by Juri Ito
As an ardent travel enthusiast, it’s always been a dream of mine to experience as many different locations in the world as possible. I love my country and all, but I think a lot about how much more there is to see — medieval architecture, ornamental flower gardens, coastal beaches that are fifty shades of blue. It had been a while since I have been anywhere further than a five-hour flight away, so although people kept asking me what in the world could I possibly learn by visiting a country I already lived five years in, I was still excited when I arrived at Narita Airport for my flight to LAX (Note to self: always make sure you have your own passport, and not your mom’s, or else you will end up taking the next flight with a headache from all the scolding).
And yes, this journey was different from any other that I’ve experienced. I was worried because this was a round trip ticket for one and I had never been away from my family for more than a week, but funny enough, it was the strangers and all pockets of weirdness and beauty encountered by myself that made this trip so special.
I was lucky to meet people from so many different backgrounds who were kind enough to share their keepsakes with me. Thanks to them, not only did I have great company, but they also lead me to discover some unexpected hearts of places and people. The lovely lady from Ecuador who sat next to me on the plane, rolling her eyes and telling me she cannot stand another hour sitting still and started sharing her opinions on Me Before You while giving life lessons on love; Anais, a blogger from France who just moved to LA, shared her story about moving to find a new lifestyle; Josh, one of my favorite Uber encounters, who explained China/Taiwan/Japan’s relations better than any of my professors and then talked about his film that he produced; the friends I made during this stay who fought their own struggles with sexuality and cried together at how the new Sia video honored the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting; the honey seller at Farmer’s Market who shared her high school stories of when she was bullied because of her race and then kindly let me taste four different honey flavors and also gave me a free bottle.
I’m writing this down because although I can absolutely rhapsodize over how good the Salt & Straw ice cream was and share all the funny stories from the $5 stand-up comedy show we went to, the encounters are what will cement my memories of this stay — and my relationship to it. I will remember these compassionate conversations more vividly than anything else.
It might have been from the comfort that we may never cross paths again, but I appreciated how many were open and honest about who they are as a person and allowing me to do just the same. It’s the 21st century; the speed and frequency of our exchanges makes it easy to lose that whole raw human-connection thing. But I felt that genuine feeling so many times during these two weeks. Daily routines tend to distract you from the important things in life, but a little getaway helped me pick back up all the good things I was dropping just to climb the ladder faster.
“Ichigo-Ichie” means that life is all-too-brief, and each step on our journey, each moment, and each person we meet along the way is sacred. It embodies the essence of interpersonal, heart-with-heart-presence.
I know this is very Eat, Pray, Love, but these two weeks in LA reminded me that, to me, there is nothing more valuable than human connection. Every single person I adore or find to be successful, all care about their family, friends, even strangers wholeheartedly, and I look up to all that they give, and their good intentions. I hope to be that person.
Juri Ito
Hi, my name is Juri! I’m a writer at School of Doodle and I love getting to know all the fabulous & creative people in…medium.com
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