Day 43: The passing storm
Typhoon Hagibis passed through Japan causing significant damage to the southeastern coast, and sadly caused many fatalities.
For me, I was lucky to be on the edge of the massive storm. I look back now and realize how fortunate I was to be drawn into staying longer in Kyoto that I had originally planned.
The initial idea was to spend one week in Kyoto, then live on the road as I moved towards Tokyo, making only short stops along the way. However I fatefully decided to stay longer with my friends Noeli and Maca at the Hanakanzashi hostel, and in doing so unknowingly took myself out of the path of serious harm.
Were I to have kept walking on the original schedule, I would have been two weeks further ahead, and dead center for the typhoon making landfall on the southern coast of Japan, at the mercy of an incredibly massive, powerful and indifferent storm.
As it stood however I instead found myself staying north of Nagoya with an American Expat named Mandy, talking about life in Japan, the struggles of being and expat (which my last 10 years abroad gave me many ways to relate to her struggles here in Japan), my lifestyle as a polyamourous person, my adventure so far, our backgrounds and histories, and everything else we could think of while being heavily rained on for a day or two, surrounded by plenty of snacks and bottled of water I filled up... just in case.
The worst thing that happened to me during Typhoon Hagibis is that I caught a nasty head cold on my way to Nagoya and have been an exhausted lump for the last few days. Thankfully Mandy has a nice couch and a TV with a Nintendo switch, so I have spent a few days watching YouTube and trying not to be a gross blob of head cold for my host.
I couldn't have been luckier to cross paths with Mandy, and I am extremely grateful that she opened her home to me for a few days. We have shared a lot of laughs, old stories and thoughts about the future.
She has been kind to me, and told me stories of her childhood that were candid and helped give me perspective on my own experiences as a child. Like me, Mandy is a big videogame geek, and stories she shared from her childhood about her complex relationship with gaming and her family were extremely touching.
I have always valued games for their ability to inspire and transport people's imaginations, and part of what I love so much about my career is my chance to contribute to this seemingly magical potential that videogames have.
Part of my time here in Japan is to disconnect from my career and truly consider if it is something I value enough to continue with. After my last project left me in ruins, questioning my creativity, skills, and value, while struggling to recover from the very real toll the project took on my physical health and mental well-being, I didn't know if I wanted to go back to that again.
Listening to Mandy tell me about what games have brought to her life, and sharing gaming stories of my own, it reminds me that the true value of my career can be hard to keep in focus when it takes years of your life to complete a single game; the happiness they create for millions of people, or sometimes a crucial refuge they can create for even just one person in a hard part of their life.
...
When Mandy and I first met she took me to a place in Nagoya called "Super Potato", which is significantly cooler than the name might lead you to belive.
The place was a treasure trove of videogames in all forms, from all eras, with literal stacks of hardware, games, accessories and swag in the tightly packed isles.
When we visited Super Potato, Mandy was largely unaware of my background and career as a game designer. So I was delighted to have her choose to take me here as it wasn't a pandering to me, but clearly somewhere she really loved and wanted me to see while I was here.
This simple visit to an overflowing game store hidden away in Nagoya helped build a very easy bridge between the two of us, and we bonded over our shared loved of games, enabling her to feel comfortable with me and share pearls of wisdom in the days to come as we weathered the storm.
My trip continues to surprise me at every turn, and I'm glad for each of these new and personally very constructive encounters.
In a few days I will hopefully be back up to 100% and have shaken off this cold, which would be nice, as I will need to be on the road towards Hamamatsu. I've become accustomed to the long walking days, but I don't doubt that they would be miserable if burdened with a pesky cold hindering my ability to breath.
As I move forward it remains to be seen how the impacts from the storm will alter my route. I have seen news reports of bridged and roadways damaged and destroyed. If nothing else it will be a sobering reminder of how lucky I have been so often in my life.
But while the storm may have forced me to stop and hide from the rain, that pause has introduced me to a new friend who helped me better understand the value of my work and why I myself decided to chase those career in the first place.
