It is not always at the beginning where a story starts, neither does a journey always have to begin with a departure.
The intricate fabric upon which we weave our lives permits us many choices and each choice we make permits us to experience life in our own unique way.
It would be easier for me to explain "red" to you than it would to explain the "why" "what" or "how" of where I am now. The series of choices I made that resulted in me occupying this very intriguing reality. If you would like to witness my pitiful attempt at trying to do the impossible then you are in the right place.
This all began with a roll of the dice. I had arrived at a point in life where change was required but not necessarily for change’s sake. Living in a time when the future was about as easy to predict as…as… as something that is not easy to predict, “what to do next?” was actually pretty easy to decide: anything. When you don’t know what will happen with any degree of certain any choice you make is good. To not choose, to stay in the rut and not move is the mistake. I think.
決定しない方が間違っている。
After deciding to move it was just a couple of months and few emails later and I was in Japan. 7 years later I am still here after promising myself at most 2 years. There are too many reasons to go into why I chose to stay here. I think mainly because it is jus so easy to live here. By that I mean you can actually focus on living. In many of the other places I have been to, the administration of your life takes up so much time there just is not that much time to get on with living it.
日本が住みやすいすぎる。
I think that is something particular to being an immigrant. There is one set of rules for locals and another for you. This is not the case here in Japan. I think that the most difficult thing I have had to do since being here is deciding if breakfast was going to be cornflakes, sushi or a stinking bowl of curry and rice. Getting an apartment, buying a car, paying taxes, and setting up bank accounts. These things are mundane and take zero effort compared to some of the other places I have lived.
日本で毎日の生活については一番難しい決定が「朝ご飯。カレー・シリアル。。。どちだろう？」
All this efficiency has left me with a rather high-class problem.
What to do with all this spare time?
Where do I start?
What will my genesis read like?
Working in education I think I have found the perfect balance of purpose and engagement. Finding something meaningful to do is hard because very often, meaningful work is as exciting as…as… as well… something that is not very exciting at all. Maybe it is just the zany kids here, maybe it is the school lunches that quite honestly should all mostly have a Michelin star rating, I don’t know.
教育に関する職業は本当に良かった！
The one thing I do know for sure is that being in a position where you can see instant results and then be instantly rewarded for, at times, just simply pulling a stupid face is, I believe, a good place to start.
A good genesis.