Sayonara

Traditionally, Japanese only say sayonara to a friend/loved-one when they feel that the separation is leading to a permanent goodbye, or if it will take a very long while to see each again. Appropriately, in my present situation, the term is applicable.

Japan is the first, and yet the only, country I’ve been to – April 8, 2003. This day signaled further independence and exploration of my not-so-young and not-so-old life. I have to do the cooking, cleaning, ironing, washing and name-the-chores-you-want. I learnt a lot and the experiences and memories I had in Japan will be kept in my album.

There were so many firsts for me during my 3 years stay in Japan; things and events that I haven’t tried and done in the Philippines but got a first hand feel in Nihon. I am only enumerating what I can remember so far, the list is subject to change without prior notice. Hehehe.

A Foreigner-Girlfriend. A Japanese lady to be specific. It lasted for more than a year and it’s a memorable one. But just like any relationships, it had ups and downs and we hit to the down side we weren’t able to recover. Just imagine the Ilonggo and Nihonggo clash of words. It was good until it ended. Sigh.

Inclusion in a Fashion Magazine. It was one of the surprises I had in Japan. I have written a blog regarding this. I have a copy of this publication and safely kept along with my Chemical Engineering textbooks. Haha, I know this will never happen to me in the Philippines, not even a percent chance.

Seeing Martina Hingis. I have been following Hingis since 1996, and having the chance to see her play live is a fulfillment of one of my fantasies that even an overtime request from my Japanese boss couldn’t stop me from falling in line as almost zero degree air is embracing me just to buy the tickets. The match was great, and a bonus of defeating Maria Sharapova. Blogged.

ATM withdrawal blooper. I was about to purchase my train ticket when this incident happened. I withdrew 60,000 yen for my train pass. Guess what, maybe 10 minutes after leaving the ATM booth I realized that I wasn't able to get the money --- only the card and receipt. Toinks! I hurriedly went back to the booth and I saw two angels, actually two Japanese ladies, who in their broken english told me that they returned the money they saw to the bank. How cool is that? Only in Japan.

No open frame in a bowling game. No, not a 300 score but I was able to leave no open frames for the first time. I joined some amateur bowling tournaments before and bowling is one of my addictions. A score of 258, with 9 strikes and 3 spares is something I am proud of achieving. Whew! How I missed bowling, can anyone invite me now?

Physical abuse. Haha, one of the not-so-nice experiences I had in Japan is experiencing some physical method of being reprimanded by my boss. No need to further explain this but this is one of the reasons why I don’t want to go back to Japan.

Sleeping on the road. Being drunk is not cool. And being drunk in a place you don’t know is quite a disastrous adventure. Result? You sleep on the road, waiting for the sun to kiss your cheeks. Just be ready to show your passport if a police officer will be the one to say good morning to you.

Bungee jump. I thought its easy but its pretty scary up there. I did have some hesitation whether to jump or not. As I was being tied, I still had doubts if its worth it or not. Yes, I finally jumped after 3 attempts of almost backing out. Thanks to support of the audience. Blogged.

Spending quite an amount on a date. Well, you read it right. One date for 40,000 Yen. Wow. Really? Yes.

I’ll try to recall some firsts.

Is leaving Japan last Dec 2006 really a sayonara for me? I’d like to think yes but life is full of surprises. I may never know. Just keeping my options open.

Hai!

/totomai

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