Japanikate

My Japan

2011-04-25T19:19:00.001-07:00

Hey folks,

I'm over here in Japan, catching up with friends, eating yummy Japanese food, and listening to the birds sing outside my teeny Asagaya apartment. Things have definitely changed around here in Tokyo since March 11th but, in most ways, it's pretty subtle. The lights are dimmer and most elevators aren't being used in order to conserve electricity. There are signs at the grocery store asking people to only buy what they need and not to go hog wild taking all of the bottles of water (those are my words, not theirs ;P ) It's good to see that, for the most part, life is going along as usual.. parents are taking their children to school, elections are being held, engagements are being celebrated (mine!)... Before I my trip, many friends, family members, and coworkers were telling me that I shouldn't go for fear of radiation. I've been keeping myself informed of the radiation levels here in Tokyo and they are not high enough to cause alarm. There have been some pretty steady aftershocks (that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one), but, within a few days I was pretty used to them. If my old crumbly apartment can handle it.. so can I! I'm writing this in the hopes that people back home won't freak out and turn their backs on Japan in her time of biggest need. I think it's important not to ignore the dangers here but also to keep living life as usual. Keep buying imports from Japan, keep coming here on vacation and for business... Although things are getting back to normal pretty quickly in Tokyo, I know there is still so much work to be done up north. There are so many people displaced. They've lost everything. I hope that people outside of Japan won't forget about her once their is bigger news on the television. I guess this has put a lot into perspective for me. I can see humanity in action and I hope to keep doing whatever I can to help others. That's all I guess...

Kate

Tokyo Reunion Yurt Weekend

2010-08-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Some friends with a Tokyo connection got together last weekend for a little reunion a la yurt. Best fun I've had in a while! Great to see old friends, make a few new friends, go back to nature, and find out what a yurt looks like on the inside. Can't wait to do it again next year!

konyaku 【婚約】

2010-06-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Who knew that 4 years after starting this modest little blog that I'd be sitting here writing about my engagement to my favorite Nihonjin? I came to Japan in 2005 thinking that 1 year was an awful long time to live so far from home. I was afraid to walk too far from my Chiba apartment lest I get lost and not be able to find my way home. I thought that Japan was a nice place to visit but that I'd probably never be able to make it my home. The really crazy thing is that I thought, when I met "Tsuji" that we'd never be able to over come the language and cultural barriers we have and, therefore, I wasn't prepared to take him seriously when we first started dating.

It's crazy how life turns out sometimes eh?

I'm not going to go into too much personal detail here but I thought my "Japanikate" experience would not begin to be complete without mentioning this milestone in my life. I had my "sayonara" event @ GARAGE in Shimokitazawa on May 21, 2010. Later that night, my man and I took a taxi home, or so I thought. I knew what was up when the taxi pulled up in front of the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku! We laughed nervously without saying a word as we walked through the strangely quiet carpeted hallways. I thought we would be going up to the bar to have a drink and admire the night view of Shinjuku before he popped the question. I was partly wrong. He pulled out a room key and opened a door on the 46th floor. I've never set foot in such an amazing room! I ran straight to the window and gasped at the breathtaking sight. Sparkling lights and buildings of every dimension filled my vision. Tsuji asked me to be his wife and I, obviously, said yes. We invited some friends up to have champagne with us (we greeted them at the door in bathrobes... but it was PG really!)

I never realized how excited I would be on this day. I'm happy that my journeys in Japan are not over and that, in fact, a much bigger and better journey is about to begin.

Spring Fever

2010-05-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

Fukui and Kanazawa, Golden Week 2010

It's been one great happening after the next this Spring. Instead of writing a long entry for each happening, I'm just going to smoosh it all together into one... because I am "namakemono" (lazy). At long last, the Loyal We celebrated the release of our album "Homes." We played our hearts out after a 6 month hiatus. 3 shows, 2 of them as part of Momoko Ando's beautiful film "Kakera" which I'm proud we could be a part of (our song "Box is a Rocket" is in the movie) We had our cd release party on May 2nd at Tsukimiru Kimi Omou in Aoyama. There is a lovely big moon that hangs over the stage, making it seem like endless nighttime indoors. Meanwhile, the sun was shining brightly outside. Our friend and producer of the album, Allon, opened the show with sitar and bright pop songs with satirical lyrics. Lindsay popped into Japan for a week and, in between rehearsals, sound checks, and shows, we revisited some of her favorite hot spots and introduced her to a new one (pun intended.. we went to Chofu's Yukari onsen) After that exciting whirlwind, I headed down by night bus to Fukui with Makoto and Ian and visited the Tada family during Golden Week. Aki, my roommate from last year and very good friend, has invited us to his childhood home several times previously and we've always been unable to go. I'm happy we could finally meet his family and see where he came from. The Tada's gave us the royal treatment. The first night, we were treated to a barbecue feast, Japanese style. We drank premium sake, ate until we couldn't move, and then were dragged out of our chairs into the streets to set off fireworks with Aki's nephew and nieces. The children particularly liked Makoto and kept calling him "Hitsuji-san" (sheep man), a play on words.. his last name is "Tsuji." I never knew he was so good with kids! We all became kids again as we ran through the dark streets playing man hunt. During the daylight hours, we visited some of Fukui's famous sights... Eiheiji Temple(where we found a neat little antique shop and I bought a wooden box over a century old), the cliffs of Tojimbo (where we climbed up and down rocks like little ants, ate squid ice cream, and saw the famous phone booth where would-be suicides can call for help), Echizen, and Fukui-jo, Fukui's castle. We got there a bit late but we could enjoy the surrounding scenery and a nice view of town. Aki's family treated us to another wonderful dinner at a local izakaiya on the second night. Again, I found myself in a food coma, and the boys got quite drunk on several rounds of sake. In the morning, Aki's mother, Keiko-san, outdid herself with an incredible breakfast of sashimi, miso, fresh veggies and pickles, rotten beans "natto" (which I actually enjoyed very much) and rice. We were invited to come back any time, "even without Aki." hah! We said goodbye to Aki and his family and headed off to Kanazawa for a few hours before returning to Tokyo. In Kanazawa, we saw the geisha district (but no geisha sadly) and I admired the architecture of the old tea-houses. We sipped tea and ate sweets at one tea house while looking out into the garden. I got a few ideas for my "future house"... I hope to make it a reality some day when I'm rich and famous. Kanazawa reminded me a bit of Kyoto on a smaller scale. The day seemed charmed as everything we set out to do was managed with perfect timing yet no planning. Finally, we took the train home.. we were very lucky that Makoto had the foresight to book our return tickets ahead of time.. most passengers had to stand for the long ride home.

