It has been already 5 months since my latest update. So now it has been more than a year that I moved to this other planet called Japan. Am I settled? I can say say. Do I understand everything? Oooooh no! lol I understand a lot more than before but I found myself being baffled by my surroundings.
Summer went by so fast...I did not even see it coming and leaving. And as usual, fall came sneaking behind the doors and all of a sudden I just remember trading my shorts and thang tops for sweaters and hoodies.
The same way the seasons slowly changes in Japan without one's notice, the same way I found Japan's culture sloooooooooooowly integrated my mind and subconscious. It is not like a parasite that lives off another being. No....it is more like an alien organism that gets into your system without you even feeling one single difference. But than one day you wake up to realize that you have morphed into something else...or could it be evolution? Is it still me with a zest or someone else? Am I losing myself or gaining myself? Or am I just a cameleon adapting in any environments I found myself in and consequently adopting the mannerism of a world I did not even know a year ago. Here is what happened to trigger all these thoughts.
Last week end, I met with a local lady at an event in my town. We have had the chance to talk to each other several times in the past. When she saw me, she walked straight up to me, looked at me straight in the eyes and started talking. 2 things happened immediatly. First I must explain that we are all familiar with the concept of the bubble which is a bit less than an arm lenght in western societies. In Japan, this bubble is about one full arm and a half. Really! This woman was about the same as what would consider appropriate back home. I IMMEDIATELY backed off. And she stepped closer to me again making me feel...weird. Second, when she looked at me in the eyes, which is one of the ruddest things to do in Japan, I looked down. That woman grabbed my face and forced me to look at her. I was in shock! First I realized that I have been losing the ways of ''home'' and second this woman was NOT acting japanese at all. After asking her, she told me she was brazilian but has lived in Japan for many years...
And this is how this Brazilian woman gave me a wake up call about what was happening to me in Japan...which also triggered all the thoughts and questions I was asking earlier.
Summer went by so fast...I did not even see it coming and leaving. And as usual, fall came sneaking behind the doors and all of a sudden I just remember trading my shorts and thang tops for sweaters and hoodies.
The same way the seasons slowly changes in Japan without one's notice, the same way I found Japan's culture sloooooooooooowly integrated my mind and subconscious. It is not like a parasite that lives off another being. No....it is more like an alien organism that gets into your system without you even feeling one single difference. But than one day you wake up to realize that you have morphed into something else...or could it be evolution? Is it still me with a zest or someone else? Am I losing myself or gaining myself? Or am I just a cameleon adapting in any environments I found myself in and consequently adopting the mannerism of a world I did not even know a year ago. Here is what happened to trigger all these thoughts.
Last week end, I met with a local lady at an event in my town. We have had the chance to talk to each other several times in the past. When she saw me, she walked straight up to me, looked at me straight in the eyes and started talking. 2 things happened immediatly. First I must explain that we are all familiar with the concept of the bubble which is a bit less than an arm lenght in western societies. In Japan, this bubble is about one full arm and a half. Really! This woman was about the same as what would consider appropriate back home. I IMMEDIATELY backed off. And she stepped closer to me again making me feel...weird. Second, when she looked at me in the eyes, which is one of the ruddest things to do in Japan, I looked down. That woman grabbed my face and forced me to look at her. I was in shock! First I realized that I have been losing the ways of ''home'' and second this woman was NOT acting japanese at all. After asking her, she told me she was brazilian but has lived in Japan for many years...
And this is how this Brazilian woman gave me a wake up call about what was happening to me in Japan...which also triggered all the thoughts and questions I was asking earlier.
No comments:
Post a Comment