a season of change

The leaves are changing colors here. At first I thought someone was going around Oshima painting the leaves for fun! But no, apparently this happens every year, at around the same time. Amazing.

I never imagined having to put on a thick jacket, socks, and long pants just to hang up my clothes outside. The other night my apartment thermometer read 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit!) And so now I type this while my legs rest under my kotatsu (a heated Japanese-style table). I tried hooking up the gas heater in my apartment the other day, but when I turned it on, my whole place smelt of kerosene. I nervously approached the heater, ready for it to explode in my face at any given second. Luckily, for me, it didn't. But I decided that freezing might be better than dying of gas poisoning or a possible fire breaking out. I have about 4 thick blankets that I sleep with. On top of that, I wear a jacket, socks, and stockings to bed.

I close my eyes and think back to my tropical island home, further down south than the islands that make up Japan. I see myself sprawled out on my bed, with the screen windows in my room letting in the cool island breeze. I have a thin quilt that my friend's mom made for me covering my legs. My TV is on, but I can still hear my mom and dad watching TV in the living room. As eco-friendly as I may be, I would always fall asleep to the sounds of a favorite movie playing through my sound system. My mom would come in to turn it off as quietly as possible so as not to wake me.

This will be my first holiday season away from my family and friends. It's funny how some of the things I miss the most since coming to Japan aren't the obvious things I would have thought of back at home.

Things I miss the most (not in any particular order):

1. Eating dinner with my family at our dining room table with the drapes pushed back so that the neighboring grass fields and mountains can be seen in the background.

2. Watching movies with my brother in my room on my couch at 12am.

3. Seeing my friends on campus or walking into Bale to see friends hanging out at the bar.

4. Going to Walmart for no particular reason and leaving Walmart with a bag of stuff.

5. Watching a movie at an actual movie theatre.

6. The ability to drive to wherever I need to be at whatever time I want. (So dependent on the train here!)

7. Netflix

8. Cranium/alcohol nights at Heather and Brandon's house.

9. Wearing slippers

10. Yogurtland (there's only ice cream here!)

11. Running with my dad in shorts and a T-shirt (I now wear an undershirt, shirt, jacket, gloves, hat, stockings, and pants whenever I run!)

12. My mom's 10 million chicken recipes.

13. Getting text messages from my friends. (I can only use Facebook, gmail, or skype now.)

14. Church services at New Hope.

15. The ability to read the instructions on the back of food products. (I now guess what the instructions are saying by interpreting what the pictures mean.)

16. My pillow

17. Studying at Sinclair Library until 1am with my friends. Searching for a vending machine. Going on 711 food runs. And taking random naps on my cell&molec biology book.

I know this is not the extent of my homesickness. I know it comes in waves. I know that it will get worse as Christmas approaches. But for now, I'll just close my eyes and picture myself sleeping in my own bed. I feel closer to home when I do it.