here i am, sitting in a little 4 bunk cabin on a slow boat to china. i’m sitting on the floor while my three roommates play a card game i cannot for the life of me work out. they invited me to play but i can only watch and learn for now.

the hosties are doing yoga in the foyer on the wii. the other gaijin and the japanese cyclist were my breakfast companions, and i’m contemplating sneaking into the onsen upstairs to have a scrub.
and i’m out of range of communication, finally, and i like it. not worrying about the next bit of data i might encounter, the next text message or little smile or email i might get. instead i’m just here, reading, thinking, eating (and then eating more) and talking in broken english to my room mates, or in a slow english to the other gaijin.

the free breakfast was ok, the rice porridge with pickles filling and tasty.

for lunch i had the set meal – duck and potatoes with vegetables and sides.

and then dinner i had cold tofu skin and dumplings – off the menu and more expensive than the set meal, but worth it and filling. and the excitement of china to come.

what a long day, with so little happening. sitting on a boat reading, talking, eating, drinking, watching the horizon through the hot ‘reading room’ at the front of the boat. finding new things to do, new places to go and be in.

i had a scrub and a bath in the first class sento up on the 3rd floor. it was pretty amazing to be lying in the hot bath, watching the ocean through the window at my side.
the guy hacking up his lungs in the room next to me is less exciting, but then i remind myself of where i’m heading, and the life the expat leads and how that will be good for the next few days.
i’m realising that you don’t need to put yourself through suffering just for the sake of it. if you can make something easy, why not?
we watched a horrendous US movie – ‘valentines day’ on the laptop of the italian, from the hard drive of the japanese, and while horrendous we perservered, i suppose grateful for the shared space and time.