こんにちは Konnichiwa
This post is going to be all over the place but so much as happened since I’ve been home so I’ll try to sum it up in a couple of categories:
1. good food (if you haven’t caught on yet from my blog posts, good food is a big part of my life)
2. seeing friends and family
3. thoughts on adjusting back to home
Let’s start with the yummy stuff 😉 Good food since I’ve been home…
Lots of pictures but over the past 6 weeks or so I’ve been catching up on all of the yummy foods I’ve missed most!
2. Seeing friends and family
So I have to admit one of my biggest fears while I was away was that I was going to lose most of my friends when I came back from Japan. It scared me that people would move on and that so much time would have passed that we wouldn’t be able to pick up where we left off.
I’ve learned though this is a part of life. Japan or not, this is going to continue to happen as time goes on. Friends will move, I will move, our jobs and schedules will change… and the fact of the matter is that friendships/relationships can change. As scary as that seems to me now, it’s a part of life. Because with that, new friendships are born with new experiences so the love in our life is constantly growing.
I was so overwhelmed with love when getting back to Japan because everyone was so eager to make plans and see me. Luckily to my surprise as well it felt like I was picking up right where I left off with these wonderful humans.
As you saw in the last post, I’ve been lucky enough to come home to a beautiful new home ON DA LAKE! My parents moved this past year from the house I grew up in my entire life. As weird as it is sometimes, it is simply beautiful and I’m still pinching myself. I’m currently writing outside on the deck listening to the water of the stream and overlooking the calm water glistening in the sun. I feel very grateful.
Seeing my brothers was also so nice. I’ve always been very close to my family and adjusting to communicating or lack there of with my brothers was hard this year. We had different schedules and we barely got to catch up at all while I was away. This is a big thing I’m still working on. I’m a huge communicator. I like to stay in touch and know what the people I care about are up to. I know not all people are like that, and I’m working on accepting people who like to communicate differently than I do. But especially with my brothers it hurt and I’ve been holding a grudge because we barely talked this year. I also have to remember they are boys… their brains are just different right? And most importantly, there’s no point in holding onto the past just need to focus on the now.
I got to stay with my friend Adam for a couple of nights in Philly and it was so so fun! I don’t know about you, but I really love Philly. It’s less crowded and stinky compared to New York but there are so many fun bars, restaurants, parks, etc. that you can’t go wrong. Even when Adam had to go to work there was plenty for me to explore and entertain myself 🙂
If you can’t tell, I was beaming with happiness. Some of my friends from UDel came to visit and my best friend from high school, Kat came as well! We enjoyed all the lake activities (I even conquered water skiing!!!!!!) plus good food and each other’s company. I’m so blessed to have such special friends in my life.
PSA: IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN KINKY BOOTS, BOOK A TICKET NOW. I was literally laughing out loud the whole show. The kind that your abs even hurt.
3. #Deepthoughtz
My friend Kristin in college had a blog called #Deepthoughtz so I’m gonna bring it back. There have been so many things that I’m still “digesting” since I’ve been home. There have been these moments especially in the beginning where I thought to myself, “Wait, did I even go to Japan? This feels like it was a dream…” But then there were other times where it felt like people had moved on so much that I felt out of the loop and that I would never catch back on. *But as mentioned above, I’m learning to accept that people come in and out of our lives and that is okay.*
The hardest part about being home was adjusting to social situations. In Japan we weren’t around new people often and let’s be real I hung out with the same couple of friends most weekends. So being in larger groups of people and around people I don’t know it’s like social over shock. For anyone who knows me this may sound weird because I’ve always been a social butterfly. BUT this jut goes to show how much your environment can change the way you think and act. I’m working on not overanalyzing the situation and just being myself to meet new people and enjoy the company of those I’m with.
The biggest one is that transitions are HARD. When there is no routine and nothing in life feels particular stable it feels like the ground can fall from underneath you at given moment in time. Granted I am so lucky that as a teacher we have summers off but with transitioning home with so many variables I feel like a juggler in a circus. I’m anxious to move to New York and open this new chapter. Japan was a difficult adjustment for me and I’m nervous I’ll go through something similar to that again. I’m trying to channel my brave self just about a year ago when I had very little worries and was ready to hop onto a plane to go thousands of miles away to work at a school I had never been to and live with a girl who I had never even met. Even though it was challenging, it was an amazing and unforgettable experience. I’m sure New York will challenge me in ways I don’t know of yet, but I’m sure it will also open up new doors for me in many aspects.
Quick update: I found an apartment and will be moving in September 5th!! WOOOO FOR NOT BEING HOMELESS!! I also start training August 17th so I’ll be bopping around at friends apartments until I move in 🙂 Thank goodness for lots of NYC friends who are so caring ❤ I also got moved up to teach 2nd/3rd grade instead of Pre-school which I’m beyond enthusiastic about. I was petrified of teaching Pre-school to be honest. Props to all you teachers out there who do, I don’t think I could!
Until next time…have a happy Monday everyone (:
さようなら Sayonara
The Traveling Teacher 