knowing

Some people come to Japan to see the sights, others for the experience of working in an new country, still others come to learn. But there are a few that come to just disappear. I have met all of the above mentioned people. As for one person I have made friends with he was in the last group, just came to disappear.

This man we will call Shea was a member of the U.S. Special Forces and had served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He suffered from an exterme form of P.T.S. He had choosen to come to Japan after he left the service to restart his life in some sort of peace. Shea and I worked in the same Language school in Kobe, we had known each other for about six month before something changed. His demenor had changed after the 2006 New Years. Before the New Year we would always have coffee and go out for a drink after work. In January I would find him sitting in the corner of a lonely quiet cafe in Kobe before and after work. He quit socializing with friends and co-workers. I tried to talk to him several times after the following three month but he seemed closed and rather cold. I could see that he was suffering from an extreme form of P.T.S., something I grew up in a home with a father and older brother who had served in Vietnam.

Then one day in April of 2006 he came into the Language school and announced that he was quitting. He came to shake my hand and wish me luck in my career. He and I were sitting in the men’s locker room, after 20 minutes of chatting it was time for me to teach my next class and he left. After my shift I went to the locker room and gathered my stuff. But I noticed something different about my briefcase, it was ajared when I had locked it. I opened my brief case and found a new blue book. I open the book and in the cover page was signed his name saying, “you are a good friend who was always there to listen. Good Luck. Maybe through this book you will understand who I am.”

Since that time I have not seen or heard from him. I did read the book that he left me and I realized it was his own work, a fiction but at the same time as form of therapy. Later I look up his book on the internet and had found it for sale all over the world. The book he had writen was a novel in a sense of the characters and the actions that take place, but the places and some events I had felt were drawn from his own experience.

I have told several co-workers who are veterans of this friend I had. Those co-workers who suffer from P.T.S. have started to use these techinques presented by Shea and my veteran co-workers have started to seen some positive results.

So for these men who come to just disapper they have found something deep with in Japan, something inspiring, a form of Solace. Thru this inspiration these men have a new therapy but one that is really not so old. Maybe we can take some advice from them to. I too have started to compile and compose prose to releave the stress of my work. I have found a second home here in Japan too. A home filled with mystery, inspiration, and wonderment. There are many places here just to disapper and relax to see a deeper insight into a culture shrouded in shadows.

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