This year, May seems more fragrant then I remember. The scent of lilacs often finds its way into my apartment at night and I feel "natsukashi" (nostalgic) for Japan even while I'm still here. It makes me sad to think another "sayonara" is just around the corner.

Nokogiriyama wa noborimashita (I climbed Sawtooth Mt.)

2010-03-25T20:47:00.001-07:00

Nokogiriyama, Chiba

March 22, 2010. Three banana hikers and their trusty guide dog set out to climb Nokogiriyama (Sawtooth Mountain). They packed the essentials... beer... chips... chocolate...bananas...and dog treats. It was a steep climb, lots of steps, but they made it to the top despite several beer breaks, the making of a dance video, a chocolate thieving 2 year old, and a noisy bell-wearing ojisan who yelled at them for unleashing the mighty Mamaru (he's a Chihuahua). The view: gorgeous. The hike: a two year old can do it..but gluteal muscles will get a work out. Overall: a great day!

Mamimi Atami

2010-03-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

Izu, Mamimi Recording session

A few weeks ago I went down to Atami with Makoto's band, Mamimi Fouksong, and our friend Ian. While Mamimi and Ian were recording for their next album at Yuki's house, Yukie, Koji, and I strolled around the hilly streets of Atami. Atami is well known for it's mikans (tangerines) and onsen (hot springs) and lesser known for its stealthy cats. Where there is a cat, there you will most likely find a Kate. Yuki's childhood home was really great! Spacious and a little spooky, it was neat to spend the night within it's papery walls and tatami floors. I loved sipping my morning coffee in the tranquil Japanese garden. Sadly, this home will soon be demolished to make way for her family's new house which will accomodate her brother's family as well. Yuki was feeling a bit natsukashi (nostalgic) during her last stay in her childhood home. It was a quick visit but the band was able to finish recording and I got a little break from city life.

Kichi

2010-01-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! Happy New Year everyone! I haven't written since August??? Could this be right? Well, I suppose it's fitting since I was in the U.S. from October to early January. I'm very sad to say that my lovely grandmother, Emily Cecilia Sikora, passed away shortly after my arrival. I could say goodbye and kiss her cheek which meant a lot to me. Being home felt really good. I saw old friends and family, worked at my old job for a bit... I felt like I was in a time warp.

Fast forward to January 2010...

I'm back in Tokyo with Makkun. Now, we live in a tiny 2 room apartment which has a few issues but, overall, I'm happy in this place. The rooms are tatami, it's quiet, the old furniture fits here in a way it never did in our old apartment. I'm not so thrilled about the power going out when I want to keep the heat on and use the microwave at the same time, or that it takes about 15 steps to get hot water in the shower 1) switch on the gas 2) push another gas button thing 3) hold down the knob for about 20 seconds 4) turn the knob... while I'm standing naked, shivering, waiting for glorious hot water. It takes a little getting used to.

The first week passed in a flash and so did most of my money that I brought with me. I have to readjust my idea about money. I've scoured craigslist.com and gaijinpot.com for jobs. I've considered professional babysitting, voice acting, even medical testing for athlete's foot (I don't have athlete's foot by the way) Something has to come through soon!

A copy of the Loyal We album (my band) has finally come in the mail after lots of waiting (and waiting). I'm proud of us! I hope we get to do some touring now! The album will be in stores on January 20th. Now I'm waiting (and waiting and waiting) to hear when our release party will happen. Hopefully I can survive on the pauper diet until then.

I went to a shrine with Makoto the other day to get my "omikugi," or "fortune," for the new year. With trepidation, I shook the box, pulled out the thin little stick, and handed it to the woman. In return, she handed me a thin piece of paper. I didn't look as Makoto read aloud, "Kichi, good fortune." It seems that 2010 is going to be my year! Of course, if it were a bad fortune, I wouldn't have believed it.

Later that day, we went to Usaya in Shimokitazawa. I've mentioned Usaya in a previous post. It's a great little place in a crumbling little alley way. Monday was their 2nd anniversary party and our friend, Takachiho, was going to play. It cost 3,000 yen for "nomihodai" (all you can drink) and "tabehodai" (all you can eat). Mak and I don't have 2 yen to rub together but we wanted to see our friend Yoko and Washi before the head off to California. We sucked it up, spent the dough, and were rewarded with a wonderful night of hot wine, good friends, and I got to try my hand at making mochi! Mochi is a glutinous sticky rice that is traditionally made and eaten during the new year. Some folks were dressed as a cat, bird, ram, and rabbit in colorful patchwork costumes. They looked amazing!

Now I sit, still in my pjs (being jobless has some benefits), and ready to get dressed, go out and do something, anything. I'll let you know how it goes.

Usaya

Mom and Dad Take Japan!

