On Being Left Behind

I know I said that my next post would be about arriving at my new home, Miyazaki, however; I believe that you have to write what you feel, and today I miss my friends that have left me behind.
（今日、寂しくて悲しい。友達は帰っただから。。。）

The second time around is not easier in this case. Most JETs stay an average of two years, so going into my third year I have just experienced the great exodus of my incoming year's group. And as you can imagine, there's a special bond between those who navigate their first few months here together as illiterate, culturally unaware babies. Mistakes are made. Laughs are shared. We learn and adapt together to life in Japan.

Our phrase for making such a cultural error because of our inexperience or lack of awareness is "gaijin smash!!"  Gaijin / gaikokujin （外人・外国人）means foreign person and as such, sometimes we do come along and hulk our way through some delicate Japanese cultural practice.

An especially funny one I heard about recently was when a girl used a British colloquial phrase to cheers her co-workers at her goodbye party, and only found out after saying it a dozen times that in Japanese the word refers to a certain male appendage. Oops. My worst language mix-up (that I am aware of) is because in Japanese the words for fruit and children are similar, and so I once told my Japanese teacher that I had children for breakfast that morning...

Anyway, back to the goodbyes. While no names will be mentioned in my blog, I can't avoid all details and especially wish to share pictures, as these show it better. I'm sure those whom they concern won't mind. Please let me know if otherwise.



It's impossible to fully explain what my experiences in this wonderful community here have been like, but the pictures definitely give glimpses. So many laughs. So many smiles. So many special memories with amazing people.

I know beyond a doubt that some of the best people I have ever met were here with me in Miyazaki. 

So this post is a dedication post to all those wonderful people from various corners of the world that I was sad to see go, now or one year ago. You are missed.

Thank you because you have helped to make my Japan experience so incredible. And of course you have given me the best excuse for future travels! I hope to see you all again one day, with many great stories to tell.

I'm usually the one leaving others, so I suppose this is a good exercise in empathy. This doesn't make it easier though. But as one of my best friends always says, "Don't be sad that it's over, be glad that it happened". I certainly am.