October 14th 2006
I'm making headway in my studies, I'm apparently one of the best in class at maths and English is starting to come to me much easier now. The Japanese part is the easiest one, never had much trouble with that, and I'm even trying to learn some extra, complicated signs that have to do with astronomy and engineering. I've been doing really great at the mock exams I've had, or at least much better than when I started, when it was really bad. Though some things could have been better, like the English part, awful language. It just feels like a bunch of arbitrary letter combinations. How people can even manage to spell anything in it is beyond me. I'm glad I didn't grow up in one of those countries, I would've gone crazy. Imagine living in Britain, I hear it rains there all the time, or in Australia where it's all poisonous critters out to get you, and Canada and America is essentially a choice between raging giant bears on one side and a country full of guns on the other. I think I'll be staying in Japan, at least it's nice and calm here.
I've managed to meet with Akari a couple of times since, that was really good. I thought I wouldn't recognize her, but she hadn't changed all that much after all. Funny enough, she said the same thing about me. It kind of surprised me when she told me she'd been worried about me though, didn't really expect that, seeing as how we hadn't talked for ages. Then she told me that many times she'd wanted to write me a letter or an e-mail, but every time she did she just felt it was stupid and scrapped it. Funnier yet, that's exactly what I always did! Every time has been the same: we found ourselves a nice café somewhere then spent hours talking about... anything. It's so simple, but I still feel as if I've had the best time ever every time we part. Maybe all I've needed all along is a friend, somebody to talk to. I think I'm going to hold on to it this time.
Sumida has also moved up to Tokyo now, at the end of last month. Between her job hunting and my studying, however, we've only managed to meet up once, and that was when I greeted her at the train station. Well, at least I know where she lives, since I walked her home after showing her around. She's gotten a real tan, I don't remember her ever being that brown when we were teenagers. She has got real high spirits too! Last time I meet her, I felt I could barely keep up, even though I was the one who was supposed to guide her around. Haven't done that much walking in a long, long time.
It's good to know one has friends though, close by too. All in all, I get the feeling that things are starting to go uphill for me. It feels good to have some confidence for once.