2009-10-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

Ueno Park

more photos here!!!

Mom and Dad in Japan

Her existence had been wrapped in puzzle

2009-08-04T05:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy busy week since my Fuji Rock experience and I haven't had a second, until now, for reflection. 3 years ago I came to Japan with a silly little dream that I could play Fuji Rock, Japan's biggest music festival, someday if I wished hard enough. I'm sure there was a little more to it than just wishing but I do feel truly lucky to have been given the experience to play the Rookie-a-go-go stage. I'm still not sure how it went, seems like a dream. I remember taking deep breathes back stage and trying to remember the simple Japanese phrases that I was planning to say in between songs 2 and 3 and 5 and 6. All of that went out of my mind as I approached the stage. There was a chaotic little sound check where my guitar kept feeding back... I believe the feed back must have continued through out our set but that's what I get for playing a rock stage at a festival with my acoustic guitar. I couldn't believe how many faces there were in the audience! The Rookie stage wan't THAT big but I still didn't imagine that there would be such a good turn out for a little unknown like me. 30 minutes whipped by in seconds and all I remember are the smiling faces, cameras, my guitar feeding back, lots of reverb, and being incredibly excited. I was dissappointed that it was over so soon. I can't really assess how it went. I saw that there is something written about it on the Fuji Rock page in Japanese but, when translated into English, it looks something like this....

Woman Singer [songuraita] of Tokyo residence. With saying, it is the artist of the American. When her name is attached to the eye with line-up, data gathering was tried first. But, being the place where it tries searching, at all powerful ones are not found. In by your, her existence had been wrapped in puzzle. 　As for [raivu] nighttime 24: Start to fixed carving/moment of 00. Time is slow the people of the multitude has stopped the foot in spite. In center, obtained [akogi] the small-statured woman who one person. She is KATE SIKORA. In addition, [raivu] it is unfolded with 4 human formation of the base, the drum and the keyboard. 　As for performance, as the kind of music which power comes out softly is many, you think. Quite with like whether you inquire about voice of, it is feature directly to adapt to the ear. You probably can say that the exhaustion impression is strong. Furthermore, announcing also the number which has the speed impression. Stage is colored steadily in the colorful pop impression. And, the performance which does not have the times when never it decorates. It probably will keep bearing the feeling good quality which cannot say the music characteristic at all. 　With latest [raivu], as for her isn't probably 踏 to produce new step? It extends still and conceals margin. So without feeling, you do not enter. While accumulating various [raivu], one taste and cover taste are the expectation where charm becomes deep. It is good point in the future, how it keeps growing that.

is that good? I can't tell...but I like that my "stature is small" and that my "existence is wrapped in puzzle."...how true! Walking around the next day at Fuji Rock, before checking out Dinosaur Junior, Animal Collective, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Weezer (among others), I sat down with Makoto and my extremely small, expensive, and yet delicious slice of pizza. As I complained about how extremely small and expensive the pizza was, two girls turned around and said ケイトシコラですか？　きのはRookie stage みった！、、、、、 or something like that. (Are you Kate Sikora? We saw you on the Rookie stage yesterday) So there in the multitudes someone could spot small-statured me in the crowd (while I was complaining no less ) . It felt pretty good I have to say. I hope that there will be opportunities like this in the future and that people could enjoy the show. Thanks Fuji Rock! Next year... I hope the band and I will play SXSW!

Zaa Zaa....ざあざあ

2009-05-26T03:56:00.000-07:00

One of the beautiful things about the Japanese language is how much you can get by on onomatopoeia. "Pera Pera" refers to how fluently one speaks. "Doki Doki" the beating of a nervous heart. "Gucha Gucha" is messy and "Fuwa Fuwa" could describe a fluffy pillow. "Don don," the sound of work and stress piling up. As I have proven not to be so "pera pera" when it comes to speaking Japanese, I am grateful for the mixture of sounding words and hand motions which enable me to "niko niko" with friends, be "poka poka" in the winter, and sit down and "mogu mogu" at restaurants from time to time whilst living in Japan.

I had one of those rare heartwarming experiences recently which arise once in a while to remind me how much I should appreciate the life I am living. "Zaa Zaa" said the rain as I stood on a creaking stool ("mishi mishi") playing music for a gathering of friendly faces under the soon-to-be-torn-down shed-like tunnels of Shimokitazawa. The all-you-can-drink (nomihodai) and all-you-can-eat (tabehodai) acoustic music event was held at Usaya, a tiny bar/restaurant in this hip neighborhood of Tokyo which is on the cusp of being developed into giant ugly high-rise apartment buildings. The 2 staff members worked tirelessly with smiles on their faces, filling glass after glass with sangria, wine, beer, shochu... and placing dishes piled high with oishi (yummy) eggplant, somen noodles, grilled fish, plump shrimp and crisp vegetables.... which were ravished within seconds. The bar's ground floor was too tiny to accommodate everyone so people spilled out onto the street. Luckily there was a roof, albeit leaky roof, over the alley way. Soon the rain hammered down... "ZAA ZAA ZAA ZAA!!!" drowning out the sounds of the "pecha kucha" chattering. One adventurous spirit danced out from underneath our cozy shelter... she was soaked instantly. Andi (from Autumn Collective, and SF)started out the evening crooning what I think were romantic songs in German (my German is no where near as amazing as my Japanese)and we all "yeah yeahed" along with him. Tyler Ensrude took the "stage" (aka bottom of a ladder) next. I never would have pictured his rustic alt-country songs as "cute" but that's what the crowd was exclaiming. His voice is so gravelly sincere...I wish there was onomatopoeia to describe it. Takachiho livened things up with his ultra-funky dance moves and Tsuji's puppet-like jig was a hit. It never fails to make me crack up. Next it was my turn. I've played some pretty strange places in my time (a supermarket parking lot, a geology museum, in front of winos in Ireland...) Now I can say I played standing on a stool during a torrential downpour. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a different perspective (haha) After me, Takachiho (from the band SF)swaggered out some tunes in his throaty Jagger-esque fashion and then, to quiet things down, Mike and Andrew (from the band Karenin) brought some folks upstairs to Usaya's loft to ease our over-boozed minds with "pitter patters" on pillows with flickering lights. As I looked around me I felt so content to be where I was at that moment in time. These things can never be planned. I know there will be many big changes in my life soon and I already feel nostalgic for these moments in Japan. I am grateful to my friends Mike and Tyler for sharing some photos taken at this event. ありがとう

