Season 9.5: Meanwhile In Another Timeline 3 (Greattastic In Japan) Blog 5: I Love You (Across Times)

 I Love You (Across Times) 

On Monday, June 2, 2025, Ryan, Luke, and Josh stood up at the end of Shana’s funeral. Luke was in the middle with his guitar, Ryan was to his right with his guitar, and Josh was on his left with a harmonica. They began performing Warren Zevon’s Keep Me In Your Heart. I hadn’t told anyone that I was coming home, and I walked into the funeral home two minutes after the service started so I could slip in without being noticed.

At the end of the song, the pastor said a few words and a closing prayer, and the service ended. Everyone began to disperse, and I walked up to Mom. When she saw me, she jumped in surprise and hugged me. We exchanged condolences, and then more people started to come up to me. 

After the funeral, there was a reception at my parents' house. My grandpa, Pop-pop, had started dating a woman named Sara back in 2022 or so, and this was the first time I was meeting her. 

“So,” she asked after I had talked to her about my time in Japan, “what are your plans now?” 

“Ha,” I replied, “I don’t really know. I just kinda decided to move back home on a whim after I found out about Shana.”

“Well, that’s okay,” she replied, “you just got home. You have time to figure it out!”

Over the next year, a few things happened. I started working at Kobolt about a month after I got home, while I tried to figure out what I was gonna do next. After I posted an installment about my surprise return and Shana’s funeral, a classmate of mine, Elana, reconnected with me at Sam’s Fans event in October, in an attempt to lean on me after her sister, Natalie, passed away in March. 

For Thanksgiving, I went to Cincinnati and reunited with the Andersons. Around Valentine's Day 2026, Greg was in town, and we went out to dinner. At the end of February, I saw Box Seats for the first time, and Cousin Simple played a show in Dayton. Elana and her younger sister Jenna went to the Dayton show with us. After Cousin Simple played, Ryan walked up to us. Elana told him she enjoyed the show and asked when their next show in Columbus was. 

“Well, actually,” Ryan said, looking at me, “we are having a memorial show at my dad’s studio for my aunt on the anniversary of her death!” 

I was surprised, as this was the first time I had heard of it. On Friday, May 15th, 2026, at 8:00 pm, Cousin Simple got up on stage. I stood at the front of the crowd as the music started. During that first song, Mom came running up to me, dragging someone behind her. She practically threw the person at me, and to my shock, it was that girl from the ugly sweater party, Paige. 

I hadn't thought about her at all since I got on the plane to Japan. We started to talk, and the fleeting crush I had on her that night reemerged. At that moment, I knew that she was the one. 

Back in this timeline, I walked out of Dad’s office and back into Paige and my wedding reception. Paige was in the middle of the dance floor. When we locked eyes all of our guests and the room faded around us. As I walked toward her, I felt butterflies in my stomach, and I smiled. I felt it in my soul; no matter what decisions I had, or would have made throughout my life, it would not have mattered. I believe that no matter what, I would have ended up married to Paige Ulibarri.

Have a Greattastic day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri, SBT

Season 9.5: Meanwhile In Another Timeline 3 (Greattastic In Japan) Blog 4: Not So Greattastic

 Not So Greattastic

On Tuesday, March 10th, 2020, Marshall received an email from Columbus State saying they were closing due to Covid. August, Arden, and Marshall made it back to the states 2 days later, right before Ohio shut down completely. I began FaceTiming my family and the Andersons daily for updates on everything as they went through the lockdown.

In Japan, the lockdown was not as dramatic as it was in the United States, since masking was already a prominent part of the culture. Yes, the trains were a little emptier, I had to distance a little more from the kids, and fewer shops and bars were open, but overall, the pandemic did not affect my plans too much. And that was almost more isolating. While my family and friends were “in it together,” I was on the other side of the world, not experiencing it the same way that they were. I began leaning even harder on Renee, her family, Yuka, and Ren. In December 2020, I prepared to write the Season 2 finale of Rules for a Greattastic Life. Before Covid, my idea for that final episode was going to be a summary of my time in Japan, and my last night before I went home. Knowing I couldn't get home, I wrote it with the half-truth that I was excited to spend another year in Japan. 

