Hi everyone!
As you might know because of our Connect Moderators conjunct post, we met in Tokyo, Japan last October. As we shared in that post, we got to have discussions and share our opinions about different aspects of the program with Googlers, but we also got to spend time together having fun and exploring, and left with many memorable experiences.
This will be a bit similar to my âLocal Guides equals Connections, of all kinds!â post of 2020, and itâs also connected to it 
- 2017: My first time trying Ramen, and my first japanese food other than Sushi. Before being a Local Guide I used to go to the same places and ordered things I knew I liked, but in 2017 I was a Local Guide for a year already, so it was a part of my personality to try new dishes and places now
. Connect also played a big part in me wanting to try dishes from different cultures.
I went to Nueva Casa Japonesa to try ramen. It was actually Udon, not ramen, which has different - thicker - noodles. I remember not knowing how to eat them and having a hard time using the chopsticks and spoon, but still finding it delicious!
2023: Japanese food is one of my favorites types now, itâs in my top three cuisines for sure 
This year, a couple of weeks after coming back from Japan, I organized my first Japanese food meet up in this same restaurant as an after trip meetup, introducing many to Ramen and other dishes as we talked about the trip.I will post the recap VERY soon!
- 2018: I organized a Japanese Garden photography meet-up, and we joined the tour who taught us about some aspects of the Japanese culture and strong relationship between Argentina and Japan - we got the garden as a gift for receiving so many Japanese immigrants with open arms! Read more in the recap here.
2023: Also a strong relationship between Argentina and Japan Besides meeting Japanese people on the trip, who were always so kind, meetingJapanese Local Guides is also a highlight I want to mention, we met some in the offices, but also more in an night out with them. For that I want to thank the Tokyo Local Guides for organizing it, and even going as far as taking a Kimono for us to try on.
And of course, thank you @HiroyukiTakisawa for helping with not only that, but all our questions previously and when we were in Japan too.
- 2019: As Connect Live 2019 got closer, the attendees made more plans and @Karen offered some books as she was giving them away. I immediately was interested in the one called Memoirs of a Geisha, as even though I knew a bit about Japanese culture by then, I didnât know much about Geishas. I took it home, read it and loved it. I watched the movie last year too.
2023: This is probably the coincidence I found most surprising as I got the invitation, even if it wasnât in Tokyo:
I was fortunate to be able to extend my trip and got to visit other areas besides Tokyo, including Kyoto, where the Geishas in the book are based on. Itâs one of the most traditional, and beautiful, places I visited in Japan. I didnât get to see any Geishas, but did participate in a Tea ceremony and wore a Kimono like them.
Since I had read the book already, I also wanted to give it away. But as it also felt like it had a big significance, I wanted to pass it on to another moderator. And so the plan we were able to accomplish was for all of us to sign a page of the book, and then @JanVanHaver volunteered to take it home, to read and then pass along - and so that will go on, until we want to keep going! @AdamGT also thought of a plan for when we want to get done with it.
- 2020: Since lockdown weâve had an ongoing big but friendly debate (or not so friendly
) with the Argentina Local Guides community, about oreos: if the better ones are covered in black chocolate (yes) or covered in the fake white chocolate. Needless to say, Iâm firmly planted on black chocolateâs side. We have also extended the debate to the Latin American community, and we will keep going - to prove the dark chocolate ones are better.
2023: a superoreo android at Google Japan!! The only thing missing was the black chocolate. I still love it!!
2022: Also, in last yearâs Argentina Local Guidesâs birthday meetup we played table games, and my tableâs last game was King of Tokyo - which I believe I won hehe
2023: The connections themselves
Besides seeing the connection between Japan and so many things related to my experience in the Local Guides program so clearly, another clear thing was the deep connection between us Local Guides and Googlers as well. All of us here on Connect, moderators and not, are so connected to the program. I always have to mention in these posts how amazing it is to have found Connect and people with this same hobby and that also care as much for it, in all our different ways.
In Tokyo I got to connect in person, some for the first time, some after 4 years, and besides all the different countries and native languages we have, in all conversations about the program we understood each other perfectly through our passion, and we also understood each other perfectly when we had to stop to take photos and wait some minutes to get the perfect photo of the food 
The families and companionshave to have also perfectly understood by then that their Local Guide isnât as crazy and annoying, as we all are the same , and we all included them in our Local Guide family as well of course.
Within us and the Googlers working on Maps and asking for our opinions, we also seemed to be connected as they got everything we said, they seemed to get our perspective and share it. Thank you Google!!
The Googler Moderators are always connected to us through this site and having fun with us too, both the Googlers that went to Tokyo in the different roles and the ones who didnât were always a big part of our community, after all, most if not all of them are Local Guides themselves!
It was great to meet people I had met in person in Connect Live 2019, or had met online for so many years. Or âjustâ since 2020 with all the virtual meetups, and so on. I would need a lot more characters to go into detail about the special moments, coincidences, and relationships with so many of our Local Guide family in Tokyo, but I think they will already know this is about them when they read it 
The connection between us Local Guides is what makes all of these connections so great. And it all started here on Connect.
And ainât nobody leavinâ soon, so keep dancinâ
Thank you for reading!
Feel free to share your opinions about Connect and the way it let you connect with others in the comments.
You can also check my Google Maps profile for more photos of the places I got to go in my time in Japan, as well as my photography Instagram if you want, and my more personal Instagram for photos of my experience in Tokyo with the team
capaz y te dan las llaves de la ciudad si ganas jajaja
Either way, Iâm sure weâll keep having fun virtually and in regional meet-ups in the meantime.
jajajaj
Happy guiding!!
Iâm already looking forward to seeing all the EuroMeetup photos and fun youâll have together, and see who ends up with the book too of course.