April

The last time I posted here, Japan was a very different place.  The changes that are taking place here in Sapporo and across Japan won't be fully understood for some time, I'm sure.  Choices that are being made now in a time of crisis will affect many generations of both Japanese and people of other countries.  The way families react, the way businesses react, the way the government has and will continue to respond will undoubtedly set the precedence for a new Japan.  Personally, I have felt  a change in the way I live my life.  I　have to admit that my job and the things I felt I  had to do everyday took precedence over all other options that I had in day to day life.  I was even at the point that I felt I had no options.  It could very well be that all of that day to day hustle and bustle could be gone tomorrow.  What do I have then?  What do we do when everything has been taken away?  Completely gone? What's left?  I can't answer with any certainty but for some reason I seem to be listening for the real answers now when I ask those routine questions like "How are you?"  "What did you do today?"  I can't explain why, but somehow my "small talk" life and "chatty" existence has suddenly become a little more meaningful. Perhaps it had been all along.  I am thankful for many things, especially the human interaction that makes up the majority of my day.

Hoping for a quick end to the nuclear crisis in Japan,

Pat