I lived in Japan for ten years. I never felt lonely because I like to talk to people. I had some basic Japanese language (3-years at college) and was familiar with other Japanese thought and customs through martial arts.

Martial arts was my first “in” into Japanese society. I was talking to someone who was giving me a ride to a worksite and I mentioned that I wanted to study more martial arts. She was the daughter of the head of the association for that prefecture. Soon after, she made me an offer on taking a chance on studying martial arts by going to a dojo and “showing my stuff”. I guess I made the cut, because they invited me to practice with a high school team. It was murder until my body reacclimatized to the workouts. Keeping with it earned me a certain amount of respect in a traditional cultural area in Japan.