Hey there Delilah
What’s it like in New York City?
I’m a thousand miles away
But girl, tonight you look so pretty

I know it’s a corny, shamelessly indie song, but I can’t get it out of my head.

Inspired by this week’s Movies You Should See, I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for the third/fourth time this afternoon. Oh, what a movie. Make sure you see it.

Anyway, I decided to road-test my camera. And where better to do it than the neon lights of Shinjuku?

MOOON

after that, I went back to Mickey House. I should really stop spending all my time there, but meh. Met some interesting people, including a Californian called Milo who has been here since 1973 (a new record) and is literally a jack of all trades. He doesn’t need to look for work: it comes to him. Pssh.

Anyway, it made me think, and he was telling me about how living in Japan gives you totally unique and staggeringly important experiences that you couldn’t get anywhere else, and I thought: I actually do want to live here. I actually do want a job here.

I guess I’m over the initial hump, though I’m betting there will be more to come. Acceptance that Japan isn’t easy, that jobs aren’t everywhere, that I might go home early. Acceptance of suffering. How very Buddhist.