In September 1996, I boarded ANA flight 001 from Dulles to Tokyo to begin a two-year adventure in Japan.
The plan was to get a a Masters in International Relations from the International University of Japan.
Well, you know what they say about plans, right?
Anyway, on Sunday Nov. 27th, I once again boarded ANA flight 001 from Dulles to Tokyo. This time I was only going for 3 days, but it afforded me the opportunity to look at the last 15 years of my life as “bookended” by the same ANA flight.
On a 14 hour journey, you have much time for reflection 
Some of the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met, the changes to my life, the way that the world, economics, and technology have all been transformed in unforeseeable manners.
There’s no point going through the litany of them and I know I’m not unique in having these “bookend” experiences, but because of the formative role that the 2 year Japan adventure played in my development (as well as Germany where, ironically, I am headed in 2 weeks), it kicked off a unique set of ruminations.
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