8 Left

Yesterday marked my official 2nd month in Japan. I can't believe, even until now, that I survived. Resilience comes when goals are set.

Everything now almost looks normal to me. The sites and sounds along the way to the nearest train station no longer strike me as something foreign, even if nothing resembles that of anything I am accustomed to back in the tropics. I bike in the dead of night to the supermarket to avail of the nightly sale of meat. When I breathe, vapor comes out of my mouth. I don three layers of clothing every now and then with a tight scarf round my neck when I go out. I pocket my hands inside my sweater pocket when I walk to keep it warm. Darkness envelopes the surroundings at 5 in the afternoon.

But sometimes, moments when I realize that I am in Japan just come out of nowhere. Especially when I bike at night, a happy beam suddenly crosses my face and I exclaim in an undertone while looking around me, "Oh God, I AM in Japan..." It is this moment where I am at my happiest. I am not so far from home unlike most of the people I know here. One of my close friends is from Moscow, which is halfway around the world. I am only 5 hours away from home with just an hour time difference. But still, being in a totally different world brings something different out of anyone.  I feel different. I might have never known this side of myself if I always stayed in my comfort zone. And I am happy. Someone who once had the same experience as me now said something to me that didn't surprise me, but opened a new appreciation for this whole thing. After his exchange student stint in Japan, he went back to the Philippines to graduate and immediately applied for work in Japan. After getting the job, the moment he arrived back in Japan, he said to himself, "Wow, I'm home."

And I have to confess that another reason why I applied for Japan is because I got to travel. Traveling has always been a passion and a dream for most of us. And this I saw was probably the easiest way for me to get to travel. I don't actually mind where I would go, as long as I get to travel. It's all part of the fun of traveling. Japan, or Tokyo, was never part of my "lifetime travel" itinerary but... I'm here now and I'm not complaining.

Plus, the cool thing is that I am learning a new language. Learning a language is no easy task, especially when you need to learn another writing system - 3 writing systems at that! But all is good. Frustrations occasionally happen, but patience goes a long way. At least now I am not as totally clueless as when I first arrived here. Japanese looked overwhelming then.

Now, I can read, write and understand stuff like this:　秋休みにりょこうしたいです。そして、わたしは元気だよ。そして、東京で日本はとてもすごいです。 Which, roughly translated, says something like: I want to travel this Autumn break/holiday. And, I am great and happy. And, Tokyo in Japan is really great.

An accomplishment, I'd say. But back to the title of this post, I now have 8 months left here. I do not want to say 'I still have 8 months to go.' because it sounds negative which, at this crucial point in my life, I do not want to be. I MUST, in all earnestness of that word, stay positive. So, in my effort to stay positive about life in Japan, I should go 'I have 8 months left!', with the proper exclamation. I am not making sense at all.

And I just found out how lucky I am. I saw this profile of a Filipino exchange student from UP - a friend of my fellow exchange student in ICU who is also from UP - who is in Beppu, Oita, which is like on an Island in the south of Japan and like, very rural. As in bukid. O.o Thank God I am in Tokyo.