Spring Chicken

2009-04-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

This has been a momentous 5 months since my last post. I recorded a song for Avocado Records with my band in a top of the line recording studio (Studio Terra, EMI) in January, we opened for Why? at O-West in February, there have been shows, visits from friends, teaching preschool, a mixtape picnic in Yoyogi, a trip to a sake brewery, good times, and lots of thinking. (no that is not a typo, I did not intend to write "drinking" although there was much of that as well) I've been thinking about the next step. Coming to Japan was a big step and, for the past 3 years there have been lots of little and medium steps in many directions. Tokyo has been very good for me, to put a blanket over my whole amazing experience, but I sense that I need to start preparing for another big step...or a leap perhaps? As my mother says "You're no spring chicken" (thanks mom) so of course I feel pressure to move in the right direction. I've had a tough but rewarding year teaching preschool. It's a good job, despite being exhausting. I know that it consumes my creativity and energy, leaving me with not much to write songs with. It's time to move on from there. I'd been having stress dreams and feeling numb and unmotivated from time to time and then, I came upon this thing I wrote this time last year in an random notebook (with a chiuaua on the front that says "Sweet Dear Dogs: A dog is tame with a person well, and there can be things obeying instructions depending on training well."

"So I just got off the phone with *****. Big news... she's going to be married this friday! The 13th! Ok, so people get married ever day but this is BIG because she has fallen head over heels in a matter of a month and its kind of making my head spin... but then, I start thinking "why is my head spinning?" and all the things I've been told since my childhood came flooding into my mind. "Marriage is a sacred vow which should be given deep thought before rushing into it" that "You've got to truly know someone first" (ie. date for x amount of years, not live with them before marriage (ha!)) Then there was the conversation Linz and I had the other night while making lentil soup. Lindsay said, "Nothing really matters" I chimed in with "anyone can see...nothing really matters to meeee!" and, with that, she cut chunks of honey colored hair off the back of her head... which made me think about my preschool class and how I'm teaching them about planets and how they orbit the sun, and how, when stars get really old, they explode... and how the sun is a really old star...which made me think that our days could be numbered...which also made me think "Wow! how do planets know to orbit in a circular path and why are they spherical to begin with?" Nothing makes sense. Or. Nothing makes no sense. And. Double negatives cancel eachother out... I swear I was going somewhere with this. I remember, as a child, thinking, "When I grow up I'm going to have a house and all the cabinets will be filled with boxes of macaroni and cheese." And now, I'm an adult and, although my cabinets occasionally have a box of mac'n'cheese, not the ideal from my childhood, I'm living a new ideal life. I had a whim to move to Japan. I did. I've found so much happiness here (my man, my band, my friends) and it's all because I followed a whim. A whim could be as small as a chunk of hair or as big as a decision to get married but, the key is not to think too much about what will make you happy and that is what is going to make you happy."

Reading this, I felt calm again. My dreams returned to their odd fantastical state and I re-realized that I'm a pretty lucky person. That this current stress will pass and that I'll find my home again. Japan will always be a home to me even after I leave here. Nothing is "for good" except death and even that is questionable.

RATS!

2008-12-20T09:46:00.001-08:00

Apparently our apartment now has them.

You say Oita, I say Oita.

2008-12-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

It was Friday and I woke up at 7am. For me, waking up on Friday at 7am is a rare treat. You see, Thursday was a 1/2 day of work and our school's Christmas party. There was paella, beer, pizza, tandoori chicken (which stained my fingers yellow for 3 days), sushi, and samosas... the international food gamut was run. After a rousing game of "Dirty Santa" where no one was really happy with the gifts they received...except Alex who got a pair of shiny gold high top slippers, and Adelfa who got a 1,000 yen gift certificate and a bottle of booze (I got a rum cake which I had no chance to eat), we all went home to begin our much earned winter holiday.

I went home to pack for a 5 day adventure to Oita. Megumi planned the whole thing and, thus, Lindsay and I shut our overworked brains off for a few days of soothing hot spring baths and yummy food that is supposedly only found in Oita. We were to hear this repeatedly during our trip as Japanese people not from Tokyo LOVE to educate foreigners on how their home town specialties are far superior to the metropolis's "over-priced" and "not so fresh" cuisine. Oita's miso, shoyu (soy sauce), chicken, tofu were, in fact, perhaps the tastiest food I've had in a long time but, just for the record, I think you can find incredible food all over Japan. Megumi's mother picked us up from the airport and took us to our first Oita onsen. Our bare bodies froze in the cold mountain air as we prepared to sink into the steamy hot spring. It was worth the wait! The first night, we stayed in Oita City and played a show at At Hall. The night was a lot of fun and we ended it by going to a cozy little place called "Beautiful Purasu" (beautiful place) Everyone giggled over wine, "sato imo" (sugar potatoes), and yummy "nabe" (basically a big bowl where lots of veggies and tofu are thrown in to make a soup) Everything, except the laughter, came to a stop for a few minutes when a fuse blew. I'd love to go to that beautiful place again some day. For the next 2 nights, we stayed in a great guest house in Beppu (Beppu Guest House) where Megumi's friend, Tomoko, works and lives an artist lifestyle. We met some travelers from Spain, Mexico, Holland?, and Switzerland and an adorable Japanese family celebrating their anniversary of moving to Beppu. I was charmed by little Kiwa and her mother Kyoko as they played hide and seek around the sofa.

