country girl going city

mini trip to my favourite city

in this week’s newsletter: a (very late) mini vlog in kyoto filled with new experiences, good food, and even better company

dear penpals -

i feel like the title of this newsletter is a little deceiving, because if you ask anyone here in the inaka (countryside) they would immediately tell you that i still have long ways to go before i get to call myself a “country girl” hahah. but (and i apologize this also is a late update), back in september i was able to make a mini trip to my favourite city in japan (and maybe even the world…?!) for a few days to meet friends, explore the city, and obviously have my much needed stationery shopping fix.

the first time i went to kyoto was in march 2019, and i immediately fell in love with the city. all throughout the pandemic, i dreamed of going back to japan just to go back to kyoto. it took a while, but excited to share my kyoto vlog of all the fun and new places i visited (and the food… oh my goodness i am so thankful for the food).

click on the image or the link to watch it is here.
please click on ‘CC’ at the bottom right corner for closed captions if needed.

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when i first was in kamikatsu, i craved and longed so desperately to go back to the city because i felt like life in the countryside was too overwhelming, too scary, and too… country. i remember counting down the days in my journal until i could go to kyoto, and once i arrived at the station i was shocked. by the sounds, the flashing lights, the busyness, and the people… there were so many people.

i shook off this mini culture shock feeling, and eventually found my body re-adjusting back to life in the city. i visited new cities, tried pottery for the first time, ate a-ma-zing food, and visited stationery store after stationery store (sorry wallet!) and had a wonderful, wonderful time.

so when we had to say goodbye to kyoto, there was a part of my heart that was sad to leave. but as i got closer and closer to kamikatsu, i saw the mountains and the village and felt myself taking a deep breath of relief to be back. i looked out the window and said to myself, “i have missed the mountains. i have missed this pace of life. i have truly missed the inaka.”

it’s such an interesting thing, gaining perspective, as we go through life. the things that we might have originally labelled as “negative” or things we took for granted, change as we gain more experiences along the way that challenge our original thinking.

don’t get me wrong, i still call kyoto my favourite city and i am definitely a city girl through and through. but i’m realizing that sometimes we have to leave and experience something new and different. to come back to and hold a deeper appreciation for things that originally felt scary and overwhelming, that are now beautiful comforting… and still scary and overwhelming (your original perspective is still valid even if it changes!).

it’s taking a while and i’m still trying to get it right. but i’m learning the importance to not stay stagnant in one way of thinking, and remind myself that we are here to adapt, to adjust, to flow, and to be still. so to the city that i love, your busyness and sounds are both comforting and annoying. to the countryside that i’m learning to love and adjust to, your stillness and silence are both scary and beautiful.

and that will always be okay. there will always be so much more to do and experience that opens our eyes to see things from all perspectives. there will always be space in this world for both.

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