A Reflective End

For my last few days in Japan, I felt reflective. When I took a bullet train to Nagoya for a customer meeting, and a bullet train back in the same day, I was reflective on how fortunate of an experience this all has been. I never would have thought I would be in that position; why would I consider something like that even a possibility? I felt grateful for the opportunity and was proud I took the initiative to make this trip happen and dared to ask if I could.
When I went out for drinks and food with my new coworkers turned friends, I was reflective on how amazing of a cultural exchange I've been able to participate in. One of my goals going into this trip was to immerse a bit beyond the top tourist spots, and I feel I truly gained insight and understanding of the country and culture beyond the amount I expected. My new friends and coworkers seemed to appreciate my genuine interest and time spent seeing and absorbing as much of the country as I could, and I'm thankful I could end my trip making these new connections. I wasn't a local, but I got to experience something similar through casual drinks after work with "Kanpais" all around.
When I took my last jog around the Imperial Palace to my favorite coffee spot Glitch, I was reflective on how much I had grown on the trip. I got to the point of having a known route and a favorite coffee shop that I could jog to without Google directions. I was able to order in broken Japanese, and even had the woman sitting next to me comment how "all the tourists made the line longer for people like you and I that live here" (I let that white lie go ahead and didn't let her know I was one of them). I had traveled and grown and adapted and absorbed enough of Japan to know I'd never really know it. And that's a good thing! No place or people is a monolith, and the range of human experience on display isn't something to understand, but to just appreciate and keep up with as much as you can.
And lastly, while I looked one last time at the shrine outside my window, ate my last tonkatsu for lunch, rode my last train to the airport, and was bid farewell by Pokémon window art after bag check, I was reflective on how wonderful of a trip it had been. I was a bit wiser, a bit fuller, a bit more appreciative, a bit more optimistic, and finally a bit tired; I was ready to come home. Until next time Japan!Okumaya devam et