Ahhh, so I suppose I should at least give some sort of lead-in, prior to arrival in Japan. At the moment, I have plenty of free time, after all. Of course, this resulted in a lack of inspiration for writing anything worth reading. Well, perhaps not all true. But, given that I still haven't decided whether or not I will be using this particular venue as a means of maintaining contact with family, I will keep some of the more entertaining bits to myself.
So, Tar Heel, North Carolina. I'm going to go ahead and guess that anyone who winds up reading this has no idea what in the hell I'm talking about. "Tar Heel?" one might think to themselves, "Isn't that Chapel Hill, North Carolina?" No. But, you could be forgiven for thinking I've misspoken, or I'm confused, on drugs, all of the above, or any other number of things about my crumbling sanity (And, have no doubts: living here, alone, in this house, WILL result in some sanity starting to slip). There is, however, a little place in the sandhills of southeastern NC by the name of Tar Heel. You may have heard of it from it's brief moment in the national spotlight: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/18/nobody-runs-for-office-in-small-n-c-town/. Or, perhaps you have enjoyed one of the fine pork products which have come from the world's largest pork processing facility, located conveniently just outside the town, courtesy of Smithfield Foods. Regardless, I present, for your mockery, the town of Tar Heel, North Carolina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_Heel,_North_Carolina
So, why, you might ask, am I enjoying all the fine opportunities for entertainment and mental stimulation which Tar Heel offers, rather than rotting away in the confines of a more metropolitan area, prior to deploying to Kumamoto? Well, I often ask myself the same question.
The short answer is: I'm helping sell a house. That's right. Me. Selling a house. A property encompassing 4 bedrooms, 3 and a half baths, about 2700 sq feet, and 50 acres of wooded land. It's my dad's old place. The house I spent the most time in, out of all my temporary residences, and the one in which I resided through the last half of my education at the hands of the fine teachers at, the now defunct, Tar Heel High School. See, right as I got my marching orders, my brother took a job in Savannah. Well, as my brother would be moving from Portland Oregon, to Savannah Georgia, and had no desire to sell his house on short notice, in the current housing market, he needed someone to rent his place. Enter my father, who has entertained ideas of moving back to the West coast for some time now. In a strange game of musical houses, my brother moved to a new place in Savannah, my dad moved to my brother's old place, and I moved to my dad's old place. In doing so, I'm doing my dad a huge favor, doing maintenance on the house, making a few improvements, and handling the real estate sale, should it come to pass. I'm getting paid a little money for my work, and a good deal of money, should the place actually sell.
So, that's the why. I get a job as a housesitter/seller's agent, a chance to see some friends and family before I leave, and plenty of quiet time for working on the ol' 日本語 and some English grammar points I've forgotten about. I mean, who the hell, aside from English teachers, remember all the verb forms, the difference between count and non-count nouns, conditionals, etc... (and I know at least one NC high school English teacher who doesn't). Go ahead, try it out for yourself: http://www.englishpage.com/conditional/presentconditional.html Not so smug anymore, are you?
Otherwise, this place is actually rather nice to be in, should one prefer a good deal of peace and quiet. It's great for studying, for relaxing, for enjoying what nature has to offer, around here. The property includes frontage on the Cape Fear River, and the walk through the woods to the river is fairly enjoyable, should one remember to bring their mosquito spray. What it is not, however, is very stimulating. You either need to be very in touch with nature, and really enjoy being outside, have other people here, or have a deep, unending, thirst for solitude. Without the multitude of things which need to be finished before I leave, this place would completely drive me insane.
That's it for backstory, for now. Next time I am out and about the property, maybe I will drag out the camera, to better illustrate what I mean. Until then, I bid you a fond またね
