My breath catches. “What?” I ask, unable to believe my ears.

“Japan,” my Mother replies, “it would be for one semester, and you have to decide today if you want to go, because there is some paperwork I have to get in order,” she added.

“Ummm, ok?” I replied. With two words I began a life unknown to me then, a traveling life.

Fast forward four months. My brother, mom, and I are at the gate. My breath catches once again, and I whip my head around with fear, looking back to my Dad for one last glance before leaving. I won’t get to see him, nor my other two brothers, for four months. I turn back around, and leap into adventure.

My eyes widen as we walk into the plane in Chicago. It’s huge! Double decker plane, five seats by each window, and 10 or 11 in the middle. There is actually room to stand, walk around and breathe without feeling cramped.

A few hours later and I am bored out of my mind. I have done everything physically possible on a plane. I read, watched movies, slept, went exploring (aka walking around looking for people you know), walked to the bathroom about ten times, talked with the flight attendants and I even did my multiplication tables! And it was only halfway through the flight.

Eventually, I did make it through the excruciatingly long flight, and we landed in Tokyo! A new city, a new country, a new world! It was totally unbelievable to my young mind, and completely mine for the taking. Well, I’m not quite that brave, I’m only eight. I still hold my Mom’s hand as I got off the plane.

Jet-lag is awful. Anyone who says otherwise has never traveled, or is trying to sell you airline tickets. So, I was up at 2 in the morning, bouncing around as if it was a Saturday afternoon at the playground. As quietly as I could, I made myself some food from the leftover travel stuff, and turned on the TV. I flipped through some channels, then some more. None, I repeat, NONE were in English! What am I supposed to do with my free time!?! I turn off the old TV, disgusted that technology failed me. So, I decide to look around while trying not to wake up my Mom.

Our apartment was really nice- we HAD an upstairs. It was VERY big by Tokyo standards, but minuscule by American. Suddenly, something catches my eye. A window! One of those nice big ones (gallery window?) that you can sit on and overlook the street below.
I push aside the curtain, sit on the windowsill, and look down to the street below. A man in a suit walked by, a woman on a bicycle tugging two kids behind her, a little kid skipping along with his dad’s hand in his, and a thousand more unfamiliar faces.
I miss America, where people are unique as they are crazy when they go down the street. It is really weird here. I watched for hours and never saw a single redhead or blonde (save for myself) and everybody has the same black hair and look a lot alike. I wonder if they speak English? This window could probably open... there! The window slid and allowed one of the sections to move. City sounds filled my ears. Cars moving, people talking, randomness all around. The people talking makes me sad. This is the longest I’ve EVER gone in my eight years without talking, except for when I’m asleep. I wonder...
“Hello!” I shout down to the street below.
“Hi!” I try again.
“Hi,” I try one more time, a little less enthusiastic.
“Why, hello there!” a man shouts back. My heart leaps into my throat, someone is talking to me!

“HI! I’m Anna!”

“My name is Mr. Shinozuka,” He shouts back.

“How are you?” I ask.

“Very well, and you?” he replies.

“Pretty good. I’m bored though.”

We talked about our day and introduced ourselves until the nice man had to go to work.

The next evening we packed our backpacks, and went to go see the city.

“Mom, where’s a car? How are we going to get around?” I asked, kind of confused.

“We don’t need one,” she replied with a glint in her eye. I soon found out what she meant. We were able to go miles upon miles from our apartment, with only our feet and the subway. The subway became almost a game to my mom and brother, trying to see who could find the shortest route the fastest to wherever our destination may be.,

Today, we went to the Tokyo Tower. It looks a lot like France’s Eiffel Tower, but has a bunch of museums and stores inside. We stopped at the optical illusion exhibit on our way up.

The top was amazing. I could see for miles, the bright lights shining against the veil of night. My mom snapped photos, my brother stepped away from the edge, and I gazed out into the night.

The next day we went to a temple, more of a tourist temple than otherwise, but it was still a sacred place for a lot of people. We rinsed our hands outside in a special pool, and went inside. We walked around, and read some plaques nailed to the walls, telling of the temple.

Another day, our guide/helper/emergency contact/lifeline, Ono-san, (from Meiji-Gakwin University, where my Mom was going to teach) took us to get all of the paperwork filled out for being in the country for a long period of time, and then out to eat! We went to a traditional Japanese restaurant, and it soon became one of my favorite places in Japan.
The two weeks of our “tourist” time flew by, and soon it was time to face reality. School.

My hair was brushed, I have my favorite clothes on, my backpack was packed, I have the required bright yellow hat and electronic tracker on, and I am ready to go. Hand in hand the three of us walked to school.

“Do I have to?” I whispered to my Mom as we approached the gated school.

“Yes honey, and it will be okay,” she replied gently.

“?????????” a man standing outside the gates to the school, the Principal, barked, announcing a formal good morning.

“?????????” we replied, saying good morning as my Mom shook his hand.

