in this week’s newsletter: a happy hello (again!), updates on what have i been up to, where i have been, and what i’m excited for next
dear penpals -
hi. umm yes, hello… it’s me. お久しぶり [o·hi·sa·shi·bu·ri] - long time no see! a long time actually… i hope you haven’t forgotten about this little newsletter of mine.
life has been moving so fast, and finally, 2 months since i wrote my last newsletter, i find myself back in kamikatsu, sitting in my unofficial-official bar stool in cafe polestar, having the time to rest and write this newsletter again. i feels good to be back to the slow rhythm of the countryside (many thanks to you for sticking around during my unexpected hiatus hahah).
so where have i been and what have i been up to since i last popped into your inboxes?
oh canada!
when i first decided to move across the world, the original plan was to stay until the end of june, return to whatever my new normal back in canada would be, and close this chapter of japan for good. but, as with many things in life, plans change and i chose to extend my time in japan a little bit longer.
but i still wanted to return to canada, even if only for a short little while, to visit loved ones i haven’t seen since august 2022. so i packed my bags (2 full suitcases worth!), got on a plane, and flew halfway across the world to hug some of my favourite people in the world.
if i’m being honest, i was a little nervous coming back to canada. so much of life and friendship and changes can happen and i wasn’t sure how (or if) i would fit in the community that i left a year ago.
but the second i saw friends again, it was like time stood still and moved for all of us. we grew, we changed, but our friendship stayed the same. i reconnected with friends, had deep conversations full of laughter and heart-to-heart moments, celebrated the wedding of two friends, and ate good food with even better company. it was joy wrapped in a warm embrace and i’m so thankful that i had the entire month of july to be back in canada.
dance the night away!
immediately after landing back in japan, i welcomed the rush of the summer お盆 [o·bo·n] season, which is held every august 13-16, to honour our ancestors, whose spirits are believed to temporarily return to this world to visit their relatives. when i arrived to japan a year ago, i actually missed obon season, so i was pretty determined to make sure i was back in the country this time around.
there’s so much to share about all the joy and laughter that came from this year’s obon season, with more rich and colourful experiences celebrating my prefecture’s special festival - 阿波おどり [a·wa o·do·ri]. i’m working on a full and complete newsletter and video about this experience soon, so for now i leave you with a few of my favourite photos from this year’s obon season!
i can’t wait to start working on the vlog and share with you the history and joy of this year’s awa odori experience!
안녕하세요!
as i write this newsletter, i am currently in hibernation, recovery mode after traveling to south korea for the first time! i traveled with two friends and we visited three different cities in south korea over 10-ish days.
so many new adventures, experiences, and eating happened while traveling (hence why rest and recovery mode is quite necessary) and there will most definitely be vlogs about this trip, but definitely don’t expect it to come anytime soon (i filmed way too much of everything i did hahah), but for now here are some highlight photos from this wild, new experience!
at the time of writing, today marks september 1st. a new month and new season, and i can’t help but wonder what my life would have been like if i didn’t choose to extend this chapter of my time in japan.
i would most definitely have been scrambling over the summer to find a teaching position, setting up my classroom, brushing up on classroom management styles, and probably neck deep in lesson planning, curriculum objectives, and overall first day of school prep. and as i sit here, and think about that life, i realize that there’s still a part of me that’s not quite ready to return to it.
i know one day it will come, and maybe it will come a lot closer than i realize, but there is a joy (and privilege) i get to have to not think about that just yet. so in the moments when i feel bored with the mundaneness of the village, when i feel unproductive with my time, when life feels a little too slow - i will sit in the knowledge and comfort to allow myself more of this time to simply… be.
i’m leaning into this season to learn what it looks like to have hope, anticipation, and a desire to be prepared for the future, while also staying present in this moment of time. so if newsletters are a bit slower to produce, if vlog content is sparse… know that i’m still here, on this side of the world, accepting all the ebbs and flows of whatever life has in store for me in this new chapter of life.