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?
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