“I did not come all the way to Japan to sit around doing the same things I did in Germany.” This sentence is something I constantly try to make myself aware of. And by any means it is not always easy.
The world is full of distractions and day to day I face thousands of them. Be it at work or at home. Youtube, Instagram, Reddit – the book I wanted to read for centuries or my old Nintendo lurking in the shadows of my shelf. But as tempting it seems to yield to those things as much do I despise them. Don`t get me wrong, I still end up at home spending my evening in front of my tablet more often than I would like to, feeling like I just wasted a bunch of time when I finish and go to sleep. And it’s not like I watch nonsense. In fact most of the media I consume I believe to be at least in some way educational. But yet I still feel unsatisfied. Because all those things, as beneficial they might or might not be, all of them I could do in Germany as well. Sure you can argue that some of the educational content I consume is essential for progress in my life and therefore necessary. You also can argue that some sort of balance between work, education and nonsense is needed to prevent burnout (and overall leads toward a more fulfilling life), especially since my work is placed in the creative field. And I get that, even though it creeps over me sometimes that I just tell myself those things to justify my own actions.
But enough of that, let’s talk about the things that I would rather do in my free time.
Japan is a strange place to me – in so many ways. Too many things are different and even if I would intend to list all of them in this text I probably would not be able to do so.
The point is that everytime I go out and “explore” this big city I live in I find something new, something curious. Be it a person, a cafe, a shop, some traffic sign or some other triviality. So why is it that lately I find myself going out less and less? One answer could be that I became a little complacent. I arrived in Japan 4 month ago. I found friends to hang out with and places I enjoy spending my free time at. So there is not really an intrinsic need anymore to go out, to explore and to search for connection. That said I still want to do so! Because that is the reason I came to Japan. I did not come here to find just one good ramen restaurant. I came here to go to every freaking restaurant that Japan has to offer. And the same goes for other things. Basically I want more, of everything that Japan has to offer. So from now on I will go out more, be it on my own or together with some of my new friends. I am going to stop making excuses like: “Uh, I really want to watch this new Video from Dan Mace” or “Ahh, I already spent 10 bugs on lunch I need to save some money”, because let’s be real. Life is short and I don’t know what the future holds. Now is the time to go out, not tomorrow. On that note: “Good bye, I gotta go!”
