stars will always hang
in summers bleeding fangs
Tonight the heat feels like it is about to burst. Humidity, heat, tension. It is all coming to a head. Walking through the streets of Nishijin past flashing neon lights and screaming street vendors I felt sticky and confined by the heat pushing down from the clouded sky.
This place is terrible for a hangover. After a few drinks and a swerving bike ride home I lay in bed sweating the last drops of water out of my body and I awoke with a splitting headache. After forcing a few liters of water down with some drugs I decided it would be best to get a little exercise before I was to meet Brian to drive to the coast to go freediving.
There is a road that leads out of town into the mountains to the south. It begins as a dash through swerving motorbikes, cars, and busses along the flatland that comprises the city and climbs through the foothills. As the city recedes you begin the steep ascent along switchbacks up into the forest and eventually over the mountain pass into Saga.
I left at 10 but the day was already sweltering and I probably sweat about a liter before I had even begun to ascend the foothills. By the time I reached the mountain pass I had exhausted all my liquids and was just hoping to make it home alive.
The clock on my speedometer was about 20 minutes slow so I didn't have but 10 minutes to clean up before Brian got to my house. I showered quickly and tried to force down some fruit and peanut butter. While I was sitting in the kitchen I drank as much as I could but the water was running out my pores as quickly as I could put it it. I couldn't believe how much sweat was pouring out of my body. I saw Brian pull up downstairs and I grabbed a 2L bottle of water and thought that would suffice to replace the fluid levels in my body.
The water was gone by the time we hit the coast and I was beginning to feel a little better but as soon as I placed the mask around my head I developed the most excruciating headache imaginable. I had to fight through it though, thinking that this guy had gone out of his way to take me out there. I didn't think about the pressure of 20 feet of water above my head though and after a few descents I realized I could not go any further.
So there I am sitting at the shoreline on the verge of vomiting from the pain. The sun was relentless and the humidity wouldn't quit either. I've been in some miserable places before, but this is one of the worst.
But I am alive, a nap and some air-con did a world of good.
And it is about 10pm on a Saturday night. I can't even think about going out right now, but the extra sleep and the heat are keeping me awake and I don't know when I will find sleep tonight.
School started earlier this week and it is a bit strange to have only a few students in each class. There are two courses with class count above 10, but the other three are creepily small.
Everyone has been telling me that it is only a matter of time before the weather begins to cool down and become quite comfortable. Until then, we're all stuck sweating through the days and into the nights like tonight. There will be a few things that will happen in about 2 weeks that will make my life much more comfortable. The weather, an internet connection at home, cable television, and a phone. I will just have to make it through a few more of these hot lonely nights practicing Katakana quietly in my huge apartment.
This experience has been strange so far and I wonder if I will ever become used to this place, comfortable with life here. I have had a near constant feeling of uneasiness ever since I got here. That, coupled with the anxiety before leaving and I haven't really felt normal in about a month now. It is beginning to wear on me and I can say that I am not happy. I can't place where my uneasiness comes from so it is hard to take steps to calm it. Is this part of the experience, feeling like crap?
Brian told me that it will be quite some time before I feel more comfortable here. It is a hard place to get used to especially since I am constantly thinking of someone back at home. He's been here for a decade and has been away from America for 20 years. One of the problems with life abroad is that as you become comfortable with one place, you lose your comfort level back home. So now, when you go back you feel out of place and long to leave again. But as you jump around to different places you lose the feeling of comfort for any once place at all.
But that is one man's opinion and my reaction to all of this will be as unique as I am. I can't think about it too much or I start to scare myself.
This place is terrible for a hangover. After a few drinks and a swerving bike ride home I lay in bed sweating the last drops of water out of my body and I awoke with a splitting headache. After forcing a few liters of water down with some drugs I decided it would be best to get a little exercise before I was to meet Brian to drive to the coast to go freediving.
There is a road that leads out of town into the mountains to the south. It begins as a dash through swerving motorbikes, cars, and busses along the flatland that comprises the city and climbs through the foothills. As the city recedes you begin the steep ascent along switchbacks up into the forest and eventually over the mountain pass into Saga.
I left at 10 but the day was already sweltering and I probably sweat about a liter before I had even begun to ascend the foothills. By the time I reached the mountain pass I had exhausted all my liquids and was just hoping to make it home alive.
The clock on my speedometer was about 20 minutes slow so I didn't have but 10 minutes to clean up before Brian got to my house. I showered quickly and tried to force down some fruit and peanut butter. While I was sitting in the kitchen I drank as much as I could but the water was running out my pores as quickly as I could put it it. I couldn't believe how much sweat was pouring out of my body. I saw Brian pull up downstairs and I grabbed a 2L bottle of water and thought that would suffice to replace the fluid levels in my body.
The water was gone by the time we hit the coast and I was beginning to feel a little better but as soon as I placed the mask around my head I developed the most excruciating headache imaginable. I had to fight through it though, thinking that this guy had gone out of his way to take me out there. I didn't think about the pressure of 20 feet of water above my head though and after a few descents I realized I could not go any further.
So there I am sitting at the shoreline on the verge of vomiting from the pain. The sun was relentless and the humidity wouldn't quit either. I've been in some miserable places before, but this is one of the worst.
But I am alive, a nap and some air-con did a world of good.
And it is about 10pm on a Saturday night. I can't even think about going out right now, but the extra sleep and the heat are keeping me awake and I don't know when I will find sleep tonight.
School started earlier this week and it is a bit strange to have only a few students in each class. There are two courses with class count above 10, but the other three are creepily small.
Everyone has been telling me that it is only a matter of time before the weather begins to cool down and become quite comfortable. Until then, we're all stuck sweating through the days and into the nights like tonight. There will be a few things that will happen in about 2 weeks that will make my life much more comfortable. The weather, an internet connection at home, cable television, and a phone. I will just have to make it through a few more of these hot lonely nights practicing Katakana quietly in my huge apartment.
This experience has been strange so far and I wonder if I will ever become used to this place, comfortable with life here. I have had a near constant feeling of uneasiness ever since I got here. That, coupled with the anxiety before leaving and I haven't really felt normal in about a month now. It is beginning to wear on me and I can say that I am not happy. I can't place where my uneasiness comes from so it is hard to take steps to calm it. Is this part of the experience, feeling like crap?
Brian told me that it will be quite some time before I feel more comfortable here. It is a hard place to get used to especially since I am constantly thinking of someone back at home. He's been here for a decade and has been away from America for 20 years. One of the problems with life abroad is that as you become comfortable with one place, you lose your comfort level back home. So now, when you go back you feel out of place and long to leave again. But as you jump around to different places you lose the feeling of comfort for any once place at all.
But that is one man's opinion and my reaction to all of this will be as unique as I am. I can't think about it too much or I start to scare myself.
Devin thought this was worth your time
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