We were very lucky to have Megumi's family as tour guides throughout the trip. Her parents drove us up and down mountains, gave us tours of old castles, a samurai village (Usuki), and stone Buddhas, took us to the top of a volcano, to mountain view restaurants where we could watch our lunch's final struggle as it wriggled on sticks smoking in the fire (I almost cried), to a hidden restaurant where we opened our bento boxes to find the most succulent treasures inside, and to a place where we could eat miso and shoyu ice cream (yum!). Her parents invited us into their home to eat fugu sashimi (or blow fish as we know it) and drink a potent flaming fugu sake. Megumi's dad charmingly and proudly announced that we'd be having "globe fish" for dinner. We all got slightly hammered as Kiku, San San, and Charmy, their 3 lovable cats, hovered around the table looking for handouts.

I could finally see the place Megumi has lovingly talked about throughout our friendship. I can understand her nostalgia and love of her birth place and artistic growth. Visiting these places with her and her family made me miss my home and family. The timing was perfect as I had planned to head home to surprise my parents for Christmas a day after returning to Tokyo from Oita. So here I am in Jersey...eating especially good meatballs and spaghetti which can only be found in the boondocks of Boonton, NJ in the Sikora household, made by my dad.

My apartment.

2008-12-01T05:21:00.000-08:00

In my apartment I can sit on the floor and drink tea to the sound of old Japanese men singing Enka through the paper thin walls. My bathroom's name is Rush Limbaugh and sometimes I can hear rock and roll music during week nights when I sit on the toilet. There are cockroaches in summer and, to my dismay, they like the silver ware drawer. On Saturdays when I sleep until 10:00 my apartment shakes because of the construction of a 60 floor monstrosity in my block. The new apartment complex threatens the life of a tiny house standing strong in the shadows of the growing building. The owner wants to live in that house forever and will not be bought. The construction already claimed the lives of the coffee house I liked and a neighborhood record shop where I bought a cd of Brazilian lullabies, Tom Petty, and Papas Fritas for 700yen. The first time I felt the tremors, I thought it was an earthquake and so I went back to sleep. I have neighbors. I know this because I hear them washing and climbing with heavy feet up the stairs before my alarm goes off on week days. This is annoying but I'll never say anything about it. I hang my laundry on the balcony. It's sunny and I can see the rooftops of the other houses. I often think I'll sit up there some night with a bottle of wine. Some times I can see renegade cats with short tails creeping into our "garden." They don't want to be noticed but I like to see them drinking rain water that collects in the stone basin. I always wonder why their tails are so short? In my apartment there is a piano. The owner bought the piano a long time ago and, when she moved, she couldn't get it through the door. The piano stays. It was the main selling point when we decided to rent this place however, we never play it. The piano is out of tune. It makes a really nice desk. Some day I hope we get it tuned. The apartment is 1 minute from Asagaya station. I timed it once. I can hear the song that plays every time a train arrives at the station. That's about every 10 minutes. It's a nice song though, much better than Enka. I leave my apartment at 7:10 exactly and it gives me enough time to get to the station, climb the stairs, and some times buy a hot yuzu drink before I board the 7:13 train. Yuzu tastes like lemons but better. One day I left my house at 7:10 and, as I walked toward the station, I realized that I'd left my train card in my house. I hesitated for a moment before dashing back into the house...running up the stairs...only to find that the card had been in my pocket the whole time. I ran all the way to the station and caught the train...completely out of breath and with no yuzu drink. I'm living in my apartment with two Japanese men. One of them is my boyfriend. He and I have different tastes in decorating. He's a minimalist and likes name brands. I am cluttered and most of my things are bought second hand. I think the living room should be cozy and I want a comfy sofa and a rug. My boyfriend likes the straight-backed chairs we bought and doesn't want to buy a rug. Our other roommate would probably agree with me but he's never home. Like the typical salary man, he works too hard, smokes too much, never eats at home, and, sometimes I think he sleeps in manga cafes. I miss him. He's a good person to talk to. The landlord has no idea that I live here. She's probably a nice person because she likes pianos, however she, like many Japanese land lords, doesn't want to rent to foreigners. Maybe she doesn't know that I plant tulips and scrub tiles. Or that I wash dishes and I distain cockroaches. Maybe she wouldn't mind my living here if she knew.

Writer's Block (Blog?)

2008-10-20T03:56:00.000-07:00

The fact that my last blog is some kind of "prose" on the joys and sorrows of teaching preschool says a lot about the current state of things in my creative life and I'm not pleased. I think that my job 007ed its way into my creative life and there is a risk of it taking over. In fact, I think my job has become my creative life. I realized this when for the millionth time, I picked up my guitar and nothing happened...I plugged in my microkorg and zoned out with the thunderstorm/bombs falling sound...then I tried the ukulele with a tad more progress... I found myself beating the living room chairs with drumsticks and whistling through a recorder playing "Red River Valley" (a leftover tune from 3rd grade that is still apparently taking up precious space in the corners of my mind)... I'm in a creative rut. In fact I've used the word "creative" 5 times already within the first paragraph of this blog which is proof of my predicament. I'm finally going to put my priorities back in order... yes, the teaching thing pays the bills and it's a good job but I can't let it suck the artist out of me.

