Decision Made

[unforth]

Thanks SO much for the advice, guys, it was really helpful!!

After reading all the advice and sleeping on it last night, I had a long talk with my mom. I decided that there was one more really important aspect to all of this. If I told her about it, and she did everything in her power to convince me to stay in Japan, than she was probably in good enough shape without me. If, on the other hand, she didn't argue, or at least didn't argue much, then it would be clear that she really needed me. At first, I thought the first thing would happen, but the more that I thought about it, the more I thought it would be the second. Sure enough, when I told her, she raised a token resistance ("you should do what you want for your life, Claire") but not much. She agreed with my (unspoken) assessment that she just can't keep this up for much longer.

So I've made up my mind. I won't be returning to Japan after the Christmas holiday. I'll fly back to Bloomington as planned (I'll be in Bloomington from the 10th of December until the 17th, if I recall my plane tickets correctly) then fly to NYC as planned, but instead of heading back here on the 23rd, I'll stay at home, hunt for an apartment, all that jazz. I'm kind of excited about it, and kind of nervous, and kind of dreading how much apartments cost, and kind of dreading having to ship back all the manga I've bought, but over all I feel a lot calmer. I think this is the way to go.

Comments

[danielmc.livejournal.com]

squee.
Holiday Knightridge Party, Dec 15th.

yay.

[unforth.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you confirm that - when I made those plans months ago, I was counting on the Knightridge Party being that night. As I calculated it, that was really the only evening that made sense, so I took the chance that I was right. :) Yay! I'll definitely be there. And...will there be dancing??

[guiniveve.livejournal.com]

I think sometimes plans work out in different ways than you imagined, but sometimes the changes end up being the best thing. I might be moving back close to my hometown and am kinda wondering if it would be "stepping back." (Of course, my hometown is in Ky not NYC :)

I understand the concern about your mother. My mom is sorta in the same shape. I remember us discussing that they had similar back problems. I hope everything works out for you. And maybe this will help preserve the specialness of Japan for you. It will always be an exciting place because you haven't had the mundanity of it just becoming another place to live-if that makes sense.

[sapphohestia.livejournal.com]

Wanna move to DC rather than NYC*? The prices are remotely less.

*I know this absolutely would not work, but I had to try. *g*

[d-c-m.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you have made a decision you feel good about. :) Now if you need a place to stay in B-ton, I got space!!!

[schenker28.livejournal.com]

Congrats on making up your mind! The next time I feel like I want to make a surprising change in what I'm doing with my life, I'll call you up for suggestions :)

And of course you're welcome to stay with Jonie and me in December, although I probably can only offer a couch during that time.

Um, I don't think I'll come visit you in Japan in the next few weeks, but at least I won't feel like I'm barely missing you when I go to that conference in Japan next summer!

Hey unforth, wanna come to a music cognition conference in the exotic, far-off country of JAPAN next summer? You could be my translator.

[bakanekotoo.livejournal.com]

Congrats on coming to a decision! Apartment hunting, from my experience, is an exciting, but at times, draining, process. Depending on where you choose to live, it shouldn't be too expensive. Or you could get a roommie, maybe Claire? Maybe myself? ;-) Manhattan is really pricey but if you don't mind living in Queens or Brooklyn, rent is actually not too bad. It sucks you have to leave Japan earlier than anticipated, but hey, Tuesday Guitar Hero nights at Camp make up for it, right? :-P