Everyone keeps telling me to post more pictures, so do so I shall. However, no one ever said the pictures had to be of my time in Japan, so here we’ll go back to some of my final weeks in Texas before I moved. The following pics and more can be seen here.

As I tell most people here I come across, I’ve wanted to be in Japan for about 20 years. I’ve never known exactly what I wanted to do here, just that I wanted to live here. And now I’m living the dream, so to speak.

But by moving here, I knew I’d be giving up a life I had known that I was comfortable with… and food I loved. Now, I’m in a strange land forcing myself to make new friends, try new foods and explore the world I had never known. It’s truly an interesting experience, though at times I do miss the comforts of home. Specifically the memories to be made I’m missing out on with friends.

While I think the timing is right for me to be taking this adventure, things keep popping up that make me wish that I should’ve waited a little bit longer, such as the upcoming TEDx Houston conference, as well as a summer performance of the Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds concert where FF series composer Nobuo Uematsu will be in attendance.

I think if I move back to Texas someday, I want to move to Austin. It’s centrally located in the state. A drive to Dallas is about 3 – 3.5 hrs, Houston is 2.5 – 3, San Antonio is 1 – 1.5 and Nacogdoches is about 4. But most of all, most of my Texas-based friends are in the Austin area.

So, there’s food, friends, entertainment events I’m missing out on. Let’s add video games to the list. I love them, and I think the 2+ months of separation from them and myself is the longest I’ve yet to endure since being introduced to them when I was 4 years old. I’m doing OK, though I do get the shakes. =)

My mother is being extremely awesome and shipping over the things I request, such as my Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. In the meantime, it’s up to me to find and purchase a TV, something I’m sure will be an interesting experience. Apparently, many places do not actually keep items in stock, but instead order them to be delivered to your place of residence. That means it’s likely I’ll go to a store, pay for it, then receive it a week later. I really don’t want to wait though.

I understand this is how buying things from eBay, Amazon and most e-tailers work, but I’m going to a brick and mortar store. The idea of something being for sale, but not in stock, baffles me. Guess that’s how society is here though.

Back in Texas, I had a wonderful Sharp Aquos 32″ TV. It never did me wrong except for one dead pixel. I hope the Aquos I have my eye on here works just as well. Unfortunately, the reviews for the models I’m looking at are entirely in Japanese.

See, TVs in Japan and the United States use different broadcast standards, so I didn’t bring mine with me from the states. Also, most TVs in Japan don’t have component inputs. Instead, they offer D-Terminal. Peculiar, but I’ll make do and buy new cables for my systems.

While writing this, I’ve come to wonder something. When I left, it was a bit hard for me at times, but I tried not to think about leaving too much for fear it’d make me not want to go. I know it was hard on my parents to see me go, but I wonder: Was it as hard on my friends to see me go?