"Each single day is short, yet when you come to count them you find that time's strange process has forged them all together into years"

Hey guys,

It's been a while, huh?  I'm sorry, and I knew this was a risk.  As discussed previously, once I got out of the habit of posting it slid precipitously all the way to nothing.  Although in my defense, that post also mentions how terrible I am at early mornings, and the fact that my last post coincides with the start of a gig that has me teaching at 9am 2-4 times per week . . . probably not a coincidence (it's a fun gig, and the consistent money is great, but that 7:30am wakeup just doesn't jive with me)



But this is worthy of a post.  Today, August 12th, marks one year since I landed here in Tokyo (I actually thought it was the 15th, only to look it up tonight to realize that it was actually the 12th!  Huh, memories are funny like that).  One year

On one hand, I cannot believe that it has already been a year.  It absolutely seems like just yesterday, last week at the earliest, that I rode in from Narita on the Keisei line, looking out at the fields and farmhouses and thinking, "welp, this is it.  This is what I've always wanted."  And yet . . . when I think of everything I have done, everything I have learned, everything I have experienced, I can't believe I managed to fit all of that into a year:



A year ago, I had never experienced from-scratch toripaitan ramen, hotaru ika tempura, or top-quality gyukatsu

A year ago, I had never drunk sake out front of a liquor store in the middle of old Tokyo, nor canned chu-hi out front of a convenience store in downtown Tokyo

A year ago, I had never celebrated my birthday in a foreign country (and this year, I did it twice hehehe)

A year ago, I had never been to an international Costco!

A year ago, I had never experienced the Saikyo train en route to Shinjuku station at 8:30am (not saying I'm glad to have done so now, though, god that is a miserable experience.  The Saikyo line from Akabane to Shinjuku makes the Keihin-Tohoku line from Omiya to Akihabara look like the Inokashira line from Shibuya to Kichijoji--hashtagTokyojokes)

A year ago, I had only been to the touristy parts of Akihabara

A year ago, I had only been to the touristy parts of Shinjuku

A year ago, I had only been to the touristy parts of Ueno

A year ago, I had never met any JRock stars, Japanese actors, or Ikebana masters

A year ago, I didn't know what it was like to be a regular at a salaryman hangout yakitori bar (now I'm a regular at two)

A year ago, I was not able to look myself in the mirror and know that I have the ability to pick up my life, move to a foreign country with little language skills and no job, and make a life work



It's been a hell of a year.  And those things I mentioned are . . . just things.  Just things.  When I think of all the people that I know and love now, people that I had yet to meet a year ago . . . it boggles my mind

It's hard to definitively say something like "best year of my life", because I've had so many amazing, wonderful things happen in my life.  But I will say this much:  The snapshots of my life on August 12th 2014 and August 12th 2015 are incredibly, mindblowingly different.  One of the biggest possible changes you could find with any gap of 365 days for my entire life.  And honestly?  It's been the best change I can think of.  Point A to Point B, this has been the best 365-day change in my life.  And this has been one of the best decisions I ever made




Thank you to everyone that has supported me, rooted for me, or at least stood on the sidelines and offered a polite golf clap every once in a while.  I hope you'll all stick around with me going forward into this next year

Oh, and I'm going to keep this blog on hiatus, but as soon as I'm able I'm going to make a real effort to go back to updating this blog.  Stay in touch, I'll be around.  Call it a New Year's Resolution :D

Noah out