Japan: April 3, 2007

Originally posted on April 4, 2008

Almost a year ago, on an evening of April, at 4:40 PM, the Boeing 777 - flight EK316 - landed in Kansai International Airport, Osaka Japan. On that instant, and only that instant, I realized that my Japanese journey began.

I will never forget that evening. It was surreal. I was so much taken by the magic of this newly started journey that the world around me suddenly muted. I was hearing myself so clearly; each breath, each heartbeat. I had just stepped into a world that I only knew through books and through my father's stories. So, I was a new baby, born into a fresh new life. With no Japanese literacy, a kindergarten child had better survival chances than me.

The only person waiting for me in Japan was a Japanese Government volunteer with a list of names that included mine.
"Welcome to Japan!" she said. She smiled, gave me an Envelope, then showed me a form. "Sign here please".

I looked around and saw few other new-comers looking at the content of their respective envelopes. These faces were not scared, nor afraid, nor stressed but simply like me, in the unknown.

"Do you speak any Japanese?, asked one of them.
-No, not at all. And you?
-Just a bit.
-Where will you be living.
-Kyoto. And you?
-Osaka. Well, good luck for your adventure!
-Yeah, we need it!"

So, we had few word exchanges - in English of course - with a simple purpose: knowing that somewhere in Japan, an new born adult... will be, will exist. There is others! What a relief!
We were then taken outside. It was already dark, a black moonless dark. I was then led into a black typical Japanese cab. I bowed from my head to the taxi man. The door closed and I was, again, all alone.

The car was moving on a long bridge. It was so calm that I could only hear the sound of the wheels rolling on that bridge. It was a long bridge taking me to my new life. My eyes were looking all around, but there was only the bridge's lights and nothing else. Then, life came into the landscape: buildings with lots of colorful lights, colorful Japanese neon signs, and.. people.
I still remember this black suited man walking and playing with a "transparenty" umbrella. I smiled. And thought that, maybe, someday soon, this unknown terrain will be as familiar to me as it is to him. This was Osaka-city.

The cab turned left, then left again into a narrow impasse. The door opened. I stepped down, took my suitcase and looked in front of me. That was my building. The taxi man rang into an interphone, blabeled something in Japanese and then left.
An old man in a uniform came out, smiled at me and started addressing me, in Japanese. What was that language? I smiled back and guessed that he was asking for, maybe, who I was, or my ID. I showed him my name. I got lucky: he looked at a sheet then gave me a paper with few English words. I figured out that I had to pay some entrance money.. I think. After opening the Envelope, I handed the required sum. We entered an elevator, shiny metallic chrome. Fourth floor. He pointed out my room while talking to me in Japanese, I obviously didn't understand but followed him into what would be my place.

The old man left. I got into my room tailing behind me my suitcase and carrying my pillow; my pillow that I got from my bed in Beirut. I locked the door and contemplated my new "home". It was tiny silent cold fluorescent lighted room. Keeping myself busy from thinking, I briefly cleaned the tiny space, took out my clothes, put some sheets on that mattress, took a shower in the weird shaped prefabricated bathroom unit, and got into bed.

It suddenly hit me: I was in Japan. I couldn't believe it. I was scared of this new unknown. But that internal shiver made me excited because I had faith in the next day. Osaka will someday be my city too!

However, at that moment, in my bed, with the lights off, I felt all alone. I was somewhere in Osaka, far far away, in an unfamiliar world; and the only place I knew, was this room that I just discovered.

I felt the immensity of that day. But I felt safe: I had my pillow with me.