Hello friends.

Dogentricks.com here, sitting in an internet cafe 5 minutes from my house because school is over and I have no internetNICE. Today I’d like to tell you about earth and it’s relative size. It’s actually quite a small world after all.

I went to Tokyo Disney Land last week with my wonderful girlfriend and had an absolute blast. We were there from the minute the gate opened in the morning until they kicked us out at 10:00. Rode more than a dozen rides, was blown away by a handful of incredible shows, and even had the time to relax in The Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.

Nice.

First impressions in being in Disney Land for the first time in nearly a decade. “LOL.” Why you ask, why would you laugh!? In Japan, as soon as the gates open at 8:00, a FLOOD of people rushes into the park looking to save a spot on their favorite ride. Now, when I say rush into the park, I mean it. Thousands of people – kids, middle aged salary men, young couples, all literally sprinting into the park at the same time, all anxious to experience the magic. So while I’m expecting to slowly soak up Disney Land, I suddenly find myself in the front seat of Splash mountain – at 8:05 AM. Quite different than the California experience, but very fun nonetheless.

So I’m walking through candy land with my girlfriend when she says, “You know, a lot of people don’t really like Disney Land. They say that it’s too commercialized.” And as I was watching the various shows throughout the day it seemed more and more like Disney was bloating itself. With lyrics such as “Mickey Mouse – the world’s best friend,” and “Miney, Miney, Miney, Miney, Miney…Miney” Granted the shows were all spectacular, I just couldn’t help but think to myself, “I wish there was more of a message – I wish the kid sitting next to me was hearing something rather than just the names of various Disney Characters.” At which point we lined up for “It’s a Small World After All.”

When I was a Child, Small World was always my least favorite ride. Not only was it the slowest ride in Disney Land, but it was also the…slowest…ride…in Disney Land. I stepped onto the boat with Risa and 10 months of experience living in a foreign country, completely unprepared for the beauty I was about to experience.

Ditch the commercialism, forget the boasting, soak up the love. “It’s a small world after all.” Hundreds of children from all over the world, all singing in unison. “It’s a small world after all.” Nothing but smiles, nothing but peace. I nearly started to cry as I finally realized the absolute joy and purity of the attraction that used to bore me to tears. Upon further research, I learned that Walt Disney created Small World at the request of President Eisenhower to promote worldwide peace. It’s my humble opinion, but I think he did a damn good job.

I’ll be leaving Japan in exactly one week. Yes, that’s correct. I have 7 days left in the land of the rising sun. I’ve had more out of this world experiences in 10 months than I ever dreamed possible and still have a couple blogs up my sleeve, but I’d like to write a pre-emptive conclusion to the most powerful year of my life.

A few days before going to Disney Land I went to a concert where a band called 大和 (Yamato) stole my heart. The main singer was a small, soft spoken man, but had the presence of a lion. He looked over the audience and made eye contact with me, letting out a slight smile. He then looked across the stage at Disco Volante, the band from Sweden about to play. He turned to the audience once more and gave a brief monologue that I’ll never forget.

Translated:
There is only one sky above us. Today we have people from all over the world gathered in this small, underground live house, but there is only one sky above us. Today we have Disco Volante, who came all the way from Sweden to play for us. Let us show our gratitude with a smile that can be seen all the way to Europe. There is only one sky above us. Today there are fans from all over the world gathered in this audience. And though we may be separated by distance, and though our faces may be different, our smile is the same, and there is only one clear sky above us.

And then he began to sing this.

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People are nice. No matter where you go, no matter who you meet, you’ll find that everybody has one thing in common – everyone wants to smile, everyone wants to laugh and just enjoy themselves. Over time the way people communicate and the means by which people divide themselves has become acute, but the dream of everyone on this planet remains the same – a smile. It isn’t money, it isn’t fame, it isn’t a new car. It’s a smile. It’s something can do at any time, and when you do it spreads to those around you.

To the readers of this site – today you have homework. Today you’re going to go out and make someone smile. Give someone you don’t know a genuine compliment from your heart. Be it their style, their haircut, or their posture, find something you like and let that person know. I guarantee it’ll make them smile, and I guarantee that you will feel absolutely fantastic knowing that you’ve made someone’s day just a little bit better. Share your results in the forum, I’m anxious to read : )

Train hard.

I got a lot of things to tell you guys about. STAY TUNED.

Here is a full translation of the blog below:

Homesick

10 months have passed since I came to Japan. In that period, I never once was homesick. But, in the past few weeks, I have become extremely anxious to return to the States.

If you ask why, it’s because my lifestyle is different. Of course I love studying Japanese, I have a great group of wonderful friends, and my girlfriend is perfect. Moreover, I’m not troubled towards money and am basically free to do the things I want. So, why is it that I suddenly became so homesick?

