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Abstract

e a very big decision.</b></p><h2 id="fe9e">What was going to happen to us?</h2><p id="cc05">I put off thinking about it until June, a month before my visa expired.</p><p id="b548">We were having dinner together and I said something to Andrew about how I loved him and I said, “I’m keeping you.”</p><p id="0925">He looked confused and said, “Really? How are you going to do that? You are leaving in a month…”</p><p id="4a6c">I didn’t know. I just squeezed his hand harder and shook my head, repeating, “I’m keeping you.”</p><h2 id="42e7">There were so many questions.</h2><p id="2744">What would happen? <a href="https://readmedium.com/forbidden-pandemic-romance-how-i-managed-to-enter-japan-without-a-visa-92a416222e9a">Would Japan ever open its borders so I could return?</a> If not, would Andrew be able to leave and visit me at some point?</p><p id="9cee">Currently all travel for foreigners was blocked and we had no idea what would happen next.</p><p id="9fa8">Was my desire to keep him just foolish reluctance to let go? Would giving up be better and kinder to our souls than expecting a miracle?

I didn’t know.</p><p id="f6b8">I questioned what to do about the future. Uncertainty loomed like storm clouds encroaching on a sunny day. But I had to make a decision.</p><figure id="3bd6"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*W5bzfBsnAQpT3C_dgsCQmA.png"><figcaption>Photo by author</figcaption></figure><h2 id="4ad7">That’s when I wrote these words:</h2><p id="1352"><b>“Sometimes when the moment is right, I decide things. </b>I won’t know how, but I will decide something will be created, sometimes by a certain day. And when it magically happens, I smile.</p><p id="5171">It’s happened many times already.</p><p id="575a">Recently I saw this cute Pikachu in a second hand shop with a witch hat on it. It cost about $5. It’s perfect for me.</p><p id="cef6">It is too big to put in my suitcase and I am supposed to return to America in July, but my boyfriend Andrew said I could keep it at his house in Japan until I return.</p><p id="8397">I’ve decided I will return and I don’t know how or when. But I will.

Options

So I bought the Pikachu. And I’m keeping the boy. We are going to figure it all out.</p><p id="9f97"><b>That’s what being creative is. Decide what you want to create. </b>Make the decision. And then when it’s time, you will figure it out. You can’t always see the how right now, but keep your eyes ready, it just might show up.”</p><p id="fce2">I had no idea how I would retrieve that stuffed animal from Japan, but I decided to buy it anyway. I decided that I would return somehow and that Andrew and I would make it as a couple.</p><p id="75cc"><i>I had no idea how,</i> but I decided.</p><p id="89c5">Despite extreme difficulties navigating Japan’s ban to all foreign travelers, I found my way back to him eventually. We are currently married and have now been together for over three years.</p><p id="082c">Read more about this story:</p><div id="e197" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-life-changing-journey-to-japan-9e2a7d39f9ae"> <div> <div> <h2>My Life-Changing Journey to Japan</h2> <div><h3>How the Thought “I Need a Life Change” Started it All</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*p_I9pVmsQ-YYRY82e7ZCpw.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="c494" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/forbidden-pandemic-romance-how-i-managed-to-enter-japan-without-a-visa-92a416222e9a"> <div> <div> <h2>Forbidden Pandemic Romance: How I Managed to Enter Japan Without a Visa</h2> <div><h3>From Travel Ban Enforced Separation to Reunion with my Soulmate</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*-1ruvHrJDN_fMbqIYy_68w.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Why I Decided Not to Break up With My Husband in Japan

Making the biggest decision of my life

With a world full of chaos, how much power do two people have?

As travel bans from COVID threatened the possibility of being a couple, I had to make one of the biggest decisions of my life.

Whether to stay with my husband or not in 2020.

At the time Andrew was just my boyfriend. We’d met during my life-changing journey to Japan.

We’d always known our time was limited. Our relationship had started when my departure from Japan was only three months away. Before COVID happened, I had planned to return to the USA in April 2020 and not look back.

But then the pandemic happened. I decided as a result to stay in Japan longer. So we had more time together.

More time to fall in love. More time to know each other. More time to explore what life could be like…

If we held on.

But staying together wouldn’t be easy. In fact, I’d always assumed it would be completely impossible.

It was no longer a three month relationship. We’d now been together six months and it had become a different beast entirely.

As my visa was set to expire on July 7th 2020, forcing me to return to the United States, Andrew and I had different plans. He would continue to work and live his life in Japan, while I’d be flying away.

At the time, only citizens were welcome to enter Japan during the pandemic. Japan would let no foreigners leave and come back.

The world was pulling us in two different directions and I had to make a very big decision.

What was going to happen to us?

I put off thinking about it until June, a month before my visa expired.

We were having dinner together and I said something to Andrew about how I loved him and I said, “I’m keeping you.”

He looked confused and said, “Really? How are you going to do that? You are leaving in a month…”

I didn’t know. I just squeezed his hand harder and shook my head, repeating, “I’m keeping you.”

There were so many questions.

What would happen? Would Japan ever open its borders so I could return? If not, would Andrew be able to leave and visit me at some point?

Currently all travel for foreigners was blocked and we had no idea what would happen next.

Was my desire to keep him just foolish reluctance to let go? Would giving up be better and kinder to our souls than expecting a miracle? I didn’t know.

I questioned what to do about the future. Uncertainty loomed like storm clouds encroaching on a sunny day. But I had to make a decision.

That’s when I wrote these words:

“Sometimes when the moment is right, I decide things. I won’t know how, but I will decide something will be created, sometimes by a certain day. And when it magically happens, I smile.

It’s happened many times already.

Recently I saw this cute Pikachu in a second hand shop with a witch hat on it. It cost about $5. It’s perfect for me.

It is too big to put in my suitcase and I am supposed to return to America in July, but my boyfriend Andrew said I could keep it at his house in Japan until I return.

I’ve decided I will return and I don’t know how or when. But I will. So I bought the Pikachu. And I’m keeping the boy. We are going to figure it all out.

That’s what being creative is. Decide what you want to create. Make the decision. And then when it’s time, you will figure it out. You can’t always see the how right now, but keep your eyes ready, it just might show up.”

I had no idea how I would retrieve that stuffed animal from Japan, but I decided to buy it anyway. I decided that I would return somehow and that Andrew and I would make it as a couple.

I had no idea how, but I decided.

Despite extreme difficulties navigating Japan’s ban to all foreign travelers, I found my way back to him eventually. We are currently married and have now been together for over three years.