Forward and Back

Today I went to a hanko shop to get my very hanko. In Japan, when you need to sign your name to start an account at the bank, get an apartment, or do anything else of equal importance, you use a hanko stamp instead of your signature. For a Japanese person it's totally normal to go into one of these shops to get your own personl hanko. For a gaijin to walk in is not normal. For a gaijin to walk in and ask for their name spelled out phonetically in katakana is even more not normal. At least it made the shop owner laugh and say things like, "This is not a Japanese name." Situations like that make me smile and know that living overseas is different. There are also situations that bring me close to tears and make me realize living overseas is different. Life is a balance, there's good and bad.
There are about two days/month that I miss familiarity. My city has become at least somewhat familiar to me, and I have a lot of the JR and various other subway lines in Tokyo basically memorized, but it's not familiar. It's not where I came from, nothing here is a part of what shaped me (yet). I can blend in as well as possible but not completely. If I wanted to, I could build my life here. I could start a career, I could learn Japanese, I could do everything like a Japanese does. But even then I would still never be Japanese and this would never truly be home. So two days/month I feel sad. I'm really hoping to change that and soon make it only one day/month and then maybe one day/other month. We'll see. Maybe being away is taking it's toll?

From enlightenment to pay raises

I've been reading The Brother's Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky and am surprised that it reminds me how amazing God is and how intricate life can be. I wasn't really expecting that from the book although seeing as it is Russian, maybe I should have. It's the sort of book that reveals who you are to yourself. As if you can see yourself reflected in the character and it makes you think about what that means. If you don't learn something about yourself, it at least helps you reflect on humanity and understand what people are. Even though we're all people, we don't always understand what that means.
More exciting than a book, I went snowboarding for the first time in Gunma this past week. It was a GREAT but painful time. After we snowboarded, we went to Onsen which means hot spring in Japanese. A really good idea for when you just did something that makes your whole body hurt! The view from the Onsen was really beautiful and made better by the fact that it started to snow. So, you saw a snow covered hill with a couple trees, through the steam rising up from the onsen bath, as snow drifted slowly down. Beautiful. I don't have my camera now, but when I get it back, pictures will be posted.
I also saw Percy and the Olympians over my spring break. It was HILARIOUS but I'm pretty sure the parts I thought were funny weren't supposed to be funny. Omar thought it was an awful movie. I guess I would agree except that I was laughing through a lot of it.
This post is super choppy but I think my mind has drifted away from being focused on it. I have no big news to report except I'm expecting my alien registration card this week and should be moving this week as well. I really really hope I move, anyways. I also get a raise in my next paycheck, so the extra money will be awesome.