A Story From Japan That I Never Told My Parents
Living abroad places a huge stress on your loved ones afar. Even though my parents were always 100% supportive of me wanting to live in Japan, I know that they often worried about me living far from home all alone. It helps a lot that Japan is a relatively safe country. The crime rate is much lower than Australia, and the people are generally kind and helpful. But of course, I faced hardships there, just as I would have if I were living in Australia. There were a few times that I chose not to tell my parents the whole story. At the time, I didn’t want to burden them with more worry than was necessary. Now that I am home, I suddenly find myself wanting to share some of these stories. This first story is one that I have only told one person. No one else knows. There’s no leaving the best for last around these partsーstraight into the deep end. That time I ended up at a hospital after calling an ambulance for myself. I have a mental list of the times that I felt most scared while I was liv