I’ve now crossed into a different time zone. China is about 13 hours away and I’m feeling a little more excited now, but I’m still missing Japan… I’ve had a lot of time to think on this boat ride, and a lot of time to sleep. I’ve been doing a lot of sleeping on this boat, I slept 12 hours last night (woke up at noon) and slept again from 3:00pm-5:00pm. It felt good and definitely made up for the lack of sleep of the past week. I’m ready to start anew!
I’ve met some people today, a Czech named Martin who studied in Xian, China for 1 year, and Jesse, an American teaching English with the JET Programme in Japan. Today, two little girls kept staring at me. Was it because I was white? Was there something on my face? I wouldn’t know since they didn’t speak English, but luckily, Jesse spoke Japanese and later at night, as I walked in from outside and spotted the girls giggling again, Jesse found out why they had been looking at me all day… they wanted to know why my hair was so short! The mother had said they had been wanting to touch my hair all day, so I offered as I laughed, but they shied away. Cute. I’m glad to know that my hair is getting me so much attention! Haha! Getting a bit of socializing in my day made time go by a little quicker, in fact, the boat ride actually did go much quicker than I thought it would. Although it wasn’t all bad without the socializing, I spent a lot of my time outside. The sea breeze and fresh air did me good. I spent hours outside today, just staring out at the open waters and occasional passing ships, all whilst listening to my music. Late at night, after dinner and a few drinks with Martin at the karaoke bar (karaoke will apparently drive me insane in China), I went back outside. It was raining, but I didn’t mind. There’s something about the nothingness at night that’s so appealing. I was alone on the upper deck, and it wasn’t long before the rain stopped and the clouds cleared, opening up the sky to thousands of stars, the likes that I have not seen in a long time. Japan had been so bright that sights like this were a rarity, so I felt privileged to be able to get a glimpse at such a spectacle. I’ve never seen the stars from the sea like this, where no lights can obscure the view. Thousands of stars glowing beyond the horizon, and I just stood there looking up and around. I saw home, my friends and family, but I’m not ready to come back, not yet. My story is still being written, and whatever it is I’m looking for, I haven’t found it yet. I don’t exactly know what “it” is, but I know that I’ll know once I hear, see, or feel it.
I’m yearning for knowledge of the world, and though I’m getting it in limited doses, I feel that there’s so much more to learn. My stays in each destination may be too short. Maybe I should settle down in one particular location and take in as much as I can before moving on, but time is such a large factor… At first, I thought this trip might have been too long, but as I go along, I’m thinking that this trip is too short. Everyone was right, a trip like this doesn’t cure the travel bug, it just adds fuel to the fire. If only I had more time and money, then who knows where I’d end up. I’m not saying that I don’t miss my home and that I’m not coming back, far from it, but I could definitely use more time. Continue learning Japanese, work in a rural area and really take in the culture, study Aikido,… as I move nomadically from place to place, I find out that there’s so much more that I want to do.
I guess, in a sense, that’s how I’ve changed so far. Before I came on this trip, I was determined to go on this journey, come back home, and start making some money. I was really career-oriented, but now I have new aspirations. If I could find a hybrid between the two, then my life would be set. This trip was simply supposed to be a break from work back home, but it’s turning out to be much more than that. I’m not exactly sure what that means for me specifically, or where my journey will take me now, but I’m getting eager to find out.
Time for sleep… Tomorrow I’ll be in China!
-LL
P.S. I can’t understand y’all!
P.P.S. You can get the photos of the boat ride here.
Journey of Discovery 