Everything's Coming Up Milhouse .

I’ve been avoiding my blog for weeks. I haven’t known what to write, or what people would want to read. Do you want to know that for a few days I had that urge to run again? That I was suddenly too aware of how long one day is, and I wasn’t sure I could last another 340? Do you want to know that some days I spend my mornings looking at Skyscanner.com? And that I found a very cheap flight to Manila?

I can think of at least two people who don’t want to read that, mostly because one of them is approaching retirement and can’t afford to support me for the rest of my life.

But don’t worry, friends. I have a hard enough time committing to a beverage at 7-11 (that’s why I buy 3 at a time), never mind a nonrefundable plane ticket. Also, Ned Stark was just decapitated in Game of Thrones, so if I want to see the season finale, I have to stick around at least until Monday.

Seriously though, I’m not going anywhere.

Maybe I’m feeling hyper-aware of what I’ve just done. I’ve committed to something I actually have to stay committed to. I can’t break up with Japan when I lose interest, or quit my job on a day’s notice. I can’t catch the next flight to Nairobi when I get the sudden urge for a change of scenery (...I may or may not have done this before.)

The second I realized this, all of my worries about life in Japan just piled up on top of each other like a massive game of Frustration Jenga just staring me in the face - every piece reminding me of the family and friends I miss, of the chair I left empty in your kitchen where you’re drinking Value Red coffee without me. Of the fact that I’m illiterate, I can communicate with only one person, I break every piece of technology I touch and I’ve set 3 pieces of toast on fire. Cue the violins, please.

But if I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that nothing cures the blues like a bit of exploring. I've discovered places in Hidaka that make me a bit less scared of fact that I've signed my life away to an apartment lease and a real job.

For the last 3 days, the other ALT, Johnny, and I have ventured out on our matching battery-powered Bridgestone Assistas into the hills that surround Hidaka. We've explored the town's backroads, hiked Mt. Hiwada, and yesterday we found a cafe that's like all of my favourite places but better - like Safari Village, but I can get a cookie in less than 3 hours; Karl without the French ennui; Common Ground, but no one is trying to convert me. Yep, just a few cruises around town and everything's coming up Milhouse!


To everyone I’ve woken up and kept up; called in the middle of work, choking on tears, with not much to say; for the 2 hour Skype sessions and much needed laughs: Thank you.