Adventure time + homesickness....
Hello again from Japan,
Lately, I've been making the most of the nice weather and going on some pretty awesome day trips. The first of these was to a small town in Ibaraki prefecture called Oarai. Oarai is a seaside town with a rugged beach and not really too much else! There is a shrine that is located on the rocks, and when the waves crashed against the rocks, it looks very moody and dramatic, so it was great to capture that on camera. I had seen photos of this at sunset and sunrise, and it looked breathtaking, so of course I had to check it out. Unfortunately, the trains don't run quite early enough to arrive in time for sunrise, but even so, it was still worth a look. The train ride there was full of nice scenery to gaze at out the window, and it was nice to see the countryside and the beach again. There is a flower park not too far from Oarai that I would like to check out one day, so I might head back this way again.
Another great day trip I've been on was to Mt Nokogiri in Chiba prefecture. This one is a definite must see! Truly stunning landscapes and a massive buddha statue to boot (it's even bigger than the daibutsu in Kamakura!). Mt Nokogiri translates as 'saw mountain' and some of the rock literally looks like it's been cut by a chainsaw. To get to the top, you take a ropeway, and from there you can explore and get beautiful views of the Boso peninsula. There are two ways you can get to Nokogiri, by train or by ferry. For me, both would have taken around about the same amount of time, so I opted to take the train. It took 2 hours each way, but it was definitely worth it. It was very rural, and such a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of downtown Tokyo for a day. Trying to do more of these kinds of day trips before the rainy season hits has been good, and it has shown me a more rural side of Japan too. There are many more day trips I want to do, including Kawaguchiko/Fuji lakes area, Hakone and more, but June is notorious for rain, and July and August will be extremely hot and humid, so I may have to put them on the backburner until it cools down a bit. Autumn in those areas will also be beautiful, so I'm looking forward to that.
I can't believe how fast 5 months have passed here in Japan. I've watched the seasons change from winter, then spring and today is June 1st, so the first day of summer! So strange that the seasons are going the other way to what I'm used to, seeing photos of skifields at home makes me want to go skiing! I'm almost halfway through what could be the first of 2 years here in Japan. I'm still undecided exactly how long I want to stay here for. One year doesn't seem like quite long enough to do everything I want to do in Japan and to fully adjust to the culture and learn more of the language, but two years may be too long. I don't think I can ever truly feel like I fit in as a foreigner here. This is kind of difficult to write about, but recently I've been dealing with a bit of homesickness and loneliness. It can be very isolating being so far away from family, and I wish I could share some of my life and experiences here in Japan with them. As it happens, none of my family or friends are in any position to come and visit me at this point in time, and that makes me really sad when I think about it. All of us NOVA teachers also have different schedules, with different days off and starting times, which makes it hard to organise things. You can start to become trapped in your own head and overthink everything when you feel this way. You think "I should be having the time of my life right now, why am I so miserable?" or "Isn't this ten times better than life back home? What have I got to complain about?". I guess sometimes you need to let yourself feel those kinds of emotions and realise that it's ok and completely normal to feel this way in a foreign country. However, you have to try not to let it take hold of you for too long.
My schedule is also not exactly conducive to a regular sleep pattern, and anyone who knows me well knows I need my sleep!The work culture here is also very much work until you fall asleep on the train home, whereas in New Zealand, it's far more laid back, which has taken some adjusting to. Last week was a challenging week mentally for me. A coworker quit, which means I've been doing extra hours, and a good friend will be leaving soon. This plus general fatigue made me feel very flat for a few days last week, but this week has been better. Getting out and about on Monday definitely helped, and also having dinner and drinks with some friends on Sunday night to get everything off my chest was also a good stress reliever.
You have your good days and bad days, and I think it's important to share the highs and lows of living and working overseas. I think overall, I have been coping fairly well considering how different Japan is in terms of culture, language and way of life. Maintaining contact with friends and family back home is also super important and reminds me that there is life outside of my wee Japan bubble I guess. Trying to eat healthily and get plenty of exercise is crucial too. Good physical health contributes to good mental health and, as cliche as that sounds, it's something I strongly believe in. I feel like I've been doing fairly well with this, but I do miss going to gym classes. I don't want to get locked into a long membership here, and it's also kind of expensive, so I've been mostly sticking to running and walking as well as zumba once a week. Definitely not as active as I used to be, but I hope I'm managing to maintain my weight rather than gaining too much... It helps when you don't have scales!
Anyway, I'm sorry if this has been a mildly depressing update, but as I mentioned before, it's important to share the ups and downs and keep things in perspective. Not every day is going to be sunshine and rainbows, but there have definitely been more good days than bad. I enjoy my job, even though the hours are erratic, and there's so much to see and do, so I'm keen to keep exploring. I also need to get back into studying more Japanese! I feel like my reading has improved, but my vocabulary needs some work. Just need to get off my ass and do the hard work and that will hopefully open more doors for me.
Until next time!
