Table of Contents
Blog 2
Blog 3
Blog 4
Blog 5
Blog 6

That was David Kay, Iraq WMD inspector

  Kay Resigns, said the headline on 25 January. 

Odd how it struck me, that headline, and then, exactly one week later, Decision Day went down. From the first, omens played a big part in the Leave Japan Project. Listening to them has lit up my path.....

Omens:  Banana Yoshimoto's There is No Lid on the Sea (quotes will be sprinkled in the blog); winning the Accumulator at my club (yes, there will be money when its needed); having the bartender at an elegant little bar tell me it is iki to have a martini between work and the evening (don't throw out 15 years of work on translating Iki no Kozo, I'm not done with it yet); a farewell party of translators and friends so special for so long (the real me is neither lost nor disappearing); of course the headline; then a dream, the night before Decision Day, of a former friend (Japanese) handing me a baby-like bundle in a blue blanket and my handing it back til I finally took it.

Leaving after exactly 34 years? I thought I was prepared, having talked about little else but leaving for a long long time and having slowly been clearing out and getting ready  for a shorter time. But, when Decision Day came, I didn't know where to start. Six weeks later, I have a vague idea but wish for checklists, handholding and hugs, all in short supply. So, if there is anyone else out there who is as clueless as I am, this blog is for you.

First: buy a notebook. Being clueless means not knowing where to start. The first page of the notebook will get the first thing that comes to mind: mine has my questions for my  Internet Provider and my Computer  Guru.

The next pages recorded what I thought of while walking to work, sitting in Starbuck's, riding the train, stopping off for a martini after work, waking up in the middle of the night.                 <***>

--Me with Mom in Eagle River
This is what I am leaving Japan to go and do, be the caregiver for my 87-year-old-Mom. (note walker and stair glide in background). Mom and I  live downstairs. 

The daytime caregiver, Rachel, aka Angel from Heaven will be with Mom 9-4 weekdays; the rest of the time it's me. The corsage I'm wearing above for the long plane ride back to Japan was from Rachel. Mom's outfit below was my birthday present to her last year. --Rachel with Mom on her 87th birthday.