Bad news: Back to Tokyo.

 
Hello! I hope you are well and safe and still enjoying life. 
 
I am sorry to tell you that I have to cut short my research and study in New York and, now, cancel an internship I was planning in San Francisco.  My employer – NHK, Japan’s public broadcasting network – has called all staff members on research missions back to Japan because of the spread of Covid-19.
 
I was sure that if I stayed in the U.S, I could achieve many things online, and I was actually doing it. There are also many things to cover related to coronavirus But as my research is funded by the company, I have no choice. This is just about the time I have started to get a sense of where to find whom in New York City.  I feel like vomiting because I have to give up this opportunity . (Sorry for that distasteful word.)
 
Of course, it is such a trivial thing compared to what is going come to the world. And I am amazed and encouraged by wise advice from people I love.  They literally helped me get up and write and talk to people again. 
 
-Be realistic about the present but optimistic about the future.
-Be flexible. Roll with the punches.
-Honestly, you don’t have to tell people you are not in New York. People are online from various places anyway.
-You may have already accomplished what you had to do there this time.
-Don’t say goodbye. You are already a New Yorker.
 
I am so very grateful to people I met in New York City for letting me fight and gain and feel strong and weak.
 

Friends said yes to receiving things I had to get rid of. Sydnei and Julio and I kept social distance.  
 
I just had a "last supper this time" with my landlady, Jane. I cooked curry and she made salad and shared a bottle of red wine. I don’t know yet what kind of assignment I will have in Tokyo, but I will somehow continue this newsletter.  Wow, I am still in shock and trying to put myself together.  I hope to be able to digest and distill what I saw in New York City in the last seven month on the way back to Japan.
 

Thank you for reading and stay safe! 
Ayako


Ayano and Paula gave me a virtual hug to keep social distance.