Last month I and Lindsay (aka The Loyal We) had the incredible good fortune to go on a mini tour with One One and Can Can from Tokyo to Nagoya and Osaka. One One is made up of members of Deerhoof (Greg and Satomi) and Tenniscoats (Saya and Ueno). Not only were they exciting to watch on stage but they are all very down to earth good people. It was the first time I got to hang out with (and by "hang out" I mean go on a road trip with) people who actually make a living making music and touring. Being on tour with them and hearing their positive reactions to our music made this dream of mine seem attainable. The Loyal We finished recording our album months ago and the whole process of final mixes, mastering, art work, PV shooting etc etc is moving along at a snail's pace. Somewhere along the way I lost my focus. Playing that tour and finally meeting with our label after several reschedulings seems to be getting me back on track. Hopefully my abilities of making ponchos out of brown paper bags and deigning ways to distract 3 year olds from killing each other will translate into song writing once again.

Ok now I've spent enough time on the computer and it's time to go change those guitar strings. Here are some photos from the tour :)

One One Tour

Pre-school

2008-09-03T03:15:00.000-07:00

Spilled yogurt on pants, teacher wants me to be independent, vomit on another child's bib, an upset stomach, 5 times to the toilet only to wet himself as we're finally ready to go outside, he's forgotten his fork, he won't eat his lunch, she won't put on shoes, they won't listen, they don't want to go to the park, they cry and cry, she sleeps at dismissal every day, mothers want explanations, fathers want a checklist to measure success... they are 3 years old.

This is my daily experience and it is no wonder I come home and take a 2 hour nap every day.

Some how though... she smiles brilliantly and asks "Why?", he crouches and becomes a lion, he says "please", and "it's only ok for teachers to scream" (!), she rolls her eyes to the sky and laughs, he makes a tunnel through my legs, he makes me a sandy icecream cone, they say goodmorning Miss Kate, they say "Mommy will be happy," and give eachother smiles.

This is also my daily experience and it helps me to come back to school each morning.

Time in a Bottle

2008-08-25T03:58:00.000-07:00

The number one question Japanese friends ask me is, "Why did you come to Japan?" and, for that, I have several generic answers. 1) I loved Japanese food 2) I wanted to know more about Japanese culture 3) I wanted to travel and I had the opportunity to go to Japan. All of these things are true but, the more I think about it, the less clear my true intentions become. The number one comment my friends in America make to me is "You're so brave to move to Japan." But really, I came to Japan to just run away from the alternative... settling down. Now, as I creep closer to 30, I find myself wistfully looking at my married friends, or soon to be married friends, and wondering how I got so far from that life. Sometimes Japan seems like Never Never land. You're a kid in a candy shop and then, suddenly, you look up at the calendar and 3 years have passed. It's not so rare to meet people like me. We come to Japan to experience something new, teach English, and then get sucked into the easy life. Hate your job? Quit! There's bound to be another English teaching job around the bend. Then there's the matter of transportation... nothing could be easier (I realized this when I went back home for a month this summer and rode the subways in New York) My passion, playing music and writing songs, has taken off here and now it's gotten so busy I have to turn down gigs. I wonder if it would be more brave to move back to the U.S. and start all over again? Is that just me running away from committments again? This has been the question on my mind recently but it couldn't have come at a worse time. I am in a good relationship with a great Japanese guy, I finally found a well-paying honest school to work for, and my band is going to release an album on a Japanese label in a few months. It sounds like life couldn't be better but still I get stuck in the doldrums when I feel time slipping away. I'm sure it's a mixture of homesickness, stress, and crappy weather but these thoughts don't ever seem to be too far from my thoughts. The thought of living a cookie cutter life scares the hell out of me but so does taking the unbeaten path. I suppose I should stop analyzing and measuring where I should be at this stage in my life but, as a woman, it's impossible not to notice all the weddings and baby showers or keep from wondering when is it my turn? or, more accurately, when will I be ready for that?

a letter to a friend

2008-05-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

Hi there kerr bear,
first of all I am genki (that means I'm fine) I'm living in a tiny space with Makoto and all my stuff is still in boxes and hidden away in places I can't find. We are hoping to move into a house that we found (it comes with a piano!) but the one big downfall is a little thing called "key money" that the Japanese dreamed up to make people go completely broke when moving into new digs. Key money is like a 1.5 month deposit that you never ever get back and it's usually accompanied by a 2 months deposit as well (which you do get back but still, your checking account is pretty slammed when you take out all that money at once)

I'm working now as a preschool teacher at *********** (which is approximately a 15 minute bike ride from my old apartment, and a 1 hour commute from where I live now...) My kids are 4 and 5 and way too smart for their own good.. cheeky brats. 7 of the kids are Japanese and 1 girl is Australian.. my heart goes out to her because the other kids arent the nicest to her.. but she's a survivor

Music is going really well. The band sounds better and better and Lindsay and I are recording our debut album at the moment. We have an indie label called Contrarede putting out our cd but we have yet to sign any contract and the album is almost finished.. we'll see how that goes! Makoto and his band want to come to the US in August but they really want to see the great midwest. I've been there, done that, and I really want to see my family and friends so get ready! I sent in an audition demo to play the Fuji Rock festival (on a tiny stage of course) so I'm waiting to hear if we got in. If we do, I'll be heading home after the festival. If not, I'll be heading home by mid July until mid August. It's not enough time but I'll take what I can get.

