Tokyo - My Space to Grow
There are certain things we do in life which we barely register.
We give little thought to those non-exceptional bits of our day such as the commute to work, making a morning coffee, browsing the news on the Internet and so on.
The details somehow become routine, habitual, blurry.
When you move to another country, and your familiarity with the environment around you is suddenly diminished, even those little things become interesting and important. You savour and even crave the fluency in repeating things you know.
When we moved to Japan from Switzerland four months ago, I was exhilarated by the newness.
All of a sudden, there is a naivety that didn’t exist before. An opportunity to learn suddenly presents itself, smack dab in the middle of adulthood.
But, the prospect is as much perfectly scary as it is privileged.
I have moved around. I have lived in New York, London, Zürich…and I have happily integrated myself into each of those scenarios and lifestyles, both professionally and personally.
Maybe it is maturity, or the fact that we now have three children in tow, perhaps it is the sheer distance from family or familiarity, or maybe it is for all of those reasons – this time it is different.
There is something about being in Tokyo that makes me want to explore and learn and grow.
The country, the culture, the food, the language, the people... I have never felt so alive and ready to peel back the layers.
This space is dedicated to my journey.
I've decided to explore my inner artist and have given myself the challenge of learning the language, capturing the journey “on film” and of telling the stories as they happen.
I met a fellow expat last week who said that this newness, this discovery phase, is too short and should be treated as incredibly precious. I think she was right.