I just got an e-mail from one of my friends saying that she thought that my blog was interesting, even when I first started writing it and wrote about a whole lot of nothing. It got me thinking about that first year I was here and how I religiously wrote in that blog everyday. At that time everything was new and interesting; not always good but definitely interesting. I wish I could read those posts again. Sadly they have possibly been lost. The tragedy started when I had to quit writing in my blog because my company at the time, AEON, decided that we, as employees, weren't allowed to write about work or mention AEON in any way on the internet. I also had a problem when someone read my blog and figured out who and where I was (luckily she turned out to be a good person who would soon replace my coworker), but that's a much longer story for another time. Since more than half of my blog was about work, I had to delete it off the internet. At the time I still had another copy of everything I wrote on my computer. Then I got a new computer and put all of my files on to a CD. I have since lost the CD and goodness know if it will ever turn up again. That seems to happen to a lot of my storage devices...hmmm. Anyway, my first blog was really a journal, not a blog. I wrote exactly what I did and ate everyday. Occasionally there might have been something about culture or an exciting experience, but most of it was not really worth reading. Don't get me wrong, I would write the same thing if given the chance. It was very therapeutic. Being alone in a foreign country without many friends and no language skills can drive you a little crazy if you don't have some kind of outlet. Luckily I had three or four outlets, not counting the electrical ones. Writing my blog, talking on the internet phone with family and friends and ceramics kept me from pulling out my hair or doing some other self destructive yet meaningless thing. I've never lived in a big city in Japan, but I imagine that it's easier to make friends there than here. Living in a small town in Japan is probably the worst place to live if you are shy and/or don't speak any Japanese. If you can't go out and make your own friends, they won't come to you. If you go in alone to a bar or cafe, you will more often than not leave alone. Japanese people won't try to 'pick you up.' They might stare or ask strange drunken questions, but they probably won't become your friend. I say this and in my experience it's true, but I'm sure it has happened somewhere out there where some shy Japanese guy (or girl) was struck by lightening and you know the rest.


Going back to what I was saying before, that blog saved my sanity and I wish I could read it again. I think it would be a very entertaining read for the current me.

The picture is of my boyfriend's band playing at a restaurant/club in Matsumoto. It has absolutely nothing to do with today's topic, but it's a preview of the weekend.