Raw Life Is The Shit.

I'd like to share my story with you.

It’s kinda hard moving to a new country – to a strange, distant place where you are supposed to live out the next part of your life.

When I arrived in this city I couldn't understand any of the signs, the speech, or the way of life – absolutely nothing. I arrived in my empty dorm room and I was tired, hungry, and dirty after my two-day travel here. I wanted to take a shower but I didn't have a towel. I went outside and it was pitch dark and even more dark inside my head. I decided to follow the lights and walked to the east. I found a huge local supermarket where everything was wrapped inside a package that I couldn't read. It took me a long time to just find something edible. I couldn't even find a towel. I headed back my dorm thinking, “I can't do this, I want to go back home…”

On my way back I passed a strange-looking place right next to the supermarket. "Is it a someone's home, a bar, or a coffeehouse?", I thought. It was dark outside so I could see the inside through the big picture windows. There was a weird looking guy behind the counter wearing a cap and bib-and-brace overalls, and he was talking to his friends. Everyone was smiling and it looked warm inside. The place was called “Raw Life”.

The next day I was even more fucked up with all the papers and things I was supposed to take care of. I had never felt that lonely before so I decided to go back to that place where I saw some warmth and the only smiles I’d seen so far. I walked inside this old house, filled with plants and other weird stuff. The same hobo-looking guy greeted me and I felt welcomed. He asked me where I was from and if I snowboard, then he handed me a hand written note with his email, phone number, and some text saying: "Let's Go To The Mountain!". That was the first time I felt that this is gonna be a wonderful year; there are some great people here afterall. I still have that piece of paper to this day.

It is strange how some people are born with the power to make friends and unite people. S.Y. is definitely one of those people. I came from the opposite side of the world but he welcomed me at the very first moment we met and introduced me to all of his friends. We went snowboarding, travelled around Hokkaido, and met all sorts of people who share the same joys in life. I became part of the Raw Life community.

In that community, every day was an adventure: we had a party in the lobby of the airport; we cut the cook’s hair and had a snowball fight inside the bar; we crashed our borrowed car and got stuck in a snowstorm; we spent a night at a love ho- I mean on a floor with 20 other people – we had to escape the staff of the hotel and I'm not even gonna say why; we snowboarded with the military and got lost in the woods.. But the best thing is that we still have all the time in the world ahead of us.

Without you I would not have experienced Japan to its fullest. This is home.

Thank you so much. ありがとうございます. Kiitos!

まだ見ぬ世界を指す羅針盤

-Aki

Raw Life, 26.2.2012 8:50 AM