I love people and I hate people but make love not war right? SO welcome to this war torn palace known as Nick’s Imagination. Currently by way of Japan I will bring you stories of woe, tales of tribulations and a bad day gone good. Influenced by no-one in particular and if by happenstance this was influenced by someone in particular then that’s none of your business. I find myself in a predicament. I question all that I am a part of. Consumed by this place for the last 6 months. I have been a head above the competition but the rules of the game remain a mystery to me. Hidden in language obscured in the context of which I am no connoisseur. I don’t think I can solve the mystery of the cultural phenomenon that is Japan. SO try I will in the face of defeat surely I can make a strange gesture or two just for the sake of self fulfillment. The mystery here lies in the missing pieces. The questions that go unanswered. Somehow this place has the same result as any other place on earth. Humans live here. Make no mistake, Japan at first glance may seem different than it’s brother and sister countries all over the globe. Looking deeper into the swirling visage I call Japan and you see many smiling and frowning residents of this place we call earth. People here prefer to remain in this specific spot on Earth. Japanese people travel but many will never wish to live anywhere but Japan. Upon inquiry seldom do you encounter the desire to leave Japan and strike up a life in what could easily be another world to these people.
Think about it, it’s simple really. Japanese is not a popular choice of tongue anywhere else in the world unless you find yourself on a not to small but not too big island to the east of China, South, North Korea and Russia. If you can find a map unroll it, blow the dust from the surface and press that map flat onto the table you can perhaps see what I am referring to. After all Japan has been in that location for some time it does not tend to roam from it’s current position at least not at any recognizable speed. Japanese people do not feel comfortable living in different places. Just as foreign people are not typically comfortable living in Japan. This language barrier prevents us from easily having what most people find they need in a place they call home. By this I mean, relationships, friendships, interaction that goes beneath the surface. I cannot offer conversation of meaning or enjoyment to 99% of Japanese people with my Native tongue. This is what stops so many people from immersing themselves within the swirling obscurity seen in different countries around the world.
However.
Why does it stop us? Surely seeking companions to discover the world with you is not difficult. Every single person walking around this blue marble is cut from the same cloth, some of us have different designs on our cloth but we are cloth nonetheless. You will find a lot more silliness and similarity among people from different countries than you will differences. I hate people I love people. I prefer to love them, I’m sure someone else prefers the alternative but it is a series of choices that decide the design on the cloth. Those choices, slowly stitch differences into the fabric to make things look different to the untrained eye. Wandering through downtown Tokyo would be a mind bending moment for someone who had not previously experienced a city so grand. Look for a little longer however, and you see the city, while built to look different still accomplishes the same thing as small town on the edge of rural nowhere. The search, for fleeting semi-permanent companionship to travel this life with us. For many like myself that can be people. It can be food, ideas, feelings, expression. But we are all looking for something, somewhere. And entering a new environment can be frightening but maybe there aren't any scary monsters hiding in the unknown. The unknown is your choice. And why hide from that?