Life update: I got married in Japan, yes that's right.
Like some famous saying. "When you stop looking for something, it finds you", is basically what sums up the past 4 years for me.
I moved from The U.S, WA to Shizuoka Japan right when the pandemic started. Life was a roller coaster for me with ups and downs up until that point. I guess you could say it's the rather predictable trajectory as you go through life and begin to become an adult, but it steadily went in the upward direction for me.
My wife found me on Tandem, a language exchange app where we can learn and speak different languages. In my profile I wrote my dearest passions; classical music, nature, traveling and gaming. It was a perfect chance because my wife share those passions with me now and every day is an adventure.
My life has changed so much. I went from 177lbs in the US to 138lbs just by diet alone. The saying how healthy Japanese food is compared to American food is actually not as true as you think. There is unhealthy food, but the key really is utilizing the readily available healthy food. It's astounding how easy it is to get a healthy meal for a cheap, fast and low price while being unsuspectingly tasty and satisfying. America makes it too easy to eat food that will just make you fat. I'm sure there's some level of extra additives and preservatives too but it's hard to say much about that. Just living here got me healthier. But I sure do miss Jersey Mike's subs and authentic Mexican food..
Relationships drain me as an introvert.
I met so many people with vastly different backgrounds from me and with that brought so many memories, like scattered puzzle pieces that can only be found when you realize the ups and downs of life are just how it goes.
I made friends cry. I helped crying students. I helped them win competitions, get into an esteemed university and at the same time, made them look at the world from a different lens. Just reaching out. It's really all it takes.
I worked at a high school university from 2021 to 2024 and it was a job that was so comfortable, I could honestly say I could have kept for the rest of my life. My wife lived far away and I wanted to live together. Alongside my foreign coworkers working there for 10-20 years saying that they aren't passionate about teaching and realize their life has more meaning than that. Made me think that it was a good stepping stone into what I am wanting to achieve in my life. I was satisfied, it was bittersweet. But my wife was the driving factor to get me out of there. They treated me amazingly, too amazing for the work that I did. It was my time to move on. I'll post a picture of my wife too, but don't tell her!
Staying in one place forever, what does it really mean?
I moved to Yamanashi this year. Shizuoka was my home and my roots were just starting to grow in the directions as you would expect; career, health and fitness, business and local event connections, love for the nature of Mt. Fuji and the diversity between the sea and mountains. All I can really say is that it's weird starting all over again.
There are mountains for all of us to climb, but the biggest challenge is realizing them. Once you know what to do, where to invest your energy, time, resources, attention. Only then you can really build something that you are proud of and something you are passionate bloody passionate about that you would be proud to call it your life's work. But it's most often than not hiding in plain sight.. at least for me.
Anyways, I'll share some photos of my life so it's not just randoms from when I was a young adult.
I haven't decided yet, but I want to start writing freely and I think this would be a good outlet for that. Thank you for reading if you made it this far.
pixelskylines
kianamaiart
yousharknotpass
2087
annaxmalina
gummygunk
