The weird and wonderful...

This morning I had one of those weird moments that I think most people get when they are living in a foreign country such as Japan. It was the 'what the hell am I doing here?' feeling. It's not a particularly bad feeling, in fact most of the time I quite like it. It makes me feel once again what an adventure it is to be living out here in a part of Japan that people don't usually see in favour of the bigger cities.

When I first arrived this feeling occured pretty much everyday, at least a couple of times. Soon, the intervals began to get longer and now I only get this sort of feeling once a month if that. But, I still get it and it is still intense.

Yesterday for example, the only western person that I saw all day was the one staring back at me in the mirror. The only language I heard was Japanese or Japanese English.

My visits to elementary schools are always met with gasps as if it is the first time I have visited there; kids are always asking me to sign autographs and shake their hand. Recently there has been an outbreak of 'touch the foreigner'. At least four times this week I have had my arms touched or properly grabbed onto.

Most of the time I don't really think about it - I have become accustomed to it. But every now and then the odd burst of 'what the hell am I doing here?' comes out to keep me on my toes!