My intention in studying abroad in Japan is to change my brain. Three days into the adventure, I’m beginning to see what tremendous manifestations accompany such a vision. Everything is simple, direct, efficient, polite and breathtakingly beautiful or insanely cute (kawaii!). This makes a lot of room for activity that wouldn’t normally be free to transpire.
Every activity feels like walking through a deja vu. Time change, lack of sleep, intensely packed schedule, which coincidentally always lends itself toward intellectually stimulating and inner guide exhilarating, and not a single thing ever going according to plan has set my head and heart on a tailspin. In a way, living this dream feels intensely like a dream I had a few years ago-except this time there’s no waking up. This is the dream happening.
What causes us to dream up the things we do? Questions like these, hinting at greater mysteries have serendipitously met the realization the students at Ehime University I’m meeting are just like me, and I am more like them than I could have imagined. I consider the idea that I’m searching for parallels, but I’m honestly too short on sleep to try. All there is here to do is be open, receive the experience, and then, of course, to make something of it.
There is the coursework for the Social Psychology class and my photography project which gnaws at me, but more like a cat begging for affection. Unfortunately, at this moment, my eyes droop and my body final begs for sleep. Integrating this experience may take months, but there doesn’t seem to be a better place to start than hitting this straw mat bed and funky buckwheat pillow.
What part of my trip would you like to hear more about? The day to day stuff? The market, the streets, my peers? You tell me, because there is so much to share that I don’t really know where to begin.
