Recently, I haven't been acting especially otaku-like. I'm only watching one anime & reading 4 manga on a weekly basis. 2 more on a monthly basis, but still nothing compared to my (what once was) usual 5 or so anime & 15 or so manga. It's because I've started being able to be around people more frequently again. It's nice, I guess. I do like a few of them a bit. 
When I first moved to Japan I thought I didn't want to make any friends. That was the way I was in at home the previous 3 years so I figured it'd be fine to continue that way. Then I thought I might want to make some Japanese friends, but I soon realized that, being a teacher, it's kind of hard to meet people who are like me. Unless you count 10-14yr old girls or creepy old men, both of which are always in my schools. Girls my own age generally aren't that otaku. Or if they are, they're not working in schools so I'd kind of given up on the idea.
Last year I made a few semi-friends, teachers & counselors from the jr. highs I visited. Their lives are pretty busy though, & once I moved to a new school they stopped contacting me. Or maybe I stopped contacting them, who knows. I figured it was just a polite friendship, not one that was meant to last, and tried not to feel too dejected.
One in particular was at least semi-well-informed about otaku matters. She had a good friend who was an avid cosplayer, though I never got to meet her. I haven't heard from her in 7 or 8 months, but last week she sent me a text inviting me to go to Comiket in the middle of March. I've always wanted to go, but never had the motivation to actually check when it was, how to get there, how much it costs, etc. So I responded, & we're going! Just like that.
I seem to have made a new friend this week too. A teacher at one of my elementary schools found out I'm otaku & started asking me about cosplay. Turns out her daughter (who's probably a college kid, but I'm not sure...) is crazy into it. She always participates in events at a center in town which is conveniently right near my apartment. Coincidentally, my other friend's cosplayer friend always goes there too. So this teacher told her daughter about me & she got all excited & said she absolutely wanted to become friends. And I figured, why not? So I gave her my keitai email & she invited me to the next event. Too bad it's the same day I'm going to Comiket.....
Now I'm getting all excited about cosplay & doujinshi again. I want to buy a bunch of new books! Some with Kakashi, Hibari, Renji, Shuuhei.....ah, maybe they'll have some Harry Potter or Twilight ones! And I'm remembering all the characters I wanted to cosplay; Rangiku, Tsunade, Orihime, the ANBU squad.....I'm sure I could find more...
This could get expensive....
