I'm feeling all together too fine for as much as I drank last night. What a great evening that was. Went to Kyoto and had a wonderful dinner with friends at a restaurant called Normandie that serves Mediterranean cuisine. After that we walked over to The Hill of Tara to meet up with more friends for a final send off bash for Mick, who is moving back to Australia next week.
I'm really going to miss hanging out and socializing with people of all nationalities when I get back to NH. I just don't imagine I will often (if ever) find myself dining and drinking there with friends from Australia, Canada, Japan, Belgium, England, Ireland, New Zealand, etc. I guess that's one of the benefits of the expat lifestyle.
There are a million things I could tell you about here that drive me crazy about living in Japan. And probably an equal number of things that make me feel very privileged to live here. Walking through Kyoto yesterday after running errands before meeting everyone for dinner I found myself delighted by something on almost every block-- a Japanese fan shop, the imposing front of the Long Sword Preservation Society, a huge 100 yen shop, vintage clothing stores, the Yada Shrine at Teramachi which perfumes the whole shopping arcade with its incense. I poked around in Kyukyodo for a while. They sell the most beautiful stationary and paper. It's one of my favorite places to buy gifts.
I think a few years away will allow me to better appreciate what is here. I don't think I've taken advantage of all the opportunities there are to pursue here. I've been very inward focused, concentrating on family and not so much on networking. I don't think that's been a mistake, but I think maybe the time to change is approaching.