It is because my lifestyle is different. To be more specific, I’m dying to train. Before coming to Japan, for a period of 4 years i thought of one thing and one thing only – Tricking. Everyday I woke up thinking about tricking. All throughout class I thought about tricking. And I trained my ass off everyday, training and tricking every free minute I had. I religiously followed an absurdly strict diet. That was my lifestyle and I loved it. I felt strong, I felt like the things I did carried meaning, and I felt like everyday I was become a little bit better as a person. The thing that made me happiest is that I inspired those around me to exercise and could see the change in not only myself, but others as well. I pushed myself to ridiculously heights, so much that I couldn’t move my body. I can easily say that I worked much harder than I do now, and that I loved it.

But, that can’t be helped. Before coming to Japan I decided that I was going to spend my time in Japan studying Japanese. Coming all the way to Japan and spending my free time tricking instead of practicing Japanese with my friends is not only a waste of a once in a lifetime opportunity, but a waste of money as well. Furthermore, I had a ton of injuries when I first came to Japan and doubt that I could have tricked well anyway. So, I worked my ass off and studied Japanese for 10 months.

Studying was pretty rough at first. More than rough I would say it just wasn’t too much fun. Of course I had come to Japan, but I had very few Japanese friends and thus very few chances to actively practice Japanese. When speaking with my dorm friends I’d switch into Japanese to save the atmosphere and only speak with my girlfriend in Japanese out of nervousness. This left me with one way to study – watching dramas. Though I came all the way to Japan, I ended up sitting in my room in front of my computer and repeated what I heard in Orange Days.

But because it’s Japan, even that was fun. I often went on dates with my girlfriend, and hung out with my dorms friends, exploring the unseen corners of Tokyo. I never really felt like I was good at Japanese, but I continued to study while having fun. Then I went to Osaka and hung out with a ton of people that could speak no English, and finally found confidence in my speaking abilities. I can back to Tokyo and started a completely different lifestyle.

A new quarter at school started and I made a ton of great Japanese friends. I became close with the fans of my favorite band and went to a ton of incredible shows. I spoke more and more Japanese every time that i met my girlfriend. Lastly, I moved into a home of Japanese people who can’t speak English. In my current lifestyle, I hardly ever use English. I’ve become much better at Japanese that I had previously predicted and am satisfied with my progress as an exchange student. Of course I want to become much more fluent, but I never thought I’d be able to write a blog like this in Japanese before coming to Japan.

Huh? Tricking..? The light inside of me that is tricking slowly faded and faded as I become more used to Japan and Japanese. I never thought I’d be able to forget, even momentarily about tricking, the thing that literally made me a new person. Honestly, it makes my chest hurt to think about. I noticed my declining passion two weeks ago while I was walking home from work. Akaiyami by THE BACK HORN came on my iPod – for the first time since coming to Japan.

Roughly one year ago, every morning I rode my bike to gym in Seattle’s light rain. The trip takes about 10 minutes, and during that I time I always listened to THE BACK HORN’s Akaiyami. 2 weeks ago that song came on my iPod and a carpet of goosebumps covered my arms as I suddenly remembered the fierce passion that I pulsed in me every second, everyday. I looked down at the ice cream I was holding by my thinned arm and nearly started to cry. “”What’s happened to me?”" I thought to myself. “”This is not the person I want to be, this is not Dogen.”" I know that if I could see myself now through the eyes of myself one year ago, I would be very, very disappointed. From that moment, I went tricking.

As I imagined, my body had become very weak and I couldn’t trick very well. Nonetheless, it was the best I felt in months. I honestly think if the only thing I ever did was train and trick I’d be more than happy for the rest of my life. “This is IT!” I thought to myself. “This is what it means to LIVE, to MOVE, to BREATH!” and since that day, the old fire that used to glow inside me has once again been ignited in a passionate glow.

Unfortunately, I need to wait until I go home before I really start my training. I’ve got finals all this week, no money, more Akiakane shows I want to go to, more people I want to meet, chilling out with my girlfriend, and a bunch of personal things I need to take care of before I go home. Joining a gym with 3 weeks to go would be foolish, to say the least.

But, I want to trick.

For the time being, I’ll poke around at that fire. Once I get home I’ll light my lifestyle back into a blazing flame and train my heart out. This time around, I’m not letting it go out.

