Minor Setbacks: Opportunities For Growth

Today’s story is a bit embarrassing for me. The day I arrived, I received the keys to my dorm and my room. The first thing I was told by my Residential Assistant was to make sure not to lose them. Why do I bring this up? You probably guessed it: I lost them. But I not only lost them, I lost them the very day I was given them only a mere 4 hours after I was given them. Yes, I know, I feel ashamed. In my defense, I caught onto it quickly.

This happened when I went to Akihabara. I kept changing my pocket frequently to make sure they were there since I was afraid of this very thing happening. I went to a ramen shop in the area with some friends and was enjoying myself. However, one of my friends felt tired so I walked with him to the train station. On the way over, I checked my pocket only to realize that my keys were no longer there. My heart dropped. I went silent. My pace began to slow down as I slowly began to panic.

I took a deep breath and told my friend that I lost my keys. He asked me what I was going to do about it. I told him I would go back to look for them. He had his doubts that I would find it as it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. But as I calmed down, I pinned down the most likely areas I dropped them at. At the top of the list was the ramen shop.

So, I went back to the ramen shop. The next problem I was presented with was the fact that the employees only spoke Japanese. I couldn’t just walk in and look around as I probably would’ve been kicked out. So, I had to put my Japanese skills to the test. I am proud to say that I was able to communicate what I needed to the employee and after checking where I sat, I found my keys in a small bin on the ground.

That was a close one. I got to use my Japanese effectively when I needed it and learned my lesson. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen again.