Thoughts on Life (Kailey)

Thoughts Sat. March 2

Soon I’ll be getting back to Canada.  It’s only 2 more weeks in Japan for me.  Ben and I just got back from a long drive all the way around lake Biwako with Masae, Satoshi, and Kijima San and his wife Kozue san.  It was a 4 hour drive and we saw the most amazing waves crashing against the shore, while watching the snow storm whirling around us outside the car.  For Satoshi it was the first time in 3 years he’d taken a train (JR) outside of Kyoto, so for him it was quite an amazing experience.  Just doing something other than work was for him really rare. 

Satoshi (my violinist friend) will be coming to live with Ben and I in May. We’re planning to rent a 2 bedroom apartment so we can live together in Victoria.  If all goes well, he’s planning to stay with us for a year, study English, and take private violin lessons, and hopefully I can get him integrated into the music community in Victoria.  He’s going to try and get into Uvic as an undergrad for the following year if he can pass TOEFL.  I just went with him yesterday to the post office and we got his application for a working holiday visa sent away.  He should get his visa approved within a month and a half in-time to make it to Canada for May.  For him, this opportunity to come to a foreign country has been his dream since childhood, and it’s finally coming true.  I’m so excited for him.

To be honest I’m so excited for him, but also a bit scared for him. I have no idea how it will turn out.  For him I think it’s going to be the experience of his life. I’m wondering how he’s going to fit in with Ben and my busy lifestyle in Victoria…. I hope he’ll be ok.  At least for the beginning, Ben and I can help him with communication by bridging the language barrier. I want to help him a lot, but he’s going to have to be brave and have a lot of courage to adjust to his new lifestyle.

I’m really looking forward to hitting it hard with practicing and music when I get back to Canada.  The people I’ve built friendships with here in Japan have such a different lifestyle than anything I’ve experienced in Canada.  To me, it’s so slow, and so simple, and I’ve become accustomed to it.  One thing’s for sure.  Having experienced the exact opposite pace of life from what I had before I came to Japan, I’ll never go back to being so busy again.  I think this year’s experience has really changed the way I look at things, but I’m wondering what it’s going to be like for me to return to Victoria.  I wonder if I’ll be able to re-adjust to life in Victoria.  Maybe reverse culture shock(post) is going to hit me hard.  I don’t know.

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Ben and Kailey lived in Japan not too long ago and also visit Kyoto every year.

Ben is developing a Japanese Practice site. It's current main functions are:
1. a Flash Card system that features a leveling system where you must answer correctly and "level up"to gain new cards, receive money and buy new decks - anime decks included!
2. Fill in the Blank system where you can choose to focus on particle practice or verb practice etc.

The Japanese Practice Blog is here. Check out the Japanese Practice site here