One Place in This World

By Michael Gardner ALT, Nagoya, 2000-2002

　The truth is, I never dreamed of going to Japan. I can’t easily say that Japan came to me, but that’s the way I feel about how I ended up there. When I met her in Iowa City, Marilyn Abildskov was writing a book about the years she spent as a 30-year-old woman traveling to, then living, and ultimately loving Japan. She must have been in the thick of her recollections and in that mystical place – between walking in the real world and writing her way out of it – because when I asked her what she thought I should do when I finished my English degree at the University of Iowa, without missing a beat she said, “You should go to Japan. It’s one place in this world where it still matters whether or not you have a good heart.”

My first weekend in Nagoya, I got on a bus with the 15 unfamiliar faces of my extended Japanese host family. We had a karaoke machine, two kegs of beer, and a roasted pig in tow. We were headed for a seaside retreat with the name of a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) as the only plan. I still remember the smell of salt in the air. I can hear the laughter of new friends and the lyrics of unfamiliar Japanese songs. I can still taste the crispness of that first drink. It has been nearly five years since that day and my heart still feels so good and so full.

I knew little of Japan and nothing of Nagoya before I was placed there on the JET Program but I had an open mind and few expectations other than Marilyn’s message. Growing up in the rural Midwest, I’d learned from a young age that life was best lived without expectation. If you have no expectations, then how can you possibly be disappointed, was a rule I lived by – I can’t say it’s the way I life my life now.

And it’s an enduring gift the Japanese gave me in a very short period of time – the ability to understand what Marilyn meant when she said that good hearts and good people count for so much in Japan. Her advice came to me when I wasn’t sure what my future would be. Now I can’t imagine my life – past, present and future – not including Japan in some way. The words of my friend and mentor were a more than adequate guide and served every corner of my experience in the country.