyone else does too. I want to know that, for the rest of our lives, we’ll at least be able to get together for a reunion holiday in Japan, the US, the UK, Canada or Australia, maybe once a year. But…. this is the last chance for me to spend this time here, now, with Sarv. So that’s what I’ve decided to do. It hurts to disappoint everyone back home and hurts knowing I won’t see them for a little longer now… but right now I feel Sarv is my priority. I love everyone back home and miss them. But you, all of you, you are my family too and I love you too. Count on it.
BAM!!!
Comments (4)
i’ve always liked chris cornell. it’s a good song.
according to polls, it looks like you might have your way. right now he has a strong lead, but it doesn’t mean that all of the people polled are actually going to get off their lazy bums and vote. i’m optimistic, though.
we watched “robin hood: men in tights” this weekend. your archery thing reminded me of that. haha. sounds like fun, though.
those inevitable separations definitely suck… starting to think about those myself. kinda ready for those to not happen anymore.. eh. enjoy that time you have, and try not to worry about it too much.
OSU!
I’m really happy (selfishly so) that you decided to stay during Christmas and it makes me feel valued like family for you to make a big decision like that. I’m actually really really looking forward to having an awesome christmas this year. Back in oz my direct family are the only ones living in Adelaide, meaning that christmas has always been a 4 person thing – always understated and same-old. We don’t have that big christmas dinner with extended family and all that stuff, and even occaisionally tried inviting close friends over but of course they have their own family things so it ends up being a bit depressing. This year however the idea of doing the huge family thing is actually exciting! Especially for those who are living here away from their own countries and direct family, to share that moment together will be awesome. And as you mentioned probably the last feasible chance to do so.
Best song ever!
How the poo did I miss this update??
Chris Cornell is da bomb. Actually, that’s an insult, because it’s a stupid compliment. He’s awesome. I wish I could sing like him. And Casino Royale is just an all around excellent movie. The best Bond movie by far, in my opinion.
It’s pretty cool that you get to have Christmas with Sarv and his family. I really would have loved to have stayed and met his family and had Christmas with you guys, too, but I’ve got a nephew to meet and a sister who is threatening to send me money every month if I don’t come home on account of money problems. It really sucks, though, that Dani and I won’t get to see Sarv again once we head home on the 20th
Also pretty cool that you’re getting better at Kyudo. I’ve always thought archery would be a fun thing to be good at, but back home it’s the kind of thing reserved for rich kids who go to expensive summer camps.