I don’t know how it happened that I fell in love with Japan. There was no particular interest before. I never was a traveller, though used to like Scandinavian countries, or some abstract tropical islands… I really don’t know why – it just happened.
It started in spring of 2008. I was living with my father and my child. After my mother died in 2006, I returned to father’s place so that he wouldn’t feel so lonely. I was divorced, so a bit lonely as well. It was a quiet life, both of us working and doing household. My child was 10, going to school normally that time. Sometimes we received guests… Nothing special was happening.
And then I saw the Anime. It was aired on Russian MTV on weekends in the morning, we wathed it tohether with my daughter. Shojo Kakumei Utena. Not that I never saw an Anime before, though it’s rare on Russian TV. But that time it struck me somehow. Unreal long-legged people with unreal hair color and strange names. The story was strange too, and moreover we coulnd’t follow it up to the end because the channel stopped showing it suddenly. But it already penetrated in our veins. We ordered a DVD with Utena by Internet. We started to watch more Anime and learn Japanese words just for fun. My daughter started drawing in Anime style. And through that colorful unearthly animation we could see a little bit of Japan itself. It was getting more and more serious. I wanted to know more.
When autumn came I screwed up my courage and put an ad on a website where one can find pen-friends from Japan. Surprisnigly, I received a lot of mails. I was not looking for anyone special, I answered to everybody. It was exciting! We exchanged stories and photographs, telling each other about our realities – Russian and Japanese. Of course with some of my pen-friends I could find better understanding, they were very dear to me. One of those who wrote me was a teacher of Japanese language, giving his lessons by correspondence. That’s how I started to learn – only by Romaji (English alphabet) that time. His explanation of grammar was very good. I am really grateful for these lessons.
It was not until summer of 2009 when I at last could go and see Japan with my own eyes. By that time I lost my father too. He never seemed ill but just burned out suddenly, in month and a half. Cancer, the same as my mom. I left with my child and two cats. But life was going on, and I was going to Japan.
My dear friends, how thoughtful they were! When they heard about my coming, they gave load of advice. They taught me how to use Japanese railway and get from the airport to the hotel. Moreover, they took days off in advance, to meet me and guide around. So all my time was already scheduled. I booked a hotel in Kanagawa prefecture, choosing a spot more or less close to all my friends living places. I received a visa through a travel agency and rented a Japanese cell phone by Internet. Everything was ready. I was going alone to a beautiful but totally unknown country.
To be continued…
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