Almost goodbye.
Aug. 26th, 2004 01:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elwenI feel kind of weird leaving that thing down there at the top of my entries for so long. ^^;; But I don't really have anything to say.
It's my last day at work... tomorrow I pack, and then it's home... sixteen hours later and forty-five minutes before. I wish there was something I could do with the negative time, but Customs will eat it. (If only it weren't for that pesky four hour layover in Vancouver.)
I gave a presentation on my research yesterday, in Japanese, unlike any other [foreign] intern ever, even though one of them last summer was a major in Japanese studies. Gave a much briefer farewell aisatsu (I would normally translate it as "greeting", but that doesn't work in this context) also in Japanese. I seem to have forgotten to take into account the fact that my bosses were going to have gifts. Perhaps I ought to try packing before going to buy more presents for people tomorrow.
(Candy seems like such a trite thing to bring back for the anime club... but what else would be space-saving, appropriate, and keep for three more weeks?)
I have been reading this all morning, and it is messing with my head. It's like... three parts Harry Potter, two parts "Now and Then, Here and There", one part Ender's Game, and a whole bunch of other things I can't recall. Of course, it is also very original and wonderful.
As always, going away does not really sink in for me until I'm gone. As I predicted, ten weeks have gone by in a flash.
The questions people keep asking:
Where was the best?
Himeji Castle, hands down. Thanks to an awesome volunteer English-speaking tour guide, the castle literally came alive. All the little secrets, and the way the people lived. Instead of walking through a bunch of rooms that all looked the same, we went by servants' quarters, storage areas, Princess Sen's suite... instead of walking past walls, through gates, and up stairs, we saw how they were designed to hinder the enemy and give advantages to the defenders. The place was rich in history and ripe for imagination.
What was the worst?
Before, I complained about how stupid people can be in tourist-type places. I want to scream at people who take flash pictures of a fishtank plastered with notices asking you not to. Not only is it harmful, but the guilty party gets nothing out of it either but a bright spot of overexposed film. ...but that is not a daily annoyance. I think the subtle constant bother is just the smoking. It seems these days that I always end up walking behind someone with a cigarette, and I can just feel the tar in my lungs as I try to escape his wake. I should take a picture of one of the anti-smoking posters that have appeared of late. They're kind of neat, providing little facts, like how dangling your hand at your side puts a cigarette at the level of a child's face.
What will you miss the most?
The trains. Really. Even when I was here before, I don't think I fully comprehended what an integral part of life they are. And they're just so convenient. I can go anywhere without worrying about taking a wrong turn or stressing over changing lanes. And somehow, despite how frustrating it is to lose three hours of every day to commuting, I still enjoy sitting on the train and idly listening to the announcements over the clatter of the rails.
Maybe I was a little weary of this country, a few weeks after I arrived. But it's grown on me again, and I'm probably more familiar with it now than that world outside my sheltered little bubble back home anyway.
...listen to me. I sound like I've already left.
Well, I guess I had something to say after all.
It's my last day at work... tomorrow I pack, and then it's home... sixteen hours later and forty-five minutes before. I wish there was something I could do with the negative time, but Customs will eat it. (If only it weren't for that pesky four hour layover in Vancouver.)
I gave a presentation on my research yesterday, in Japanese, unlike any other [foreign] intern ever, even though one of them last summer was a major in Japanese studies. Gave a much briefer farewell aisatsu (I would normally translate it as "greeting", but that doesn't work in this context) also in Japanese. I seem to have forgotten to take into account the fact that my bosses were going to have gifts. Perhaps I ought to try packing before going to buy more presents for people tomorrow.
(Candy seems like such a trite thing to bring back for the anime club... but what else would be space-saving, appropriate, and keep for three more weeks?)
I have been reading this all morning, and it is messing with my head. It's like... three parts Harry Potter, two parts "Now and Then, Here and There", one part Ender's Game, and a whole bunch of other things I can't recall. Of course, it is also very original and wonderful.
As always, going away does not really sink in for me until I'm gone. As I predicted, ten weeks have gone by in a flash.
The questions people keep asking:
Where was the best?
Himeji Castle, hands down. Thanks to an awesome volunteer English-speaking tour guide, the castle literally came alive. All the little secrets, and the way the people lived. Instead of walking through a bunch of rooms that all looked the same, we went by servants' quarters, storage areas, Princess Sen's suite... instead of walking past walls, through gates, and up stairs, we saw how they were designed to hinder the enemy and give advantages to the defenders. The place was rich in history and ripe for imagination.
What was the worst?
Before, I complained about how stupid people can be in tourist-type places. I want to scream at people who take flash pictures of a fishtank plastered with notices asking you not to. Not only is it harmful, but the guilty party gets nothing out of it either but a bright spot of overexposed film. ...but that is not a daily annoyance. I think the subtle constant bother is just the smoking. It seems these days that I always end up walking behind someone with a cigarette, and I can just feel the tar in my lungs as I try to escape his wake. I should take a picture of one of the anti-smoking posters that have appeared of late. They're kind of neat, providing little facts, like how dangling your hand at your side puts a cigarette at the level of a child's face.
What will you miss the most?
The trains. Really. Even when I was here before, I don't think I fully comprehended what an integral part of life they are. And they're just so convenient. I can go anywhere without worrying about taking a wrong turn or stressing over changing lanes. And somehow, despite how frustrating it is to lose three hours of every day to commuting, I still enjoy sitting on the train and idly listening to the announcements over the clatter of the rails.
Maybe I was a little weary of this country, a few weeks after I arrived. But it's grown on me again, and I'm probably more familiar with it now than that world outside my sheltered little bubble back home anyway.
...listen to me. I sound like I've already left.
Well, I guess I had something to say after all.
I miss the trains too...
Date: 2004-08-28 04:56 am (UTC)Re: I miss the trains too...
Date: 2004-08-30 05:40 am (UTC)(There was a big inflated one, and an inflated shinkansen, on one of the boats during Tenjin Matsuri. ^o^)
Is there a mascot for SUICA as well?