Just a quick update, made it back safely last night. Just getting on the plane in Beijing, I felt like I was already in Japan - surrounded by J people, starting to think/feel in Japanese mode myself. I didn't reach out to people as much. I can't put my finger on the difference, but I know it. I feel more open, more myself in China - and more bound, less expressive in Japan. I don't know if these are actual social constraints or, more likely, the constraints I have formed and placed upon myself. From the start, I created a Japanese self (via language study) who is rigid, introverted, 真面目, always careful with the language. And from the start in China, I created a Chinese self who is more outgoing, went straight for all the shits and damns and more. I just have more fun communicating in Chinese and suspect that in the long run it will become stronger or more natural than my Japanese.
Unlike my leaving for China - in which I worked up until the last minute and even took work with me, my return to Japan is peaceful and unhurried. No work calls this week. And then things heat up with Liu Laoshi's visit to Tokyo with six or more days of training. Then more special trainings on the horizon in other places. So these look to be glorious days before work heats up. Today: family time, unpacking, transforming The Jungle back into a semblance of a garden, five loads of laundry, outdoor practice once the neighbor's car was moved. One of the last bottles of my prior batch of homebrew - a hoppy pilsner. Some language study and review. What more could one ask for?
I'll include a few of my favorite pictures from China, more on the way.
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