One Year In Japan...Report

Warning: Long, drab, diary-style introspective post to follow...

SO, August 1 marked my one year in Japan anniversary. Since just before Fuji Rock I've been thinking about it a lot and I've turned inwards about it all, and just been feeling mellow since Fuji Rock. I've been looking beyond Japan a lot lately and considering what I might do afterwards. I think a lot of it has to do with getting out of Tokamachi and being around thousands of different kinds of people, like Alice who was just passing through Japan but gave me a strong shot of perspective from the outside, plus listening to the best music in the world and feeling like there is obviously more stimulation out there than the routine I've established here in my mountain town. But I had a routine back home too, and I realize that everywhere you go you create a mundane daily lifestyle because it's stabilizing, and it gives you something to work against.

One year ago I uprooted and gave up my opera job, being near family, friends, Sarah, all that...to come over to Japan not having a clue what I was getting into. Sometimes I question the decision, but I always remember the agony I would be going through at home if I were constantly wondering what I would be doing, learning and seeing in Japan at the moment.

And what have I done, learned and seen so far? Well, looking back at the year, these words and impressions come to mind:

-Challenge. It has been outright challenging to be here. One can't help but have expectations anywhere you go, and when they aren't met, you are immediately put in a challenging situation as you realize you have to know yourself well enough to react in the right way. I am proud of the way I have reacted to the challenges I've had, it's mostly all been in a responsible and respectable way. I knew there would be challenges and the challenge is partially why I decided to come here.

-Luck. I've had stretches of really bad, difficult luck, and I've been blessed with great luck as well. The bad luck has all been relatively small though, and has always had a positive side: for instance, bad luck= massive earthquake, but I survived and luckily no friends were hurt. One example of pure good luck - I've been surrounded by good people who I love and respect in the highest degree.

-Culture: Being immersed in Japanese culture has been really interesting, my first stint in a real Eastern society, but what I've been thinking about is the difference between the tourist's view of the culture (more interest in the romantic part of the culture, the visual and ceremonial) and the temporary resident's view (more interest in the things that shape daily life, the social and the mundane). Japanese culture can only be experienced when you are faced with it everyday, and only then can you get a feeling for it, but not an understanding. So many Japanese people can't explain themselves and have no understanding of why things are the way they are...and I've had to slowly learn to let go of that Western idea of having a reason for everything. Japanese people's attitude towards the nature of their culture is much like a composer's attitude towards the nature of their music...it's that way because that's how it is and that's how it feels right, it would be wrong any other way.

-Experience: Someone said something recently that life is really just a string of different experiences, and I've realized that when I do look back at my life and look at it in awe, it's because I've been able to have such an incredible series of unique experiences, and the reason I came here is to add to that string. So, in essence this is an experience...perfect or imperfect, it's unique and when I look back, I will be in awe at what I've encountered. I've seen music festivals, I've eaten food that exists nowhere else, I've survived natural wrath, I've influenced young kids, I've reveled in drunken summer festival crowds, I've crossed innumerable cultural and language barriers, I've swam in the Sea of Japan, I've soaked Japanese style in scalding baths, I've skied in 5 feet of powder, I've been in a Philipino bar, and I've created an experience here that never existed before, from complete scratch.

-Perspective: Nothing like living in a place like this to give you perspective on where you come from, on who you are, on what's important.

Some of the new ALTs are just arriving, and although I'm feeling mundane and looking beyond Japan a little, having them here is very refreshing because they are excited about things I was excited about too, and still am, but that got overtaken by other concerns, so it's nice to get that simple energy back of just being so eager to do anything and everything. I think that will be helpful in keeping my focus here and now in having even more experiences instead of feeling like the most exciting part of the trip is finished.

My mom just arrived in Cape Town, South Africa for another volunteer stint, and I am happy she is there and safe. Everyone is healthy and good. Onwards to the summer...beer season! Let's celebrate!