Sayonara
When Elsa received the offer to move to Japan on assignment for Nissan, the decision-making process went a lot like this: Is there any way we’ll regret doing it? Is there any way we’ll regret not doing it?
Pretty quickly, we realized that there are many ways that we may regret not making the move. On the other hand, it was difficult to imagine the scenario where we’d regret it.
Though a global pandemic has caused the last 3-4 months of our Japan experience to be far more stationary than planned, there are no regrets about the decision.
Each of us has had a different experience and have grown in different ways.
For Miles and Calvin, the experience of living in Japan will, I hope, impact the rest of their lives. From being in a school with kids from all over the world who look and speak and act so incredibly diversely, to eating all sorts of different food that many people back in the US would scoff at, to simply being up for whatever was the next adventure, no matter what mistakes mom and dad made along the way... I certainly believe they’ve become more well-rounded kids, and hopefully will grow into pretty open-minded individuals.
The move back home to a severely less diverse school may be a bit of a challenge for them at first. We’ve already had discussions about some of the things they have come to love that will seem alien to their friends in the states. For a simple example, when bringing a pack of dried seaweed or a rice ball as a snack with your lunch to school, be prepared for some strange looks from your peers.
Some of the interests they’ve picked up, such as Dragonball and Japanese baseball cards, may quickly die when nobody around them is collecting or trading. However, their love of sushi, ramen, and the Yokohoma Baystars baseball team will live forever! Okay, maybe that last one is a bit of a stretch...
The last few weeks we’ve been trying to have socially-distant farewells with some of their best buddies who are permanent residents of Japan. Miles and Calvin are a bit too young for me to comfortably give them access to social media so keeping in touch with these friends once we’re gone will be a challenge.
Calvin and Kenzo
Nick and Calvin
However, some of their best buds from our building, Aki and Miku, who they have basically grown into cousins of the last few months, are from a Nissan family hopefully returning to Tennessee next year. We became such great friends with this family the past 2 years and can’t wait until we’re reunited on the other side.
Miku, Aki, Miles and Calvin during a game of catch on the Yokohama Baystars field
They’ve also had some big “firsts” that they can always look back on and say that happened in Japan. Calvin lost his first tooth here, Miles and Calvin both learned how to ride bikes without training wheels here, Calvin dropped his pants in public for the first time here (exposing his private parts to our entire neighborhood)... All these things will be reflected on with joy.
For me, I’ve had the opportunity to get comfortable using a second language. This has made living in a foreign country far more rewarding and less stressful.
Every Wednesday, after the kids baseball practice, we would grab dinner from Myro’s Pizza. This little pizza shop with just four counter seats became one of my favorite spots. When available, we’d take up three of those seats and I’d practice Japanese with the owner, Shingo-san. With Coronavirus, he closed the inside of his shop, but we continued to order pizza every Wednesday for take-out. It reached the point when I would call and Shingo-san wouldn’t ask my name or even what time I was picking it up. It was understood.
Calvin, Shingo-san and Miles
On Monday nights, my language-learning friend John and I would explore the local bar scene where we eventually found a favorite spot and became regulars. Every week there were new and recurring characters that helped us get to know locals and improve our language abilities, not to mention making friends. のりさん、しまけさん、まさしさん。。。本当にありがとうございました。
Monday night crew
One of my personal stretch-goals before coming was to have a sushi chef who knows me by name. I achieved this at a joint just a few minutes walk from our apartment, where the chef/owner Mashiko-san knows me as ‘Kurisu,’ and can recognize my voice when I call to make a reservation or a takeout-order. His 1,100 yen (about $10 USD) lunch nigiri set is one that I would partake in as often as possible.
Japan will also affect our diet going forward. I’m no cooking expert, but I’ve added some very simple Japanese dishes to my repertoire that I have no intention of giving up. Things like Yakisoba, Japanese curry, and of course, once I find a high quality source of fish in Nashville, nigiri sushi.
Miles favorite treat on the planet is a Japanese very subtly-sweet cake called a mushi-pan or steamed cake. It is pretty simple to make, so that is on my list of things to learn to make when I get to the States. He eats an unhealthy amount of them, and I want to be able to feed his addiction.
Miles eating his final steam cake (蒸しパン) before getting on a plan to leave Japan.
Miles has actually become a little foodie thanks to Japan. He and I are self-referred to as “ramen buddies” and would venture out to various ramen shops around Yokohama. After each meal, he would rattle off his ranked list of best-to-worst ramen joints. They often didn’t align with mine, but I loved that he had his own incorrect opinions. Ippudo for life!
It’s not just food and friends that will be missed, it’s also the lifestyle that living in the middle of Yokohama offered. We are walking distance to nearly everything that we need. We have two different train lines, a primary care doctor, multiple grocery stores, post offices, dentist, every sort of restaurant you could want, all within a few minutes walk of our apartment. I haven’t driven a car in two years and haven’t missed it one bit.
Living in a high rise building in the middle of Yokohama was also a great benefit. My kids and I have grown to know the four women who run our front desk very well. The kids always greet them with こんにちは (konnichiwa) and the desk responds in kind. They’ve watched our little dudes become taller little dudes and helped us tremendously along the way.
Have a piece of mail you can’t read? Give it to the front desk. Need to ship something to the US but can’t understand the customs form? The front desk will handle it. Need to make sushi reservations at Sukiyabashi Jiro months in advance and pay a $200 deposit to secure them? The front desk has your back.
Miles and Calvin with Hiroko, one of our receptionists at Leyton House.
There are a lot of things we never got to do in our short two years here. Much of this is due to COVID as we had planned many trips during this final six months that were put on indefinite hold. Luckily, we did a fair amount of traveling in the first 18 months so we’ve seen a good amount of Japan, but trips to some of the smaller Japan cities and attractions may never occur. The weekend trip to Seoul, South Korea that won’t happen is perhaps the one that stings the most. We were just two hours away this whole time! GAH!
The final few days of our time in Japan were spent in the Sheraton Hotel at Yokohama Station. This was the same hotel we stayed at when we came house hunting in 2018. It really puts the last two years into perspective. When I first looked out our hotel window two years ago, with signs I couldn’t read and no idea where I was, it felt about as foreign as a place could. Now, it feels like home.
