What was 2008?
As I sit here trying to recap what has happened over the last year I am amazed and yet shocked how amazing 2008 really was. 2008 seemed more like a few months, rather then a whole year. I started off the year in Japan and ended it in India, that statement alone is good enough for me. 2008 was filled with new adventures, new faces, new lessons in life and the best of all spending time with my family in Canada.
I used to be able to say where I would be the following year, work or a lease on an apartment or debt, always seemed to tie me to a planned future. Now it’s really hard to say where I will be this time next year. A year ago today I was in Tokyo Japan, and if you asked me at the time where do you think you will be a year from now, I would never have guessed I would be sitting in a bed at my friends house in LA at 3am due to jet lag from a trip to India writing this blog.
My trip to India was the prefect end to a prefect year, and more importantly a prefect start to a new and promising year. The catch phrase from our new leader of the free world “Yes we can!” is becoming my mantra for 2009.
I get a lot of emails asking what I have learned from each little adventure, so the lesson learned from my 2-week trip to India is… “It’s not the place, it’s the people that make a place amazing!”
So far 2009 looks very bright. I am wrapping up a show for MTV at the moment and I’m in the process of starting my own company, which we will start shooting our projects in April. Also it seems that my heart became alive again on New Years Eve, which is a good thing as I thought it had frozen over and lost its capability of functioning properly.
Here are a few images of my last few days of 2008.
Posted by Jimmy under California, Canada, India, Japan, Photos, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Updates | Comments (1)
(Day 4) I woke up today to the lovely but cold sight of snow! It is very rare for it to snow in Tokyo, so I tried to make the best of it as I sloshed around the streets with my soaking wet shoes. I have only been back in Tokyo for 4 days now, but I thought I would have accomplished a lot more. Getting things done in Japan takes time even if you speak Japanese. The Japanese love to follow rules, and the thought of thinking outside the box and maybe bending the rules isn’t even considered. My first order of business was getting my Alien Registration card. The card basically allows me to get an apartment, cell phone, bank account…. etc. After spending 4 hours going to 3 different City Hall offices, I finally found the office that I needed. I applied for the Registration card and left with my temporary paper that was “supposed” to be good enough to get a cell phone. I then found myself at one of Tokyo’s biggest electronic districts where you can buy any sort of gadget in the world. After spending 30 minutes asking if anyone spoke English, I opted for my poor Japanese and hand signs. I was able to get someone to call the English help line and they translated for me back and forth between the store employee. To make a long story short, I am now a proud owner of a kick ass High tech Japanese cell phone. The instruction manual is in Japanese, so I have no idea how to work this thing, but I have plenty of time on the subway to figure it out. Tomorrow I’m off for the next big adventure “Getting an apartment” and setting up a bank account. I’m sure tomorrow will be filled with puzzled looks and more wrong turns, but I like it when things aren’t so easy… it keeps me on my toes!
After 8 flights and 24 thousand kilometers later, I have finally made it back to Tokyo with my work in visa in hand! It feels nice to be back, this place fits me like a glove. On the train from the airport to my place my mind started to drift, I’m not sure if it was from being dead tired or what. I’m back in a land where I don’t understand what people are saying, so I go into my body reading Language mode. Over the years of traveling I have gotten use to not understanding people. I have become somewhat of a pro and reading people’s body Language, the so-called “Universal Language”. The Japanese are a very reserved bunch, and with that I feel that their face hold soo much life locked away behind their friendly smiles and porcelain white skin. On the train a schoolgirl around 13 years old sat next to me making Origami. I tired to watch her through the corner of my eye. When she got up to get off at her stop, she turned to me and handed me the different Origami piece she had made and said “For you.” The Japanese are such friendly people. This is going to be the start of my new blog… “Turning Japanese” I will be documenting my experience of living and learning the Japanese ways. There are soo many crazy and interesting things here in Japan that I cant wait to write about and capture on film. So for today (Day 1) was spent setting up appointments to see apartments and getting some much needed sleep. Goodnight for now!