With each passing semester at college, I feel like I have grown and changed a great deal. I try to live my life in such a way that at the end of each day I feel like I have improved or grown in some way. “Life” is not only made up of individual unique experiences, but mundane ones as well. When I think about my time in Japan, sure I have gotten better at Japanese, learned a lot about Japanese culture and music, and travelled to many exciting places. But what I came to realize over there is that those ‘flashier’ experiences, while valuable, are often merely dressing. I learned to move through life slowly: when I walk to the train in the morning, instead of rushing, I slowed down, smelled the spring air, and made sure to look around at the shops, trees, and hills all around me. When I got home at the end of each day to a home-cooked meal waiting for me, I made sure not to scarf it down so I could run up to my room and begin homework, but to savor every single bite. I think speaking to many Japanese locals helped me come to this type of understanding. Many of them engaged themselves so fully into everything they did. Talking to and playing with musicians was especially rewarding. My time in Japan was rich with solo and group travelling, eating and drinking, exploring, and playing music, and has helped me get a better idea of how I want to live the rest of my life.