日本に来てから１０ヶ月が経った。その間一回もホームシックになってない。ところが、二週間前から非常にホームシックになったのだ。

何故かというと、生活が違うからだ。もちろん、日本語の勉強が大好きだし、立派な友達も多いし、彼女も完璧だ。それに、お金に対して困っていないし、好きなことが自由に出来る。だから、なんでホームシックになっているのだろうか。

生活が違うからだ。具体的なことをいうと、トレーニングしたいからだ。日本に来る前に、４年の間、毎日一つの事しか考えていない。そのことはもちろん、トリッキングだった。毎日起きたらトリッキングを考えていた。授業中、ずっとトリッキングを考えていた。実際に、毎日トレーニングをやったりトリッキングしたりしていた。おかしいほど厳しいスポーツダイエットを夢中でやっていた。それは僕の生活だった。そして僕はその生活が大好きだった。自分は強いと感じていたし、自分がやっていることは意味があると強く感じていたし、毎日少しずつ、昨日よりいい人になったような気がしていた。それに、一番嬉しくて、回りの人をやる気にさせていた。毎日頑張っていた。自分の体が動けないほど頑張っていた。簡単に言える、今の生活より頑張っていて、好きだった。

ま、それは仕方がない。日本に来る前に、「日本にいる間、トレーニングより日本語を練習した方が大切だ。」と決めたのだ。当たり前ことだ。せっかく日本に来て、日本語を勉強するよりトリッキングをしてしまうのは確かにもったないことだ。しかも来た時怪我いっぱいあって、トリッキングをしようとしても、あまり出来なかったのだろうか。だから頑張って、１０ヶ月勉強していtた。

最初は日本語あまりわからなかったので、結構大変だった。大変というか、勉強はあまり楽しくなかった。もちろん日本に来たけど、日本人の友達はあまりいなかったので、実際に日本語を喋るチャンスは意外と少なかった。寮の人たちは皆英語で話しちゃったし、彼女と出かけていた時、緊張でほとんど英語しか使っていない。勉強方法は一つしかなかったのだった。ドラマを見て、真似していた。せっかく日本に来たのに、自分の部屋に閉じこもって、パソコンの前に座ったまま勉強していた。

でも日本だから、それでも楽しかった。デートしたり、寮の友達と出かけたりしていたのはとても楽しかった。あまり日本語が上手なような気がしなかったけど、楽しみながら、勉強続けていた。Ӗ
1;れから大阪に行って、英語が出来なくて、知らない人ばかりと遊んでいて、やっと日本語の自信を持てるようになった。東京に戻ったら生活がだいぶ変わったのだ。

新しい学期が始まって、友達がいっぱい出来た。昔から大好きなSOFTBALLのファンと友達になったし、ライブに何回も行った。彼女と会うたびに日本語をもっと使えるようになった。そしてもちろん寮を出て、ホームステイをすることにしている。今の生活はだいたい日本語だけ使っている。前よりだいぶ上手になってきて、日本語力に満足している。もちろんもっと上手になりたいけれど、日本に来る前このような作文を書けるようになると思わなかった。話すことも、前と全く違う。

あれ？トリッキングは？僕の中にあるトリッキングの光は日本や日本語に慣れれば慣れるほど、少しずつ暗くなってしまった。まさかトリッキング、僕を新しくされたことが忘れられると思わなかった。正直、考えると胸が苦しくなる。気が付いたのは二週間前だった。道を歩きながら突然iPodにTHE BACK HORNのアカいヤミという曲が流れていて、日本に来てから初めて聞いた。

約一年前は、毎朝日が昇る前にシアトルの雨の中、僕は自転車でジムに通っていた。ジムに行くのは十分ぐらいかかった。その間、僕はいつもアカいヤミとInner Lightという曲を聞いていた。二週間前に、アカいヤミを聞いた時、急に前の情熱が蘇って、持っているでっかいアイスと痩せている手を見て、泣きそうになったのだ。「何やってんだろう俺」と苦しく自分に聞いていた。「俺いったいどんな人間になったんだ。道元じゃないこの人間なんて。」一年前の僕はもし今の僕を見たら、非常にがっかりする、きっと。そのままトリッキングをしに行った。

予想通りに体が弱くて、トリッキングが上手く出来なかった。それなのに、前と同じようにトリッキングをして、幸せになった。溜まったストレスが完全に発散していて、その二時間の間、「よっしゃ！これだ！これは生きているということだ！」と思っていた。それで、あの日から僕の中にあるトリッキングの光はもう一回炎になった。

残念ながら、帰るまで我慢しなければならない。秋茜のライブも期末試験も仕事も家族も友達も彼女も遊ぶこともやりたいことも山ほどいっぱいある。そして今から２７日しか残ってない。ジムに入ることなんて、意味がない。

だが、トレーニングしたい。

とりあえず、トリッキングの火をかき立てる。帰ったら、また生活に火を付ける。今度は、ずっと消さない。