welcome back

Came back recently after my and Hiro's trip to Yanagawa, his hometown to see his family, dog and just have a little break from city life.
I love Yanagawa, it suits me very well, it reminds me of visiting Dad's summerhouse in Resmo, Öland (Sweden hehe). The city (located in the Japanese countryside) let's me relax like I can't do in Kyoto. Just like Resmo let's me get away from everything in Stockholm. Thank lord for the countryside!
Hiro's family is so wonderful. It is so so so so nice to have a family away from home. It makes it easier to be away from my beloved family at home. And also in a way it makes me miss them more because in a way I realise what I miss. For example like I said earlier we went to a Japanese onsen with his family. We went there by car and when riding in the car I realised I missed something so simple and normal as going somewhere in a car with your family.
Recently I have started to miss Sweden more and more. I miss the beautiful, beautiful nature and the soul, The Swedish Soul, what it means to be Swedish and living in Sweden. The colours of Swedish summer with ice cream, strawberries, sun, the white flowers and the green fields. Faluröfärg med vita knutar och torvtak.
Japan is wonderful, I love so much about it that it has really become my second home but despite of the title of this blog, "I think I'm turning Japanese", Japan is really just my second home, my home away from home, I will never be Japanese fully. I love Sweden. There, I said it! I LOVE SWEDEN!

SWEDEN, I FUCKING LOVE YOU, YOU ARE MY HOME!

One of the things I love about Sweden is that we generally count people as Swedish if they are born in Sweden or lived in Sweden for a while and speak the Swedish language. Here in Japan you will have to fight and fight with blood sweat and tears to at all stay IN the country and as long as you don't have at least one Japanese parent (you are considered Japanese even if you were born abroad with Japanese parents) you will won't be recognised as a Japanese. I feel it has to do with the face. I'm white therefore obviously not Japanese. They are not used to foreigners yet since the country has been closed for foreigner for so long. In Sweden we have so many people from different cultures and countries and they are all Swedish.
I'm also starting to understand why foreigners in Sweden are fighting to be able to perform their own cultural traditions when in the country. Why do I say that? Because my new school will go on until the 26th of December this year. 26th?! What about my CHRISTMAS?! It's insane. Even if I don't consider myself Christian and never have, Christmas means so much to me. It's not about Jesus, it's about being together with my family and showing love and appreciation on this day every year.
(Dear readers, don't fret, I will solve this problem, I am going to fight for my right to be with my family for Christmas, hurray!)

Do not mistake this entry as just a homage to Sweden and a denial of what is actually becoming Japanese inside of me (because there are those parts too, I'm making the perfect person out of myself here with a little bit of Sweden and a little bit of Japan). This is merely thoughts and ramblings from a foreigner with half her heart somewhere where she is not.


So now I will end this rambling and go listen to Kulturnytt från SR.
Good night to you all, with love,
M