There is a saying about how everybody gets their own 15 minutes of fame. I've always pictured mine as being on some crazy reality show embarrassing my family's name through late night binges and creative editing. Unfortunately, I got mine for my least favorite subject in school: Geography.
Its been interesting to say the least dealing with the emotions and events of the past month. I went from living a daily routine to daily emotional roller coasters. I went from living in a culture I knew very little about and getting used to it to heading back to a culture I knew a lot about and not understanding it. Since being home, my mind has been in a place thousands of miles from me. There is no real way to prepare for the events that we all went through in Sendai. The truth of it all is that God kept us all safe for a reason and its ok not to fully comprehend why.
Some of us were meant to experience this and go right into helping on the ground floor. Some were meant to take this experience home to connect with others and utilize the lessons in it to become a stronger person for their tasks at home. Others were meant to come home, share our story and provide a personal connection to the events then go back and get to work. The truth of it all as that no one side is wrong. They are all right and essential in their own way. Its just a matter of figuring out which is your piece to the puzzle.
In coming home, I felt lost in everything. The first few days, I just wanted to wall myself off to the world and ignore everyone outside of my friends that shared my experience. On top of that, I went through so many time zones that my body couldn't figure out what time it was. I basically slept for 2 hours at a time and was up most nights. Up until going home, we always had this own buffer zone of 30 or so people that went through the same experiences and emotions. Getting home, that outlet is harder to reach. Just flying home and randomly conversing about living in Sendai, I started to realize that there is a much different perspective on the issues and everything that went on. Most of it is based in the overall idea that the worst case scenario is the most interesting so that is what most people get. Its hard to relate that we weren't hanging on to a floating piece of debris for dear life but at the same time were deeply affected in other ways.
Luckily for me, I had a group of friends I traveled home with that kept in touch during the tougher times of adjusting to home. Also, my family pulled me to come on vacation in Florida. Vacation was honestly the last thing on my mind but at the same time it was good to be where no one really knew me but my immediate family. It gave me time to readjust to everything without people coming from the woodwork to get my story and ask me the same questions 453 different ways. Though my mind was never quite in Florida, it gave me time to readjust and get ready for whatever came next.
Most importantly, it gave me time to make a decision on a time-line to come back to Japan, which had weighed like a ton of bricks. With a lot of factors, probably another blog post worth, I chose to move back to Japan at the end of April. But thats all I'll talk about taht decision here or else I'd go on and on (like I already am ;)).
Getting back home, I felt more business as usual. I got back to driving on the comfortable side of the road literally and figuratively. A part of me felt as if I never left but the other part of me felt like this ghost that was just watching everything from the outside. Its surreal to be at a place you never expected to be for at least another year. At the same time, I felt very blessed and fortunate to be home. I needed this time to mentally recharge and gain a better perspective for what to do with the events life handed me. Though, I have no clue what is in store for tomorrow, I am content in where I am today.
*After typing some of this Japan had another decent earthquake, bigger than all the other aftershocks. Though we can say eh its only a 7.2 there are many people that don't have the luxuries of sturdy structures and places that we have. Please continue your prayers for Japan and your generosity to those still in need. Our school continues to partner with others for relief efforts through your donations. Please take time to just check this site out to see what they have done so far Friends of MeySen.
A side note for anyone curious: Here is an article and video about me from my hometown. I apologize to any residents with mobile homes for my comments and humor that were taken out of context :).
Local video while I was in Japan
News Article in the Muskegon Chronicle
Its been interesting to say the least dealing with the emotions and events of the past month. I went from living a daily routine to daily emotional roller coasters. I went from living in a culture I knew very little about and getting used to it to heading back to a culture I knew a lot about and not understanding it. Since being home, my mind has been in a place thousands of miles from me. There is no real way to prepare for the events that we all went through in Sendai. The truth of it all is that God kept us all safe for a reason and its ok not to fully comprehend why.
Some of us were meant to experience this and go right into helping on the ground floor. Some were meant to take this experience home to connect with others and utilize the lessons in it to become a stronger person for their tasks at home. Others were meant to come home, share our story and provide a personal connection to the events then go back and get to work. The truth of it all as that no one side is wrong. They are all right and essential in their own way. Its just a matter of figuring out which is your piece to the puzzle.
In coming home, I felt lost in everything. The first few days, I just wanted to wall myself off to the world and ignore everyone outside of my friends that shared my experience. On top of that, I went through so many time zones that my body couldn't figure out what time it was. I basically slept for 2 hours at a time and was up most nights. Up until going home, we always had this own buffer zone of 30 or so people that went through the same experiences and emotions. Getting home, that outlet is harder to reach. Just flying home and randomly conversing about living in Sendai, I started to realize that there is a much different perspective on the issues and everything that went on. Most of it is based in the overall idea that the worst case scenario is the most interesting so that is what most people get. Its hard to relate that we weren't hanging on to a floating piece of debris for dear life but at the same time were deeply affected in other ways.
Luckily for me, I had a group of friends I traveled home with that kept in touch during the tougher times of adjusting to home. Also, my family pulled me to come on vacation in Florida. Vacation was honestly the last thing on my mind but at the same time it was good to be where no one really knew me but my immediate family. It gave me time to readjust to everything without people coming from the woodwork to get my story and ask me the same questions 453 different ways. Though my mind was never quite in Florida, it gave me time to readjust and get ready for whatever came next.
Most importantly, it gave me time to make a decision on a time-line to come back to Japan, which had weighed like a ton of bricks. With a lot of factors, probably another blog post worth, I chose to move back to Japan at the end of April. But thats all I'll talk about taht decision here or else I'd go on and on (like I already am ;)).
Getting back home, I felt more business as usual. I got back to driving on the comfortable side of the road literally and figuratively. A part of me felt as if I never left but the other part of me felt like this ghost that was just watching everything from the outside. Its surreal to be at a place you never expected to be for at least another year. At the same time, I felt very blessed and fortunate to be home. I needed this time to mentally recharge and gain a better perspective for what to do with the events life handed me. Though, I have no clue what is in store for tomorrow, I am content in where I am today.
*After typing some of this Japan had another decent earthquake, bigger than all the other aftershocks. Though we can say eh its only a 7.2 there are many people that don't have the luxuries of sturdy structures and places that we have. Please continue your prayers for Japan and your generosity to those still in need. Our school continues to partner with others for relief efforts through your donations. Please take time to just check this site out to see what they have done so far Friends of MeySen.
A side note for anyone curious: Here is an article and video about me from my hometown. I apologize to any residents with mobile homes for my comments and humor that were taken out of context :).
Local video while I was in Japan
News Article in the Muskegon Chronicle
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