The time we had together at this international house, chatting with each other and the Japanese students until late at night, waking up at the crack of dawn to finish studying and the homework I couldn't bring myself to do the night before thinking why on earth did I stay up so late last night, skipping breakfast, heading to classes and working hard together with classmates learning Japanese, going to the cafeteria for a delicious affordable lunch after classes, walking down the hill to Mukogaoka-Yuen Station to have the train take us to various destinations to explore Japan, occasionally rushing back to the international house to shower before the showers close otherwise we'd have to wake early the next morning to do so, and then rinse and repeat.
It feels as though we all landed at Narita Airport just yesterday, before we knew it a month had already passed. Though the nerves I felt before leaving Calgary are a distant memory, the nervousness and the worry of will I be responsible enough to care for myself for a month without my family to look out for me. It turns out I am quite capable of not starving myself to death and being able to do my own laundry without setting the international house on fire, though I still haven't attempted to cook for myself (laughs).
The nonchalant greetings common of Japanese people we so clumsily got accustomed to, the ohayou's, itadakimasu's, gochisousamadeshita's, ittekimasu's, itterasshai's, tadaima's and okaeri's we would occasionally forget to say during our first week here has pretty much become second nature for all of us. The feeling of family and home created by those daily greetings.
To actually think that all these things that have become such a natural part of my life here in Japan will be things that will no longer be such a natural part of my life, it's no exaggeration to say it's enough to make me want to break down and start bawling.
This one month here at Senshu University was both long and short, I've reverted to my bad habit of pretending unpleasant things don't exist, but reality is repeatedly slapping me in the face. The cardboard boxes in the dining area for donating unused toiletries, perishable foods, people walking by with cardboard boxes ready to ship out, people rolling their suitcases by, my Japanese friends begging us not to go back home, the list goes on and on. Clearly someone out there is not having me pretending this is not a thing.
Just like how before I left for Japan, actually being so scared and seriously thinking about dropping out of the program because of my nerves and just pure and uncontrolled fear. The time came to pass and I was whisked away to Japan by plane unable to catch my breath, The time I had here in Japan will come to pass before I am ready, there were both good and bad aspects of my time here, but I do not regret one moment that I had here. If I ever get the opportunity to return to meet with my Japanese friends again I will not hesitate to take up that chance. I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful and irreplaceable memories I have made here in Japan.
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