A HOME AWAY FROM HOME IT WAS, IS AND WILL BE。。。めっちゃいい人のめっちゃいい国

I recently returned to India after living some of the most amazing and unprecedented times of my life in Japan. Life in Japan was so surreal that I had to revisit my phone gallery to make sure that it was not a dream. The friendships I forged, the people I met, and the experiences I had cannot be summed up in a few words or sentences. My time in Japan opened up my eyes to the big place that this world is. It also opened up the possibilities for me to see India through a different lens.

                       

From staying at my friend’s family’s house in Hiroshima to attending lunch at my friend’s house or visiting her grandmother’s home for tea, for me Japan was like a second home. I have talked at length to people of all ages and have also made some very young friends, as young as half a year old. haha. 

My language teacher along with her family visited me at the airport and as we bid a final goodbye and made a promise to see each other soon someday, I was happy to not be the only one with tears in my eyes (I cry a lot during moments like these and end up embarrassing myself!). I shall always cherish inviting friends from across the world to my dormitory and talking over chai. 

I will also always cherish my favorite lunch date with my professor, professor Hao, who also took me on my first and the most magical sunset cruise in Fukuoka. She also helped me in buying snacks specifically demanded by my friend and introduced to me one of the most amazing chocolate restaurants I have ever been to!

I cannot wait to see Japan again. Many of my friends and family assume that maybe my love for India has been compromised, which is far from the truth. I do believe now that you can very well love a country that is other than yours, and in a world as big and as wonderful as ours, it is always better to fall in love with places than not.

I will remember chatting with my roommates over chai and asking the most random thing in my broken Japanese. They will always be my sweetest buddies, the people who made sure I felt comfortable in their presence. From helping me wear my first yukata ( it is a kind of a kimono) to making me try their traditional dishes and doing fireworks with me on the seaside, they very well knew how to make memories that would last a lifetime. 

I will also remember my chance encounter with a very generous tea seller who happened to be half Indian and half Japanese and owned an Indian restaurant in Fukuoka. I was glad to have been able to talk to him in not only my broken Japanese and some English, but in Hindi as well.

I have been lucky enough to meet such lovable people in Japan. My classmates, my amazing roommates, my professors, their families, etc…everyone will be missed. But I do know this is just the beginning of a friendship that will last a lifetime, I will make it happen. 

I wasn’t a foodie before going to Japan, but now I am open to understanding food and trying things beyond my comfort zone. I also wasn't many of the things that I am now. I am grateful that I could experience something as challenging and interesting as being a student in Japan. 

What is shared here is just half of what I have experienced and most of it will be forever etched in my beautiful memories. 

本当にありがたいです日本に行ったことができたから、いろいろなくにのともだちをできったから、やさしひととあいたから. 全然わすれません。いい思い出です。ぜひまたいきたい！日本がすき、だいすき。