Did I ever tell you about the time I forgot where I lived?

I know I haven't because I didn't quite have words for it at the time.

It was Halloween last year, I was still in Japan.

In the weeks proceeding, I had found my living arrangements to be unsuitable.

In the days proceeding, I had contacted my property manager, viewed a few different properties, found one I liked, signed all the necessary documents and made all the necessary payments.

In the hours proceeding, I had packed all of my belongings, been picked up by my property manager at my old house, moved all of my belongings into my new apartment, nicknamed it 'my Shoebox', found my way to the nearest train station, and caught the train to Kobe where I was meeting a friend who was only in Japan for a day on a business conference.

In the minutes proceeding, I had stepped off the last train back from Kobe, bumped into four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all of whom were Donatello and German, walked back down the main street, turned off the main street just before the 7Eleven and realised I had absolutely no idea where to go next.

Pickle.

So there I was, physical energy depleted by a full day in Kobe, emotional energy depleted by moving house, mental energy depleted by trying to make sense of Japanese street signs at an hour that was quickly encroaching on 2am, and all my faith in myself depleted by wondering how I could have managed to get myself in this situation.

I trudged repeatedly around the 6 block area I knew had to contain my Shoebox, fighting back self defeat and the urge to sob. Then, suddenly, when I felt like I'd been walking for nights and nights on end, when I had actually been circling for an hour, when I was just about ready to look for a park bench to curl up on, I caught a sliver of a glimpse of pale pink tiles. Pale pink tiles that would in the following months become the all too familiar herald of home, pale pink tiles which to this day cover one of the ugliest apartment buildings known to man, pale pink tiles whose only excuse for existing must be that they were very very cheap, but pale pink tiles that at that time were the most beautiful sight in the known Universe.