Mou natsukashii.....

Yesterday I sat in a patio bar at Dejima wharf in Nagasaki city with some of my closest friends at the moment. All in all a very awesome group of people. Some of us are leaving this summer and some staying though, so I was trying not to get sentimental about being one of the leavers. We sat drinking beer, talking and laughing and then a guitar appeared. The boys started playing, then a drum box was discovered and that was put to good use as well. By the end everyone was singing and clapping together as the sun set over Nagasaki Bay, leaving the glimmering city lights to reflect off the ocean water. It was a really, really perfect Sunday, yet again.

Today I came into work with a bit of a hangover but was happy to see my co-workers. It was trash picking day (community service is pretty widespread here) and so we went outside in the sun to pick garbage. I was assigned the area near Omura castle and went with one of my favourite co-workers. We were speaking in Japanese for 10 minutes before I realized that I had not had any trouble understanding her the whole time. I had been replying in half English and half-Japanese and she had understood me as well (she doesn’t really speak English). Her comment was `it’s amazing that we understand each other at all!`. I had to agree.

I find recently that I don’t fear the future as much as I used to. There are so many stories, and moments and images of beauty in life that create this luxurious tapestry of experience. I want to live it all, to drink it all in, and to have the memories to fall back on when I am sitting on a beach somewhere in my old age. Hopefully even then I will be surrounded by good friends who like to drink, sing and laugh.