Farming town in Japan. What happens when faced with eating two dinners? Saving face isn't the half of it. When the sun sets and there is nowhere to go or nothing to do, one has to crafts ways to get through boredom; especially in the days before mobile phones and streaming.  the Path Beyond. Sometimes it's simply seeking out human interaction. It's an important nuance. Finding a place where one can be anonymous when it's clear that they are "the other" is tough sometimes when living abroad. We all have those places where the proprietors and customers leave us alone and treat us like the locals.  This is a story about what could have been a dull night on the JET Programme in Chiba Prefecture.

#JET #Japan #chiba #storytelling #foreigner #TheOther #dinner #interaction

Not just about living in Japan or France or Mali or [name your favorite country], this episode reveals the vision for Paths Beyond. This podcast is a Path Beyond of sorts. The extension of oneself beyond comfort and into the unknown is what we seek on this show. I want to talk about the gritty realities of being "the other" in a foreign country. The situations that forced the person to make a decision to either a) push into the unknown internally as well as in the moment in the situation or b) status quo where we seek to avoid embarrassment. I'm pushing myself to seek out other travelers that have lived abroad. It's their stories that I want to hear. While the highlights and "amazing stories" are interesting, I'd like to go deeper into the mundane and unique. I want to hear about the decisions people had to make and why they are different now after having made them. They chose a Path Beyond countless times and I want to hear those stories from those journeys. 

#JET #Japan #chiba #storytelling #foreigner #TheOther