MomoのKokoro

I have only three days left of this internship.

From the start, I had been doing a countdown, certain that I would not relish the idea of being thrown into a corporate environment, of the mundane routine of adult working life, of living in Tokyo in an inadequately clean gaijin house.

Then I started enjoying my internship. Meeting different people, and meeting people who are able to effect change (that might possibly help others). Being around intelligent, articulate, shrewd and (slightly) cynical colleagues is very refreshing compared to the idealists of the college-age NGO-wannabes. I admire the latter, but I could never be one of them.

The minefield of office politics.. I won't even touch that. As an intern, I am safe for a while, and I relish being able to meet different groups of people and not have to worry about being entangled.

I am gonna miss meeting up with D for dinner around Roppongi Hills.. walking up the steep slope to work every morning, the 10-minute walk to my station's deguchi, the luxury of my own spacious office, the power suits, the sense of possibility that living in Tokyo offers. I would love to be able to live in Azabu, Meguro or Kichijoji if there is an opportunity.

Yet when I was back in Osaka last weekend, that relatively un-lovely place felt more like home, somehow. I now know vaguely how not to get lost in Hankyu Umeda, and where JR Osaka is, and how Hanshin is farther away. The geography, the earthiness, the color, occasional unloveliness that is Osaka has seeped into me. And memories of Osaka, too..of lazy Sundays, stolen kisses in the rain, watching radiant couples walk by in yukata.

While Kyoto is beautiful, Osaka feels more real to me. Kyoto is a beautiful theme park; its temples are gorgeous but feel artificial to me, somehow created for the tourists that descend upon it all year round.

I wish I had the chance to get to know more of the volunteers at the QFF on a deeper level. There are many people whom I met and felt that if given the chance (ie time), we could have become great friends. Alas, we are meant to be acquaintances, for now.

I don't want summer to end. While autumn and spring are beautiful, summer brings with it a sense of infinite possibilities. People are definitely so much more cheerful. Love the beer ads and the sunscreen ads and the sundresses that blossom in this season.

I guess this post is meandering. But there are just so many things to say, and so little time.

Posted in: Tokyo on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at