It starts in 1945, with the end of World War Two and the Pacific War. With the horrific dropping of the two atomic bombs, Japan unconditionally surrendered to the United States and the war was over. In late September, the Americans arrived and the Occupation began. To the surprise of the Japanese, not all Americans were to be hated. Many were friendly, and even helpful! The widespread devastation throughout Japan was felt by all, and believe it or not General MacArthur's (the General who was in charge of the occupation) first priority was to set up a food distribution system- the people of Japan were starving! The US sent billions of dollars in aid to rebuild the country. However, if you begin to research the conduct of many troops it wont all be so rosy. Fortunately for us, one of the good guys was Jesse's Grandfather. He was an American who went to Japan to help rebuild. While there, he fell in love with a Japanese woman, married her, and brought her to America. One of their children is my sweet mother-in-law. While she didn't cling to her Japanese heritage, her sons did. Especially Chris, Jesse's brother. He went to Kyoto to study Japanese over the summer in 2006. Being alone in Kyoto and experiencing culture shock, he thought of ending the program early and coming home. Lucky for us- Jesse's parents send US to Japan! We fell in love with the country and couldn't wait to return. In fact, we did return in 2007.
In 2007, we traveled much more throughout the country. We went to Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima. The trip went well until the day we were to return back to the US. We went to Kyoto Station and, due to our Japanese illiteracy, got on the wrong train. Our train was heading away from the airport! As the train attendant noticed our luggage, he pointed us off the train and back to the station (praise him-I can still remember the panicked look on his face when he discovered our error). We made it back to the station and into the right train line. Lo and behold-the train was canceled as we were waiting! Luckily, a very nice Japanese man stood behind us. He realized we had no idea what the Japanese announcement was coming over the speakers. He asked us if we were going to the airport, and explained what had happened. He told us to follow him, and of course we did (I mean, what else were we going to do??)! We went through a few different local trains, through a few stations, and finally, out of Japanese money, got on the final train to the airport. This man even bought our tickets!! He took us to the counter, explained our situation to the ticketing agent who then re-booked us onto new flights since ours had already left. This was all some kind of divine miracle. The man explained to us that while he was in America he had met some very kind Americans who helped him greatly, and he was happy to return the favor in this way. From that day, we vowed we would then repay the favor to Japan!
This is how Yua came into our lives. It was August, and a girl I worked with was looking for host families--very last minute- for the new school year. We volunteered to host a student from Japan, of course! Our wonderful, almost, 17 year-old flew in for a whole school year with us! We were not yet the perfect parents, but it was a remarkable time! I got to glimpse into what it was like to worry about someone else as if they were my own! When she was late coming home, I panicked! I tried to be miss cool, but you know, I saw my father in my parenting skills!! Luckily, she forgave me for those things and we have maintained a relationship.
One thing I knew in my life with certainty was that I wanted to live abroad for some time. I didn't know when I would find that time, but here we are in 2014, and I am finally going to graduate from college. Noah is about to enter kindergarten, and Seth and Sydney are still wee little ones. We literally have no commitment here to keep us "tied." We are restless, and as it turns out- the school that Yua's parents own in Japan is in need of some native English speaking teachers!! Not only do we have jobs-- her school offers an international education for all three of our babes! They also have an apartment for us to live in!
Honestly, we could not ask for a better opportunity. We can not wait to be walking to work with our children everyday. We plan on seizing the weekends to travel Japan, and show the beautiful country to our children (and hopefully and friends and family that visit!). Yes, we will be out of our element a little bit, but we look forward to adapting to the things we are not used to. While the priority I have for my life and my childrens' lives is not "the usual," I feel like I am getting to opportunity to follow a long hoped for dream. I do plan on completing a masters degree while there so I can keep on pursuing my other dreams, but I do believe the Japan will be a very inspiring place to pursue that. So please, follow our blog and keep up with our adventures! We will have open doors for any visitor because I believe travel is one of the best things for a soul! I also hope this blog will encourage you that if you have a crazy idea, don't be scared to go for it. If you can dream it, you can do it.
Love, Angela
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