Random sentimental memories...

This picture was taken near the entrance to our apartment building. Everyday when I come home, this motorcycle with "2759" is sitting right here. It turns out that 2759 is also my address back in Topeka, the address I had from the time I was born until I moved away to Columbia. Everytime I see this bike, it reminds me that I'm 'home'. I have been meaning to take a picture of it, and today I finally did.
I have always been the type of person to look at something and try to find a deeper meaning in it. I am not surprised that during my time in Japan, I have also tried to look at things in that way. Normally I notice these things when I'm about to leave... so naturally in my last few weeks in Japan, I have been trying to take time to sit back and observe the world around me again... it's made me realize quite a few things that will always remind me of Japan.
There have been several 'themes' during my stay in Osaka. In the beginning, I saw E.T. everywhere. I was recently in a department store and they played the theme song, which made me laugh at all of the strange instances I have had here.
Another thing I see all the time are random gloves- I really do see these everywhere. I have just recently seen quite a bit more- maybe 2 or 3 each day- and it always makes me smile.
I have run into two people here that I was kind of hoping I wouldn't see again- the guy that talked about eating my dog, and the guy that Gopal almost punched near Ishibashi station. *See picture from that night...who knows why I took a pic of that?* But seeing them again made me laugh... it's like things are coming full-circle in a way.
Today I saw a guy that we met back in December, who was a visiting student from Korea. He's a really nice guy, and always stops to say hi if I run into him at the school. Today I found out he is flying back to Korea tomorrow after being here for a year. He summed up my feelings exactly- he is happy to go home, but sad to leave. I'm glad I got to see him again to say goodbye.
So I guess it probably sounds like I am just reading into all of this, and that is highly possible. Sometimes I am just observant enough to think that I am noticing these little things for a reason. Anytime I'm in America and I see a random glove or anything E.T. related, I will smile and think of Japan. Anytime I see salted ham, I will probably remember my disasterous attempt at cooking for the first time here. It is possible that sometimes I will look at Charley and remember the kid that talked about eating him. Anytime I knit, I will remember that I learned it here. I will also always remember how much fun it was to hang out with Casey so often- we are closer now than we have ever been. Even though it was hard sometimes to be cooped up in this little apartment, I will always be thankful for it because Casey and I have rediscovered why we are together.
So as midnight closes in, and my official 'one week left' mark gets closer, I am glad to take a moment to reflect on my time here. I am happy that I was able to share it with you, and hopefully entertain you a bit in the process. I think I will be starting another blog when I get back home- which will probably be a lot less exciting and have a lot less entries than this one. However, I am glad I was able to do the blog- both because I want to remember my experiences here, and because it was nice therapy for the boredom that goes with being a housewife sometimes. Thanks to those of you (you know who you are) who cared enough to read this and find out what we were up to. I highly encourage everyone to come to Japan at least once in their lives... you won't regret it!
On that note, I will leave you with another photo. This is one of my 'moments of zen'... petting a baby dear at Miyajima.

-Ash