First Hurdle

Halfway-ish through March and I’m thinking that this is never going to happen. There are so many other things coming up – real, everyday things that require my time, and more importantly my money.

No, that’s not a plea. Shut up.

But the house is a house, and requires a certain amount of care and feeding. A perfect year means that I make my goal; a perfect year is not this year. So far.

So I’m pretty down on the venture. This was expected. Painful, though. I’ll update later.

Study, Work, Dream

I’ve only done two sessions of this term at Showa Boston, and they’ve been remarkable. It’s nice that the class size is substantial (compared to my first session) and that we’re all about the same age – old farts working hard to learn something new. I feel as though I’m nearing the edge of some plateau, because so much of what’s happening is making sense. I’m starting to synthesize all the bits I’ve collected over the past year or so, and now I can move forward and climb the next hill.

It’s going to be tough – I’m not confusing my tottering first steps with anything resembling facility. It’s more that I’ve managed to put a few things into the right bins and it feels good. There’s a long row to hoe ahead.

Other than that, I’m waiting on further physical plans. I’ve made a connection with someone who knows someone else, who just might be able to arrange accommodations for me. This is huge. Should such arrangements be made, it would certainly change the meager financial situation I have. I’m not expecting things to happen, of course. I’m still working to tote my own bags, yes? But I am again stunned by the generosity of others. Am I worthy?

So as 2010 progresses, I work. I plan. I struggle to make ends meet here at home. And this insane plan spools out…

Excited!

I start my next session at Showa Boston today. If it’s as good as the previous session, I’m going to come out of it a lot more confident than I am right now. Confident about my Japanese skills, that is.

I’ll have a report soon.

Adding a stone to the path…

I have gone ahead and signed up for another class with Showa Boston. The “learning” I have been doing at home will now be braced, reinforced and elevated by classroom work and interaction with actual Japanese people of the human condition.

Mission:Tokyo! is proceeding. The balance of my life is a shambles, but this goal, this raging insane passion I have carries me on. With more hard work and even a little luck, I will soon be able to handle basic conversations with comfort. I may even be able to handle the occasional intermediate conversation, but I don’t want to seem cocky.

Work hard, stay humble. And keep building the narrative.

From an email to a friend…

I enclose the majority of the content. It begins to show the color of what this is all about:

Man,what a ride it’s been. There are times when I’m not at all sure that there is a point to the whole endeavor, but then I look at my wife and kids and I realize that it’s hard to see things clearly from my current vantage point. This, too, shall pass.

So you asked me to email you about my crazy Mission:Tokyo! idea. It came to me as I lay in bed towards the end of last year, the snow falling around the Christmas wishes of my girls and the cat purring away somewhere between me and my wife. I need to do Something Big. Since I’m not the guy who’s going to find a cure for cancer, and since I have a unique obsession with Japan, I decided that I was going to set myself a goal for 2010 – I am going to make it to Tokyo.

Mission:Tokyo! is a year-long endeavor, in which I am going to start where I am, which is to say “nowhere,” and in a year’s time I will end up where I want to be, which is to say “Tokyo.” My goal is to work hard, scrimp, plan, save and study so that a year from now I will be posting from somewhere in the megalopolis that is Tokyo.

This economy has killed me. It’s been nearly two years since I’ve held what I would term “gainful employ,” and the prospects don’t look much better. I can either be crushed by this, or I can take matters into my own hands and work for something on my own.

“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.”
—Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1864-1912)

It’s not so much that I just want to get to Tokyo and walk around. No, there’s something deeper, maybe even spiritual, though I shudder at that description. No, there’s a part of me that’s been left Over There, and I need to see if I can find it. I want to walk the streets, feel the concrete under my feet and smell the air of a distant land. I want to watch people in their daily lives and measure what I see against my own life, to see if we are really the same despite our differences. I want to listen, to watch, to think deeply about myself in a larger context. I want to hear the stories of the other side of the world, and know that at some level, we share something profound. I want to know how different the imagined is from the real.

Doesn’t sound like much, does it… ha. But interestingly enough, that’s the most I’ve ever been able to articulate about this. I am like a salmon who now needs to return to that river…

One Step at a Time

Yes, still here, still working on Mission:Tokyo! But this is a long-haul journey, and there’s a whole heaping helping of Daily Grind that stands between me and TYO. But it’s also the Daily Grind that will allow me to reach Japan, so I try to treat it with respect.

Some have suggested that I build out the narrative of this project. They argue that Julie & Julia did it, the 365 Days of Slow-Cooking person did it, and there are many more blogs that became testaments to perseverance. It’s a tough call. Coming up with something entertaining and informative is… not always that easy. Most of my days are chewed up with trying to survive, never mind actively pursuing the Mission.

But let me lay it out: There’s my Family Life. That’s a full-time gig no kidding. Then there’s Maintaining the House, Work, Pursuing My Career Goals in the mix as well. Now try to find time for those pesky Language Lessons.

Which is why I’m on the slow boat, as it were. One day at a time, one step at a time. Today I didn’t study Japanese, but over the weekend I spent three hours in review. It’s the time I have.

So… I’m working on the narrative, keeping notes where I can. I’ll build out a journal of sorts when applicable. Until then… would someone please tell Japan that I’m interested in visiting, please? Thank you.

Going it alone?

Life continues.

In working out the whys and wherefores of Mission:Tokyo! I’ve been talking with as many people as I can. At the moment, and for the foreseeable future, I have to gain a lot of intel and do a lot of learning, so it behooves me to talk talk talk. And, of course, listen listen listen. But this isn’t so much about that as it is about the results of a conversation I had the other day.

I was speaking with an old friend about this venture, and after a bit, he said something to the effect of, “I’ve always wanted to go to Tokyo. If you’re serious about this, let me know. I’d love to go, too, if you don’t mind having a Travel Partner.”

I don’t. I don’t mind having a Travel Partner at all. Of course, there are plenty of complexities, but for the purposes of the moment, I’ll leave them unmentioned until another time.

So now I’m starting to count my blessings. Anonymous Donor has put out an offer, and now I have a Tentative Travel Partner. Local Friend has turned me on to good language learning resources. Of the thousands of pieces to the puzzle, some few have fallen into place. I must keep working at this.

1 hour study.