Stress

For weeks (months?) prior to leaving Japan I felt hungry. I finally figured out it wasn't hunger but really stress doing a number on my stomach.

That symptom is mostly gone now. But I have to continue to remind myself that I need time to recover from all the stress and change. 

Indeed there is still evidence of stress. Difficulty concentrating at times and a tendency drift off into daydreams. Deep desire to slept late and escape into books, electronic games, and TV. Difficulty making decisions at times (and we've had to make a lot). 

I have to remind myself that it's not just the adults struggling with this either. The boys don't have our level of responsibility, but they have less control over what's happening and certainly have felt the stress. 

Though starting school this week has been a strss, it's also been a relief because it gives their lives structure. But there was strss in the unknowns of changing schools, so many  questions we had no answer to. Therefore it's something of a relief to have something more tangible to deal with. 

But starting school also means less sleep, and sleep is something we've all been needing more of in recent weeks. 

So, two weeks since we got back to Brisbane and nearly three weeks since we left Japan, we're getting settled but we're not done yet. It will take a good while longer than just a few weeks. But essentially because we're only here for a year our roots will remain in Tokyo. We are unpacked, but I suspect "home" will remain Tokyo in our minds. It's complicated.