memories of hamamatsu♡

Because it's something I hold so close to my heart, it really hurts me to think about it. It was such a joyful time of my life, now that I think of it, it becomes rather painful. I really miss that place, so much that when I'm reminded of it, my heart hurts a bit. I was so delighted and immersed back then.

Three days ago, I walked into a big and empty room all by myself. The scent there really reminded me of the school I attended in Hamamatsu. For some reason, I was reminded of the dormitories there, which became my home for twenty nights. It brought back my memories, both happy ones and sad ones. Amidst the stress and distress in my life now, such sweet memories instead brought me feelings of pain and affliction. My days there were filled with so much joy, so much laughter, and to think about the fact that I'm never able to return again, I became very disturbed.

Every day seemed beautiful there, even rainy days, which revealed a unique look of elegance. The school was surrounded by endless fields of green grass, which somehow calmed me every single day. Most of the time, as we took casual walks around the school, pretty much nobody else was within our sight. Such plain calmness and peacefulness seemed amusing to me, even though it was just a common thing to many people there. I had a lot of time and space to explore my interests, and most importantly, take some time off and recharge myself.

Life there was incredibly relaxed and comfortable, considering how we had an average of 13 free hours per day, during which we did absolutely nothing but sleep enjoy ourselves. Once in a while, we were brought out for sightseeing. Although I'm normally not a fan of sightseeing, I was in the mood for relaxed enjoyment, so it made me very glad. We had lessons, but they weren't boring at all. In fact, they were quite fun and interactive, and we had long breaks in between lessons. The teachers were very lively and interesting (unlike some of our normal ones haha), and they were all very friendly. On normal lesson days, we were guaranteed to have at least 15 hours of free time. I was able to sleep as much as I wanted. I hadn't felt such relaxation and freedom since, perhaps, my early primary days. It wasn't something I took for granted.

After lessons, we'd take walks to the nearby convenience store. It probably doesn't seem significantly special to you, but it was a big part of our lives there. It might sound ridiculous that the nearest shop from the school was actually fifteen minutes away, but it wasn't as painful as it seemed to walk there. It sure took effort and quite a lot of time, but the scenery on the way there was stunning. The best path to the convenience store was a clean passageway through a large, green field. There was gentle wind blowing, so it wasn't overwhelmingly hot. As we slowly paced through the passageway, we were surrounded by green grass, which I normally didn't favour, but it was so clean and tidy, it made us all feel incredibly joyful and relaxed. The scenery looked just like your perfect stock wallpaper image.

Even their convenience stores were amusing. They were two times bigger than the ones we have in Hong Kong, and had a huge variety of food and drinks. They had everything from ice cream to freshly fried chicken to chips to cup noodles to doughnuts to tea to juice and basically everything -- you name it. It was almost a struggle, a fun one of course, to pick one food item to try out. My staples were the melonpans, the seafood cup noodles and soy bean milk. Having gone there for over 10 times, I picked up different things to try everything, and I was pleasantly surprised with every single item. One thing I clearly recall is my roommates fighting for the fried chicken in the Circle K. They had nicely fried chicken fillets that everyone wanted. It was very delightful and calmly amusing in a way, it became a simple but big source of enjoyment.

Enjoying almost complete freedom everyday wasn't something I had expected. I had never imagined a feeling like that, because I didn't even know that such a liberal life existed at all. I especially experienced incredible freedom during our days off (even though every day was like a day off for us). My roommates and I took the bus out to the town center (the more cosmopolitain part of Hamamatsu), and spent a day all by ourselves in the city. It was a whole new experience -- we were in charge of everything. I realized that we were actually exploring new, unfamiliar places by ourselves without any supervision of adults. Only by ourselves, we roamed around the city searching for our beloved sceneries and shops. We even went and took purikura together. It's still so hard to comprehend, since nothing like that had ever happened to me before.

Although waking up early wasn't my thing, I enjoyed doing so there. Mornings at Oisca were pleasant. We had to wake up at around 6am, sometimes even before that, but I never complained at all. The dorm was just a normal one, but in the morning, it felt so calm and peaceful to walk down the hallway to the washing room (the place with many sinks). Sunlight sneaked in from the windows, giving everything a gentle glow. As I walked out of the dorm the next morning, I immediately noticed how the place was incredibly beautiful. Contrary to Hong Kong, as I looked around, no tall buildings were around, and the closest thing I could see was grass fields, not buildings. The temperature was just perfectly cool and even normal walking felt very relaxing. We would then walk through the rocky paths to the big entrance area, where we gathered and did morning exercises together. It really wasn't anything special at all, in fact I despised morning exercises, but as I followed everyone I realized how energizing and refreshing it was. Before I even knew it, it had become an essential part of my everyday life. Although I no longer do exercises like this nowadays, it has become one of my fondest memories.

Joyful times passed by quickly, and we soon found ourselves near the end of the 21 days. On the second-last day, Sugahara-sensei (the teacher-in-charge there) took us to the nearby Aeon Mall and gave us almost 5 hours to have a last round of shopping. Knowing it was definitely my last time there, I had no time to waste. The first thing my roommates and I did upon arrival was to dash to the Game Center, so we could play Taiko no Tatsujin immediately. After realizing that we were running out of time, we quickly ran for some shopping. I bought a backpack and some clothes at top speed. After that, we went to Starbucks, where there was a must-try popular drink called the Peach in Peach. It was such a new peachy sensation that I hadn't felt before. The mix of cream and peach juice and real peaches was too much for me to handle calmly. After that, I quickly went for a few more rounds of purikura, and then gathered with everyone for a sad departure. 

At that point, we realized that it was pretty much over. That night, we had our last dinner there, which obviously wasn't that good as usual, but since it was the final one, we enjoyed it with great joy and became sentimental. At night, everyone gathered in the classrooms and had a farewell party. Sugahara-sensei showed us a video slideshow of pictures that he had prepared, which gave us mixed emotions. They reminded us of the immense happiness that we had felt in those 21 days, but at the same time, since it was soon going to be over, everyone felt the lingering in their hearts. We heartfully thanked the teachers and took pictures with them. They were such dedicated people.

I'm unable to express my happiness with words, because my words display a serious lack emotions. However, I think you understand, don't you? I loved that place with all my heart. I'm glad that I decided to apply for that chance without hesitating, or else, I might have never experienced such happiness.

It's painful to think about, but at the same time I'm beyond grateful. This experience taught me how to enjoy life -- in fact, it showed me how enjoying life would be like. That feeling, of course, no longer exists in my life, but what I can do is just to continue working hard, so I can reach towards such happiness with hope. I don't really know if I'll ever relief that feeling again, but because it opened my eyes to so many new experiences and feelings, I'm grateful.