So I’ve realized that part of why I’ve been posting less has been that I view fewer of the things in my life as eventful or noteworthy. Problem is, I made this blog so people can see what I’m up to, not just see the most interesting things I do.
So going forward, I’m going to try to post at least once a week, whether I feel like I have anything interesting to say or not. I kind of suspect I’ll find something to talk about each time, but even if it’s just “Things are normal here; I went out to eat on Tuesday,” at least you’ll know I’m still boring.
Our time in Los Angeles has been great. We’ve stayed basically the whole time with our friends Micah and Lizzy, who are unreasonably generous and I think would let us move in with them if we didn’t ask and just never bought plane tickets out of here. We spent a little bit of time in North Hollywood with our friends Alan and Debbie, who are also wonderful, and who I think would let us actually and fully move in with them if we asked.
But visiting Los Angeles is also a little… I don’t know the right word. Melancholy is definitely too strong, but whatever the word is for like a third of the way there. We lived here for six years, but I feel like at the end of that time we had only just gotten our feet underneath ourselves socially. We have a lot of people here that we would be friends with, probably pretty tight with, if we still lived here, but that we barely knew before we left. Micah and Lizzy play softball now and we’ve gone to every game they’ve had while we were here, and we would both probably be playing if we still lived here. There’s a nice church walking distance from Micah and Lizzy’s home that we would probably be attending if we still lived here.
It’s not that I regret leaving or even that I would like to live here again. (I would, if we were staying in the USA, but we aren’t.) I just have a little window into some of the ways my life would be different, and even if I’d still choose the path I’m on, it does make me aware of the opportunity cost.
And I do miss seeing movies in good theaters.
Which is why we’re soaking up Los Angeles while we’re here! We leave next week for Virginia; who knows how long we’ll be there? We still have no news or updates on our visas, but we’re not worried, we just wish we could plan our return to Japan better.