So… What Are You Doing With Your Life?
As I’ve caught up with friends and family back home, this question has come up over and over, in one form or another. And it’s a valid one. While Courtney came to Japan with the clear and defined goal of completing a postdoc, I had only vague ideas of what my future would hold. So, to answer that burning question that everyone has been asking, here’s what I’ve been up to since landing in Okinawa in January.
I arrived without a job lined up and no prospects to speak of. Perfect. I figured it was a great opportunity to take a long break and spend time on extracurricular activities. I’d go exploring every day, work out, make amazing dinners, and eventually the employment thing would sort itself out three or four months down the road. However, things took an unexpected turn, as they so often do.
Towards the end of February, Courtney and I went to a restaurant called Bacon Bar with some friends. We were dying for an IPA, and we knew Bacon Bar was one of the few places in Okinawa that carried them. During dinner, the owner (Evan) came over to the table and chatted with us. It turns out he’s a Mainer and even lived in Boston for a while - small world! We shared a few stories from home and I thought that was that. As we were saying our goodbyes on the way out the door though, Courtney dropped the line, “Hey, this guy [points to me] isn’t doing anything. He’s available if you need a hand.” “Well,” he replied, “what are you up to tomorrow?” Sure enough, the next day I was back helping prepare briskets for St. Patrick’s Day corned beef. That was a bit of a trial run just to see if I’d fit in, but a few weeks later in March I officially started working my first restaurant job. I began by learning all the front of house duties (serving, bartending, cashier, etc…), though I’m currently transitioning to the kitchen. Despite my love of food and interest in a culinary career, there was always something standing in my way before. Having a clean slate here eliminated all those roadblocks, so I was happy to jump at the opportunity. I’m quickly finding that operating in a restaurant kitchen is nothing like cooking at home. I’m already learning a lot, and I know my cooking skills will improve dramatically as I’m exposed to new ideas and techniques. And it doesn’t hurt having access to great food and beer while I’m there either.
While I started working sooner than I would have liked, my current visa only allows me to work up to 28 hours per week, so I still have plenty of free time. To keep myself busy, I recently got certified to scuba dive. There aren’t any challenging hikes on the island, so if I can’t be on top of a mountain, I may as well explore the seas. Okinawa is well-known for its amazing coral reefs, so this is a perfect place to learn and take advantage of the many local dive sites. After completing some online course work I was ready to do my first scuba lesson. Taking my first breath of air underwater was an unnatural, yet wonderful experience. At the beginning, I felt pretty awkward and had a tougher time maneuvering and maintaining buoyancy than I’d expected. But by my third dive I became more comfortable and I could finally focus on and appreciate the amazing variety of wildlife around me. During my final cert dive we visited a coral farm and I even swam with some turtles. My dive instructor is an awesome guy, and Courtney and I have already befriended a handful of experienced divers here at OIST, so we have a great community to learn from and join on future excursions. Now I just need to buy some gear and get myself back in the water.
Photos courtesy of Otávio Munefiça at Diver’s Seven / All Blue Divers .
Another “new to me” activity I’ve taken up is yoga. Before moving to Okinawa, I did some research and found that there was a class on campus - right in our building, actually. How convenient! It’s an ashtanga class taught in the mysore style, where each student does their own practice each day and the instructor provides individual guidance as needed. There is one instructor-led class per week as well. I’ve been going four days per week for about four months now, and it’s been a rewarding challenge. The first class really opened my eyes as to how inflexible and weak I’d become. While many students could comfortably assume the lotus position (padmasana), I couldn’t make myself sit normally with my legs crossed for more than a few minutes at a time. Every tendon and muscle in my body seemed to be fighting each other. It was a painful and humbling experience. Since then, I’ve made considerable improvements, but I’m still light years away from having a bendy yogi body. Years of running in a straight line and sitting at desks have left me tighter than a snare drum, and it will take a lot of time and hard work to make significant changes. Little by little, I hope regular practice will get me to open up though. With better flexibility and balanced strength, I’m sure my running will improve dramatically when I finally get back on the roads.
While I’m not running, which I haven’t done since October, I’m trying to still get a bit of cardio in on my bike. Nearly every weekend I’ve been taking my new Surly out to explore different areas of the island. My mantra for this year is “Farther, not faster.” Instead of worrying about my time and speed getting from Point A to Point B, it’s been liberating to take it easy and pull over whenever I see something interesting. Being on the bike has allowed me to explore all sorts of random, off-the-beaten-track gems that can be hard to access by car. As I get stronger and build up my mileage, I’d like to do some overnight bikepacking trips to the national forest on the island too. I’ve never been a strong climber, so the 10+% grades on some roads here have been kicking my ass. It’s been a lot of fun though, and coming back down those steep hills makes it all worth the effort. And hell yes I supertuck on my Surly. UCI rules be damned!
Creating this blog has been a time-consuming, but fun project for me. Launching this, my first website, was more challenging than I’d expected. At the start of the process, I was paralyzed by the sheer number of options available. Which style do I use? Which color scheme? Format? Font? The choices were endless. I decided it was best to begin with a clean, basic palate, and focus on the content. The logo was another project in itself, taking a few weeks of back and forth with a designer to nail down. While all that was a bit of a headache, the biggest struggle for me has been the writing. Prior to this venture, I hadn’t written anything in years. It was never one of my strong suits to begin with, and what little prowess I had in school has long since faded away. Every post has been the product of many hours of edits and revisions (and some help from ProWritingAid), not natural talent. My initial goal was to get one blog post up each week, but I’ve found that too ambitious. Plus, who really wants to hear from me that much? Nobody. The answer is nobody. And that’s OK. My new goal is to get a post up 1-2 times per month, depending on how much “newsworthy” stuff happens. The website has also given me a good excuse to revisit photos from past trips and do some editing. It’s brought back so many amazing memories of travels abroad and is giving me the itch to travel again soon (or as soon as COVID will allow).
One thing I haven’t spent enough time on is learning the language. Courtney and I have both been using an online app called WaniKani, which teaches vocabulary, but hasn’t helped me at all for everyday conversation. We both regret not having started studying while we were back in the states, because Japanese is HARD! There are essentially two alphabets (hiragana and katakana) plus thousands of characters (kanji). To make things extra challenging, all three can be used within the same sentence. Fortunately, OIST offers free language classes, so I’ll start doing that twice a week beginning this month. Hopefully, as I learn some practical phrases and sentence structure through the class, I’ll be able to tie in some of the vocabulary I’ve been learning on my own and things will come together. I have no illusions of ever being fluent, but I’d love to complete transactions and hold some basic conversation with native speakers, eventually. A big milestone for me will be ordering off a Japanese menu at restaurants instead of having to ask for the gaijin (foreigner) menu in English and pointing at pictures.
My overarching goals for the next few years are to learn new skills, absorb the local culture, get in good physical condition, and travel as much as possible. So far, I’d say I’m on the right track. I’ve been challenging myself to try new things and take advantage of as many opportunities as possible while I’m here. So, that’s what I’ve been doing with my life. Any other questions? ☺
