Moving to another country hasn’t entirely been a walk in the park, and I just want to share that upfront so that when I’m gushing about things later you’ll know there is a toll.
This post has no real pictures with it.
It’s cold and wet
It’s only been 4 days at the time if writing, but it’s cold and wet. The first two days were almost entirely rain and about 50 degrees. Yesterday the sun actually came out (lucky for an event we ended up at). Today it is back to overcast and 60, with rain just creeping creeping around the corner. The rain isn’t massive storms, just a steady drizzle, the kind of weather that makes the iOS weather app show rain every day of the forecast.
Feeling stuck
At the current moment life basically feels like waiting. It’s raining all the time, so it’s a pain to go out.
We have little in terms of Japanese Yen after buying a bunch of appliances we needed (like a refrigerator), and the money we do have is mostly controlled by Sarah.
There is nowhere I can really go with the kids and basically just “have a good time”. I’m sure that is mostly just my lack of area knowledge, but that shortfall feels permanent because I can’t just ask people for tips, or go online to look for local resources.
The fish out of water
And the last thing isn’t really any surprise, but it kind of sucks to be the foreigner. I stand out like crazy, both in height and also I have a beard (for now) which I’m told makes me look like a celebrity, an artist, or a vagrant.
I can’t communicate well, and that’s on me but boy it is lonely. Sarah went with her grandma to make introductions to our neighbors, but I was left at home so that the neighbors might actually open their doors. Kid 1 turned to me at the playground yesterday and apropos nothing said “no one understands you, dad”— no kidding. My first errand by myself I totally botched due to a miscommunication with Sarah, and eventually I was trying to communicate with four older female employees at the hardware store for about 10 minutes before I could get my checkout just canceled. Sarah went back to the store to explain the issue and make the purchase. Of course, this is the big general store that is about 400m from our place so I’m sure I’ll die with embarrassment when I go back later this week.
All adds up
Yesterday morning some of these things came to a head when I woke up. Kid 2 has been waking between 11pm-3am since we arrived, and I basically had a headache all morning and an awful feeling of what was probably just sadness and stress. Ultimately I puked by 8:30am which led to a nap, and I started to feel better. The day improved as well, getting sunny and a little warmer. We headed to a playground where a local firefighter event for kids was happening. The good feeling has returned, at least for now, and I’m looking forward to the days to come.
It’s more natural to write about the positive stuff, and probably more interesting to read, but I’ll likely make note of the crappy stuff, too. After all, I can’t resist a good gripe.