Well it has been some time since I sat down and started writing. This summer has flown past, which I should have expected since this past year also seemed to fly as well. I can hardly believe that I am in the second year of my life in Japan. It was a dream that I managed to realize, and it still feels sureal from time to time. This seems like a fitting time to write some thing deep...but isn't going to happen, I'm just gonna write my usual entertainment magazine quality crap. Hey, at least it free.
Well it has been a year. As I sit here staring at that sentance, I realize that when I read it my mind goes to a million places and memories, but for the life of me there are no word to describe them all. I will attempt to open up that vault and share it with you, but I am unsure if that is even possible.
I think back to a little over a year ago. Last summer, July. That was my last month in Canada, and I was not only trying to prepare to move across an ocean but I was trying to absorb as much of home as I could before setting off on my journey. I felt like the Boy in Paullo Coelho's The Alchemist after he had sold flock to pay for a boat ride across the sea to Africa. He was leaving behind his whole life up to that point, all for one dream. I too felt torn between the life I had created for myself and the dream that I had been holding for so long. On one hand, I was granted an amazing opportunity to not only see Japan, but to live it. On the other hand, I couldn't stop thinking about my family, friends, and all the other parts of life in Vancouver that I love so much. Like the Boy, I had to make that sacrifice. I gave up many things I held very dear, in order to find what was out there, and inside me.
A year later, I cannot help but be amazed at what I have experienced. I would be a big liar if I said that I haven't and don't miss Vancouver. Vancouver is like my model railway. It took me many years to get the little pieces in the right spots, in order to have my life be what I wanted. What really amazes me is that in just one year I have started to arrange another life for myself. In one year, I went from being a fresh-off-the-plane Gaijin with a place to go, but no idea how to get there, or what to do when I did. Now, a little more than one year after first setting foot in Japan, I touched down again. This time was entirely different. I pulled out my phone, called a buncha friends, emailed others, took a train to Tokyo, lockered my luggage, met a friend, headed to his place in Chiba, and drank. The next day I took a bullet train home to Nagano, and got a ride into Nakano from Brandon. Basically it there was nothing out of the ordinary at all.
I also can't help but look at other things in my life, and feel very lucky. I have made some very good friends in Japan. The first few were other ex-pats, but some of the best friends I have made are Japanese people. 3 of my Japanese buddies are sponsored professional snowboarders. They introduced me to the "grandfather of snowboarding in Japan." Moreover, I have thrown two big parties this summer. Now other people in town have had other parties, but none of them has had the amount of mixing and mingling of Japanese and Gaijin. None of them has had so many neighbourhood irritating fireworks. None of them have been so close to my house. I digress.
The point is this: I have been here for one year. A long time by some standards (like compared to the 24 stomach flu), and a short time by other standards (say the geological time scale). When I look back at the year and all the amazing memories I have, I can’t help but feel that whether 1 year is a long or short time, that I have accomplished a hell of a lot. I can't wait to see where I get to this year.
A big thank you goes out to everyone who reads this site, emails, or calls me. You are my support. You are my Vancouver life, and you will probably never know how much it means to me to know that you are all there, and rooting for me. Leaving Vancouver was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I don't at all feel as if I have lost anything. Thank you for being here with me through the ups and downs. From Binzuru, to the Fire Festival. From Hokkaido, to my big blue cast, I have had you to share my adventures with. Here is to you, and to more adventures for you to read about (and me to live)!
