Three Years

It has been three years three years since I moved to Japan.

Three years since I uncurled myself from the fetal position and convinced myself that no matter how scared I was, I couldn't let down my friends and family and even some strangers as well. All of whom seemed to believe that one rather crazy Canadian girl could actually work in a Japanese museum. I was pretty convinced I couldn't, but there were too many people to let down and besides, hiding in the basement of my dad's house didn't seem like a very good long-term plan.

Three years since I left my family and friends and stepped onto a plane. I had only just gotten back from a year in India, but there I was leaving again.

Three years since I stepped off of the plane in Tokyo. A city I had visited before but had never lived in. A mega-city home to 5796 people per km². Of those 12,790,000 people, I knew only 5.

Three years since I walked into the museum for the fist time. I've written about it before, but on that first day when I went in to meet with the director, my stomach was in knots and I was a nervous wreck.

The past three years have seen a lot of changes. I've lived in three different places (hopefully making that four in the not too distant future), had six different jobs/part-time jobs (a few of which I'm still doing), and, most importantly, met and befriended a number of those nearly 13 million people. I've learned a few things about what makes me happy. I've been given the support and confidence to believe in and reach for my dreams. (Don't worry, I've had some not so rosy memories too, but I'm trying to ignore those right now...!)

I don't know where the next three years will take me, but if the last three are anything to go by, I'm excited - bring it on!