The days of our lives are like sand in the hourglass.

P and I flew here with my 80 kilos (and growing) luggage on May 18th, which means I have been here for about 4 months now. My teaching contract is for a year, so I have 8 months left.

People ask me how long I intend to be here for, and I tell them tentatively for 3-5 years, or until I reach a comfortably fluent level of Japanese.

Japanese is hard.

In between having to cope with the drudgery of housework (I miss the maids), the long commute to and fro work, working in a new industry, building relationships and a social network here, exploring Tokyo, I now have Japanese lessons two mornings a week in Azabu-Juban with Melissa.

It cost me a small fortune (40,000 yen/500 SGD), but it was the cheapest we could find. Because I had gone through the basic course at Sendagaya, I am slightly more ahead of my classmates but I challenge myself by learning the kanji form of vocabulary taught in class. Kanji is made of traditional Chinese characters, and some have been altered so it's almost like relearning the characters. It gets confusing because I end up forgetting how the simplified characters look like and I have to remember both the Chinese and Japanese pronunciation.

Add oil, I must persevere...

Seeing as P is moving out with Brandon to his fancy luxury apartment in Ikebukuro (USD3300 per month for 2 people) end of the month, I have to start saving up for my own apartment. Agent fees, security deposit, plus I need to buy a bed, a comforter for winter, a desk, lamps, a chair, a bookshelf, a coffee machine, an ironing board, a rice cooker, towels... With all these sunk costs, it might just wipe out my savings.

I initiated another talk with him on Monday night, that perhaps it would be best for us to stop seeing each other when he moves out. It's hard to explain, and it's a long story with layers of complication, but I really don't think it's worth the effort we've both been putting in and the fact is that we're incompatible and not matured enough for this and our separate careers are just pulling us apart.

Jo is flying in on Saturday, and I am really excited for her to be here. I miss my family and friends from home, and having her here with me just makes everything better.

This will be my first autumn.