Four Year Anniversary

Four year. That's the longest length of time that I've lived in the same place since before I went to college. With every year that passes I feel more and more at home in Tokyo. I've learned the rhythms and routines of the year. There's something comforting about watching the peaches disappear at the end of summer, being replaced by nashi (asian pears), and knowing that as the air turns colder the gingko trees are about to turn their stunning shade of gold. I have holiday traditions here. I have favorite places that I look forward to visiting again.

I guess I'm full of contradictions, because I love surprises, and I also like knowing what to expect. In the first couple years this blog was about all the things I was discovering and the things I was surprised by. There's a lot less of that now, though I'm certainly still learning, and always excited to share about it. Now though, I have a better idea of what's going on and how to navigate my life. With that has come more informative (I hope) posts on resources, reviews, and recommendations for both tourists and people living in Tokyo. But there's also been a slowdown in my posting, because fewer things seem out of the ordinary.

I noticed that a lot with our visitors over the summer. They would often point out unusual or hilarious things that I hadn't even noticed. But I could remember the days when I did notice them. One day John's dad asked me about the face masks everyone was wearing (a very common sight here, and a very common question from westerners). And although I answered automatically, "Mostly people do it to keep from getting sick, like hand washing. But some girls are just hiding breakouts or didn't have time to put on makeup this morning," I had to look around to see what had prompted his question - I hadn't noticed anyone with a mask on. But looking with fresh eyes, I realized that I had just stopped noticing. And I couldn't pinpoint when that had happened.

This year this year I've been noticing how normal life here feels. Somedays it makes me a little sad that this sprawling sparkling city has started to feel ordinary. But it also makes me happy. We haven't just skimmed the surface, we've spent four years here. We've built a life here. And that's pretty incredible.

The leaves are starting to turn!