A Look Back: 12 Months Of Training And Integration

This year, I have spent more than 48,000 Yen (that’s about $410 USD) on coffee. This number doesn’t include the coffee that others have bought for me, or the coffee that i’ve had with a meal.

I drink a lot of coffee.

This number is simply typed, “coffee,” into an excel spreadsheet. Here, I keep track of all of my daily expenses, separated by month, organizing all of the receipts by date and filing them away never to be seen again.

I sit here at Starbucks, drinking a cup of Sumatra drip-coffee (why no Christmas blend today???), thinking about all of the things I could buy with the annual cost of my coffee intake.

This is a great opportunity to reflect on the year that’s almost over.

A lot has happened.

December 2015

This time last year I was staying at an Airbnb in downtown Vancouver, Canada. It was my first vacation as a Cirque Du Soleil employee (many more vacations to come), and I had just completed two weeks of training at the headquarters in Montreal.

The city was blanketed in snow, yet Vancouver lacked the harsh winter-bite of Quebec, the kind that makes your face hurt just by walking outside.

My vacation partner and I hopped on a bus up to Whistler. The hills were perfect for skiing, and The Village is filled with fun shops and tasty restaurants. I didn’t end up going skiing (I’m a stickler to safety-related company policies), but we did zip line through the frosted mountains.

Christmas dinner was teppanyaki. Post-dinner treats were Hot-Toddies and Guinness chocolate cake (this is a great story for another day). A bunch of Russians came to join us. Vodka shot-ski in an ice room, aphrodisiac-ed out on way too many oysters, and Russian electronic club music was how I spent the rest of my winter vacation.

Back at headquarters in Montreal, I was invited to a New Year’s dinner at the residence. I showed up completely underdressed and didn’t understand a word that was being said all evening because everyone spoke Russian. We watched Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s speech, lit sparklers, and turned on the strobe lights for a proper techno-electronica-blasting Russian dance party.

Happy New Year.

January 2016

At this point my hands are torn and bloody. My forearms have open wounds that are still (and forever will be) dark scars. The weather outside is frightful, and the snow oh-so-not-delightful. I’m the leanest i’ve ever been, due to the exercise, and not eating enough as I should’ve for the energy I was expending.

I’d like to return to Montreal again in the summertime.

I saw old friends from Minnesota to eat poutine at La Banquise.

A Japanese TOTEM artist arrived at headquarters. I had my first Cirque-related interview. Things picked up and the act was finally coming together. I had my final presentation.

I flew to Japan on January 30th, 2016.

February 2016

It’s been two years since I’ve been back to Japan.

TOTEM welcomed my like a family. Their warmth cut through Tokyo’s winter-frost. My first glamourous Cirque Du Soleil premiere party (complete with a chocolate fountain and private club). On-stage trainings commenced. I had my ups-and-downs (literally) with the act, but was on track to integrate into the show.

Japan. The best country in the world. The food is unmatched. Japan has the perfect balance of strict tradition and remarkable innovation, pushing the limits on both ends. The pursuit of perfection in every field is unlike any civilization I have yet to experience.

Tokyo was where I was born, and it’s where I want to live. You could spend your entire life here and still have plenty left to explore. Hidden treasures and underground gems, you never know what you’ll find behind each door. I reminisced in my home town, saw my childhood friends, visited famous temples, and ate the best food I could get my hands on.

March 2016

I’ve started cues in the show. I’m a fish, I’m a butterfly, I’m a golden girl.

Totem has its 2000th performance.

Mid-march, I premiere as the Pink Lady in Rings Trio. I could dump a bunch of mush-gushy dreams-come-true feelings here, but the whole process (from preparation to performance) was documented by a Japanese camera crew. The footage is somewhere.

April 2016

Sakura. Cherry blossom season. The, “season,” lasts less than a week but it’s beautiful. Yoyogi park is in full bloom.

I love my job.

Vacation.

I fly to Thailand to visit Dad. Thai Airways gets 5 stars, I had the whole row to myself there and back. We go to an island resort for the water festival, and spend a few days in Pattaya eating rambutans and lychees.

Back in Tokyo, my days are filled. Interviews, trainings, media, shows, cafes, hedgehogs, more shows. I have never spent more time in front of a mirror. I’ve reduced my show-makeup application time from 3 hours to 1 hour 30 minutes.

May 2016

It is much warmer now.

I finally figure out a makeshift routine, but everyday life is still surprising and filled with adventure.

My aunt, childhood friends, Stanford roommate, college friends, dad, mom, and second grade teacher get to see me perform.

June 2016

Last month in Tokyo. 510,000 people saw TOTEM here.

I fit in as much as possible the last couple of days in the best city on earth.

July 2016

Fly to America.

Home? I’m in Saint Paul, Minnesota for another vacation while the show moves from Tokyo to Osaka. I see my friends, my second family. We have late nights snuggled around a campfire, sharing meals at our favorite restaurants, and soak up the midwest sun. The trip is too short.

Fly back to Japan.

Osaka begins.

It’s so humid here that I’m drenched in sweat by the time I arrive at work (an 8 minute walk from the hotel). It’s so hot that they set up a pool for us outside of the kitchen.

Coffee dates, rehearsals, premiere. Osaka is in full swing.

I run to Tokyo on a day-off for an interesting side-project. Soon to come.

August 2016

It’s beach weather, which means it’s bikini season (well, it’s always bikini season at work). We hit the beach a few times, light up some japanese hanabi (fireworks), and dance until the sun comes up.

September 2016

I love my job.

Island vacations, Kyoto excursions, Michelin-star restaurants, Porsches. Not to mention all of the inspiring people I get to meet through my travels. Tour life is a non-stop rollercoaster of evolution, growth, and adventure.

October 2016

Time passes way too quickly. In October I recognize the value of time. It is the only thing in life that you can never get back, never break even.

(People spend so much time, to make enough money to buy that time back later.  – rambling)

I start a blog. I turn 20.

I fly to New Mexico.

I eat a lot of green chili. I see aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, brother.

November 2016

I fly to Hawaii with my mom.

Fly back to Japan.

Nagoya premiere.

This city is more quiet than the others. We don’t go out to party much, and the weather starts to get cold again.

Evaluations at work.

I love my job.

December 2016

I’m really happy there’s a Starbucks across from the hotel I’m staying at. My two suitcases fit perfectly in the corner of my room. The two beds I pushed together into a jumbo-king are made for me twice a week.

My brother, dad, and grandmother came to see me perform. It’s the first time my brother has seen me on stage professionally. I hope I made him proud.

But this week I have to decide what my plan for next year is.

Business idea: create an app that lets you push, “snooze,” on life decisions as many times as I snooze my morning alarm.

That’s my whole year, condensed into a couple of paragraphs. It’s not easy to remember things that happened a year ago. Research says that most of the time, we don’t remember things correctly anyways.

The title of this post, “12 Months Of Training And Integration,” refers to so much more than work. It was a year of cultural practice and adaptaion, corporate policy acquisition, business venture, and social advancement… Living in a country as a, “half,” came with assumptions and confusions, frustrations and advantages (I’d like to expand on this topic).

To write this, I just went back through my Instagram feed to look at the pictures (which are time-stamped) of the corresponding month. I love Instagram. It’s like highlight reel of the best moments, and the memories come flooding back with each photo

This year I got complacent, comfortable.  I rode the wave. I let the days go by and sat back, drifting along while life flowed forward. Its disappointing to realize this, because I pride myself on my drive and ability to work and achieve anything I want. So next year, I’ll make up for this by making it a year of challenge.

I am hungry.