Approaching The Fourth Quarter

I’m fast approaching the one-year anniversary of my move from Singapore to Tokyo. If this were a business, I’d be in the fourth quarter of the first year of the plan, or something. I don’t really know; life is not like a business. As Nicholas Nassim Taleb says,

“There exist the kind of people for whom life is a kind of project. After talking to them, you stop feeling good for a few hours; life starts tasting like food cooked without salt.”

It’s been a really fascinating, deeply challenging transition, replete with randomness and surprises. I now know enough Japanese to be able to read basic menu items, do my grocery shopping and even carry on very basic, inane conversations about the weather. But, I’m constantly surprised by what I don’t know, not just about the language, but about the culture around me.

Earlier this year I was able to finally get my Tokyo studio up and working, almost a year to the day since I finished setting up my Singapore studio. After a big round of travel earlier in the year, I’m now settled into a steady routine of work in the studio, punctuated by walks and rides to enjoy amazing Spring weather.

In many ways, my feelings about being in Tokyo parallel my experience moving to London. I like this place. I like the climate and seasons. I like the feeling of being in an urban neighbourhood again, a small oasis of walkable calm in a giant, seething metropolis.

Recently I’ve been re-reading something I wrote about how the second year in a place defines your experience of it. I’m keely looking forward to what my second year in Tokyo has in store, while enjoying the rhythm of life as it is unfolding right now.