I’m joining up with Ruth Ayres and the Celebrate community – come celebrate with us!
Imagine, if you will, a teeny-tiny living room/dining room/kitchen space in a teeny-tiny apartment in Hakodate, a small city at the southern tip of Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. The teeny-tiny room is filled with three Japanese college students and two slightly confused thirty-something Canadian backpackers. All five people are sitting on the floor around a donabe, a traditional Japanese cooking pot, which is filled with all sorts of goodies and simmering gently on a portable gas burner. All ten eyes are fixed on a small TV set, which is showing scenes from a popular Japanese game show, in which what must be 40-odd people are competing against each other (maybe?) in some sort of trivia contest (we think?) in pursuit of a grand prize (potentially? Still not too sure about any of that).
I’m an avowed homebody, and a devoted, card-caring, dues-paying member of the stay-at-home-club. I’m the first to admit that I struggle with change, and that I cling to familiar things and regular routines for dear life. It takes quite a lot to push me out of my comfort zone…which is why flying off to a foreign country to stay with complete strangers is not something that I ever pictured myself doing (and probably would never have considered had it not been for my far more pragmatic travelling companion).
But sometimes, just sometimes, when you take a chance, take a risk, take that plunge or leap or whatever else you might call it, strange and wonderful things can happen. You can discover new favourite foods, make new friends, learn exciting new things, and uncover new aspects of yourself that you could never have even imagined. Things might not always go as planned (we discovered that sleeping on hard floors with minimal coverings in subarctic temperatures is just about as comfortable as you might expect), and your homebody tendencies won’t suddenly disappear (a few tears of homesickness might have been shed, even though I was only away from home for about six weeks), but an experience doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful.
So today I’m celebrating stepping outside of your comfort zone and taking a risk, in whatever form feels right to you. Because you just never know what might happen. You might not end up trying to decipher a Japanese game show with your new friends (while trying to avoid making eye contact with the fish head that’s staring dolefully at you from the donabe), but you might just have your own surreal and wonderful experience. Life is both too short and too long to spend it not having an adventure or two.
Happy Saturday!
Your words today remind me of the saying, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Good for you for taking this journey!
It’s so true, isn’t it? Thankfully I wasn’t taking the journey alone! 🙂
I’m taking a class on methods and strategies for working with English Learners and at our first class on Wednesday, the instructor taught us how to greet each other in Japanese without using any Spanish. She did use visuals and had us up and interacting and it was so fun and interesting. So now I know how to say hello and how are you in Japanese. It sounds like you had a really fascinating experience. I love how you shared it here. 🙂
Even just having a few words in another language can really help break the ice when travelling! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by!
How long are you in Japan for? I found even two weeks to be a life-changing experience. I loved the (real) futons and developed a love of Japanese food that couldn’t be ignited by the pale imitations in England.
We spent six weeks exploring three different islands! It was a long trip, but not nearly long enough. Oh, the food!!! I miss it already!
Certainly surreal! Good for you for stepping out and being an adventurer. New experiences change us and make us better. Thanks for sharing!
You’re so right – nothing like a new experience to help us grow and become our best selves. Thanks for visiting!
Wow! You took a giant leap for this adventure. Kudos to your traveling companion. I’m looking forward to more updates from Japan.
I’m definitely lucky to have a practical, pragmatic companion who doesn’t have my same homebody tendencies! 🙂
Thank you Jane for your encouragement to “self proclaimed homebodies” I just might be one 🙂 Your memories and celebrations will last a life time.
Oh, I am famous for my homebody tendencies. I love to travel, but no matter where I roam, there’s no place like home! 🙂
You were very brave to move beyond your comfort zone to try out a new adventure. I applaud your efforts and zest for life. I have tried watching soap operas in Korean when I visit my nail salon. It is amazing how fast I can figure out the dynamics of conflicts and love trysts in another language when knowing the basics of soap opera. May I showcase your winter scene at my winter gallery (http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2017/01/invitation-to-winter-wonder-17.html)? Where is the photo taken?
Hi Carol! You most definitely can showcase my winter scene – it was taken in the city of Otaru, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. All that snow fell in a single night! Brrr….
Wow! That is quite out of my comfort zone! But I get it, adventure does lead to new experiences. I hope I never get so old I’m not open to the possibilities of adventure. Kudos to you for stepping out of the home box and into a new world!
Well, it certainly helps that my other half is much more adventurous and confident than I am – I’m not sure I’d be able to take these big steps without his encouragement, and planning! Sometimes you need the right person to just give you the nudge – or shove – you need to set out on an adventure. I guess he’s like the Gandalf to my Bilbo, encouraging me to leave the Shire! 🙂
You might want to try writing poetry – Emily Dickinson never left here home, ha ha. Here’s a Dickinson snippet: “Will you tell me my fault, as to yourself, for I had rather wince, than die. Men do not call the surgeon to commend the bone, but to set it.”
Having a happy Saturday,
David
Smart woman, that Emily. 😉
So pleased you are celebrating. Love sneak peeks into this journey of yours!
Thank you! I kept seeing celebration posts from you and Linda, so I was inspired to dip my toe in, too! 🙂
You are so right. When we step outside of our comfort zone, we encounter new surprises and learn that we are stronger than we thought. I really enjoyed seeing the images along with your story. My daughter spent a year in Turkey after graduating from high school. It changed her forever. Such wonderful experiences!
Wow, what an incredible experience for your daughter! To be honest, it’s thanks to my partner that I’m able to take these leaps – I’m such a worrywart sometimes that I need some prodding and nudging to step out of my comfort zone! But it’s so very worth it. 🙂
Every time you share, I am amazed, Jane. I feel like I’ve done my fair share of uncomfortable adventures, but yours are amazing, too. Good for you! I love hearing each story!
What a great story. I love that you stepped out and am thankful you have been sharing your journey.
I’m just not ready to let go of my travels yet, so writing about them helps me relive them, and soak in all the memories and experiences. 🙂