This is the End

So this is last day of a very long holiday for me, a holiday that has, ultimately, lasted just over 15 months. I say "holiday", but really it has been me quitting my job and spending all of my money at language school abroad while working part-time, then being holed up back at my parent's waiting for the visa to come through, then spending the last of my money to come back here to Japan where I'll finally start my new job tomorrow.

So was forsaking everything and blowing my life savings worth it? This is what I thought about today as, like everybody else, I wandered around Ikea buying products. I am excited about the new job, but it feels a bit like that bit at the end of Goodfellas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUWKrzsFh2c). In the end, it seems, we all end up suckered into relentless consumerism no matter what we do.

Anyway, outside of the Ikea (which is huge by the way - bigger in terms of both area and population than many of the Scottish Border villages I saw growing up), I noticed these three more enlightened souls playing with a kite and a dog on the industrial wasteland.