A typical Life

A little while ago Brad asked Did Japan Change YOU?  This got me to thinking.  My initial reaction on Japansoc was to say that “I think that I’ve become more patient and more understanding of the fact that there is not one right way to do things”. I elaborated a bit further but that response was overly simplistic - it’s more complicated than that.

I got to pondering this over a chicken sando set at my local McDonald’s.  I wish that I could say this insight came to me while meditating at the Senso-ji in Asakusa or some other spiritual place but it didn’t - inspiration comes where it comes and I’m just happy that it did.

As I’ve said before I am on my second time living in Japan and even though I have only been here a short time so far on this go-round my feelings haven’t changed much since the last time and I’ve also had some good reminders.  The bottom line is that I’m not really sure if Japan has changed me or not but I know that Japan has given me the gift of awe and wonder back. 

If the truth be told, living in Japan is not that different from living anywhere else.  We have to get around, shop, eat and entertain ourselves.  We love and miss our families, we worry about things.  Will I fit in?  Will anyone understand me?  Will I make friends?  What will people think of me?  How will I get around? Where is the grocery store, the pharmacy, the gym, etc? These questions would come up if you moved from Seattle to New York, Vancouver to Toronto or Honolulu to Japan.

The challenges that arise when moving to Japan are due to the fact that we have been taken out of our robot-like comfort zone.  When I was at home in the United States or Canada I didn’t think about a lot of things.  If I needed something I drove to the store and picked it up.  I didn’t have to think about where the store was or how it was organized because this information was imbedded in my consciousness.  Drive three blocks to the store, take a left here and a right there.  Milk is here, meat is there and dairy is against the back wall.  When you are in Japan you have to become more conscious about everything and pay attention to your surroundings just to get all of the thing done that you take for granted at home. 

In a lot of ways Japan is a healthier existence.  Instead of driving my car I hop on my bike or walk to the train station to catch a train, bus or taxi.  I’m getting exercise that I probably wouldn’t get at home and I’m not getting frustrated by other drivers and traffic jams.  I’m calmer in Japan.

Instead of watching mindless television in my living room I am taking time to think and write.  I am taking time to explore this sometimes strange to me, yet amazing place, that  the universe has chosen to place me.  In Japan I take the time to quietly be with myself - I am not as distracted by mindless activities.

In Japan things are not as easily accomplished and require a lot more thought and effort than you would need to put in of you were living in your home country.  Of course, a lot of this has to do with the language barrier and cultural differences but while the inability to speak Japanese doesn’t make things impossible in Japan often requires a lot of energy and planning to get them done.  On the whole, I find that in Japan I am more engaged and aware of what is going on around me.

In a lot of ways I feel like living in Japan has caused a reversion of sorts.  I feel like a child must feel when everything is new and exciting.  Children are not jaded by the mundane as nothing is mundane to them,  everything in new and wonderful.  A child has an innate sense of wonder and awe and if you take time to watch children you can see it in their faces.  Japan has given me back the wonder and awe that, unless we  take the time to nurture, adult-hood can take away from us all.

Living in Japan has helped me to lead a more conscious life.

I can collect engaging and entertaining stories about life in Japan, pictures of shrines, temples and geisha, post cards and other knick-knacks but if I could only take one thing home with me at the end of my Japan journey  that would stay with me for the rest of my life it would be my sense of wonder and awe.