Pre-departure Musings

Well its less than a week before we depart for a year long stay in japan. I sit here typing as i remember all the things about California i will miss,....  and the others i'm glad im leaving behind. Little things seem to be the most daunting things to overcome, which seems peculiar to me. For example, I'll miss being able to eat mexican food. Now don't get me wrong, I love japanese food in all its forms, but not having a burrito slathered in hot sauce for a year is going to be a definite test of will.  There's something so wonderful about all the little things you overlook until you realize they'll be gone; even if only a year. The only things ill need to take with me ( aside from the necessary technology and clothes ) is an appreciation for all things great and small, an openness to this new world I'm entering and the enthusiasm to take every new opportunity presented to me and utilize it to my advantage. I make this promise to myself now and will see it through to the end of the year. So now I take the plunge and after these final days I will write again upon my arrival in Oita, abiding a free moment. I bid you all to come along.

+Jari+


Dear America,

This whole idea in having an opportunity to live and absorb all of what Japan has to offer for a whole year, seems so surreal at this moment. It almost feels like one of those strange dreams that you have that seem so real, feeling your heart pounding at the thought of what the future could hold  in Japan. What I hope for in my experience abroad is to find who i am in a place that is unfamiliar, and open my self completely to this foreign culture. Like James Michener says, “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” Even though I don't feel ready to leave a familiar place for so long, I am pushing myself.  I'm preparing to adapt to a new life and see how others in this world live, so that i may know what the world may have to offer. So I bid you farewell America, (for only a year) and i will miss you. 


Love,


..::Eva::..