#NerdsUnite: Around the world with @HeatherReusz
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Heather. She's a nerd who is currently living in Japan by way of Chicago. Yep, talk about a culture shock. She's here today to talk about her life, love (which she is currently balancing long distance) and all things nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT HEATHER!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @HeatherReusz
Konichiwa! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu! In Japanese: "Hello! Nice to meet you!" My name is Heather. I'm an adventurous nerd who is living and working in Atsugi, Japan for a year.
I’m originally from the wonderful city known as Chicago which already makes me a bit of a sports nerd. I love the Cubs and Blackhawks by the way. I'm actually a very stereotypical nerd. I love all things comic books, video games, technology, and anime. It was my nerdiness that helped lead me to this exciting life adventure. I grew up watching animes like Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Cardcaptors. If I could get my hands on them, I would read the manga versions of the shows as well. My local library was really hardcore and had a large selection of mangas. This kindled my interest in Japanese culture. The spark that really set me off though was one of my best friends in middle school. Her family was Japanese and saw how much I took an interest in the culture. Her mom was thrilled that I wanted to learn more about her home country. She taught me some classical Japanese arts such as playing the koto (it's like a floor harp), tea ceremony, and flower arranging. From there, I was hooked! I stared just gobbling up all the anime, video games, and comic books from Japan that I could find. I started going to anime conventions which introduced me to a whole new level of subcultures that intrigued me. It was like jumping into the rabbit hole. Nerds were the coolest people I had ever met and 12 year old little Heather wanted to be THAT awesome.
So, I dug deeper into subcultures. I started to read American comic books. I’m a DC girl all the way in case you were wondering. I bought my own gaming computer, set up a Steam account, and started making gaming a regular part of my week. All of this came together to one simple dream: I HAD to visit Japan sometime before I died! Then I got thinking…why should I just visit there? I started looking into job opportunities and BAM! Here I am teaching English to the cutest and most adorable Japanese children ever. Now, I don’t actually speak Japanese. Introducing myself is about all I know. Well that and some simple survival phrases. Nor did I know anyone when I first moved here. I’m pretty much just feeling my way through the dark and having a blast! Like this one time, I got stuck in Tokyo for the night and had to just wander until 5AM or this other time in Yokohama...Oh! Did I mention that I’m trying to maintain a long distance relationship? So, yeah, there’s that too. Things can get pretty interesting when you’re forced to be away from each other for a year… Clearly, I’ve got a lot of learning and growing to do! Enjoy being a part of the ride fellow nerds! It’ll be a blast!