In early January of 2021, Cousin Simple released their first song since before the pandemic, and in June of that year, my other childhood neighbor, Greg, got married to his long-time girlfriend, Temi. Around the same time, August moved to Colorado with her boyfriend, Ben, and Marshall, and Aspen moved to Cincinnati (and Arden would follow the following year). In the middle of October, Luke and Josh followed in Ryan's footsteps and started their own band, Box Seats, and my cousin Paige got married on Halloween. In 2022, Luke, and Kid graduated high school, and my family went to my cousin's new lake house. In 2023 August got pregnant, and she and Ben had a son, Jasper. Around the same time, Greg and Temi had their daughter. Arden and Aspen went to see Taylor Swift, and my Aunt Cyndi got married. In 2024, both Greg's sister, Melody and Arden and Marshall got married, and Rich and Barbra prepared to sell their house. Then finally in January of 2025, my grandpa Papa died. 

I knew I could have gone home as early as 2022, But with all the marriages,  pregnancies, and graduations I felt like my life had gone on without me. On top of that it wasn't like my life was bad. I had made a ton of friends in Japan, I was about to publish my 3 and 4th books and I felt happy. I didn't own the people in my life. Why was I feeling so hurt that they had moved forward?

“Are you okay?” Ren asked me one night in February of ‘25. 

“Yeah,” I said, a little taken aback. 

“No you're not,” Yuka said, “you used to be so happy and energetic. You’ve just seemed really depressed over the last few months.”

“I’m fine!” I said, “I just feel a little homesick I guess.” 

“Well, why don’t you go home?” Yuka asked. 

“Cuz I’ve built a whole life here… Ohio hasn’t been my home since before the pandemic… and I’m sure everyone else has moved on.” 

“Well you could at least go back for a visit,” Ren suggested.

“I think it’ll just be too hard for me,” I said, “like if I go I don’t know if I’ll come back.”

I held this position until on Friday, May 16th 2025 around 2:00 pm, I got a phone call from my mom. “Hi Mom,” I said, “why are you still up? It’s like midnight for you.” 

"Mitchell,” she said, “I’m sorry, but Aunt Shana just passed away.” 

I froze. Shana was my favorite aunt growing up. During my teenage years, Shana had her own life struggles and so from my perspective, the aunt that I knew died over a decade ago. Despite that I knew I couldn’t miss this funeral. I had to go home.

To Be Continued…

Season 9.5: Meanwhile In Another Timeline 3 (Greattastic In Japan) Blog 3: Korona Daisaiyaku

 Korona Daisaiyaku

When Renee first talked to me about teaching abroad in the summer of 2019, I was under the impression that Japan had a year-round school schedule. That's not entirely true. The school year starts in April. The first term of the year is from April to July, then summer break is from late July to late August, the second term is from September to December, and then they have winter break from late to December to early January, and the third term is from the end of winter break, to late March, Then they have a spring break before the next school year starts. Minamiwa Municipal Elementary School reopened on Tuesday, January 7th. I spent the first couple of days of 2020 getting acclimated to Minamiwa, setting up and starting my podcast, and spending time with Renee and her family. That week, I recorded every blog from Season 1 and started writing the first blog of Season 2, about me landing in Japan and going to the New Year's party.

I was Renee's teaching assistant. On the first day of school, at 8:45, Renee greeted the class. “Good morning, class!”

“Good morning, Mori-sensei,” the class replied. 

“So as you can see,” Renee said after asking the class how their break went, “I have a new teaching assistant. This is Mitchell Ulibarri. I taught him piano when I was living in America. He is still pretty new to Japanese, so you might need to ask me questions he doesn't understand. But he is learning along with you. I expect you to treat him with the same respect that you treat me!” 

Over the next month or so, I got really good at my job, figured out the train route, got 2/3 of the way done with The Greattastic Adventures: Miracle Child, went to a ton of festivals with Ren and Yuka, and got to know a lot more about them. Ren was the math teacher, and Yuka was an art teacher. Both of them were 24. At some point during this time, I started hearing people talk about something called “Korona Daisaiyaku.” It was only in passing, and I didn’t think to ask what it meant. 

