Life Without Sushi

Hey, Cadre family doctor Kerry here. Just gonna wait a moment for people to join on the live stream. I am so excited to share with you about my experience in Japan. I just returned home yesterday morning about 545 in the morning. My flight landed in LA, and I don't quite know what day I'm on. I don't know what time of day it is. I ended up getting to do Tuesday, January 10 twice because I got a whole day back from time travel, which was really cool. But bear with me because I'm a little bit loopy and not sure what day I'm on here with the time change, but it's incredible, right?

Like, what time change does when you travel. Like, how your body adjusts to that. Like, you think your body temperature drops when you sleep. And so I was, like, freezing all morning until, like, it was like, morning in Japan. And now I'm starting to feel a little bit more with it. But anyway, give me. Give me a little bit of grace today. But I do really want to share my experience in Japan because it was such an incredible trip. I was there for ten days and got to visit my fiance, which was super exciting.

I love travel so much, and to visit him was an added bonus, actually, the main reason for the trip. But I haven't been anywhere out of the country in a while, and I just love travel so much. You can see my map behind me. I actually put pins in that for where I go. So I'm stoked to put one in Japan. But some of the most profound experiences I had, aside from the food, the people, were just the cultural experiences of being in a completely different country. For example, I thought everybody eats sushi, like, three times a day.

They don't, actually. We only had sushi twice in ten days. We had a lot more ramen, a lot more noodles, tried some really interesting foods that I wouldn't recommend, ended up getting a little bit nauseous from some of them. And I'm an adventurous eater, so that was an experience. But then just the. The cultural experience of just the. The way people interact was probably the most amazing to me. They are so good at honoring people and giving gratitude. For example, when you check out at a register at a convenience store, wherever it may be, they.

They profusely say thank you, like, over and over. And they say it was just, like, such intent. Like, arikato, gosaimos, Arikato. Like, they're just, like, so grateful that you purchased something at their store or even walked in the door. They're so grateful. And then they wait for you to bow to show even more gratitude. So, like, they wait for you to put your change in your purse and be ready to, like, make eye contact with them so they can bow with more gratitude towards you of, like, arigato gosaimes.

And it's just so cool to see a culture that has embraced gratitude for each other and just. Just humbling themselves to be like, I am just so grateful for whatever it is you did in my life today. They do this everywhere you go. I actually realized I bowed at the customs desk yesterday when I got back into the US because I started just embracing the culture so much that I was just, like, in reverence to the other person, wanting to show them respect, wanting to show them that level of honor that I had just received during my ten days in Japan.

So I was super, you know, like, just naturally bowed. And thank you for that. So that was just a really cool cultural experience and just to. To share a fun story from my trip about this. They are so intent on not embarrassing someone and just really want to give everybody the benefit of the doubt, it seems. And, I mean, I obviously look very american. Actually, people have told me I look european, but I'm definitely not japanese. So I stand out, right? And we went to places that did not have a lot of tourists, so I really stood out.

And I'm definitely the only white person that walked into this one place. And I'll tell you this really funny, embarrassing story, but just that so embodies the culture of Japan. So I went to a traditional onsen, which is a japanese bathhouse. And the purpose of this is to relax, to experience, you know, just. It's kind of a cleanliness, you know, process, I guess. But you get in these really hot, hot tubs, and they have different, like, minerals and stuff in the water. This one happened to be right at the base of Mount Fuji, and these were basically hot springs fed by, like, runoff from the mountain.

And it was just. It was so incredible. And there's. They're sex segregated. So you go in completely nude, and you just, like, experience just this bath. And, like, literally Mount Fuji was, like, right in front of me as I'm sitting in this hot tub outside, and it's, like, 25 degrees. It was incredible. So I go into this really large building that's attached to the bathhouses, and I navigate how to pay. They're super helpful. And then they're like, I'm like, okay, how do I get to the bathroom? And they point upstairs.

They speak no English, so I am so grateful for translator apps because I was able to ask my questions on this thing. So I go upstairs, and I'm like, I have no idea where to go now. I'm at this place where it's. Nobody's up there. It's early in the day, there's a restaurant, there's a bathroom. I'm like, maybe it's kind of like a gym where, like, you go into the bathroom and then you get to the bath. So I go into one of the things that says toilet. Thank God for the english words that were on the signs, and there's nothing attached to that.

