problem solved
February 9, 2005
Decision made: I’m going … but staying. It occurred to me that, given two options that you can’t choose between, there is the possibility of doing neither. So, I’m going for a third option: I’m not recontracting, but rather than leave Japan when my job finishes, I’m planning to move to the city and just make it up as I go along for somewhere between a few weeks and six months, depending on the cost of living, how quickly I get bored, whether I can find a good sanshin teacher, how strong the pull from China becomes, and all sorts of other factors. With hindsight, the decision seems obvious: although I love Okinawa and this island, another year and a half of this job would almost certainly be too much, and I’d much rather leave feeling I could have stayed longer than wishing I’d left earlier.
So, now that’s sorted, I’m flying off today into the frozen North, for the Snow Festival in Sapporo, Hokkaido, right up at the other end of Japan. Enough of this warm Okinawan weather for me. The thermometer in the school corridor is currently reading 22C. Today’s forecast in Sapporo is -6C …