Well, a lot has happened since my last post - most noticeably, I went to see my favourite band in the whole world ever, Radwimps, live, and words cannot express how amazing it was. I didn't think it was possible to love them more, but I was proved wrong.
It's nearing the end of the rainy season and it's been very, very hot and humid for weeks now. One thing I've noticed - you never see Japanese people sunbathing. Caucasian people try their very hardest to be darker, but Asians see white skin as beautiful and do everything they can to keep theirs as pale as possible. It's common to see women walking around with umbrellas up when the sun is out. Another thing is that the Japanese have developed a very heat-friendly fashion sense - in England when it's hot people wear as little as possible and show as much skin as possible, but the Japanese just go with light and loose. It's practical and protects against sunburn - there's still people walking around with long sleeves. I don't know why the West hasn't caught on to this.
Naturally, with only a month or so to go, we've all started thinking about leaving. We had a meeting today to sort out how to cancel our internet and phone, how to move out of the dorms, etc. It's all getting a bit more real. I'll not lie, there are things I'm definitely looking forward to having back: BBC iPlayer, Marmite, savoury bread, HP sauce, roast dinners, chips, being able to phone official people instead of making Japanese friends do it, Meadowhall Shopping Centre, London... actually, I've been steadily making the list in my head to convince myself going back won't be that bad. But the fact remains that whatever I miss from my home country, it's far less than what I will miss about Japan. To be quite honest, I could do without most things, but it's the people I don't want to leave. We've formed an amazing close-knit group of friends here and I can't, or don't want to, imagine being away from them.
As a result of this, the mood is slowly turning to one of impending doom. The words 「あ～、帰りたくねぇな」("Aa, I don't wanna go back") are heard at some point in every conversation. So right now, we're just trying to make the most of our last few weeks together. We're slowly getting through the "We Should Really Do That Before We Go" list, which mostly consists of restaurants we've seen/heard of but never gone to, or restaurants we've gone to but only once. Yes, a lot of eating is involved. No, I'm not complaining. I think the Japanese restaurant next to Japan Centre in Picadilly Circus will be my Mecca for the next few years until I can get back to eat the real thing.
And I will get back, I hope.