For me, I was lucky to be on the edge of the massive storm. I look back now and realize how fortunate I was to be drawn into staying longer in Kyoto that I had originally planned.
The initial idea was to spend one week in Kyoto, then live on the road as I moved towards Tokyo, making only short stops along the way. However I fatefully decided to stay longer with my friends Noeli and Maca at the Hanakanzashi hostel, and in doing so unknowingly took myself out of the path of serious harm.
Were I to have kept walking on the original schedule, I would have been two weeks further ahead, and dead center for the typhoon making landfall on the southern coast of Japan, at the mercy of an incredibly massive, powerful and indifferent storm.
As it stood however I instead found myself staying north of Nagoya with an American Expat named Mandy, talking about life in Japan, the struggles of being and expat (which my last 10 years abroad gave me many ways to relate to her struggles here in Japan), my lifestyle as a polyamourous person, my adventure so far, our backgrounds and histories, and everything else we could think of while being heavily rained on for a day or two, surrounded by plenty of snacks and bottled of water I filled up... just in case.
The worst thing that happened to me during Typhoon Hagibis is that I caught a nasty head cold on my way to Nagoya and have been an exhausted lump for the last few days. Thankfully Mandy has a nice couch and a TV with a Nintendo switch, so I have spent a few days watching YouTube and trying not to be a gross blob of head cold for my host.
I couldn't have been luckier to cross paths with Mandy, and I am extremely grateful that she opened her home to me for a few days. We have shared a lot of laughs, old stories and thoughts about the future.
She has been kind to me, and told me stories of her childhood that were candid and helped give me perspective on my own experiences as a child. Like me, Mandy is a big videogame geek, and stories she shared from her childhood about her complex relationship with gaming and her family were extremely touching.
I have always valued games for their ability to inspire and transport people's imaginations, and part of what I love so much about my career is my chance to contribute to this seemingly magical potential that videogames have.
Part of my time here in Japan is to disconnect from my career and truly consider if it is something I value enough to continue with. After my last project left me in ruins, questioning my creativity, skills, and value, while struggling to recover from the very real toll the project took on my physical health and mental well-being, I didn't know if I wanted to go back to that again.
Listening to Mandy tell me about what games have brought to her life, and sharing gaming stories of my own, it reminds me that the true value of my career can be hard to keep in focus when it takes years of your life to complete a single game; the happiness they create for millions of people, or sometimes a crucial refuge they can create for even just one person in a hard part of their life.
...
When Mandy and I first met she took me to a place in Nagoya called "Super Potato", which is significantly cooler than the name might lead you to belive.
The place was a treasure trove of videogames in all forms, from all eras, with literal stacks of hardware, games, accessories and swag in the tightly packed isles.
When we visited Super Potato, Mandy was largely unaware of my background and career as a game designer. So I was delighted to have her choose to take me here as it wasn't a pandering to me, but clearly somewhere she really loved and wanted me to see while I was here.
This simple visit to an overflowing game store hidden away in Nagoya helped build a very easy bridge between the two of us, and we bonded over our shared loved of games, enabling her to feel comfortable with me and share pearls of wisdom in the days to come as we weathered the storm.
My trip continues to surprise me at every turn, and I'm glad for each of these new and personally very constructive encounters.
In a few days I will hopefully be back up to 100% and have shaken off this cold, which would be nice, as I will need to be on the road towards Hamamatsu. I've become accustomed to the long walking days, but I don't doubt that they would be miserable if burdened with a pesky cold hindering my ability to breath.
As I move forward it remains to be seen how the impacts from the storm will alter my route. I have seen news reports of bridged and roadways damaged and destroyed. If nothing else it will be a sobering reminder of how lucky I have been so often in my life.
But while the storm may have forced me to stop and hide from the rain, that pause has introduced me to a new friend who helped me better understand the value of my work and why I myself decided to chase those career in the first place.
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