I must admit, one of my main social weaknesses is my lack of tolerance. I think I'm just not very good at being around people for a long time. I need a lot of space (and that's not just due to body odour), so one of the things worrying me about returning to Northern Ireland, apart from the culture shock, is living back at home. A small house with a family of six, and I'll no longer be King of the Castle :o(
Usually a day or two with a person/people is enough before I crave some alone-time. However, I've found the Japanese to be excellent guests. This year Nori, my old roommate from Tasmania came and stayed for ten days. It was great. Not intrusive at all. No mess, no demands, no dirty socks on the floor, no borrowing my best brandname boxers, no 'entertain me, entertain me' attitude and no stress. It was great having him here and I was sorry to see him go.
This weekend past I had two Japanese visitors. Ryuta (name means 'fat bear') and Masami (means 'elegant beauty') from Shiroishi and Tokyo. And yet again, it was a great experience. We cooked together, got drunk, played some dice games, and did some hiking. We climbed my favourite mountain, Kurikome-san, on saturday and hiked in a pretty gorge in the nearby town on Naruko on Sunday.
And surprisingly when the time came to say goodbye I didn't feel the usual relief of 'ahh, I can relax again, I have my space', but rather my apartment felt empty and I alone. I'm over it now and the tears have stopped. But it was reassuring to realise I CAN tolerate guests for a few days. Because sometimes I worry that I'll be a terrible 'family man' in the (distant) future since I've lived such a selfish lifestyle for so long.
Usually a day or two with a person/people is enough before I crave some alone-time. However, I've found the Japanese to be excellent guests. This year Nori, my old roommate from Tasmania came and stayed for ten days. It was great. Not intrusive at all. No mess, no demands, no dirty socks on the floor, no borrowing my best brandname boxers, no 'entertain me, entertain me' attitude and no stress. It was great having him here and I was sorry to see him go.
This weekend past I had two Japanese visitors. Ryuta (name means 'fat bear') and Masami (means 'elegant beauty') from Shiroishi and Tokyo. And yet again, it was a great experience. We cooked together, got drunk, played some dice games, and did some hiking. We climbed my favourite mountain, Kurikome-san, on saturday and hiked in a pretty gorge in the nearby town on Naruko on Sunday. And surprisingly when the time came to say goodbye I didn't feel the usual relief of 'ahh, I can relax again, I have my space', but rather my apartment felt empty and I alone. I'm over it now and the tears have stopped. But it was reassuring to realise I CAN tolerate guests for a few days. Because sometimes I worry that I'll be a terrible 'family man' in the (distant) future since I've lived such a selfish lifestyle for so long.
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