Our Third Year in Japan

October 6^th marks our third year in Japan. My first impression is that time goes by fast. I find that I have fewer complaints and fewer compliments. I guess that’s a good thing.  Everyday life is just that…everyday life. The biggest change since moving to Japan (drum-roll please), I have my weekends back. What does that mean? Well, sit back and have a listen.

When I was living in Washington, my weekends would start by complaining about how much I disliked my job and that I was glad it was the weekend. In other words, I was working for the weekend. Sound familiar? I would often begin thinking that I was only two days away from the beginning of another workweek. I actually dreaded Sunday because it meant I had to go back to work the next day. These negative thoughts clouded every weekend. In essence, I gave up my weekends and chose to be negative. Erika had to endure my sour attitude and eventually we both had enough. If you have ever spent any time with a negative person then you know that nobody want to be around that kind of person. Even I didn’t like being around myself!

It did take some effort to change things around. It was a matter of attitude. I found that a change in my environment was the solution to changing my attitude. Three years later, I’m positive almost EVERYDAY. I no longer dread going to work on Monday. Friday's are nice, but so are most of the other days. It’s great to have my weekends back. I can go places and do things on Saturday AND Sunday and not worry about being mentally exhausted on Monday. Being negative is mentally exhausting for everyone.

I made a choice, with the help of Erika, to change my life. It’s been three years and I can honestly say, “It’s nice to be home". Now, if I could only speak Japanese…       George