Alive&well

The weather in Japan is a constant change...guess it's a bit like life. Just been reading up on different blog sites that I regularly visit. Interesting to see what type of friends other people keep in their company. But, have you ever felt inadequate compared to another human being? It feels like their life and the people they know are just so much more interesting and intense than the friends you behold. Guess that's why the grass is always greener on the other side. But, I don't want to be like them. I love my friends just as they are.

Lisa came and visited for a week and a half during my spring break. She met lots of my Japanese friends and started picking up the Japanese language. I was very impressed. Though it was only a few words and a few phrases, she did have the heart to remember it and to try it out a couple of times. To lean a new language, it is definitely better to be immersed in it. My Japanese friend Miwa said to me, how can your sister look Japanese but yet not understand a word of it? Well, that was like me too. When I first came to Japan, I had no Japanese in me. I didn't understand the simplest of greetings and what they were talking about. Those days were hard. I am proud of myself and how far I've come, from not understanding to understanding. But, that's not enough! I have to study harder and be able to achieve something. I think my goal for my last year here in Japan is to take the Japanese Proficiency test - Level 2. Should be a great challenge. And very rewarding if I pass it.

The original plan was to go back to Sydney at the end of July this year. But that's all changed now. I will now stay for my third and final year in Japan. Which means, I don't have to think about where my next phase in life will be...not just yet, anyways. To say I don't think about it is a lie though...it is always there in the back of my head, a little vocie whispering "where will I be? where will I go? what do I want to do next?" But, the answers are not as loud as the questions, maybe it's just slowly brewing and when the timing is right, it'll surface automatically. Life is definitely a bag of mystery...never know what and who will pop into your life.

In life should we bank on money or experiences? The money we make, should it go towards travelling or into our piggy banks for that unexpected rainy day?