We found our classrooms, and my Mom left to go to her first day of teaching at Meiji-Gakwin University. SHE LEFT ME!!! I have no idea where I am or where to go or when-

“?????????!!! ?????????” Someone said to me. She told me good morning and her name was Tsuki. I can’t believe I understood her!

“?????????!!! ??????????” I replied, going into the normal first day of school routine.

“Do you speak English?” I asked hopefully.

“No, I don’t speak well English,” she replied in choppy English. Between her English and my Japanese, we had a makeshift conversation. Throughout my trip she taught me a LOT of Japanese, I would point to something and say the name or color in English, and she would say it in Japanese, or the other way around.

The teacher walked in. She was a robust, stern looking woman, but with soft eyes. She spoke a single word and could command the entire class better than any teacher in the States I’ve EVER seen. My Mom explained to me later that in Japan, teachers are highly respected. It’s like being a doctor or lawyer in the US.

The next few days dragged on as I got used to school. Gym class was even more horrible than back in the US! Sports Day came, and it was like field day in the US but a LOT more formal and a bit like marching band.

After a few weeks of being in Japan, one of my Mom’s colleagues had a surprise for my brother and me. She is taking us to Disney! Never having been to Disney in the States, I am totally excited for this new trip. She wouldn’t let us contribute to the bill, saying it was a gift, but her only request was that her granddaughter, Haruna, and I would write to each other. The day came, and we went to Disney! It was only about a half an hour train ride from our apartment. My Mom’s friend, her husband and grandchildren, and my brother and I all went, and had SO much fun! Even though Haruna and I had minimal conversations, we became really good friends. She didn’t have to ask me twice to write!

Thanksgiving was weird. We went to a British pub with our Chinese neighbors (from our apartment building) and had an Irish waiter, Australian cooks, and British owners of the pub. It was hilarious and SO much fun! I realized that I didn’t wish I was home with my family, I was so excited to be here with my new family.

Another week passed, and I was in for a huge surprise. I came into our apartment, just home from school, and my Dad was there! I run to him, squealing as I went, and jumped into his arms, giving him the biggest bear hug in the world. He would only be here for a few days, but it was amazing to see him again. It reminded me to life in the States, and it is kind of weird. I realized while I was talking 30 miles a minute to him that I’ve stopped talking in English nearly as much at school and don’t talk a lot (well, down to 10 miles a minute) with my brother and mom.

We took one more weekend trip, this time to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. It made me cry, and my mind was blown that people could be so horrible and cruel to one another. Sure, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and that was horrible, unforgivable, and unprovoked, but that was a MILITARY base. We bombed civilians. A three year old evaporated off his tricycle, his parents watching him play through the window while they worked. A man standing on a porch, all that was left of him was his shadow. People were in agony, their skin searing and burning as they jumped off bridges and fences into a boiling river, just to try to cool down a little, to assuage their pain. The effects lasted years after the bomb. Cancer rates skyrocketed because of all the radiation in the A-bomb. One girl, she had cancer long after the bomb was dropped. Throughout her treatment, she made origami paper cranes. If you make 1,000 paper cranes, you get a wish. She died when she had 998 cranes; her wish was to not die. We didn’t even give them warning. We told them that we had a new weapon we intended to use, but we told the Japanese government. The government continued to tell it’s people all was well. All information (from both sides) is varied, and not everyone is sure on what warning was really given. This one museum changed me, it broke my heart and left me in tears. That afternoon, we traveled to Nara, an island park where the deer are considered holy, and they are all well fed, behaved, and healthy. I even got to hug a deer! It lifted my spirits after seeing the intensity of war that morning.
December went creeping by. I don’t want to leave Japan, but I really want to see my friends and family back at home! I have a family here in Japan now, a home.
Unfortunately, at last the day came to leave. We packed our bags, said goodbye, and went to the bus station. My Mom’s colleague came in a traditional outfit to wish us farewell ( the bus station was more like a 5 star restaurant with buses outside) and we were off.

As I was reflecting in my nearly unused journal on the plane ride home, I think my journey to Japan was worth it. I HATED the first few weeks of school, I cried a lot when I was confused and missed my friends those first couple of school days, but I learned a lot and it was so much fun. It was the hardest challenge in my life so far, and it was TOTALLY worth it. I came to Japan as a little girl, and came out a young woman ready to take on the world.
School in the US was weird. Everybody seemed so much younger and immature, and my best friends each made new best friends. Everyone seemed to get annoyed at me talking about Japan or in Japanese (by this point I was used to having to shut up or talk in Japanese at school) and school seemed a lot easier than school in Japan. I only had to learn multiplication tables and cursive for missing half the school year, and then I was ahead of the class! Eventually I learned that if you talk about random boring stuff like ponies and princesses, old friends talked to me more than if I talked about traveling.
I had to change who I was to be able to survive and thrive in Japan, then had to change once more in the USA. I adapted.