From Japan with love,
Hannah xxx
Lately, I've been making the most of the nice weather and going on some pretty awesome day trips. The first of these was to a small town in Ibaraki prefecture called Oarai. Oarai is a seaside town with a rugged beach and not really too much else! There is a shrine that is located on the rocks, and when the waves crashed against the rocks, it looks very moody and dramatic, so it was great to capture that on camera. I had seen photos of this at sunset and sunrise, and it looked breathtaking, so of course I had to check it out. Unfortunately, the trains don't run quite early enough to arrive in time for sunrise, but even so, it was still worth a look. The train ride there was full of nice scenery to gaze at out the window, and it was nice to see the countryside and the beach again. There is a flower park not too far from Oarai that I would like to check out one day, so I might head back this way again.
Another great day trip I've been on was to Mt Nokogiri in Chiba prefecture. This one is a definite must see! Truly stunning landscapes and a massive buddha statue to boot (it's even bigger than the daibutsu in Kamakura!). Mt Nokogiri translates as 'saw mountain' and some of the rock literally looks like it's been cut by a chainsaw. To get to the top, you take a ropeway, and from there you can explore and get beautiful views of the Boso peninsula. There are two ways you can get to Nokogiri, by train or by ferry. For me, both would have taken around about the same amount of time, so I opted to take the train. It took 2 hours each way, but it was definitely worth it. It was very rural, and such a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of downtown Tokyo for a day. Trying to do more of these kinds of day trips before the rainy season hits has been good, and it has shown me a more rural side of Japan too. There are many more day trips I want to do, including Kawaguchiko/Fuji lakes area, Hakone and more, but June is notorious for rain, and July and August will be extremely hot and humid, so I may have to put them on the backburner until it cools down a bit. Autumn in those areas will also be beautiful, so I'm looking forward to that.
I can't believe how fast 5 months have passed here in Japan. I've watched the seasons change from winter, then spring and today is June 1st, so the first day of summer! So strange that the seasons are going the other way to what I'm used to, seeing photos of skifields at home makes me want to go skiing! I'm almost halfway through what could be the first of 2 years here in Japan. I'm still undecided exactly how long I want to stay here for. One year doesn't seem like quite long enough to do everything I want to do in Japan and to fully adjust to the culture and learn more of the language, but two years may be too long. I don't think I can ever truly feel like I fit in as a foreigner here. This is kind of difficult to write about, but recently I've been dealing with a bit of homesickness and loneliness. It can be very isolating being so far away from family, and I wish I could share some of my life and experiences here in Japan with them. As it happens, none of my family or friends are in any position to come and visit me at this point in time, and that makes me really sad when I think about it. All of us NOVA teachers also have different schedules, with different days off and starting times, which makes it hard to organise things. You can start to become trapped in your own head and overthink everything when you feel this way. You think "I should be having the time of my life right now, why am I so miserable?" or "Isn't this ten times better than life back home? What have I got to complain about?". I guess sometimes you need to let yourself feel those kinds of emotions and realise that it's ok and completely normal to feel this way in a foreign country. However, you have to try not to let it take hold of you for too long.
My schedule is also not exactly conducive to a regular sleep pattern, and anyone who knows me well knows I need my sleep!The work culture here is also very much work until you fall asleep on the train home, whereas in New Zealand, it's far more laid back, which has taken some adjusting to. Last week was a challenging week mentally for me. A coworker quit, which means I've been doing extra hours, and a good friend will be leaving soon. This plus general fatigue made me feel very flat for a few days last week, but this week has been better. Getting out and about on Monday definitely helped, and also having dinner and drinks with some friends on Sunday night to get everything off my chest was also a good stress reliever.
You have your good days and bad days, and I think it's important to share the highs and lows of living and working overseas. I think overall, I have been coping fairly well considering how different Japan is in terms of culture, language and way of life. Maintaining contact with friends and family back home is also super important and reminds me that there is life outside of my wee Japan bubble I guess. Trying to eat healthily and get plenty of exercise is crucial too. Good physical health contributes to good mental health and, as cliche as that sounds, it's something I strongly believe in. I feel like I've been doing fairly well with this, but I do miss going to gym classes. I don't want to get locked into a long membership here, and it's also kind of expensive, so I've been mostly sticking to running and walking as well as zumba once a week. Definitely not as active as I used to be, but I hope I'm managing to maintain my weight rather than gaining too much... It helps when you don't have scales!
Anyway, I'm sorry if this has been a mildly depressing update, but as I mentioned before, it's important to share the ups and downs and keep things in perspective. Not every day is going to be sunshine and rainbows, but there have definitely been more good days than bad. I enjoy my job, even though the hours are erratic, and there's so much to see and do, so I'm keen to keep exploring. I also need to get back into studying more Japanese! I feel like my reading has improved, but my vocabulary needs some work. Just need to get off my ass and do the hard work and that will hopefully open more doors for me.
Until next time!
From Japan with love,
Hannah xxx
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