Lightening Your Load

Hello all, and thank you again for following another BIG in Japan posting.  Today’s posting has nothing to do with luggage, but rather that extra “baggage” that you inevitably take with you when you’ve had a full day’s orientation or travel the day before, you have to be at the airport by 3 a.m. and thus have had no sleep for 24 hours, and you and everyone with you has nerves as raw as a sashimi special.   In what ways can you deal with extreme stress and fatigue that are effective in not only alleviating your condition but helping those around you?

1.  Bring your sense of humor and don’t check it in with your luggage at the lengthy counter line.  So, funny story time--I was so tired this morning that I ended up literally beating myself up: bending back a nail, tripping over myself, biting my tongue by accident and on top of all this, an attendant directed part of our group towards a downstairs TSA terminal only to be told (when we got to the bottom of the stairs) that it was closed and we had to go all the way back.  At this point the line was MASSIVE.  After going to the back of the line, we got called out again to go to another terminal… which turned out to be the same one!  However it was open this time.  As the same lady who had turned us away initially gave us an embarrassed look I jovially called “Well, it’s great to see you again!,” to which my laughing friends asked how I could be so nice about all this.  After a slightly harrowing TSA experience with my very “dangerously questionable” wrist splints for carpal tunnel, we finally boarded our plane.  This is it—I’m gonna sleep the whole 5-1/2 hours!  Yep… Except that the very nice young man next to me really was ecstatic about watching our flight through his window, and it also so happened that the poor 5-year-old tyke behind me had problems with his ears popping and screamed at the top of his lungs until he was practically gargling the entire trip.  At this point, I couldn’t help myself I let out a big laugh, just amazed at the irony and the ease of my carefully laid plans falling through at every turn of this trip.  The guy next to me started laughing too and somehow the mood, through the screaming was lightened.  We shrugged our shoulders and said that’s life let’s all have some coffee and chit chat instead—rather loudly.  Remember that believe it or not, these are some of the things you’ll remember about your trip, but they don’t have to be negative and sometimes having a good sense of humor and be willing to adapt not only helps you ease your frustration but encourages others to as well.
2.  Hold onto your compassion like you would your passport.  Everyone around you is just as tired and cramped and cranky.  And, even though the screaming child may be keeping your from much needed beauty sleep, just think how embarrassed and panicked the poor mother feels as she does the best she can to quell his fear and pain and don’t assume she’s not trying her best.  Since I myself have had to take two small toddlers on a plane before, I offered assistance and even though nothing we tried seemed to alleviate his suffering, indeed I could see the relief in mom’s face from this small gesture.  We ended up being quite good friends once her son finally feel asleep from exhaustion and probably vocal cord paralysis.
3.  Be adaptable.  As odd as it sounds, it does seem to be very difficult to keep a set schedule on a trip other than your flight times, and as mine did, sometimes plans just fall through and you’ll just have to stay up for another five hours.  Eat lots to help keep you going!  Besides, your flight to Japan will take another 11 hours at least, there’ll be plenty of naps to be had on that one.  Too loud?  Try meditation-believe me this is an excellent practice opportunity!  Too bright?  Well, you have your sunglasses right?
4.  Take healthy risks.  What I mean by this is gathering up the courage to talk to that neighbor next to you and meeting another new interesting perspective on the world.  Or, just asking your Japanese only speaking neighbor if you can ad hoc with him on your Playstation Vita.  The only way to improve your language skills in a foreign language is by taking this kind of leap of faith or falter—whatever happens you still win because eventually the more your break out of your shell, the easier it will become.  And, for those not on the program, it can be a great way to practice speaking in public for that future job or job interview!

So, somehow, the more I laughed with others, made jokes and admitted my distress, the more others opened up too and alleviated theirs.  It’s really another great opportunity to make friendships with your peers or even just have an interesting conversation with a neighbor-stranger, but I don’t think this needs apply just to traveling either.   I have found that the things that went wrong on my previous trips have actually made them even more memorable, and there are always opportunities that pop up that you may not have encountered otherwise.  Oh, and don’t worry, you’re not the only adult who brought a stuffed toy on the plane.  J

Please join me for my next blog update.  I’ll be officially in Osaka/Kyoto then and plan to provide more in depth information about the structure of the CLS Program.  Thanks everyone!  Ja mata!