Monday, January 10, 2005
A Safe Return
Well, I am safely back in Japan again. It’s good to be home. I had some trouble sleeping while in Oregon—going to bed really late and sometimes waking up really early. I assume it was adjusting to the time difference, but once I got back to my own apartment I slept so well I wonder if it’s just my own futon I missed… even that horrid bean pillow I have to sleep with!!
The trip back home was okay, but really long. During my second flight to Fukuoka I was pretty exhausted and couldn’t imagine the taxi to the port, the overnight ferry ride to my island and the 45-minute car ride I still had to take to get to my apartment. Luckily I was able to sleep a lot on the ferry and Catherine drove us back down to Narao in her car. *Thank you Catherine!*
These past two days have been great. I’ve just done my unpacking, rested and figured out the best system to stay warm in my apartment. Yeah, all that bragging I did back home about living on a tropical island has come back to bite me in the butt. It’s not tropical. It was 37º when I arrived and was snowing (although not sticking) on the car ride home. It’s was snowing pretty hard earlier today too, but nothing stuck. So my apartment is freezing. My electric heater which helped a bit before I left has no power against these temperatures. I’m using four different heating apparatuses and am still not very warm: the electric heater (which is expensive so I try to use sparingly), a halogen heat lamp for my upper body, a heating pad to sit on when the tatami mats are cold, and a kotatsu (heated table to sit under) for my legs. I’ve put up the sliding doors in my apartment to close off the living room because heating one room is easier than heating three. I dread going to the bathroom and sitting on the freezing toilet seat! Central heating is a luxury that I don’t want to go without in my own home!
School starts tomorrow and I’m really looking forward to seeing all my co-workers and students again. Tonight I have to organize all my souvenirs and gifts for everyone because I can’t show up empty handed. Besides the fact that I do want to give presents to those people who have been really kind to me, I have a cultural obligation to do it. Yesterday Catherine and I were hanging out at the onsen and we ran into the cake shop owner. I don’t know him, but Catherine has been to the shop a few times and so he held out his hands and said, “Omiyage” (basically, “What did you bring me?”). She doesn’t even know him that well! He may have been joking, but there may have been some truth to it as well.
I also have some bad news to share with many of you who knew my ex-boyfriend, Harald. As you may already know, his mother died of cancer just under a year ago, and I went to Norway to visit him in February. Well, he and his father have been living in Norway since she died and his father took her passing extremely hard. José, his father, was also diagnosed with lung cancer and had one lung removed last year. He never improved and had a minor heart attack and stroke just before the new year. Yesterday, early Sunday morning, José also passed away. Harald is an only child so while he has some relatives in the area, he has no immediate family and lives alone. I’m really worried about his well-being while going through this devastating and unfair situation. If you would like to send him your support (even if you did not know him he would appreciate knowing your thoughts are with him) please write me and I’ll give you his address. We all need reassurance in hard times like these.
In Memory of Jose Pernas. Summer 2001
The trip back home was okay, but really long. During my second flight to Fukuoka I was pretty exhausted and couldn’t imagine the taxi to the port, the overnight ferry ride to my island and the 45-minute car ride I still had to take to get to my apartment. Luckily I was able to sleep a lot on the ferry and Catherine drove us back down to Narao in her car. *Thank you Catherine!*
These past two days have been great. I’ve just done my unpacking, rested and figured out the best system to stay warm in my apartment. Yeah, all that bragging I did back home about living on a tropical island has come back to bite me in the butt. It’s not tropical. It was 37º when I arrived and was snowing (although not sticking) on the car ride home. It’s was snowing pretty hard earlier today too, but nothing stuck. So my apartment is freezing. My electric heater which helped a bit before I left has no power against these temperatures. I’m using four different heating apparatuses and am still not very warm: the electric heater (which is expensive so I try to use sparingly), a halogen heat lamp for my upper body, a heating pad to sit on when the tatami mats are cold, and a kotatsu (heated table to sit under) for my legs. I’ve put up the sliding doors in my apartment to close off the living room because heating one room is easier than heating three. I dread going to the bathroom and sitting on the freezing toilet seat! Central heating is a luxury that I don’t want to go without in my own home!
School starts tomorrow and I’m really looking forward to seeing all my co-workers and students again. Tonight I have to organize all my souvenirs and gifts for everyone because I can’t show up empty handed. Besides the fact that I do want to give presents to those people who have been really kind to me, I have a cultural obligation to do it. Yesterday Catherine and I were hanging out at the onsen and we ran into the cake shop owner. I don’t know him, but Catherine has been to the shop a few times and so he held out his hands and said, “Omiyage” (basically, “What did you bring me?”). She doesn’t even know him that well! He may have been joking, but there may have been some truth to it as well.
I also have some bad news to share with many of you who knew my ex-boyfriend, Harald. As you may already know, his mother died of cancer just under a year ago, and I went to Norway to visit him in February. Well, he and his father have been living in Norway since she died and his father took her passing extremely hard. José, his father, was also diagnosed with lung cancer and had one lung removed last year. He never improved and had a minor heart attack and stroke just before the new year. Yesterday, early Sunday morning, José also passed away. Harald is an only child so while he has some relatives in the area, he has no immediate family and lives alone. I’m really worried about his well-being while going through this devastating and unfair situation. If you would like to send him your support (even if you did not know him he would appreciate knowing your thoughts are with him) please write me and I’ll give you his address. We all need reassurance in hard times like these.
In Memory of Jose Pernas. Summer 2001
Thank you to everyone who sent me Christmas cards and letters to Japan this holiday. My mailbox was overflowing with fun correspondence when I got back and it just made Japan feel even more like home.
Best wishes for 2005,
Love, Sierra
