Empty Handed

Another first, this time a day. October. My third month in Japan, though just the start. I cannot believe that two months have passed, a full sixth of a year! I imagine the people who've come on the JET Programme to spend only a year as Assistant Language Teachers, looking at their calendars, wondering where the time went, why it passed so quickly. "On to the next adventure," they may say, yet why be in such a hurry? There's plenty to learn right here.

Such as 空手　からて　karate. I started about two weeks ago, ending my first class in a sweaty mess. The combination of physical exertion and humidity caused my pores to open up in ways I have rarely before experienced. While at first I found my foot pivots somewhat difficult to achieve due to the friction on the gymnasium floor, I then cursed my inability so stand on a turn because of the thin layer of sweat emerging from my feet. I enjoy it, though, the feeling of strain and quickness, the successful completion of my first kata, the time spent with fellow ALTs.

Time spent, back to the beginning I suppose. I've noticed this phenomenon before, the increasingly fast passage of time. I attributed it to the fact that every new day is less a part of my life than the previous, so relatively, my days are "less" than the others, hence the "where does the time go?" feeling. I'm sure someone put this much more eloquently before. Regardless, I am determined to conquer this feeling of helplessly speedy days, though I'm not quite sure how. Unless you're moving at ridiculously high speeds, time isn't going to change for you or anyone else. So is it a state of mind? How does that work, the perception of time versus the passage of it? Isn't time imaginary anyway? So what's there to worry about?

I have no idea. And at this point, I'm lost in a disinteresting ramble, but it still ties into my amazement at having been here for a good amount of time already. I've spent time abroad before, three months of traveling last fall, but I knew when it was ending, when I would be back to work, that I couldn't make any solid international commitments. I had a very clear idea of my post-travel life. Now, I could be here for two, three, maybe even five years if I really impress someone (longer if I REALLY impress someone, like a female). Of course, the makes me think about what next. What next...

I don't know. I don't really care at this point. I've only been here two months and I can't say where I'll be in 20. The only thing I can do is live well; I could also write a better post next time. Waisu desu.