The Greatest Lesson That I Have Learned From Living in Japan.

Living abroad has taught me a lot of valuable life lessons. Living in a completely different environment, you discover new perspectives. You learn to communicate via gestures and like foods that you never dreamed you would; such as tomatoes. You realise that people are inherently the same yet fascinatingly different, and what’s seen as “normal” is relative to the time, the place, and the company.

These are all important lessons.

While learning to enjoy eating tomatoes was a tough hurdle to overcome, by far the hardest truth to swallow was that sometimes we have to say goodbye.

This is not necessarily a life lesson that can only be learned through living abroad, however, in my experience the number of goodbyes that you have to say is exponentially higher when living abroad. The expat community tends to be nomadic, coming and going quickly. Just when you feel like you are getting close to someone, they announce that they are moving on to the next exciting destination. Or, like this month, the time comes when you are the one packing your bags.

Knowing that there is a goodbye in the near future can sometimes make you want to become a hermitーyou won’t have to say goodbye if you never meet anyone in the first place, right? But knowing that time is limited can also be a good thing. It can encourage you enjoy your time more.

One Japanese word that reflects this sentimentーmy favourite Japanese wordーis 一期一会 (read ichi-go ichi-e). The literal meaning of this word is ‘one lifetime, one meeting’. More specifically, it means that each encounter only happens once in a lifetime. Even with the same group of people in the same place, the moment will never be the same. It is for this reason that we should cherish each and every moment that we have.

First known usage of this word was in writings about chanoyu, Japanese tea ceremony. The writings explain that the host of tea ceremony should always keep in mind while serving that each ceremony is a once in a lifetime occurrence. It is an integral part of many aspects of Japanese life and culture.

This word has resonated with me again and again throughout my time in Japan. I first learned it while teaching in Miyazaki. It was the school slogan for that year at one of the junior high schools where I worked. As I attended my first graduation ceremony to say goodbye to my first ever group of students, I was struck by its relevance to the teaching profession, where every year brings a new group of students. The following year when I said goodbye to some of my best friends, the ones who had arrived in Miyazaki at the same time as me and with whom I had done everything together up until that point, I realised the depth of its significance not only to my life, but to life in general.

As the people around me continue to change, and I myself move on to my next big adventure, I am sure that this word and the important lesson that it teaches will stay with me forever.