Reflections on Japan #1

Greetings from Japan!  (Or, should I say, "Nihon," as it is called by the Japanese.)

I am relieved that I survived initial training and my first month of work.  I think I will become used to the routines, the business protocols, and the teaching methods, but right now I am a little overwhelmed and nervous. I admit it: I wonder what I have gotten myself into sometimes.  I have a new job, which is always a challenge to adjust to, but let’s not forget that I have a new job in a foreign country.  Japan is similar to the USA in many ways—technology, food, service industries, manners, etc.—but I am still thousands of miles away from my boyfriend, my parents, my sisters, my grandparents, my cousins, my godson, my friends, my pets, and my comfort zones.  I do love Japan; I’m just wistful for some familiar company who can share my experiences with me. 

Speaking of company, I have met some great people over here.  My training group was full of kind, thoughtful, and humorous people my own age who are in my same position, and the staff who trained us is all more than willing to assist us in every way they can.  In my new home of Tottori, my co-workers are just incredible in their ability to make me feel welcome and in their alacrity to show me around town and include me in their outings.  We have great times singing karaoke, shopping, biking around town, and going out to eat.  They are beginning to feel like old friends I have known for a while.  It's a small world after all.  :)

Sometimes I like to keep to myself and gather my thoughts, even pray and reflect a bit.  I need some silence in the chaos, or even just some personal time that allows me to recuperate from my jitteriness.  My apartment is gradually beginning to feel like my own place, my own home.  My haven, you could say.  I just need a taste of  my Louisiana home a little bit every day—every other day, at least—so I can remind myself of where I come from and what has helped to shape me into who I am.

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My year in Japan has just begun.  I still wonder, “What if this is a mistake?  What if I fail?  What if something terrible happens?”  I have to pounce on whatever voice in my head allows those questions to surface.  I have to remember that nothing is ever easy at first.  What about every first I have had?  The arrival of my first sibling.  My first day of school (every year since I was four.  Look!  I survived!).  My first pair of glasses.  My first time wearing braces.  My first acne breakout.  My first dance.  My first test in a new class.  My first time traveling abroad.  My first time living alone.

I have made it through every first, and I will make it through this one as well.  Without curiosity and determination in even the smallest sense, we are not human beings; we are walking carcasses.  

And I choose to live.