at the center update / therentyoupay update
✨taken from the author’s notes of the most recent chapter update of at the center, to be posted today:✨
it's almost been a full year since the last update, which---for anyone who has been following my life journey on tumblr or snapchat and so on---knows isn’t such a crazy thing, considering how i have spent the last year and three months living in japan.
it's been an incredible experience. i will be finishing my last day of work here on may 17th, and moving back to the united states at the end of may! but i wont' be moving back to boston just yet---i'm going to return to the US by joining my fiancé in seattle, which is a new city for me. onto the next ADVENTURE, YES?
here's some of the crazy things i've been doing this year, aside from loving my job as an english teacher and eating my weight in ramen: i met my good tumblr friend @erinyanko in-person THREE TIMES. together we gallivanted around osaka, kyoto, nara, USJ, tokyo disney land, tokyo disney sea, the studio ghibli museum, scandalous bars and shops in shibuya, and of course she did what she does best---which is to drag me down into new fandoms with her. i've met two other tumblr friends as well ( @likeabirdinflight and @quibblerindex )---one of whom actually was hired at my company, and now lives 15 minutes away from me on the rapid line! and it should be mentioned that, with both rhi and erika, we've finally been able to achieve our life dream of drinking wine together, lol. ♡♡♡ (with rhi, it’s already been at least one 飲み放題🍻🍻🍻✨)
i've done more all-nighter karaoke nights than i can count, drank all-you-can-drink like nowhere else, met new friends and made new one-night bathroom/bar/tax office friendships. saw pikachu festival parades and learned some basic survival japanese (and rude words), started drinking green tea everyday, made myself at home in the local starbucks, developed an obsession with rilakkuma, learned how to cook yakisoba. finally decided on my favorite type of ramen (spicy tsukemen), explored at least six different prefectures... and i still have three months to go! next month i'll finally be visiting okinawa!
i've also been job hunting, recently. i accepted two teaching jobs to hold me over for the summer once i land in seattle. my true pursuit is for teaching positions in the universities, and i'm steadily working on that application process! between preparations for returning to the US, transitioning out of my japanese job and apartment and lifestyle, not to mention enjoying time with friends and food and the culture that i will say goodbye to in only a few short months, it's been especially busy the last few weeks.
(it should come as no surprise, then, that i haven't been writing jelsa as much, lol.)
but!!! with transition comes change and with change comes the inspiration to write even if i doN’t have the TIME LOLOLOL OLOL OLOL! so here is the first "hello" after a long, beautiful hiatus. i hope you all have been well and have had lovely months of living and appreciating whatever life has brought you, and you all know that i've missed you, and that i am healthy and grateful and happy, and that hopefully i'll be seeing much more of you, and vice-versa, very soon ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
