Physical Symptoms of Japan

My face breaks out and clears up and breaks out and clears back up pretty arbitrarily. My face has been the worst it's ever been here in Japan, and for a week or so, I was seriously worried that it'd go way out of control. The next week, my face was clear as a summer afternoon in California. Now it's back to normal - one or two zits, but nothing crazy.

My stomach can't handle the food. I love just about everything I've tried, but I really just can't eat it sometimes. Sometimes it's a loss of appetite, and sometimes it's physical pain from the previous meal. I hope this will be gone within a few weeks.

I've become a morning person, ridiculously happy every morning.

When I come home, I will be a master at pictionary and charades. I've honed my miming skills greatly.

I wake up every morning at 7:00 without an alarm clock. Sometimes I get nine hours of sleep. And yet, I am still exhausted by the time school gets out around 3:15. This pattern wavers though. I'm always more tired than I was in the States, but sometimes I can make it all the way past kendo practice and sometimes I can hardly make it to school without wearing myself out.

I am getting very strong and losing a lot of flexibility. It's wierd.

I've lost all reserve. If I have a word for someting, you can bet I'm going to darn well use it. I dance whenever there is music playing. I sing if it's in English. I am Karaoke Queen. I say hello to every single person I know in school. I make jokes and go out on conversational limbs.

I have a permanent smile glued to my face. I have this theory that if people see me smiling, they'll think I know what's going on and include me in whatever they're talking about.

I love to go out on weekends.

I'm paranoid about little things, like tying my tie just so and getting all the wrinkles out of my sheet before I place the blankets on my bed. But I'm lax about other things I used to be really uptight about, like being punctual and never missing a karate class. Who cares about homework? I attempt what I can, but I don't stress nearly as much as I used to. If I can't finish something, than I can't finish it. I'm certainly not getting any grades here.

I've become very proud of my pale skin. Oh yeah, and I made my little host sister feel good about having dark skin. I told her that in the States, everyone wants a nice tan and that white skin isn't especially beautiful. The next time someone commented on her dark skin (the Japanese are very liberal with their comments on physical imperfections), I overheard her proudly proclaim that she is in fact lucky because in America, only the really pretty people have skin as dark as hers. I felt really good to know I helped make her feel beautiful.

Interestingly, I haven't gained or lost an ounce of wieght, though I'm surprised because I'm a lot stronger now than I was in the States.

And there are many many more physical signs that I'm not in Kansas anymore. Those are probably the most dramatic though.

Have a lovely day,
Heather