Mama, I'm coming home.

Hey, guys. Sorry for the long silence. I was actually on a rockin trip last weekend, but just haven't had the time/energy to write about it... I'll see if I can get it in THIS weekend. XD You can check my photobucket for pictures.

But, hey. On to the main subject of this post.

I'm coming home.


No, not right now. I'm gonna finish out this semester, of course. But I'm not staying for the second.

Now, don't get me wrong. It's been fun. It'll continue to be fun for the last half of this semester, or so I presume. But really, I think that's enough.

I've been here. I've seen the sights, I've bought the plastic junk, I've ridden the trains, and completely failed to interact with the locals. And I think after another half-semester of this, it's time to pack it up and head back to where I belong.

Because that's what this trip has made me realize. I don't belong here. I guess a little piece of me thought I did. Every anime fan has that nagging voice that tells them that Japan is the greatest place in the world, and that all their problems will be solved if they go live there.

But it's all bunk.

I never realized it, but I had a good thing going for me back home. I had a family. Great friends, both in my hometown and at college. D&D, Kung Fu, and all the anime I could watch. And all the little things that you take for granted.

I wasn't stared at in public. I could go places without feeling completely awkward and unable to communicate. The people around me spoke English. The food was varied, tasty, and... recognizable. (I REALLY don't like Japanese food.) I could read the signs, I knew where to buy what, what section it would be in, and what it would look like. I could drive myself wherever I wanted to go, instead of being crammed into a train like a sardine, with NO handholds so that every time the train lurches I almost tumble into the people around me.

I thought, maybe, in Japan, I would meet more people like me. But I took for granted that I already KNEW people like me back home. And forgot that no matter what kind of Japanese person I found, we wouldn't be able to communicate, our cultures would be completely different, and I'd always be looked at as a Gaijin. And I also failed to realize that the international students here would be just like students anywhere else.

I got annoyed with Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and America in general, quite a lot. The people there were loud, I thought. They lived to drink and party. Well, it's no different here. Whether they're international or Japanese, most people here seem to be no less annoying than the people I left back home. I guess college students are college students, wherever you go, and drinking here seems to be even more popular, since the age is lowered, it's not taboo at all, and it's available everywhere--including the vending machine about two minutes from the dorm.

I'm not saying I made a mistake. It's been fun. I love seeing the sights, and cruising the Otaku district. And I've met some cool people, both gaijin and Japanese.

But now that I think of it, it was never my idea to stay a year in the first place. I only wanted to do a semester, but the woman in charge of the international programs convinced me to do a year.

Well, I think I had the right idea to begin with.

It's been great. But after all's said and done, I think that Japan is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. And one semester is a plenty long visit, if you ask me.