Changes of Plan

This year has seen a number of plan changes that have affected my life in unexpected ways.


PLAN A was to come to Canada working for my previous company.  Life could have been easy, but the economic climate in Japan after the earthquake left all decisions hanging apart from my decision to actually move.

Golden Week 2011 Travelogue

Date: 2nd May 2011

Objective: Riding lots of trains and hiking in the Minami Alps

Budget: 7,000 yen approx.

For our Golden Week holiday this year we wanted to save money by keeping all of our travels within our local area of Shizuoka, so I set about researching some day trip options for us.  This trip along the Oigawa and Ikawa Train Lines was suggested to me by one of my students who brought in some photos of his excursion.  It struck me as some of the most beautiful scenery I had ever seen in Japan.

Reunion

At long last! We have finally been reunited with our belongings!

Moving people to different countries is easy: just get a passport and away you go – sometimes at a moment’s notice. Moving a person’s stuff is quite a bit more involved. When Japan Luggage Express came to load all our boxes in a van and take them away, I was ecstatic. However, the feelings of “Good Riddance!” soon turned to longing once we got to Canada. I needed my stuff to bring familiarity to new surroundings.

Japan: A “To-Do” List

Our time in Japan has come to an end. The past three years have absolutely flown by thanks to many adventures into the country’s far-reaching corners. As with any love affair, my fascination is sustained by the limited nature of the beloved object. After three years of immersive experience, Japan keeps me coming back for more. Here is my list of things as yet undone:

Citizen of What?

I live in Japan.

It was one of those realizations that makes the everyday both clear and alien in an instant. This one hit while I walked to work, wending my way through a long stretch of factory that often breeds epiphanies of its own (ie. How did a student of English Literature manage to sneak into a working environment where there are forklifts?). The uniqueness (preposterousness?) of my situation leapt forward from a cultural backdrop of global access that has made physical borders seem all but obsolete.