This weekend, I resolved to leave Japan at the end of my contract and come home. Here's the rationale, as I wrote to my old friend (and designer of this site) Emily:Long story short, "the life" in Tokyo proper is for the rich, or for the people who work themselves to death enough to be rich. The average Joe in Tokyo actually lives in the distant suburbs. And for me, it'd prove to be only slightly less lonely than life out here in rural Japan. I'm still separated from my friends by lots of geographical distance, too much Internet distance to play most games together, and too great a time difference to be able to communicate with most of my friends save for messaging and email. And the girls I come in contact with are basically whores for foreign dudes, and the fun of that quickly wears off and leaves you longing for actual companionship in the times you're sober.The job thing also became a major factor. I'm REALLY sick of teaching English and while I'm technically qualified to be a translator, my Japanese isn't where it should be to be any good at it. Meanwhile, back in the States I've got a vision for a marketing boutique firm I want to launch, and I've got a little experience to get on the road to making that happen (speaking of, I'm looking to get hands-on marketing experience in someone else's house first, so if you know anyone looking for an intern let me know :3 ). In the end, the prospect of a fun job and being nearer to my friends won out. If my career takes a different turn or if my biz miraculously turns profitable, then great, I can take a vacay to live The Life in Tokyo that I still want to some degree. And if I'm broke and miserable, then I'll come back here.Honestly, I think I just needed more time to work things out. It's hilarious when people ask me "well why didn't you apply for a job-type change?" (meaning, I could keep my awesome salary and benefits and switch to being a translator.) And I always end up yelling at them for asking me, because the deadline for that was back in like January, and it's ridiculous to think I'd have that stuff figured out after 6 months on my first job.I was in Tokyo this weekend. On Sunday morning, I was chilling out on a second-floor Starbucks balcony overlooking a city street lined with cherry blossoms in full bloom. In Japan, this is a rare treat, and the kind of picture that makes wall calendars. Even still, in my happiest of happy places, I had no problem calling home to Mom and saying "OK, I'm coming home."