Travel Journal – Sunday 27/4 – 08

Now I’ve been here for two weeks, but it barely feels like one. This is all because of this past week when we done very little. Now in the end we did quite much and tomorrow Danielle will leave so I wonder what will happen then. I will probably go to a hostel in a few days and try to live there instead. I won’t have to get a train every time I want to meet people. But I’m not sure yet. It depends a little on what happens in the next few days. One thing thou is for sure, my Japanese isn’t going to improve almost anything this trip. I’ve barely spoken Japanese so I guess I’ll have to go here again until I can speak in conversations without being like Makoto is right now…

Yeah, let’s recap a little. When we got home around 2 with the taxi they were both sleeping, so we just got to bed. I was beginning to become tired from the beers I’ve had and from the long, warm, and not to comfortable ride with the taxi on the wrong side of the street. So here the trains beat the taxis/cars/busses by far. It’s A LOT cheaper, it’s A LOT faster, and it’s actually more comfortable too, even thou you have to sometimes stand up the whole trip or things like that. So I don’t advice anyone to have taxi in Japan. It’s about 50 SEK per 2 kilometres, and their ways here are a lot like a beehive. So it easily can be quite a lot.

Well today we got up doing almost nothing at all other than chatting, well Danielle and Makoto went to the expensive public bath house, I myself is right now waiting for the cheaper one to open instead, so in the morning me and Nathalie were chatting talking about books and films and music and a little about Austria and Sweden and things that are alike and not alike in our respectively Japan and our countries. I never realized this before, but after the Tea Room, where we discussed a little about society, Sweden seems very, very expensive in a lot of areas, not to mention that they say that our taxes are really high compared to most countries. I now that it’s something like a third of what one earns but obviously in Japan the tax are from (none) to at MOST 15%. But then again much is better in Sweden too. Like our medical care and things. But overall it seems like we still are very expensive, even thou we are almost equal to the British, but according to Jim we are still more expensive than them.

Well, we also talked about travelling and how it is to be away from home. Nathalie says she experiences some ups and downs, but she still lives home too. But of course she sometimes misses things they have back home. I do too, like food and sometimes people I want to chat with or something, but it’s very relaxing at the same time trying to escape them here, not having to worry about things I would have had to worry about back home. One thing I’ve thought about is school. I’m getting a little tired of all meaningless tasks we get in the program at the university, and even thought of maybe do something else instead after the summer. The winter education made me change my mind, when we spent ten funny days together, but now these past two weeks, plus the four I spent travelling or just changing course, I’ve once again felt like it is to be the old me that actually did whatever he wanted to and not were stuck at one place at the same time, just living on the verge. And talking to all these people around my age that for the moment is out in the world travelling makes me remember things from before.

But still, I can’t just let everything I like go away, so I either have to get rid of it or finish it. But feelings comes and goes all the time so who knows what will happen anyway? I need to go home, think about things again, but I think I will continue with school, at least until summer comes, and then I’ll se what I can figure out what to do. To go crazy again, and collect as much money as I can and then just leave the old place and become the old venturous me or to stay back home and be the calmer me. I know that some appreciate the calmer me, but sometimes I feel like I don’t get what I want from those people anyway. Not enough appreciation and understanding perhaps.

Well, speaking of which, I finished one of the three series I brought along with me just recently, and this series have given me a lot of new ideas, for campaigns, society and characters. And other plots, which I want to try in role-playing. I will probably try it if I can when I get back home, maybe I do something like start a new group within TA and play RPG even more, but the question is if I’m capable of doing this while studying. Well, I’ll now take a break from writing and go to bathe and eat before the others come back. I decided to stay back here all day, wanted to take it easy and finish the series, so the others went to Ueno zoo to spend money, Nathalie went to a museum. I don’t like museums but I have nothing against zoos just that I don’t want to spend money on it today, and well, I rather not be around Makoto either. The plan is to go out tonight, I hope we can do that, so I think I will post this on my way to the Sento and maybe write what happen this evening in the post for tomorrow instead. If it’s as crazy as the last one it will be protected with a password again, and then you’ll have to mail me a request again, it won’t be the same password.¹

Best regards,
Herid Fel

1. I’m now up to 36 pages, and this post is posted at 09:31 Swedish time which is 16:31 for me ↩