On Saturday, March 7th, 2020, I woke up to a phone call from Yuka. “Would you like to run some errands with me,” she asked from the other side of the phone, “and then we could go to the park afterward?”

“Sure,” I replied, not suspecting a single thing. The day was mostly uneventful. It wasn’t until around 6:00 that I started to get suspicious. We had been out from 10 AM until about 3:30 running her errands. We got to the park around 4:15, and while I enjoyed spending time with Yuka, I was ready to leave by 5:30. By 6:00, when we were still hanging out there, I knew something was up. 

“What’s going on?” I asked for what felt like 1000 times. 

“Nothing!” She insisted. 

I was still not convinced, but I let it go because she wasn’t giving me anything. At 6:30, we finally made it to Renee’s house, and when I walked in, sure enough, August, Arden, and Marshall were standing in the middle of the main room!

“Surprise!” all three of them yelled together. 

“Oh my gosh, what are you doing here!” 

“We missed you,” Arden said, “and we thought this would be a good way for me to celebrate my birthday!” 

I was excited to see my friends again, and we decided to go out to a bar to celebrate. The bar that we went to was mostly dead, but I liked it that way. While I've always liked being the center of attention, when I go to dead bars with my friends, it feels like we are the only people in the world. I spent the night translating what my new friends were saying to my old friends, telling stories about my adventures in Japan, and dancing. “So,” Marshall asked, about an hour in, “How do you feel about Covid?”

“What-vid?” I asked. 

August and Arden screamed, “You haven't heard about Covid?”

Yuka and Ren looked at me, waiting for me to translate. August,  Arden and Marshall, then explain to me what Covid is. Once they explained the term “novel Coronavirus,” I realized I'd heard about it before: “Korona Daisaiyaku,” I mumbled under my breath. 

Recognizing the phrase Yuka and Ren joined the conversation, and both groups helped me realize what I had been ignorant of because of the language barrier. “I don’t know,” August said, “It seems kind of apocalyptic.”

“The Coronapocalypse,” I mused. 

To Be Continued…

Season 9.5: Meanwhile In Another Timeline 3 (Greattastic In Japan) Blog 2: Welcome To Japan

 Welcome To Japan

On December 31st, 2019, at 4:45 p.m. local time, I got off my plane in Tokyo. I had been traveling for about 16 and 1/2 hours. I asked Siri what time it was in Columbus, and she replied with 2:45 a.m. the same day. Then I asked what time it was in Colorado, as Arden was living there; 12:45 a.m. Immediately, I felt a pang of homesickness. 2020 was a mere 7 hours away, and yet my friends and family still had the entirety of New Year's Eve to go through. In other words, I would spend the first day of the year alone due to time displacement. So this is how Steve Rogers felt, I thought. Before I could process my thoughts farther I got a call from Renee. With her guidance, I made it to baggage claim and eventually to arrivals, where she picked me up.

We hugged, she helped me get my bags into her car, and we began driving to Minamiwa, a small city just outside Tokyo, where Renee and her family lived. On the hour-long drive, Renee asked me how I was feeling with my fluency in the Japanese language. I told her I felt pretty confident, but that I'm more of a hands-on learner. “Well, the reason I asked,” she said, “Is because we are having a small gathering to celebrate the New Year tonight. It'll mostly just be my family, but I invited a couple of people who you’ll work with at my school. If you need any help, just let me know.”

When we arrived at her house at about 6:00, I greeted her husband, Rob, and reintroduced myself to her daughters. At about 6:30, her parents, her brother, his wife and kids, and her two co-workers, Ren and Yuca arrived. As soon as they met me, Ren and Yuca started asking me about my life.

“What do you do for fun?” Yuca asked in Japanese. 

“I like hiking,” I said to the best of my ability, “and spending time with friends. And I do a lot of writing!”

“What do you write about?” Ren asked.

“I have…” I turned to Renee and asked in English, “How do you say autism?” 

“Jiheisho,” Renee said to my new friends. 

