むかしむかし
A long long time ago... to be more precise August 2018 I was calling my mum, as I always do on Sundays, and was contemplating about what I should do for the next year. I wasn't really satisfied with my carreer and thought about starting freelance work... OR finally visiting Japan. My mum really encouraged me to at last do that travel. "Just do it! You dreamt of Japan since primary school."
And so I (again) looked up Work and Travel and found that you have to be 30 or younger for that Visa. I dropped everything (metaphorically) because times running out for me and started collecting documents for my trip. I organized my research, deadlines, documents and stuff in todo lists (I still use Trello).
Everything went smooth. I already bought my plane ticket and was in my schedule until September...
During a soccer tournament my knee snapped and I had to take surgery. Gladly everything went well (I fell asleep during the surgery, haha) and they "kicked me out" after 5 days of hotel hospital (I think they were glad because I often went missing with my wheel chair and they had to run and catch me again). Only thing I miss is that beautiful physiotherapist ( ˊᵕˋ )
Adding to that misfortune the airline cancelled my flight shortly after. This put me to a lot of pressure and I had to make several phone calls. Oh boi, I really dislike phone calls. And somehow "fate" could smell that. Not only did I have to call the hospital (and got re-directed like 5 or 6 times) but also finding a physiotherapist was harder than finding the plot in Suicide Squad.
I was really relieved when I finally had my doctor's appointments, physiotherapist and a new flight ticket. The world was really bright again when I did my first steps without crutches again.
It was mid October when I applied for my Visa (I had all documents ready), found a better and cheaper flight and applied for my language school. Until now everything seemed so far away. There was no anticipation - just work, stress and trying to somehow recover from my accident. But as soon as I had my passport with my visa at the beginning of November I realized what I have done the last couple of month.
It's only 10 days until my flight and I'm preparing farewell cakes and a party for my friends. Everything is settled right now: my special leave from the job, flight ticket, visa, school, a place for my furniture, my farewell to my parents. It feels weird. I often ask myself "What did past Genji just think?! That's crazy!!!!elevenone" but I'm totally looking forward to that adventure and actually speaking Japanese.
Regarding Japanese: I started doing daily lectures in August and I enjoy the language so much. Still far from being fluent but I think the moment I am forced to leave my comfort zone it will get better. At least I got a compliment at my internship interview for my listening comprehension :'D
Last but not least, here's what I learned from reading japanese fairy tales for children and what is the title of this blog post:
むかしむかし (kanji: 昔々, romaji: mukashi mukashi) - a long time ago/ once upon a time
Greetings from Bavaria (gonna miss it ( •́ ∧ •̀ ) )
Genji