Stephanie’s Odyssey
When typing “What is an Odyssey” into Google, the first result is from Britannica.com. It states than an odyssey is, “a long journey full of adventures.” Upon receiving my acceptance letter to the JET program, I began dreaming of the several adventures and amazing experiences I was about to embark on. It was going to be my own odyssey. My own amazing adventure.
I had the privilege of reading parts of The Odyssey by Homer in Mrs. Anderson’s English class a year ago. As a paraprofessional to a single ELL student, I had to eat, live, and breathe The Odyssey to be able to teach the text (and subtext) to my student.
So, you would think I would have known what an odyssey truly looked like, or at least read the second definition from Britannica.
The second, and arguably more important, definition of an odyssey is “a series of experiences that give knowledge or understanding to someone” (Britannica.com). This has been what my own odyssey has turned out to be. From maneuvering train lines to simply learning how to take out the trash, my time in Japan has been one learning experience after another.
In Homer’s Odyssey, one of the main themes is that no man can do anything great without the help of the gods. Odysseus claims that the victory over Troy was all due to his own strength and intelligence. However, the victory was because of Poseidon’s help.
This is reflected in my own time here in Japan. Every small victory I have had was due to some other external force that has helped me; I, with my own human ability, have done nothing but learn from others who have helped me. This is an extremely humbling experience, and one that has led me up and down an emotional roller coaster these past five months. My depression has never been so well managed and so unruly at the same time. I also have never wanted to do so much, yet so little in my life.
There are days I will go and explore the cities, forests, and beaches, and other days where I will stay inside and watch TV all day. Some days I feel like I am brave and smart enough to maneuver a foreign land, and other days where I assume I can’t do anything right. And those latter days are what leads me down dark spirals.
When I do nothing, like spending an entire day watching TV, I feel like I am “wasting my time” or “wasting an opportunity that could have gone to someone else.” This is why I had to pause or limit my use of social media. When using social media, I see everyone else’s highlights of their time in Japan. I see all the amazing places everyone else is going to. I look at the Japanese castles, hot springs, and arcades to which I ask myself “Why am I not doing that?” “Why am I at home when I should be out enjoying every minute of this adventure?”
A boat in Matsuzaki
That’s when I took a step back and once again thought about Odysseus. Homer’s poems only captured the highlights of Odysseus’s journey. There were never pages upon pages dedicated to the grueling days at sea or what Odysseus and his men ate for breakfast daily. No, it was evading sirins, dodging rocks thrown by cannibals, and battling sea monsters. In a way, The Odyssey was the ancient Greek version of a social media feed. I wonder how many people heard the tale recited and thought, “What am I doing with my life?” “Why am I not on grand adventures all the time?”
This is when I realized that trying to compare my life with other’s “highlight reels” is not an accurate comparison.
I have learned to value the small achievements and travels that don’t appear on a news feed. Seeing a unique butterfly, eating a delicious Japanese snack, or stumbling on a small shrine during a walk. Even though they really aren’t “Instagram worthy,” they are important parts of my odyssey. These are the moments that bring me peace and happiness in this foreign land I now live in.
A duck I saw on my walk last week
Odyssey definition by Britannica.com