Hello, Goodbye!

Today my mum left after visiting me here in Japan for almost 4 weeks. Last night, at the dinner my colleagues had in her honour (!), I learned a new Japanese word: sabishii. I thought it meant 'to miss someone', but now that I look it up, it actually means 'lonely, solitary, desolate'. I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm desolate (no more than usual, anyway.. hehe just kidding), but I WILL miss her. As I told her, I wasn't that sad to leave Australia and embark on this adventure they call JET... but somehow, when someone visits you and stays for more than a couple of weeks, they become part of your life again. And then, when they leave, it feels like something's missing. This is the first time I've lived alone, and although it's been way easier than I expected, there was always something slightly off about it. I guess it's me adjusting to living by myself. Not necessarily sad or lonely, but definitely different.

Anyway, I have many mementos of mum's visit- mostly domestic things! Since she arrived, I have acquired: a table (aka earthquake shelter); a curtain divider for the shower area; pictures for the walls; a Japanese paper umbrella; a newly-cleaned carpet; a NEW futon; and a new frying pan. Oh, and I've been cooked for countless times, had numerous items of clothing and bedding laundered, and the mould cleaned out from a closet or two! Don't get the wrong impression- it's not like I was living in squalor before she got here... far from it. My neighbour commented on how clean my apartment was. But I guess I haven't exactly developed my mother's zest for cleaning!

But far better than these things are the memories of our trips to the Nakasendo (specifically, our hike between the towns of Magome and Tsumago), Matsumoto castle, Takayama, Ise Shrine, Mikimoto Pearl Island, and Nagoya (Neko Maho cafe). Oh, and the memories of me nursing her back to health after she came down with a severe cold halfway through the trip! Which reminds me that I have also acquired a bottle of Vicks VapoRub, some cough medicine and some throat spray...

Now, I better go work on consuming some of that mysterious stew concoction she prepared yesterday, which is apparently supposed to feed me for the next 3 months...