I wake up in the morning.

I look out the window, and there it is—Merdeka 118, towering right in front of me.

This is Kuala Lumpur.

I live abroad.

And somehow, this has become completely normal.

When I was younger, I once saw an adult studying at a university overseas.

Ever since then, “Someday, I want to live abroad” had been one of the things I wanted to experience.

Not travel.

Live.

Not stay in a hotel, but have a home of my own.

Go grocery shopping, go to the gym, work, eat dinner.

Nothing particularly special.

But there’s something interesting about living that completely “ordinary life” in another country.

In 2024, I first started living in Bangkok.

Now I’m in Kuala Lumpur.

When you actually live abroad, every day is exciting and full of adventure!

…Well, not exactly.（笑）

Once you get used to it, it’s just everyday life.

Still, every now and then, I suddenly think,

“Wow. I actually live abroad.”

Something my younger self dreamed of doing has become an ordinary part of my life.

That’s a pretty nice feeling.

And after moving abroad, something else interesting happened.

My idea of what is “normal” slowly started to break apart.

I meet people from different countries.

I encounter ways of thinking that are different from those in Japan.

I casually talk with people I probably never would have crossed paths with if I had stayed in Japan.

When you live in Japan for a long time, there are many things you unconsciously come to believe are simply “the way things are.”

But move to another country, and things can be completely different.

It’s not about which way is right.

I just find myself thinking more often,

“Oh, that’s another way to do it.”

My dream of living abroad came true.

But perhaps the more interesting part is what happened after the dream came true.

“Living abroad,” something that once seemed so special, became ordinary life.

And some of the things I once thought were ordinary no longer seem so ordinary.

Maybe that’s one of the most valuable things I’ve gained from living abroad.