September 24, 2012

The second in this "Anniversary" series of posts is not an exciting memory, but one that anyone who has traveled, especially far from their home, will recognize; final packing.

I had booked my trip home via London for several reasons.  The first was that flying that direction happened to be less expensive. At first I balked at the idea of flying the "wrong way" around the earth to get home. After checking I found that I could stop in the UK for a bit and then continue to Florida with no penalty. After checking with friends in the UK I found that I could visit in various interesting places, and that I could travel by train for much of he distance.

How do you pack for that? For guidelines you look at the airline restrictions and at traveling convenience. I had already decided to reduce all that I had in Japan to the barest minimum. I had packed four boxes to be shipped by sea and had sent them on their way.  The rest needed to fit into luggage that I could manage on my own.  I was thankful for the airlines limits. Gone are the days of hauling two bags weighing 75 pounds as I did on my first trip to Japan!

I was finding it hard, funnily enough, to throw away old clothes.  I could not buy clothes to fit me in Japan, so I rarely threw things away, choosing instead to keep them clean and mended as well as I could and carry on. During the packing process I managed to throw a lot of things away. I had to think too about the weather in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland as well.  That meant I needed what I considered early winter gear in Japan. I was grateful that my friend Ruth M who was meeting me at Heathrow had mentioned that I could leave extra luggage at her place while I rambled about.

So, at the end of the day, I had packed my large hard-sided case on wonderful 360 degree wheels, the large wheeled duffel  for which this was the last big trip, a wheeled carry-on, and my new red canvas bag which was combined purse, lunchbox and computer bag. This is really one bag too many to handle, but I had scouted ahead for information on the availability of wheeled buggies at my destinations.

Below are group pictures which are required at any Japanese gathering of note. In this case, they are of additional goodbye celebrations in my honor.

Anniversaries

July through November is our family's Birthday sector.  It seems most families have some part of the year when most of these celebrations cluster. I am notorious for forgetting birthdays and anniversaries of those I love.  I'm not proud of it, but somehow I rarely have been able to come up with appropriate greetings on any sort of regular basis.  I have been trying to turn over a new leaf (yet again) to say something, send an email or mail a card even if it is a few days or weeks late. A sad state of affairs and I'm sure it says something about my personality or childhood or something.

This week marks some special remembrances for me. I started actively thinking about it when I received an email from the couple who now run the Ichikawa Guest Home. They've been there a year, which means I've been gone for a similar amount of time.

I've been to Japan four times and have come home from each of those trips in the late summer/early autumn. The last trip ended last year on September 25 when I flew from Tokyo to London.

I've said many times before, this last transition to the US from Japan was a difficult. But, you know what? I'm starting to get over it. I no longer am reduced to tears thinking of all that I left behind. I have started to embrace where I am now. Ready to think about moving forward, making decisions I couldn't come to grips with as yet.

A year ago today, I was being farewell-ed by my friends at church, watching the end of the Sumo tournament and being taken to a really nice restaurant for dinner.