The shittiness of it all
A friend wrote to me several weeks ago, and asked my opinion on what it's like to move to a foreign country, and implied that if he were a young, wide-eyed 20 year old, it would be a thrilling experience, but at 25, would he be simply be fooling himself by going through such an experience. At first I thought it was such an odd thing to say, but as I thought about it more, I started to wonder if I'd feel very different if I had come to Tokyo at 20. Perhaps I would be more open to this journey. At 20, I would most likely still be a student, free from adult responsibilities. At 25, I'm counting every penny I'm spending, feeling the pinch with every dollar (yen) I'm taking out of my purse, silently berating myself for spending money that I don't have. And of course, at 25, you're expected to figure it all out. But how the hell does insurance work in Japan? Taxes? What's normal, what's acceptable? What's not? Why is everything so fucking complicated...