One year in Japan

Wow. Kim has let me write a guest entry in her journal to commemorate the fact that we have been in Japan for exactly one year today.

It's kinda scary that it was 12 months ago we quit our jobs, packed our furniture into a big wooden storage box (or dumped it with friends) and ventured off to build a life together in Asia's bustling capital. It really seems like just a few weeks ago that we were sitting on cushions on the floor, eating 2-minute noodles off an upturned cardboard box and lamenting about the fact that our humble Aussie dollar could buy nothing in this city.

We've come a long way - the many friends who have passed through recently can testify that our apaato is now very homely and comfortable. Work has been good and we have managed to make quite a few weekend trips lately (although I do concede that when you live in a concrete jungle of neon lights and crowded trains, the mere sight of a tree or a small river makes you feel overwhelmingly at one with mother nature!).

We also have an ever-expanding network of good friends to get drunk at izakayas and sing karaoke with. They are showing us some of the crack-in-the-wall basement bars and quality hiking spots that we may not have known about otherwise. Our Japanese skills are improving with various degrees, and Kim is capturing it all here for digital prosperity.

The only problem is - what the hell are we going to do when we eventually go home? It could be another year or two before we have to face these questions, but at the moment we have no frigging idea what the future post-Japan holds. Being an English teacher is rewarding - I am a celebrity at school every day; Kim has her cabin attendants cry and tell her that they love her at the end of each last class... consistently! Where are we going to find that kind of job back home? Not in a corporate office, that's for sure.

We try not to think about it - we're too busy enjoying the Tokyo lifestyle.