Japan.
Whatever the stereotype, it's not true. Something wonderful and beautiful rests in Japan. The sacred sanctuary of the temples, the restful nature of the mountains, the sleeping dragon called Mount Fuji. Where do you begin? Is it fair to say that I have an uncompromising viewpoint of the land of sunrise? What did I learn, and what can I take away from this place?
This is the first place I set my foot on that was foreign. My anticipation had built up to this world and now my eyes had only to look upon it. I took every opportunity to soak up everything, everything from Takoyaki (fried octopus tentacles in a delicious batter), to the burial grounds of the 47 Ronin. America is different in contrast primarily because of the drive to constantly go, constantly produce, always be awake, always be aware of any and all opportunity. I will never shake the feeling of the quiet peace that reigns supreme here. As if the Japanese are aware of a unifying circle of time and progression, where there is a place for everything, and everything is in it's place.
That's beside the point. I mean to catalog in this ongoing post series, the notable events that transpired in my time here in japan. The first place that inspired a dramatic change in the way I structured my encounters with people. The place that challenged my faith and fear, and reminded me that death is an endless cycle contributing to rebirth and that above all else, inner peace is paramount.
It started with selection. I chose to come here via the military after conferring with my husband who was on board to the bitter end. The idea of japan, and I dare say, a foreign country appealed to me. I needed to break away from the draining depression of the United States. The constant politics and dramatics, the people I was all too familiar with, I wanted change, this seemed like the most different. After learning that was where I'd be sent, it was a matter of time getting mentally prepared.
Imagine you're so excited for something new, that the hours as you know then drag on...That was what it was like sitting in the USO Seattle-Tacoma airport. Spending all my time moseying about with no purpose and only forty dollars in my bank account. The flight itself would be long enough, but then I spent all my time in the airport waiting for the damn plane to park. I spent most of the twenty four hours in that place sleeping, talking with my husband, researching customs and polite gestures in Japan, walking all over the airport, eating junk food, and sleeping.
When I boarded the plane, I made it my goal to sleep for the next eleven hours. I slept for eight and then spent the next three trying to drown out the sound of babies crying. When we finally flew over japan, I remember feeling a creeping feeling of excitement. It was such a beautiful feeling. I WAS HERE! Somewhere over the pacific, far away from everything I had known. I understand that not everyone would get the same feeling as I did, but think of it! SOMETHING NEW!! Something to challenge everything you have ever known. That's the beauty of traveling, finding news ways to see the world. I watched in amazement from my jet window, the spread of the Puget sound, and Seattle; the city I one day would live in, slowly drifting away in a blue sheen as the airplane made its trek over the pacific.
The mountains from 30,000 feet seemed like mere wrinkles in the fabric of land, only dotted here and there with little glistening shimmers of cities and towns. We had followed the sun all afternoon, and from all the way in the stratosphere it became like every other beautiful landscape I had ever witnessed while flying. I couldn't keep my eyes off the window of the plane. I was finally here, Japan. Anticipation seemed to seep through every forgotten corner of myself. I returned to the days of my childhood wonder. It held promise, adventure, and potential for a change of pace.
-Sigma
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