I took a yoga class on Sunday and I'm still feeling it today (Wednesday) so I think I'm going to keep going. I need to get in shape if I want to be a rockstar right.
I miss you like crazy kiddo. I hope you find a good job and that you can be boss of the world. I'd work for you.
Love you love you love you
Kate

Oji-chan

2008-04-04T05:19:00.001-07:00

Well, it's taken me about 20 years but I've finally regained my belief in Santa Claus. Did you know he's a Japanese octogenarian? Sitting in the priority seating section of the train I was next to 3 little girls who were hiding smiles behind their fingers and peaking at me now and then. I was absorbed in Paul Auster's The Red Notebook (love it so far) and didn't notice the tiny wrinkly man approaching. To my left was a very slim fashionable mother of two young children who were clinging to her legs. Deep in the pages of my book I was totally zoned out after a full day of teaching. I heard a grunting noise and when I looked up I saw that the old man was motioning for the 3 girls to move over and make space. I thought, being that this was the priority seating part of the train, he was trying to tell us young whipper snappers that we should make space for him, a deserving priority passenger who should be sitting there (injured people, the elderly, pregnant women, and parent's with small children). Instead, when the girls moved over, he motioned to the mother with the two small children that they should sit. Of course there was only about enough space for the tiny boy alone. I jumped to my feet, realizing my rudeness, and offered my seat to his older sister. The ojisan (old man) smiled at me and said "Thank you" in English. The little girls looked at him like they had been chastised for taking up space until he pulled some sticks of chewing gum out of his pocket and offered a piece to each child on the bench seat. The girls thanked him graciously, unwrapped their treat, and popped it into their mouths. When they reached their destination, they thanked him again and left the train. Oji-chan (grandfather) turned to me and motioned that I should sit down. "Daijoubu desu" (it's alright) I replied though, at this point, more seats had cleared and I ended up sitting across from Oji-chan and the little boy and girl. He started to engage them in conversation and the children's shy expressions soon turned into laughter and chatter. I couldn't help but smile. That experience was my piece of gum for the day.

Inspire and hold it...

2008-03-25T01:37:00.000-07:00

I’ve been spending some time in clinics these days. Not the mental ones, they don’t seem to have many of those in Japan or so I’ve heard, the medical ones. I think it’s the novelty of actually having health insurance again in my life. Even though I pay for it myself, it’s still a whole lot cheaper than in the states. Yeah, ok, the bedside manner here isn’t always the best.. I had one doctor actually ask me what I wanted him to do during my health check up... but I did have 2 wisdom teeth pulled (and got the drugs too man) for a measley 5,000yen (that’s about 50 USD). My dentist was completely shocked when I told him to pull out both of those suckers at the same time. It seems that, in Japan, they like to pull one out at a time so you can chew on the other side of your face (ha!) The sound of having them yanked was much worse than the pain. I’ll have to remember that when I go to get the last one pulled this summer.
Last week was the annual "Kate completely loses her voice for a few days and then gets a husky new one for a few more days" event. I knew I was done for when I was doing my trial lesson at a kindergarten where I was interviewing. Somewhere between music time and art project time my voice left me and didn’t return in time to get the phone call telling me I’d gotten the job (whoo hoo!) I was afraid to pick up the phone because all I could do was whisper. Finally I went to my doctor who gave me some more drugs.. 3 different kinds!
This morning I went to yet another clinic for the school’s mandatory physical. Miss Etsuko from the school came along with me to interpret and she was lucky to see not just one, but both of my cupcakes when the nurse nonchalantly lifted my shirt to check my breathing. How’s that for bonding with coworkers! Later I got to flash my boobs a few more times as they attached an EKG-thangy. Atleast there will be no question that I’m healthy.. in fact.. the doctor said I have the blood vessels of a 24 year old! Wowzers! it’s miniskirts and pumps for me this Spring! Finally it was time to do an x-ray to check anything else they may have missed during the other exams. The doctor told me to "inspire and hold it for a few moments" while he pushed the button to take the x-ray. "Ok, now INSPIRE!" The sweet man, of course, meant to say "inhale" but I didn’t have the heart to tell him and anyway, it was pretty inspiring just to hear him say it.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Changes...

2008-03-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

The end of February and most of March have been a blur. I'm sitting in my room in Sangenjaya with boxes and dust bunnies piled up around me... wondering how this will all fit into Makoto's tiny apartment (minus the dust bunnies I hope). Seems like I'm always trying to pack "the stuff" in my life to fit into yet another smaller space. I wasn't born with nomadic skills.. only a nomadic spirit. I find that the less material stuff I have, the freer I feel but somehow I can't manage to unload it all. I've started with little pieces.. giving away the very cute striped dress to Ya-chan and the excellent books I've already read to Linzer.

Two days ago I said goodbye to Tanya and I'm feeling pretty bummed about it. She's my friend I can bitch to without regret because she knows she can bitch to me too. I am happy that she's going to be experiencing many new adventures in New York and I know I'll see her there before I know it.. but I'm still sad just the same. My Japan is ever-changing with every friend who comes and goes.

A few weeks ago I finished working at a language school. There were good times and bad times but, overall, I was happy there. I loved my students and the friends I made. I decided I wouldn't settle for anything other than amazing this time around. This morning I signed a contract with Komazawa Park International School and I'll be teaching 4-5 year old children. These kids are from various countries and I'm psyched to be teaching something other than English. Psyched as I am, I'm still a little nervous about the newness of everything. New apartment, new job, new new new. It's funny how all of these changes are happening with the onset of spring. I can't wait for Sakura season!

Lindsay and I went into the studio to record our album. I'm really proud of what we've done so far and I can't wait to hear the finished product. We are being supported by the Contrarede record label and the manager is the nicest person. He invited us over for dinner cooked by his lovely wife yesterday. Unfortunately I have laryngitis and all I could do was bark and whisper. I sound like a 60 year old chain smoker. For some reason most people seem to think that is sexy.

