Howdy

Hey there! Thanks for checking in on my blog. If you know me well, you know I can laugh at just about anything and rarely take myself too seriously. Well, I’ve now moved to Japan and nothing has changed. . . Except that I am finding myself laughing at myself about ten times more because I am constantly screwing up. The many cultural faux pas I’ve been told time and time again to avoid making, I’ve already done many a time, or will be doing unintentionally in the near future.

I’ve had folks who have lived abroad tell me to be careful in creating a blog, as one can start to feel pressured to keep their blog up to date and stop enjoying writing it. To all of you out there who are going to be checking in regularly, know that I am doing this for those who want to keep up with my adventures, but mostly for myself. If a week goes by, maybe two, maybe six, and I still haven’t posted on the blog – do not fear. I’m just living my life and not blogging about it.

To catch you up, I’ve been living in Japan for over two weeks now. So much has happened in that amount of time. I’ve spent days in Tokyo being overloaded with information about what life will be like here, hours sitting at my desk twiddling my thumbs, a weekend working at a summer camp with Japanese high schoolers, and more time than I would like to admit in grocery and drug stores trying to decipher Japanese writing. I’ve made quick friends who have me doubled over in laughter at our shared struggles, and have had FaceTime calls with my mom where I used every ounce of control I had to keep from bursting into tears for no particular reason.

Some of the highlights of my time here so far have been days wandering around with friends. I visited the Omicho Fish Market and ate the largest oyster I’ve ever seen, tried sea urchin, and enjoyed the most delicious eel. I’ve spent a day lounging by the beach and swimming in the Sea of Japan, as well as days strolling through the city of Kanazawa, where I have been shocked by the number of times I’ve nearly walked right past incredibly beautiful shrines. I’ve been on runs in my area where I ended up in the middle of rice patties, and I tried to go walking in the park, but could not find the entrance and only found chained off entrances with signs Google Translate told me mentioned a bear (?).

I tend to either overshare or give zero details when explaining to people, so you may watch me struggle with that over the course of this blog. The photos I’ve shared in this post show some of the many things I’ve done in my 15 days in Japan so far. Future posts will likely be more targeted, but you’ve gotta start somewhere!