What To Do When You Lost Your Bus Pass or Train Card?

Nice Pass (Hamamatsu's Bus Pass)
New Year, New Bus Card for Me!

I don't know if my bus card was stolen or if I just unknowingly dropped it. 

Last Friday on my way home, I lost my 2-year bus pass. I don't know really know what happened. I swiped it upon entering the bus. I took a nice nap on the bus then when I woke up, I can't find my bus pass. I searched my pockets, delved into my bags, hunted around my seat but my green bus pass was nowhere to be found. I kept looking and looking until the bus arrived at the station. I was the only passenger left, still madly scrambling for my pass. The driver took pity on me and helped me search around the bus. He just then told me to get off and go to the Lost and Found department of the station.

Culture Shock in the Philippines: Fat People, Fat Cheeks and Not-So-Fat Wallets

photo credit: http://thestylesunltd.com/

I was shocked at my own culture.

I know there's really nothing shocking about this. Lots of people living abroad experience being culture-shocked at their own culture. Still, I was shocked at myself for being shocked. Shock! Shock! Shock!

I went to the Philippines for the winter vacation. This is my third time going home after I started living in Japan. I didn't experience culture shock the first two times probably because I went back too soon. It took me 16 months before this third homecoming so maybe that's why I got bewildered.

How did I get culture-shocked? Let me count the ways...

1. People are spilling all over the place

There are about 100 million Filipinos all over the world. I shouldn't be surprised if there are a gazillion of people when I got home but I was. I was overwhelmed by the number of people in the airport, on the streets, at the malls, at the spa, on buses, on trains and on just about everywhere. When I went to a government office earlier this month, there were about 10,000 people gathered in that office. How that office contained us is a mystery.

My place in the Philippines is similar to where I live in Japan. Both are on the edge of bigger cities. They're not as exciting as the big cities but not as sleepy as in the rural areas. But my once quiet hometown is no more. There used to be less children, less people and less dogs in my neighborhood. Now, my neighborhood feels smaller and suffocating with all the people and dogs and even chickens living there. Where did all the people and animals come from? In Hamamatsu, I only see crowds during the Hamamatsu festival and on fireworks Festival. Even with these big festivals, the number of people in Hamamatsu seemed irrelevant compare to the Filipinos flocking the malls daily.

Even when I visited the smaller cities in the provinces, people are still in every corner. The Philippines seem to be bursting at the seams with people. It's ironic why it doesn't feel like this in Japan. Japan has 120 million people but they must be hiding in their houses and offices.

My Kakizome for 2015

There's a Japanese word for the first writing of the year. It's called kakizome. People used to write traditional proverbs or short poems related to peace, love, happiness, prosperity, youth or whatever the calligrapher wants to have in the new year. Modern kakizome just used kanji characters.

(More on kakizome here)

Now, I can't write kanji. I can't do calligraphy. So obviously, I can't do kakizome. I'll just use this first post of the year as my very own and personalized kakizome. 

Here's my kakizome for 2015: 

photo credit: travelingscarf.blogspot.com

I've been so used opening the year with a bunch of things-to-do, and annual goals. I spend the last days of the previous year planning on things I have to accomplish.  I like to think of myself as a go-getter, someone who's in constant pursuit of goals and dreams. I like being busy learning new things, developing skills and growing with people. I like filling my days writing, observing, talking, cycling, planning, travelling and hanging out. I like being physically and mentally mobile. 

However, before 2014 year ended I realized that I spent too much time being on my feet and less time being on my knees. I'm running after life when there's really nothing to hurry about. I'm doing and thinking a hundred things when only a few really matters. I'm trying to play god when I can barely control my own life. 

So this year, I'm making a conscious decision to take things easy, to let go of things I have no control, to take longer coffee breaks and naps, to savor sunsets and sunrises and to spend unhurried moments with people. I'll be still this 2015 and just let life happen.

How about you, what words will you use in your kakizome? 

Want to know more about New Year in Japan? Check out these informative and wonderful sites:

What Japanese eat on New Year's Eve

New Year's in Japan

Shogatsu- Enjoy New Year Celebrations in Japan

Nengajo: How to Send a Japanese New Year Postcard

Making the Most of New Year in Japan