I often go to a message board at www.teachinginjapan.com. Yesterday I asked how hard is it to maintain relationships whilst over there. I got this sound piece of advice. However, it’s not going to stop my heart aching to be back over here, is it?!!
Maintain a lifeline back home, whether by postal mail, email or telephone. However, realize that the excitement and thrill and novelty of you living in a foreign land will wear off of your loved ones back home. Out of sight, out of mine, no matter how much they care for you. This means that they will not write back as soon as they did in early messages. Their lives go on. They do not care for you less, but they just have other things going on in their lives. Don’t let this affect how you perform in your job or how you survive in Japan.
Josie & Dooley.... 
Actually, I’ve kind of found the opposite and that it’s me that’s crap at responding to their emails now…
By: Jo on February 3, 2005
at 8:44 pm
Yeah I am bad at answering emails when working too!! 3 days to go now..
By: Josie on February 4, 2005
at 6:02 pm
Pack blu tack, you can’t get it here.
Pretty much everything else you can though so don’t overpack!
By: Jo on February 5, 2005
at 3:44 am
Hey!
I found it was true – friends and family do stop communicating. Some close friends just aren’t letter-writing people… but others are.
I was grateful for the friends that kept in touch, and in the end I made some great friends in Thailand.
How long til you go now?
By: Lex on February 5, 2005
at 11:37 am