Have you ever been to Japan? It's a crazy awesome country; like nothing you've ever experienced before.

Imagine mixing an ultra-modern lifestyle filled with the latest technologies and everything available 24/7...with a deeply spiritual and tradition-bound people. From working at a super high-tech company during the week, to visiting the family shrine on the weekends to clean and visit the ancestors. From AI driven robots redefining consciousness and bringing humanity to the next level, to monks organizing existence into it's building blocks in search for peace.

I moved to Japan in the fall of 2004, to the city of Kyoto.

My first moments off the train with my life-filled bags were groggy. Besieged by an overwhelming sense of newness my clearest memories are of the vastness of Kyoto Station. The bright lights, the staccato chatter of a then unknown language, that unfamiliar aroma that seems to magnify....everything. Then, some English, a handshake, a short car ride to company housing and signing some contracts, and then that first real deep breath and awareness that my whole life was now, different.

Training for my job was in Osaka.

Don't ask me the train station because for the life of me I can't remember it, but those first couple trips between the cities were definitely interesting. That's where this shot was taken, near where I had my first Japanese job training. But not the when. I took this in 2010 on my trip through Japan on the way back to the U.S.

Over the years I spent a decent amount of time in this city. Between drinking, occasional classes, and dating, I got to know the streets pretty well. Coming through on my way out of Japan was an interesting experience. I had been on the road backpacking for close to 5 months, mostly outside the country. I felt like I was both home, and an alien.

At this point I'd lived in Japan for a bit over 6 years.

It had become my home. A place more familiar to me than where I was born. I had jumped into the deep end, learned the language, involved myself with the culture, made friends, lived life. You know, the stuff you do in your twenties.

Looking at the streets of Osaka with my pack slung over a shoulder I was struck with more than a little nostalgia. That mixed feeling of wanting to stay but knowing I had to go. The country where people drove on the 'wrong' side. Ate with piece of wood. And spoke in a strange tongue. I lived here. Or rather, used to live here...there... The contradiction was still trying to arrange itself and honestly, still does raise it's strange head every once in a while.

The 'awesomeness' of having lived abroad. The double edged sword of adjusting yourself to a different culture, then having to readjust yourself again when you move back 'home'...but, that's a story for a different day. :) Like I said in other blogs, my stories are going to be all out of order because I'm going to write about them as I'm inspired. Sorry for the future confusion, lol.

Hope you enjoyed the image and the quick story behind it!
Michael

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