People always ask me if I ever get tired of living in Japan or if there are things that bother me. Well, I have to answer 'yes' to both questions. First, after almost 3 years of living here (although not consecutively) I am ready to move on. I am 'content' right now with my life. I have a really nice apartment. I am able to persue my hobbies such as tennis and pottery. I am living reasonably close to my boyfriend, Jin. Then there's the fact that I have Jin, who is far better than I have ever hoped for. I may not have the ideal job...who does? But basically, I guess I have the 'been there, done that' feeling about Japan (and I realize that sounds haughty but, hey, it's the truth). Of course, if I am accepted to Grad. School, I will find my self once again studying Japan and it's culture but at that time, it will be doing it in comparison to Korea. Not to mention that it will be in Sweden.

When I moved back here last February, I made several people promise me that if I was still living here after 2 years, they would come after me and drag me out. (I have a habit of becoming too comfortable in any given situation and forgetting about what I really want until I force myself to make good on a previous promise to myself.) I am pretty confident that I won't need their help this time around.

As for the question of things that bother me...yes, there are quite a few. First of all, there is the traffic situation. Since trains in Japan are kind of expensive, I ride my bicycle everywhere I need to go, rain or shine. Almost everywhere I need to go is within 30 minutes of my house. Jin's house, however, is 1 hour away by bike. (By train...1 hour + $5 in fare.) So, I make the trip back and forth 1-2 times per week. It is these times when I find myself most annoyed. In Japan, there are, apparently, no road rules. Cars dominate the roads...andthe sidewalks. Just the other day, on my way to pottery class, I was run off the sidewalk by a car and run into another bicycle by a truck. Then there are the cyclists who tend to swirve back and forth across the sidewalk when they see me coming...even if I am 30 ft. away and on the opposite side of the sidewalk. I can't quite figure out if it is a 'foreigner thing' or if they do that when anyone is riding their bike in the vacinity.

Then there is the fact that anything on Japanese television is based on food or celebrity lifestyles. Being someone who isn't obsessed with food and just doesn't care about celebrities, I find this very boring. And, of course, there is always the fact that I can't buy pants here in Japan. In America, I am certainly not thin but I am not fat either...in Japan I may as well be Jabba the Hut.

But, I suppose that's enough. It seems to me that I have been doing nothing but complaining here on this web site. I am really not a negative person but recently I've been restless. Soon I will be back to my happy-go-lucky self. Bear with me.