Hello 2011! Why I'm in Japan!

Been wanting to get a blog up since I first arrived in Japan. Thought it would be a great way to keep my friends updated on my life here, as well as, to provide a record which I can look back at in the future and reminisce about. So... after almost six months here, I have finally taken my first step towards creating a blog. Hopefully I will continue to post regularly and not just get lazy and give it up.

It's amazing how fast time flies when you are away from home and enjoying yourself. Yup, it's been a wonderful six months for me. While I do get short bouts of homesickness, I'm lucky that these bouts pass by real quick because of  visitors from home and the constant string of emails from my dear friends. Parcels of Old Town Kopi, Prima Taste Premixes, Kong Guan biscuits and Ya Kun Kaya also help keep my food cravings away.

Before I embarked on this journey in Japan, I was really hesitant about it. It really wasn't an easy decision to make. Choosing to leave my job of five years was especially difficult because of the close friends which I have made over the years. While I know that we will still remain friends after I leave, I still felt sad that we will no longer be able to work together on joint projects, have our bitching lunch sessions and get drunk at DnD. Leaving the job also meant that I had to give up my Masters scholarship offer and face the possibility that I might have to start from scratch again at my next job. To add, my pay was comfortable and I was doing well at my job. I struggled with the decision for a good three months and in the end, after much encouragement from close friends, I decide to just bite the bullet and come.

Looking back, I don't regret my decision to come. I feel that I have grown significantly in my past six months and that I will return to Singapore as a stronger individual when my term ends here. Why? I guess being on your own in a foreign country, especially one where a language barrier exists, forces one to be creative and speeds up one's ability to adapt and learn. Being an Asian also made my adjustment phase easier because I don't gather as much attention and there are many similarities between the Japanese and the Chinese culture. Coming here also forced me to come out of my comfort zone. It was also a good break away from the hectic working life back in Singapore. The pace of life in Akita is much slower because its an agriculture-based prefecture and people here are a lot more relaxed. The strangers you meet on the streets will always greet you with a smile and a greeting. Drivers on the roads are courteous and you rarely hear a horn given if the traffic is slow.

All in all, it's a nice change after five years of rushing to meet deadlines and attending endless meetings and I'm glad I did it.