That Which Blossoms from a Queezy Stomach

The only reason I'm a writing right now is because I can't sleep due to an upset stomach (mostly likely brought on by the soda and bag of chips I ate).

That being said. While lying in bed, resting with this nuisance, a thought crossed my mind. I realized that I was at peace. I realized that nothing over the past month has surprised me about Japan. There has been no culture shock, or reverse culture shock for that matter. Every day seems to flow with a purpose that I have yet to grasp. I feel at peace. I feel at home.

Honestly, I'm here on a business trip, in a city I know nothing about, in a prefecture I know just as little about, in an area of Japan I only know a small amount about, yet my biggest concern is an upset stomach. I'm not worried, as I have been in the past, about women or life. I still have a general distaste for human beings of course, but I think that my here in Japan has made me a little more forgiving. Maybe.

While in the US, everyday felt like a struggle with loneliness and an unquenchable thirst for purpose, yet in Japan I relax and let loose. I find little to be worried about, and far less to panic about.

It just seems that while I'm here in this country, nothing and no one can touch me or harm me in any way.

The views I have from my hotel are awe inspiring. There is an entire town before me. Surrounding by row upon row of ever rising mountains, each portraying a different hew of blue as they vanish into the distance. Yet these mountains do no even come close to looking like those found within the US. Soft and gentle, their slopes covered in trees, these mountains courteously rise into the clouds as if asking for permission to enter the heavens. Much to the contrary of the jagged and aggressive peaks found in the US, especially in the west.

To put me even more at peace is the thought that in only a few days I will be at an onsen in the mountains. And to make this thought even better is the promise of snow in the coming months and the beautiful scenery I will be provided as I relax in new onsens shrouded in the mountains which encircle my little piece of heaven known as Akita-shi.