I closed the door to my apartment in Germany on Friday at about 15:15. Without a friend there then, I would have completely missed the significance of the moment – with this small act I closed the door to my old life.
Anyway, moving on and closer towards the airport, I stayed at a friend’s place before getting up early to catch my flight to Japan. Which, except for a hefty fine for excess baggage at the beginning, went blissfully uneventful. On the short layover in Taipei I spotted a small bistro called “Iris” – not something you’d expect in China. After arrival on Kansai airport, I splurged on a shared taxi to bring me to Kyoto, and I finally got the keys to my new apartment on Sunday at about 15:30, after a trip of slightly more than 40 hours altogether.
I am still pretty exhausted as for the last week or so I only slept 5 hours per night or so. And that’s on top of the jetlag. So, I shall suspend starting my new life for another day – but it’s okay as it’s the last of the Golden Week holidays today anyway. There is an enormous feeling of freedom in this stage “in-between”.
In any case, I’ll go and explore the surroundings a bit later. There should be a supermarket close by…