さようなら、シアトル！

January 13-14, 2018. Delta Flight 167. Narita and Tokyo, Japan.

This is it! I’m on the airplane and we’ve reached cruising altitude. I’m totally leaving on a jet plane and I really don’t know when I’ll be back again! OMG.

The feeling is this exquisite blend of excitement and regret. What am I doing? And how can I not go? I am the arrow, released from the bow string; intention powering me towards my target.

https://youtu.be/Na-G_Z5A9dU


The flight went well with lots of sleep. I watched the new Netflix move "Bright" which was great.  Orcs, elves and LA police.  What's not to love?  The gentleman next to me was from NEC and showed me cool CES photos. Automatic clothes folding machines. :-)

Then, it was time to land and my doctor's prediction about ear problems with my flu/cold bore true.  Ouch. But, Narita beckoned:

I sent all my luggage ahead to my temporary housing, took the Narita Express to the Tokyo station and met Kinori on the Yamanote platform.  His text said the Yamamoto platform which there is none in Tokyo station.  That was an auto-correct misfire on the iPhone which leads me back to my new work applying AI to improve text input quality on Windows. Eventually, I figured that out and we met.

Kinori and I checked into my temporary housing. A two bedroom, gorgeous apartment in Akasaka on the twelfth floor with a great view in two directions.  By the end of the tour, he decided he would just move in permanently. Tomorrow night he's going to start collecting his belongings in a suitcase and complete the move in.

I walked around with Kinori and realized with a shock that I no longer live in Kirkland, WA, USA.  I now live in Tokyo, Japan.  No longer an abstract possibility, but a shocking concrete reality. I'm American and cannot be Japanese (unless I pull a Lafcadio Hearn). What am I doing here? What have I signed up for?

Harley Rosnow, Tokyo, Japan
Location: Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan

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