My 絶対たぶん fight to get Claritin in Japan

I, awake, can't imagine I'm leaving this place. But that's what I do every night.

That's what my subconscious does to me while I sleep. Last night, I dreamed I was back home again, but the details I've forgotten. All I know is that it felt like it was too early and that I should've extended my stay. The night before that, I dreamt I had lost 20 pounds after having come back to Japan. (That, sirs and mesdames, would've made me 116 pounds or so. For the layman that's 52 kg, about.) But after that the focus was more on me being back home. I skip Vancouver in my dream and go directly to Boston, or rather to my hometown; no, it's actually some faraway land that just isn't Japan. And I thought this was faraway enough.

Should I stay another semester? I really shouldn't. But when you're having such a good time, and living such a good life (I knock on wood as I say this), can you imagine it otherwise?

Tonight, I met a guy whose name was Yuuta. He wore a cap that said "Fuck The World" and sang a song called "Million Films" by コブクロ. A group of high-school or college girls walking by burst out into a part of the song as he strummed it out on his guitar. It was pretty clear that he was partially playing to get stress out of his system, but he was still doing a good job of making a pretty song out of it. After he was done, I biked over from the somewhat distant spot where I'd been listening and complimented him on his performance. I told him よかったですね　and 上手ですね and asked him what the song and artist were. My main intention, though, was to try to find out how or whether I could get a chance to hear the girl with the amazing voice sing again. He'd been playing in the same spot. Unfortunately, he didn't know the girl, but he was aware of two girls that sing where he does, so that means I do have a chance of hearing her again. Oh God, please. That would make my day, whatever day it happens to be. And, recalling that it was either a Saturday or a long-weekend Sunday night that I saw her, I'll try to ride there on such nights again.

Now that I think of it, she's the only girl I can recall seeing performing in the whole area downtown. Most of the musicians there are guys. Yuuta, like that girl, didn't have a basket for people to throw money in either.

Sigh. It's so good here. When I say "here," you can't forget about time. There's no time like college time, so when you think about actually working in Japan later in life, well, it looks more and more difficult to see this experience being possible to relive. And why not stay here and make it longer? I've got some good friends here, and a few of the closest ones are staying the whole year. Wow; I almost ended that sentence with "as well." What's going on?

As for the title, I can go over that stuff later, but this is the stuff that has just come to the top of my mind. For sure I don't want to try to "max out" my experience by living on the edge, getting less sleep than I should and trying to do everything and go everywhere and party and drink too much. I shouldn't try to "max out" the moderation, however. And by "moderation" I mean trying to live a moderate lifestyle that has both some of the crazy and some of the safety. Pardon the Engrish; actually, no. That's exactly what I mean. I don't want to have to constantly correct my situation here like I would with grammar in my sentences. Part of me wants to just let things play out the way they are, and that's how I've learned to roll, and that's why most of this experience has been so easy for me. I try to fix a few mistakes, and I realize that some mistakes can just be left mistakes and I go on. That's how you communicate in a language when you're not fluent in it. Unfortunately, I am fluent in English, so leaving sentences uncorrected like that would ordinarily bug and distract me from thoughts more important. But not tonight.

Tonight I want to try to sleep easy. Again. That is, I want to try again. At least with sleep you get so many chances to get it right. Ah, sleep. Oh, and I did sleep easy last night.

Time to let the thoughts float... perhaps tomorrow (today) I will talk about my trip to Kyoto... or my 絶対たぶん fight to get Claritin (or its equivalent) in Japan...

Also, today, I saw a shirt that said "I DON'T MISSING YOU" with a tiger on it. It was a hilarious shirt, but I decided it wouldn't look good on me (especially not in the lounge at school with Japanese people that would understand that the shirt is bad English and I'm making fun of it by wearing it) so I didn't buy it. I probably should've, and I might do that if I go back there. Shit, why didn't I take a picture?

Never mind. Next time. Until then, I don't missing you. (じょうだん。[translation: it's a joke.])