Reset

It's been a year since I arrived here in Japan.
It sounds like a cliche, but I mean it when I say that I don't know where the time has gone. In a sense, my world has been reset. The tastes and sounds and smells of Japan are exactly as they were when I arrived. The deafening sounds of cicada, the melting humidity, the scent of blossoming flowers, the fickle weather, the constant scurrying of insects and geckos, the fireworks festivals. I remember taking it all in for the first time, finding it foreign and yet familiar all at the same time. I feel like I'm back there again, back to the beginning. And yet, I am anywhere but where I was one year ago.

A year ago, I didn't know the myriad of children that would challenge me, delight me and make me adore them.



I didn't know my co-workers who would become my friends



I didn't have a clue about the experiences that awaited me...



Or the adventures I would have...



Or the people that would share those experiences and adventures



I didn't realize that my co-teacher would become would become my closest companion, best friend, daily support, the source of endless laughter and my confidant



And I certainly didn't think that I would find love...



But it happened. All of it. In one year. The world outside may be exactly the same as it was a year ago...but I certainly am not.