18x2 Beyond Youthful Days: First Love
A Taiwanese & Japanese movie (2 places that I LOVE deeply), it’s a beautiful, touching yet ultimately very sad love story but one that everyone should watch. A Taiwanese man, Jimmy, has just been fired by the gaming company he started 18 years ago. His cofounder asked him to go on a business trip to Japan one last time.
On a whim, he takes this opportunity and many detours around Japan like Kamakura, Matsumoto, Nagaoka & Niigata to finally visit his old girlfriend there in Tadami in Fukushima. He tells his friend: “Traveling is fun because you never know what will happen.”
He reflects on his youth 18 years ago in Tainan city where he meets a Japanese girl named Ami backpacking around Taiwan. He is asked to show her around by his Japanese boss of the karaoke place he works at.
“My life, If I had told her how I felt about her back then, would the future have been different? Could I have spent more time with her.” Ami is a kind, carefree, spirited and talented artist and brings new spirit to the place. Jimmy shows her around Tainan that summer. They grow close of course. They experience first love, which is always the most powerful & affecting. Growing up. Dealing with the loss.
Now in his adulthood, during his travels through Japan he reflects on the wonderful times he had that summer. Small things remind him of those moments, a smell of the perfume “Flow of Time”, pictures, a song from Taiwanese rock band “Mayday” that was so popular back then. The Japanese movie “Love Letter.” The beautiful mural Ami paints. Going to the lantern festival.
“Tell me your dream when you find it” she says. “Let’s meet again after we have fulfilled our dreams.” But maybe being together was the ultimate dream.
It made me think back to all the fun times, especially during my summers in Vancouver, goofing around with my friends, summer studies in Cambridge University, backpacking around through Europe, eager to get to the next place or the next milestone. Living in Taiwan during my early twenties, making mistakes and growing up. Meeting a young beautiful Taiwanese girl, (who became my wife), exploring the island and making new friends. Seeing the world and experiencing the kindness of strangers. To be that young again.
It felt like it would never end. I wish I was more present then. I still wish I was more present even now. My head is always still stuck in the future, focused on pursuing what I think are my dreams, missing important things along the way.
But you never completely forget. As Jimmy writes: “Friends we never see again. Scenery we’ll never revisit. But I will never forget the time we spent together. The people we meet on our travels leave something in our heart.”
It’s also really true what his dad tells him after he loses his business. “Rest paves the long road ahead.” Especially when you are questioning your life choices. Go on a trip far away. You will meet interesting people. You will see beautiful sights. “Taking a breather gives us a chance to see what is important in your life.”
So what do I take from all this, besides going to spend more time in Japan and Taiwan? Go travel & rest after bad moments in life, be more present the rest of the time, and tell people how you feel. You never know when you will see them again.
As Jimmy’s father wisely advised him: “These encounters do not often happen in life. You only live once, don’t leave with any regrets.”