So I'm kind of wandering around like, I don't know where to go. I don't have a ton of time at this place. And I'm just awestruck by the massive window that looking at Mount Fuji. And I'm like, I hope I get to see that when I get into the bath area. So finally I go through this big open doorway, and it's got these kind of, like, streamer things, like pieces of cloth hanging down. So I'm like, oh, it looks like it might be a doorway that goes somewhere. And it looks really, it's a really wide doorway.

So I'm like, maybe there's, like, male and female sections in there. And I walk in and I'm in a locker room, and there are two men in there. One of them is wearing underwear, the other one's completely dressed. And I'm like, I don't know the culture in Japan, but maybe we all change in the same place. And then it's sex segregated when you get to the baths. Not quite sure. I have done more interesting things when I've traveled before in Europe. There are some bathhouses and sauna places in Europe that are not sex segregated.

And you are all nude together. So I'm like, I don't know. Maybe I'm supposed to change it here. So I just pause for a second, like, should I keep walking in and maybe try to find the female section and get nude and go. And the. This guy turns around and he's kind of, like, looking at me like, what is she doing? But he's not, like, horrified or shooing me out, and he just, like, stops, and I'm just dead stopped. Like, what do I do now? And I just start, like, gesturing with, you know, the best I can.

And, like, am I supposed to be in here? Like, what? What am I supposed to do? And he just goes, no. And he was, he was not even going to, like, shoo me out. Like, that's how much he did not want to embarrass me for the mistake that I just made walking into the men's locker room. Okay, this was just the men's locker room, and I just was kind of like, where do I go? Where do I go? And he's like, oh, come on, I'll show you. And this was the fully dressed guy, so no worries that the. The half naked guy was not ushering me out, but he, like, ushers me out and then points across the hall to the one.

Well, lo and behold, there were pink pieces of cloth over the other doorway. This one had blue. How was I supposed to know? The place was huge? So, anyway, he ushers me out, and he shows me where I'm supposed to go. I walk in there, okay, now, I know I'm in the female locker room, but the whole experience just. Just made me chuckle and also just made me so. I don't know, just stunned, because this guy. Nobody in there would have shooed me out. Nobody. Like, they would have all just been like, oh, we are so embarrassed for her, but we don't want to point it out to her that she's in the men's locker room.

I would have been completely nude and walked into the men's bath for all I knew. And they were. They were just so kind to me and to not want to embarrass me and not want to make me feel ashamed for making this mistake. And, of course, I was kind of embarrassed, but not really. It's a funny story. And thankfully, I didn't see any new japanese men. But it. It just was so profound, because you would never experience that in America. You might get somebody, like, who's in the corner, like, laughing at you.

You might get some guys rolling their eyes. And I'm not, like, saying this against men or anything, but, like, that experience would have been so different in another country, and it made me realize just how amazing it is that this entire culture just wants to respect other people, not embarrass them and just make them feel esteemed and honored. And, like, the guy even bowed to me after I said thank you profusely, and I was bowing profusely to him for showing me the right place, but, like, he was just like, of course I'm happy to help you, and just.

I just want to challenge you for the next day or week as long as you maybe can. What can you do in your interactions with strangers to make them feel esteemed, make them feel honored, and make them feel good about themselves? Because it's so natural for us to not do that, right? It's so natural for us to maybe, like, snap the person who, like, is super behind at the register at Starbucks, and you're like, oh, my gosh, if I don't get my caffeine, I'm gonna lose it. And just to be rushed and hurried, but, like, to not just recognize the other human beings you're interacting with and making them feel the best that they can feel that day.

You don't have to go out of your way to talk to everybody at the gas station or whatever you do, but just in those small little interactions with other people, how can you show up and make them feel esteemed and honored and that you are grateful for the interaction that you had with them? So thank you guys for tuning in. I am grateful that you're laughing alongside with this story. And I just. I love sharing about my travel experiences. I'll have a few more videos on this, too, coming onto the app, so stay.

Stay tuned for those. Thank you, guys. God bless. Aragato Gazimas.