St. Augustine once said "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." I've been thinking a lot about this quote lately as I, along with my little family, gear up for the adventure of a lifetime (perhaps only such a big adventure for a young, small-town family, but an adventure nonetheless!)
In three short weeks, we will catch a red-eye flight to Japan, where we will live for a year while Casey teaches English at the American Kindergarten in Miyasaki. Boy-oh-boy, am I nervous! We both realize that this will be an experience unlike any we have ever had before.
It has been a fascinating experience in itself to tell others about our plans to take up residence somewhere halfway around the world in the coming months. Reactions range from "Wow good for you! What an adventure!" to "You are insane. I would never do that." And surprisingly, the latter response is much more common, which has led us to question our own sanity and the reasons for this response.
We have come to the conclusion that many individuals simply do not want to leave the "comfort zone" of their current lifestyles. Comfort is, well, comfortable (and who willingly asks to become otherwise? Well, apparently we do!) As we've talked about our newest adventure, we have found that it really just comes down to what we (and others) value in life. Casey and I have decided that while having a comfortable, "settled," traditional lifestyle is nice, it cannot offer us the educational experiences that travel can. After all, what is the good of having this world and all its different cultures, peoples, and wonders if they are not to be explored? An individual who refuses to go out of his or her "comfort zone" can, as St. Augustine so eloquently states "read only one page" of the vast "book" of the world.
As we embark on this journey, we feel a bit like Bilbo Baggins who suggested that adventures are "uncomfortable" and "disturbing things." And we believe he was probably right; We will get "outside ourselves" and our culture we take for granted, which will likely make us question the lifestyles and ideas we have always seen as a "given." But it is only through meeting others unlike ourselves that we come to have a more complete view of the world (as Casey always says.)
As the ever-genius Mark Twain commented "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
So...here we go! We are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. We are ready to explore Japan and all it has to offer and discover more about its people and ourselves in the process. And while it may be uncomfortable at first, we are ecstatic to learn more about this vast, fascinating world around us.
We will keep you updated on our adventures!
That was actually our plan, but then we had maggie and well...We needed to stay in the states for her. I'm excited for you guys!
ReplyDeleteI understand. Kids make it a lot harder to travel! Devin served here, right? And thanks, we're enjoying it here. Hope all is well!
DeleteI'm excited for you! The Japanese people are SO nice, and the ward we lived in was really close-knit and charitable. Hope you love it, learn lots, and really drink it all in. :)
ReplyDelete- Jana
They really are the nicest people I've ever met! And our branch is pretty small (like 50 people or something?) which is nice because we can get to know people a lot easier. We are really enjoying the experience. How are you?? It's good to hear from you!
DeleteWe can't wait to hear from you and --well who are we kidding--to be able to hear about Alyssa= through you= for these first few months at least
ReplyDeleteHey Uncle Ron! I have a few pics of Alyssa that I will post soon. Congrats on your Real Estate license! And Alyssa seems to be doing great. She is such a sweetie and great missionary from what I can see!
DeleteHi Angela... this is your cousin Stephen. I know I haven't seen you guys since your wedding, but I saw your dad's post about your blog on Facebook. I thought I'd see how you are doing since I served in Japan and am actually finishing graduate school by doing research on foreigners who work in Japan. So I was excited to see that you guys are over there, and definitely think it's interesting to read about your experiences. (Also, I was watching our daughter at church and she used her last diaper so I can sympathize with that story as well, although I only had to deal with it for 3 hours.) Hope you are all doing well and enjoying Japan, and definitely don't hesitate to ask if you need anything. (Also, there's no Walmart, but I believe there is a Costco in Fukuoka City somewhere!)
ReplyDeleteHey Stephen! How are you? It's so good to hear from you! Are you and your family still living in Hawaii? I completely forgot that you served your mission in Japan. What mission was it? That's so cool! It seems like a ton of our cousins have served in Asia. In fact, I am in Alyssa's ward right now! Isn't that crazy? You are doing graduate school research over here? What part of Japan and how often are you here? That is neat! We really enjoy it here. The people are so nice! Just wish we knew the language. And yes, the diaper thing was quite a challenging experience. Ha! I'm glad other parents can relate. I'm so happy to know about the Costco in Fukuoka. We are planning to go there sometime in the near future for some much-needed familiar food items. I will likely have some questions for you, thank you so much! Hope all is well with your family!
DeleteYa, we're still in Hawaii. We'll probably be here until next summer. I served in Hiroshima. It's not a mission anymore, so a lot of my areas are actually now in the Fukuoka mission (or the Kobe mission). We have definitely had a lot of people in the family serve in Japan and other parts of Asia! I've been traveling there for a few weeks each summer, but I spend most of my time in the big cities: Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo. Next time I get over there, I really want to find time to tour around Kyushu since I've never seen that island (other than a few hours in Fukuoka). If it happens to be while you guys are still there, I'll let you know. (How long are you going to in Japan, by the way?) Anyway, it's quite fun having a few cousins in Japan right now and I am enjoying reading about your experiences... makes me remember how it was for me when everything was so new and so foreign. (My e-mail is stekun@gmail.com if you need anything). Glad you guys are enjoying your time there. I agree... the people are incredible. That's the real reason I loved my time in Japan so much.
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