Monday just flew by

I was able to talk with a friend over a video chat and catch up with her.  I'm thankful to be able to keep in touch with friends!  I miss hanging out with her, and I miss living in Michigan.

I had an interview with a recruiting firm.  I was asked what I want to do in the long run, but it's hard to know.  I wish I knew that..

While looking for a job, I need to revise one more paper!  And I want to finish the courses that I have not had time for!!

I've been tryinig to buy a SIM card and my credit card has been rejected for some reason, I don't know why.... uhh

It's been very cool these days.  We can just keep the window open and we don't need AC anymore!  It's such a nice feeling.

My sister came to visit, and I got to see my niece again for the first time in 8 months. She grew a lot and is almost standing up.  I gave her a Spartan T-shirt.  It's for 3 year olds, so she may need to wait a little bit, but I'm looking forward to seeing her wearing it :) 

A cat seemed to have hopped on my mum's car and played around.  We saw its footprints on the windshield.  It's so cute to find them.

 

A family day

I was able to see my grandparents and my uncle who are all living close to us.  It was a nice family reunion.. They are doing well mostly, though they have some issues related to their age.  Nothing beats in-person interaction, and seeing my grandparents make me glad I came back.  But at the same time, I want to live abroad again and want to work in an English speaking country.  It's really hard!

What one of my friends told me just before I left has been resonating in my mind for a while.  When she asked me why I leave the US, I said because my family is there. Then she said I can start my own in the US.  I did not think about it very deeply at that time, but it has been in my mind for quite a while.  My parents, grandparents, and sister, all have their own family, and they will be together wherever other family members will be.

I'll see where I will go next..

The weather is getting cooler, which is really nice!!

I found unbrellas of the internet game I like at a convenience store.  I like the very artistic patterns.

 

A day off - Italian, lipstick, and Kyoto

It was a relaxing Saturday.  We cleaned the apartment, then went to have Italian lunch.  I went to that restaurant for the first time in 2 years or so.

Despite the high number of cases in big cities, our city has fewer number of cases and the situation is more under control than other places.  Still, we are always wearing masks and not going outside the prefecture that much.  A little bit more of wait, and the situation will improve, I think...

I got a new lipstick for the first time in a while.  Familiarity is nice, but I've already kinda getting bored of this small city.  But it's also partly because I cannot see my friends in person.  It's nice to have family members to talk with, though.  I should look at the bright side of things!!  I want to have some work, maybe, to distract myself, feel recconnected to the society, and talk with other people outside my family.

I chatted with a friend of mine in Kyoto.  She's from Tokyo, but is working there and living by herself.  It's really nice to live in the old capital city, as there are many many historic sights there.  I think I want to live in Kansai area so that I can visit those places often.  It's a very touristy place, but is less crowded because traveling is discouraged. If I were to live there, I would probably have to choose an apartment without actually seeing it.  It's not ideal, but it's OK, I guess..

  

  

City hall and a haircut on a rainy day

I finally went to the city hall, checked in myself, got national health insurance, and applied for exemption for national pention enrollement.  That was a lot of paperwork!  Not the most exciting thing to do, but I'm glad the city hall wasn't crowded at all, and I didn't have to wait for long.  I think that's because it was rainy.  Rain is nice, it makes it much cooler. 

I also went to the police station to change my address on my driver's license.

Then I went to have a haircut for the first time in over 2 years!  It's great to have my hair cut and done professionally.  Stylists were very fashionable there, good examples to study.

I also took the second covid test just in case, 3 days after arrival to my hometown.  I'm grateful that I can take this test for free as many times as I want if moved from other cities/prefectures.  Negative result again, so that's good news.  The vaccination rate is increasing, and the number of cases decreasing.  A bit more patience, and there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Paper revision #1 is almost done!  Working on my paper reminds me of working in the US, my colleagues, classmates, friends, and the beautiful things about Michigan.  I really should and want to focus on the good things about my current situation, not what could have, would have, or should have, and indeed there are great things about living in Japan as well.  But I need some exciting thing (work?) to keep me engaged and focused. 

 

Job hunting & looking around

It was super hot and humid yesterday, and there was a downpour several times, like ones in the tropics!  I turned on the AC in my mother's room and worked there since it was unbearable in the living room! 

I was hoping that it would be cooler cos the temperature is lower, but the humidity offsets that.  A couple more weeks till the weather is nice...?

I started looking for a job in data science, interenational students' offices.  I'm interested in working in a global environment!  And what I'll do may not really matter...?  But I'm kinda hesitant to move away from research, just because I've done it for many years.  It's the concorde effect.  What could be an alternative?  That's another question that I'm wondering for a while now.

I also met with a recruiter at a human resource company to discuss potential positions I could apply for.  Here it is the job hunting process again~~  I just need to be patient and wait.  I sent my CV to a research consultant company, so I hope to hear back from them, too..! 

 

Home sweaty home..

It's so hot and humid!!  It's expected, but it's almost like being in the tropics.  The problem is that my dad doesn't like having the AC on during the day (it's the hottest time in the day, isn't it??), so the whole unit is hot.  There's wind that helps, but still sometimes it's not enough.  Oh I've been reminded of what it's like to live in Kyushu and what it's like to live with someone, both good and bad.

The good thing is that I don't have to cook and food is delicious, and it's nice to have someone to talk with.  It's a quiet neighbourhood.

I edited my article, updated my resume and CV, and took some history course classes.  I feel like to learn some more data analysis skills, but I'm not sure which one to start with.  I'd rather know which one is useful because there are so many programming languages and softwares out there, and each one takes a long time to get used to.  But maybe not.  I could start a random one and start playing with it.  That experience will perhaps be useful sometime in the future..?

Pandas-olympics-themed sweets I got at the airport.

 

 

Flying home and settling down for now

After 2 weeks + 2 days in Narita, I flew back to my hometown.  It was a beautiful sunrise at 5:30 after a thunderstorm. I will miss this hotel.  This was way better than a usual shoebox business hotel.  There was a service to ship packages from the hotel as well as shuttle service to the airport!

On the way to the airport, I saw a few other similar hotels like Hilton and ANA in the mountains. There are no shops or supermarkets within walking distance, so it'd have been very inconvenient to stay there for a long time (unless you have money to order UberEats or something every day!).

My flight was kinda crowded... not full, but the front half of the plane was almost full, and the middle seats were empty in the rear half.  I got a lot of sweets as a Tokyo souvenir as my mother asked me.  I'm glad some shops were open.  

Then I came back.. took a PCR test again for free!  I couldn't believe how smooth it was.  There's much more improvement in the system compared to last year, when there was no testing either when arrived in Japan or my hometown.

So.. that was very smooth.. My father picked me up at the station, and I was settled.  We did some DIY to build my temporary office like carrying some shelves around and making a nice table .  It was actually fun.  It's still surreal that I'm back here in Japan.

The sky was beautiful!