3 Weeks...

Tonight I officially celebrate the completion of my third week in Tokyo, with a corn-mayo bun and a can of black coffee.

I had another recruiter interview today, for a different position within a financial company. I guess this one is looking to hire someone "very quickly" so I guess I should find out soon. The recruiter seemed certain I would get an interview. He also seemed far less concerned about my technical qualifications and much more interested in my personality. He says that my positive, calm demeanor is exactly what the manager is looking for. I hope he's right, it's only a 3 month contract but the salary is much higher than what I was making in Toronto.

My Japanese language is improving. I can't even begin to say that it's "good" per se, but speaking Japanese is far less taxing on my brain then it was when I arrived. I also have a lot more confidence speaking Japanese to strangers and new people. In fact, some new friends that I've made such as Chie, Seiko, and Etchan can't speak English well so we speak entirely in Japanese. I'm also using mixi.jp a lot more (blogging, e-mailing) so my reading/writing is getting better too.

I guess you could say I really feel 'at home' here. Of course sometimes I miss my friends and family in Canada (no seriously, really!) but you know, when I was in Canada I missed a lot of my friends in Tokyo and other parts of East Asia.

I don't know if I believe in fate or not, but I do feel that for the last few years in Toronto, I've been delaying the inevitable. I knew that for better or worse, I had to come to Tokyo not just as a tourist, but as a resident. I'll always be a 'gaijin' here, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, after spending so much time in Canada with friends from abroad, it's great to experience the same kinds of things that I saw them go through when they came to Canada.

One last thing I want to say that's hard to describe. I feel like there's some kind of running dialog in my head, especially when I go out of the house. Like almost anytime I see something, I have some kind of observation or comparison to something from home. If I had the time and energy, there are a million different things I could say about anything from food to television to trains to fashion to cost of living prices, etc. However, as it is I probably spend at least 2-3 hours a day in front of my computer screen.