Daydreaming about Japan

Every spring I get wanderlust for Japan. After my least favorite month of the year has passed, taking the bitter cold, humidity and all the grey with it, I start thinking about cherry blossoms. Of course Japan, queen of all cherry blossoms, comes to mind.

It’s been 16 years since I put my foot on Japanese soil for the first time and even now I remember the heavy humidity in the air at Narita airport. Those of you who have been reading me for a while now, know about my passion for the Country of the Rising Sun from other articles I wrote on the theme, like one of my very first writings Little pleasures of Japan. Those of you who are newer to the blog, can find out this way that I am a Japan enthusiast. The Japanese and the French cultures are the ones that I admire the most and my passions revolve around them.

Returning to my initial thought…spring sparks my wanderlust for Japan. I haven’t had the pleasure yet to travel there during spring time on either of the occasions. It remained like an unfulfilled dream. Although Japan is beautiful in summer and also autumn, nothing compares with the spectacle of the flowers and blossoms in spring. I want to try cherry blossom ice cream for the first time, even cupcakes or lattes flavored with this pink delish. I want to wear my very old cherry blossom earrings and take strolls through the parks where it “snows” with petals. These are little things on my bucket list.

Thinking of first times, Japan is the place that opened my mind the most out of all the experiences I had until now. It is there that I lived a lot of “firsts” like:

Having my first student job;
Eating raw meat on a regular basis like sushi and sashimi and lots of other culinary firsts;
Learning how to use hashi to perfection;
Seeing my first ocean and also bathing in it;
Tasting for the first time lychee liqueur which remained my favorite for life;
Experiencing “amusement park Disney dates” which are a very big thing in Japan;
Climbing my first skyscraper in Shinjuku and marveling of the whole Tokyo at my feet;
Living a whole summer in a rustic cabin in the woods;
Having a live encounter with a Beluga whale which “kissed” my palm;
Making lots of Japanese friends for life, one of them providentially named Sakura (cherry blossom);

Next to all the “firsts” I experienced there, Japan taught me a lot of important lessons that stayed with me for life:

My work ethic: never be late, never leave early, give my best in everything, be thorough in what I do.
Respect: addressing everyone with respect, using all kinds of words and particles to show how much I appreciate them, not only my superiors, my equals and those under me as well. After my trips to Japan I bowed years to come until I got over the habit. Sometimes it still happens when I’m deeply grateful to someone.
Appreciation: for everything that surrounds me, from people to nature and food and most importantly for different cultures around the world.
Keep an open mind and embrace “different”.

Japan definitely had a great and positive impact on my life and if I had my way I would go visit every year just to get a dose of that uniqueness over there (and to practice the language). But for now I am stuck to day dreaming of sakura perfumes.

For those of you readers that are interested in more of my Japanese experiences, I wrote a miniseries of 10 short articles on the blog with funny and weird events that happened to me there (here they are).

Disclaimer: please forgive my poor photographs, they are mostly taken with an old camera I had back then (no smart phones between 2005-2008).