What Would I Think If I Saw Me Now?

Sunday, May 21, 2006

I'd say it's time for a story. This is one that doesn't need a lot of exaggeration or embellishments...it's also not entirely fantastical either. It's just something on my mind.

It was the spring of 2000 and I was just beginning my junior year of high school. So that made me about 16. Over the summer I had gotten into Toonami with my best friends Jacob and Kiley, both of whom I don't speak with anymore, for whatever that's worth. This was the beginning of my anime phase. Toonami had changed its line up from Thunder Cats and Speed Racer to Sailor Moon, DBZ, Tenchi, and Gundam Wing.

So one day I was watching Toonami and it was a commercial break so I decided to get up to do something. As I was walking past the TV I watched a commercial about a new contest that Toonami was hosting where if you submitted your name via the internet, you could win a chance to go to Tokyo and meet a bunch of high ups in the anime business. I didn't care so much about meeting people, I was completely intrigued by the idea of going to Tokyo. The thought had never actually occurred to me before.

I froze where I was, no joke. I just stood there. And to this day I have never felt such a strong feeling of want in my entire life. I wanted that so badly that it made me freeze up and I hurt inside knowing (at the time) that it would never happen. I didn't even go to the website because I knew that the devastation I would feel when I didn't win would crush me more than knowing that I hadn't even tried.

A few days later, less than a week, I was called to the office at my school. For whatever reason, I decided to take a different route to the office. It wasn't anything that was a big deal, I was just bored and I could never really tell which way was the fasted so I always switched it up. This time, I went through the A wing and went past a neglected glass display of all the trinkets and pictures the school had gotten from its sister school in Japan. I stopped to look at it because I had completely forgotten it was even there. There were pictures of our principal dressed in a formal kimono complete with wig and a few masturi clappers and paper cranes.

I had completely forgotten that in my freshman year some Japanese exchange students had come to my school and entertained one of my classes. They put on a tea ceremony and gave us little gifts of stationary. I remember that I totally didn't even care so much that I hadn't paid attention to anything they did or said. I was a freshman at the time so you can't blame me for being stupid. The only think I remembered about them besides that they wore their school uniforms was that there were 11 of them and only one was a boy. I do remember that he wasn't cute...it's strange the things I remember.

ANYWAY, so I see this display and go on reminiscing. I then continue to the office and talk to my guidance counselor. After she was done, I asked her if the school had ever thought about taking a learning bus to Japan. I know that the previous summer they had toured Europe and that was unusual because they usually stayed in America. She told me that it would be difficult to do (I don't remember why), but we did have a sister school and every so often they would send exchange students over and I might be able to be a host family for one of them. She said that they should be coming in the next year or so and I should tell the principal that I'm interested.

I was so excited! I went over the principals and left a note with her and sat back for the long wait.

Two weeks later (again, no joke) I got a message from the principal asking if I was still interested. She said that they would be coming that October and they needed host families. WOW! Talk about timing!

I housed a girl named Kana, and man did we both make so many mistakes. But it was a lot of fun and I learned so much. After her two week stay, I was told that I could go to Japan myself that summer as an exchange student. There, I met a JET from the UK named George and history was made.

I wonder what I would have thought if the High School Junior Nina, standing in front of the television set would think if she saw me now, on my way to accomplishing my dream(clique much?). I know I would have stood in disbelief and time wouldn't move fast enough for me.

As for time, it's been playing horrible tricks on me. When I think of how far I've come since Junior Year and thinking of preparing for JET, time hasn't moved slower. But then I think about my life and all the things I've done in that time aside from Japan, and the time as gone by so quickly to the point that I'm completely torn! I want to hurry up and leave!!! But I want to stay here and soak up all of my friends as much as possible.

I can't do both. So time continues to move without any regard to what I want.