I continued in Japanese, “Yes, ‘Jiheisho,’ And I have a blog about my adult life which I'm about to turn into a podcast, and I'm almost done writing my first book about my childhood! Renee's actually in it!”

When I said her name, Ren and Yuka looked at me, confused. “Who?” they both asked.

Then Renee jumped in and explained that “Renee” was her American name.  Her real name was Mori Hibiki. I felt confused and, honestly, a little guilty that I didn't know that about her. She then told me, in English, “Don't feel like you need to just start calling me my birth name. It would be weird for me if you did.”

I have always been a picky eater, and while I knew that this would be something I'd have to deal with when I got to Japan, I wanted to be respectful. During this get-together, I had a bit of trouble eating.

“You okay?” Yuka asked. 

“I have a bit of an issue with texture, because of my Autism. So I'm just figuring out what to eat.”

“Oh! Do they know?” She asked. 

“Yeah, I told umm… Renee… But I want to fully immerse myself while I'm here.” 

“Oh,” Yuka said, “Take your time, I promise no one will be offended!”

I knew she was right, but I still felt really awkward. Even back home, I’d always felt uncomfortable advocating for myself when it came to food in other people's homes. It just felt completely rude in another culture. But I was happy that Yuka was making me feel more comfortable and not guilty about it.

To Be Continued…

Season 9.5: Meanwhile In Another Timeline 3 (Greattastic In Japan) Blog 1: The Ugly Sweater Party

 The Ugly Sweater Party

On December 21, 2019, in this alternate timeline, Mom, Dad, and I walked into a friend's house for their yearly ugly sweater party. This house belongs to someone Ryan went to high school with. I was dressed in a Grinch costume that I bought back in 2015. There was not a contest by any means, but based on everyone's reactions, if there had been one, I would have won. 

I spent the first 20 minutes of the party mingling with everybody that I had gotten to know as a result of Cousin Simple. At that point, I got around to talking to the little sister of one of my brother’s friends. Her name was Paige. Now, Cousin Simple had been together for almost three years, and I had talked to Paige a handful of times before. However, she was a lot more reserved than I was, and we never had a full-on conversation. But this night she was drinking and as a result was a little more talkative. 

“Hi Paige,” I said to her.

“Hi Mitchell,” she replied. “I love your costume.”

“Thanks,” I said excitedly, “There's a great story behind it.”

“What is it?” she asked.

The Grinch has always been my favorite character. My “sisters,” the Andersons, and I had a piano teacher growing up, named Renée. She was from Japan and had two daughters who we would watch while she gave lessons to other people. In the spring of 2016, Renee and her family moved back to Japan, and it was really sad. For her last Christmas recital (Christmas 2015), I asked her if I could play You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch, and that’s why I bought the costume.

In the summer of 2019, I realized that college was not for me, so I dropped out. That same week, Renée and her kids came back for a quick visit. She told me she taught English as a second language and said that if I learned to speak Japanese over the next semester, I could come to Japan for a year and teach.

“So,” I told Paige, “That’s what I’m doing! A week from Monday, I’m getting on a plane, and I’m going to be spending at least a year there!” 

“Oh my gosh! That sounds awesome!” She exclaimed. 

“Yeah, I’m really excited,” I said, “ and it’s gonna be really nice because I’m working on publishing my first book, and I’m starting a podcast this year, and I feel like being away from my real life will be really helpful for getting that done!”

Paige and I talked for another 15 minutes or so, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a spark. But number one, she was my brother’s friend’s little sister, and number two, in about a week, I was going to be some 6,000 miles away for (at least) a year. So as I left the party, I knew I wouldn’t think about Paige for a very long time.

On Monday, December 30th, 2019, my parents and my brothers walked me to security at John Glenn International Airport at 7:30 in the morning for my 9:00 flight to Vancouver, with a connection to Tokyo.  After we said goodbye, I walked through security, and I felt butterflies rising from my stomach to my chest. I had only counted my adult life as starting a year before this, and now I was starting a whole new chapter, and I was excited to see what the future held.

