Matsumoto- My Home

I have come to realize that blogging is not a strong point of mine. When I look at my friend James's blog (Jimbo's Japan <---awesome blog, check it out), I realize that he is what a great blogger should be...not me who posts once-in-a-blue moon. Having said that, let me begin with an update from my trip last month.

 Last month I went back to my old hometown of Matsumoto, Japan, for a week of spending time with friends, visiting my favorite old haunts, and participating in the biggest festival of the year Matsumoto Bon Bon.Words cannot describe what a wonderful feeling it was getting off at the bus station and being met by friend Chisato.  Although I had been gone nearly two years to the day, getting off the bus it felt as though I had only been gone for a few weeks.  Time really does seem to fly by when you get older.  I can still remember my first few days in Matsumoto, when my good friend Jesse and I headed there to live and study in 2009. What an exhilarating and exciting time that was. A few businesses might have changed, but for the most part, my town was just as I remembered it.  I had walked those streets and hidden alley's in my mind daily for nearly two years. 


I know that many people prefer large cities like Tokyo or Osaka, but I have always been a big fan of the small towns where nature and people really live together as one.  Matsumoto is surrounded by the Japanese Alps, the clear and beautiful Metoba River flows through the city, and crystal clear, natural wells dot the city, waiting to quench the dry parched throats of walkers and bikers alike I (one of the natural wells in pictured below).  The streets are immaculate and people landscape their homes and gardens so that everywhere you look is a colorful and pleasing to the eyes.  There is just something magical about wandering around a city like that where you never know if you are going to stumble across an old temple or shrine, or maybe even an apple orchard around any given corner.

I spent two nights at my good friend Daniel's house, and it was great being able to hangout together and talk like we used to do when he and I lived just two minutes apart.  He was a wonderful host and I was very thankful that he let me stay at his apartment and helped me get situated.  It was fun walking around the city at night like we used to, shooting the breeze, and talking about what we want to do in the future.  I also had the fortune to meet many of my other friends who still live there, most all of my old professors at Shinshu University, and even my friend Chris from Oklahoma State, who attended Shinshu the year after I did, and who is now working for a company in Tokyo. 

I am also very thankful for the wonderful dinner and conversation at the assistant director of the study abroad program, Sato Sensei's house. He prepared a wonderful dinner (himself) and invited a few of my friends over for an evening of catching up and talking about all that had taken place these past few years.  It was a night that I will not forget.  Sato Sensei goes above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of the students that study at Shinshu, and I am glad that I have gotten to know him better over the years.  We were able to meet at a Shinshu University alumni event held here in Seoul this past weekend.

The most wonderful part of my time in Matsumoto was when my beautiful girlfriend, Soojeong, was finally able to make it there after a few days of me being there without here.  Matsumoto is the place where she and I first met and fell in love.  Being able to visit our old favorite restaurants and take walks together like we used to, was something that made me happy beyond words.  We spent time with our friends, rode bikes around the city, participated in Matsumoto Bon Bon where we danced late into the night, and made many wonderful memories that we will cherish forever. 

 There are many wonderful and beautiful places in the world that I have yet to see, but given the opportunity for a job in Matsumoto, I would choose to live there over anywhere else in the world.