It’s not my first experience with time travel. But that makes it no less strange.
6:30AM, Saturday December 20, 2014. Wake up, breakfast, walk to the subway station. 9AM arrival. Walking. Snacks and a bus ticket. A bus to another city. An island airport. More walking . Waiting. 1:40PM. A plane to another airport. Another country. 4PM. More waiting. Lot’s of waiting. Lot’s of walking. 9PM. A bigger plane. Another takeoff. More waiting. Waiting for 5PM. Waiting for Saturday, December 20, 2014.
I’m waiting in limbo. Where I came from it’s currently Sunday, but where I’m going to it’s Saturday. So when is it here – up in the dark sky above the North Pacific? I suppose the time on Earth below me is irrelevant, because I’m not there. I’m up here, somewhere in the between. I’m up here, in the time machine. I’m up here, where there is no time but time to think.
あっと言う間. It’s pronounced “ah to yuma”. The translation is a bit strange – “in the time it takes to say ‘ah’.” The meaning, however, is quite easy. For we too have such an idiom in our country – “time flies”.
It’s been about 17 months since I have set foot on American soil. To account for all that has happened in that time is a nearly impossible feat. In the profoundly fascinating city of Kyoto, I have seen beauty I could previously only imagine. As the seasons pass she changes outfits in a gorgeous display – from the dazzling red of autumn to the charming pink of spring. I’ve experienced mysteries I can’t put in to words – the wonder of her ages-old story still breathing in these modern days. And above all this, I know these 17 months with her have grown me and changed me in ways I don’t yet fully understand.
Perhaps the most bizarre transformation I have undergone is the strange becoming normal. 17 months ago, everything was new and exciting. It’s still exciting, but not so new. I now must consciously remind myself to marvel at the incredible life I am blessed with. It takes effort because it’s no longer fascinatingly strange. The language is no longer foreign, but comprehensible. The foods are no longer exotic, but a daily diet. Believe me, it’s a delicious diet. Yes, the excitement is certainly still there, it has merely changed shapes. The excitement is in deeper exploration. As I have taken this journey to new depths of understanding, I have found a growing love for this wonderful city; for these wonderful people. The excitement is in deeper love.
Now I’m journeying to another land I so deeply love: California. I’m excited, very excited, but in all honesty, a bit nervous too. I’m not too certain about what I will find on the other side of this limbo. It’s been a long time. Now that the strange has become familiar, will the familiar have become strange? Will it be the same as I left it in the summer of 2013? I’m still wearing the same UCLA hoodie. I’m still listening to some of the same music. But will everything else be the same? No, I don’t think it will be. People there drive on the right side of the road. That’s different. People there speak English. That’s different. People there think Kobe is a person, not a city. That’s different. So what’s normal now? Is it where I’m coming from or where I’m going to? I guess I’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, I am nowhere. I am in the time machine, flying back to Saturday. Flying back to where my story began. Time flies.
KonnichiWhatsup 