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February 2012
After five months and a few days in Japan, it was time to leave. I came back with my luggage full of experiences and a new look at this country which has fascinated me for more than seven years.



It has not been easy every day to leave my quiet Canadian life, and to try, for some time, to live in the biggest city in the world. My time as a student was much more difficult than I expected. The Japanese teaching style hit me very hard. After a few weeks, not very happy with the school where I was studying full time, I decided to quit and try a private teacher and study on my own. But now that I am back, I can tell you that I did not reach all my learning targets. I am still happy with the progress I made, I was able to communicate and make my way around which was the most important.

Walker

I walked a lot; I found it so interesting to walk in the narrow streets of Shibuya, Shinjuku or this very nice park just next to the Kichijoji station. It was fascinating to see daily life unfold, such a different life that what we are used to. It was my way to make this city look more… human. So many little cafés, crazy fashion shops, restaurants, skyscrapers, huge shopping malls and at the next station everything started again over and over with no end. This was sometime so scary and amazing to imagine that as much as I walked, there would always be something else behind that next road or the next little shop.

Get some time off

It was much harder to... relax, then expected. Even leaving for something that I could call a sabbatical, not doing anything for more than a few days, and I had to get back to work on small projects, do something productive, maybe I am not ready yet for retirement!

Thinking

Such a trip was a perfect opportunity to reflect back on my life. My travel diary as a great confident, more coffees that I could count to write, how I see the path I travelled so far and how I want the path ahead of me to be like. It’s been a very interesting and valuable experience and I can now see how much it will bring me during the coming years.

Working

Well in fact I did not worked in Tokyo. I left Canada with the idea of maybe finding a job in the big city and see life through the eyes of a worker. But as time passed, more discussions I had with my friends in Japan, I realized more... well, it’s hard to put it into words, but in my diary I used the word “monster” to describe the work environment in Tokyo. It’s simple; this city does not seem to take much care of the people who work there. Very long days (usually until late at night), often work on Saturday, I had a hard time trying to see myself working there and find happiness. I even started to feel some pity for my Japanese friends who were struggling to survive with this “monster”. It is a group problem, everybody putting pressure on other people to stay late at work. If you are a proud Japanese, your place is at work, unless the last train calls you home. I wish I could exaggerate in this paragraph, but from what I have seen and heard, it’s the sad truth.



Even with all those surprises and some difficulties, I am very happy to have gone on this trip. It opened my eyes on many things, a lot about Japan but about me. Japanese people have their own way of living, differently from ours, a difficult way for some, but it is always very fascinating from my point of view. I have shared here only a few thoughts, if you want to know more, I recommend going to see for yourself… or inviting me for a beer.

ja mata (see you next time)

Augustin.



Here's a last picture of a very small shop in Koenji
(writing in French: This life of which you are the hero.)


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