To Be Continued…

Season 9.5: Meanwhile In Another Timeline 3 (Greattastic In Japan) Blog 0: A Message From A Teacher

 A Message From A Teacher

Growing up, the Andersons and I had a piano teacher named Renee. When we were teenagers, she moved back to Japan, and it was very heartbreaking for all of us. You, the audience, might remember that there was a brief moment where I almost moved to Japan to teach English as a second language with Renee, back in 2019. Unbeknownst to me, during her pregnancy (2023), August got back in contact with Renee. Unfortunately, August and Emerald were unable to attend my wedding. As the rest of the family was there, and Emerald was supposed to be our flower girl, August was very upset. Arden snapped a few pictures of us after Fr. David said, “You may kiss the bride,” and sent them to August. Feeling even more left out after seeing Paige and my first kiss as husband and wife, she reached out to Renee and let her know what was going on.

Paige and my first dance ended, and I kissed her. Unfortunately, my tux shoes were not that comfortable, and I really wanted to take them off, but I knew that I had to wait. We had the father-daughter dance (they danced to "My Girl"), then the mother-son dance (we danced to "Father and Son"). During that time, the members of Cousin Simple were filing onto the stage behind Mom and me. When Mom and my song ended, our DJ, Ed called my dad and Mrs. O'Brien up to the dance floor as the band started playing the intro to Nothing Sweeter. Paige walked up to meet my dad, and I walked up to meet her mom.

Mrs. O'Brien and my dad were both a little flustered as they made their way to us. “Hi, Mom,” I said to Mrs. O'Brien with a smile as she took my hand. We danced to Nothing Sweeter, and I was very proud of myself for managing to keep this secret since January. About halfway through Nothing Sweeter, Will, the lead singer, called all of the guests up to the dance floor. After Nothing Sweeter, Cousin Simple played Vacation (Taylor Swift), Fast Lane, Talk, Poison Ivy, and then Will called Paige and I up to sing Prima Donna with them. The original chorus for Prima Donna goes, “You're a Prima Donna, it's okay, I am too. Said your name was “Maddie,” Maddie I like the view.” Will decided to change the name “Maddie” to “Paige.” It was honestly a dream to sing with them, and I know I will never be able to sing the words right again. When we had finished, Ed started playing our wedding playlist. I ran to the dance floor and noticed that my coworker, Elizabeth, had taken her shoes off. Since she had already done it I ran as fast as I could to Dad's office so that I didn’t miss much of the reception.

As I untied my shoes, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was roughly 9:00 a.m. the next morning in Japan, so Renee had just woken up and seen August's text, and she immediately sent me one and congratulated me on my marriage. As I read the text, I thought about the time I almost moved to Japan. My life would be so different, I thought, if that had actually happened.

To Be Continued…

Greattastic in Japan Trailer

 Greattastic in Japan Trailer

As you might recall, back in season 1, there was a brief moment where I was going to live in Japan for about a year. I had just dropped out of college, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. A piano teacher of mine, Renée, moved back to Japan in 2016, and came for a visit immediately after I dropped out. She taught English as a second language and suggested that I join her for the 2020 school year. The problem was, as I would later learn, the program wanted me to have four years of college experience (didn’t have to be in education, but I had to have a degree), which kind of defeated the purpose. But that wasn’t how it had to be.

In an alternate timeline, on Saturday, December 15, 2019, I sat with Arden at her parents' house. The previous Thursday, the 13th, Arden (with help from Marshall and me) had flown back from Colorado to surprise the other Andersons, her friend, Jane, and a few others. “So when are you leaving?” Arden asked. 

“On the 30th,” I replied. 

“That’s crazy,” she said. 

“I know!” I continued, “I’m excited about it, but it’s really weird, my last day at Kroger is next Thursday!” 

“Well, that’s exciting!” She said. 

“Yeah,” I said sadly, “it is, but I’ll miss Lilly. And you guys.” 

“That’s fair…” she smiled, “ but you’ll make new friends in Japan!” 

“I know,” I said, “ I guess I’m just feeling a little anxious about it.” 

“It’ll be fine!” She said, “You’re going to be.. Greattastic!”

Rules for a Greattastic Life Season 9.5: Meanwhile In Another Timeline 3 Greattastic in Japan will be out soon!