Cherry Blossoms

Something that they don’t tell you about cherry blossom (“sakura”) season in Japan is that lasts for about two weeks and everyone becomes super active. We always get a bevy of invitations to do things, but always on Saturdays, which is one of the busiest days of the week for my practice. Because I work every Saturday, Chad views Saturday as a business day. This results in us having almost no social outings during cherry blossom viewing season. I always find this to be very odd. Before moving to Japan, I had always envisioned having a very thriving social life on Sundays because Japan is not a Christian country.

I always thought that Americans did not hang out on Sundays because of church, that church culture made Sunday a family day even for those who do not attend. That’s why it was surprising to me that the Japanese seem to be the same way about Sundays, at least in Nagoya. I enjoy having my cultural assumptions shattered; it reminds me to be less assuming.

The need to be less assuming runs through my entire experience in Japan. I like being surprised by everyday life occurrences. I like how the rhythm of life feels completely different and yet absolutely the same. For example, Sunday is a family day in Japan and the U.S. – life being completely the same. Sometimes the grocery store runs out of sliced bread, butter, and milk – life being totally different. It is this mix of familiarity and the unfamiliar that keeps me intrigued and makes me want to stay in Japan. Life here is not perfect, but it is pretty darn close for our needs. Don’t get me wrong, there are days that make me wish I was back in U.S. Today just isn’t one of them.