35
Five years ago, a few hours away from my thirtieth birthday, I was seated on the couch in my living room in Nagano, typing out a farewell to my twenties and my hopes and expectations of what my thirties would look like. Now, I'm about to turn 35. The halfway point between then and forty. I think it's a good time to take stock of what the last five years have been like, and start to dream about what the next five years will look like. It's definitely been a whirlwind. I was feeling stuck in a little town, in the middle of a pandemic, absolutely miserable about celebrating my birthday in my apartment alone and having to rush singing "Happy Birthday" to myself while eating a tiny (but delicious) chocolate cake. Later that year I would have a lightbulb moment about moving away, and it felt so right. I'm glad I was brave enough to make that move because these last few years in Osaka have been some of the best I've ever had. I've tried dating here and t...