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I'd like to give you all a heads up on a new blog I
just discovered. It is called
a year or so in Japan and is the handiwork of Joanne.
She started it a little late, only getting around to
chronicling her life after already spending 8 months
here.
Yet in a way I think this was a good way to go about
it. To get past the usual spewing of culture shock instances
(As entertaining as they are, they are a very
well beaten path at this point) and allowing her more
time to cogitate on her experiences.
A recent entry of hers is VERY amusing. I
don’t want to spoil it by telling you about it,
you will have to go and read it for yourself.
As the clock ticks down for Joanne and her last 4 months
in Japan you can taste the sense of urgency in her posts.
She is trying to capture in words the thoughts , feelings,
and experiences she is going through before they get
passed by and fade away into the random haze of her
past.
Life is like that. Sometimes we get blinded by the
immediacy of an experience and never really get a chance
to “see” it and then it is gone in a flash
and all we have to rely on are our own fragmented memories
which slowly fade over time.
Like the wail of an ambulance siren, increasing in
frequency and volume as it approaches you but in a split
second flashing by you and forever on recedes into the
distance.
It gives me pause to reflect on my own time here in
Japan. You see, it was 5 years ago today that I arrived
here.
5 years.
In that time I have posted 300 updates to Sushicam
accounting for an estimated 5,000 photos (including
the photo of the day), 26 videos, and countless hours
of my time.
Looking back it has just flown by.
From the outset it seemed like I was going to be here
for a long time, and I guess I have. And even though
the time has really flown by, the pace seems to be accelerating.
My current employment agreement has me up for a renewal
of my stay here in January 2007, so for at least two
more years I will be careening around Japan like a pachinko
ball, sucking in as many experience as I can.
It will never be enough though.
They day I do finally leave Japan (Be it two years
from now, or 20 years from now) will be a bitter-sweet
moment. Sweet for all the things I have seen and done,
and bitter for all those that I did not see or do.
There will never be enough time to see and do everything
I would like to, so I will have to content myself with
doing what I can in the time I have here.
Either that or I can just decide to stay here forever.
(or at least until I stop breathing and my heart stops
beating....)
Comment 31
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