first things first

When I studied abroad in college 5 years ago, I felt painfully aware of the stereotypes of an American girl living in Italy. I balked at the idea of selfies with The Duomo, or posting any photo with the caption “La vita e bella.” And while this happened before I had a smart phone, let alone an Instagram account, I kept track of my life there through a lens. I had been gifted a decent camera by my father prior to the trip, and took it upon myself to start a photo journal of sorts (thanks tumblr) during my time in Florence, and travels throughout Europe. This was before the feeds became saturated, and the views expected. Places I traveled to often felt like a surprise vs something I had scrolled past, and I wasn’t shooting just because I had somewhere to post. I took photos, before I really knew how, simply for myself.

At the time I did not feel I had any authority to speak to the experience, nor did I believe anyone cared to hear from yet another 20-something’s exclamations about life overseas. Truth be told, I still don’t believe that. Rather, now I am the one who doesn’t care. I shied away from the idea of writing a ~*blog*~ back then (does the internet REALLY need another one of those?) and even now I have to admit the idea feels trite. But, I will do my best not to be. Consider it a promise: I will try not to be all the things that I hate (at least, as far as blog writing is concerned, no promises otherwise.)

While I am more than happy to answer any specific questions, the details of how I came to live in Japan are unimportant. The road here can be distilled down to this: I applied to teach English as an ALT on a whim, and said I would see it through as far as it went. Seeing as this is as far as it went, I am seeing it through. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.

Ok, let’s begin.

Canal City Mall | Hakata Neighborhood, Fukuoka

Alleyways | Hakata Neighborhood, Fukuoka

A / BROAD