Invitation

2008-02-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

I'm an invitation to drama
a silent sealed envelope
irresistible for tearing
unstuck glue and shredded address
I wish to be returned or given
carefully steamed and secret
unharmed with enclosures intact
but changing so many hands
grabbed and passed around
the address is illegible
I'd like to sit between pages
an open book
gentle hands
or even flame

My Target Deer

2008-01-12T02:16:00.000-08:00

Year of the Rat 2008

Can it be that the last blog I wrote was in November? I used to take time to write a lot more. I'm more of an ink on paper kind of girl though.. I know, excuses excuses. At times I feel sick of trying to put everything in a tangible form, be it photos or blogs. I know that I will be forever grateful to be able to look back and see where I've been and remember how clueless about the future I was (and forever will be). I never thought I'd be in Japan so long and now I'm contemplating extending my stay even more. My life isn't glamorous and I don't think it ever will be. I know some folks back home may think the contrary simply because I'm living in a place as exotic as Tokyo. Tokyo has lost it's shiny new sheen for me though and it's been replaced with something a little deeper. Maybe this is why the blogs are slowing down. I no longer find the quirky wonders awaiting on every undiscovered corner that once were so abundant but this place feels more and more like a home. This tears me apart because I have another home on the distant shores of New Jersey and I love my family and friends there so much. I love my friends here so much too which makes it hard to imagine leaving this place. I enter 2008 with lots of energy wanting to be directed into something. On January 4th, Makoto and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary of our first date by going to Asakusa. A sea of shiny haired heads lead us up to the shrine where I tossed my 5 yen coin and made my wish for the new year. We pulled our fortunes out of tiny drawers... Good Fortune. The strangely apropos paper said, "Red clouds move and cover your way, and sign of being fortunate is always on your way. An arrow you shoot always gets a target, everything you do will get quite well. Your target deer runs far away thousands miles ahead, so you should watch the direction of your arrow. Nobody knows that a deer will run away so far. You should not have an excessive desire."

I've been saying for years that I want to "make it" with my music without having any idea what that means. When will I know I've "made it?" Is there anything, besides lack of money, stopping me from doing all that I want to with my music? My hope for this new year is that I learn what it is that I want from life, truly, and that I direct my gaze toward that arrow I'm flinging out there into the world. I'd also like to recapture the little wonders in my day to day life and express them with music, art, laughter... I hope that my family and friends who may or may not read this will also start this new year with hope and a desire to live life incredibly.

Throwing beans at the sky on a sunny day...

2007-11-20T04:42:00.000-08:00

There were butterflies in my stomach... I've done this a hundred times at least but the butterflies start their fluttering when I start to doubt myself. "This place is too nice." "No one is coming to see me play tonight." "I'll disappoint the organizer and they'll never let me back." "I hope I don't mess up." Sometimes the language barrier is a safe place to hide. Just smile and say sorry. A lonely chair beckoned me... sound check... clear... my fingers stuttered. I was first in line. Crispy Creams waited in the back room... real musicians meditated. I spoke to the young girl who was really a real woman disguised as a willowy delicate flower. I had no idea what power drove her but I would witness it later when she took the stage... but first, it was my turn. The screen rolled up, I cleared my throat and began. Soon it was over. I remember I hit the notes, I fulfilled my part of the bargain... no musical mistakes but plenty of verbal ones. Sunday is not Doyobi... it's Nichiyobi. The weather is cold, not fine. But, all in all I returned to the sitting room shining. Next up, two water nymphs skipped out to greet the mass of people who collected at the chairs and tables. They giggled, strummed, pouted, and, at times, almost burst into tears. They pranced away and then the young woman took the stage. "I can't believe she's so composed!" "How does she know all this about life?" "Where does that deep woman voice come from?" "I'm happy I went on first." My butterflies came back fluttering their nonsense but for a different reason. This was music from the core... uninhibited.. sharply accurate... but warm enough to make you resonate with it. I'm not sure where I fit or how old my soul is but I know that I am an eternal student. As I thanked the people who DID come to see me and the man who made it all possible I smiled at him and said in Japanese something like,"Thank you for the food." Another verbal mistake (I had meant to say Otsukare sama deshita... (well done) but possibly this was more truthful after all.

A North American in Northern Japan

2007-11-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

Hokkaido

camera phone pictures of Hokkaido

Dear Diary,

What's new? How are you? How is the family? Anything special happen recently? Well, I had a pretty busy month in October and there seems to be no sign of stopping. I had a brief respite a few weeks ago this past Halloween. My beau and I took off nice and early on a jet plane to remote, quiet, natural Hokkaido... all the things that Tokyo is not. We needed a vacation from the crowded trains and air pollution. Upon seating myself in 22J* I realized "doh!" that I left my camera** back at home. I was resigned to the fact that I'd have to use my camera phone to visually record the wonders of Hakodate, Esashi, Onuma, and all the winding roads and fish markets in between. Despite that minor set back (turns out my phone's camera isn't too bad), Hokkaido turned out to be the perfect escape. This was mostly due to the fact that no thinking was required at all throughout the entire trip. That was mostly due to Makoto's powers of planning... powers that I was, sadly, born without. The flight, 3 hotels, rental car, and most of our meals were included in our Hokkaido vacation "pack" and it all came to about $350 per person. This is a deal that you definitely have to be Japanese to know about. An airport staff member drove us to pick up our car. Once in the car, a voice said "Konnichiwa" and promptly told us today's date and time. The attractive digital hostess on the GPS screen greeted us and asked us where we wanted to go. Makoto pushed a few buttons and our map to Esashi was charted out for us including the estimated time we'd arrive. Bless Japan and its ever astounding technology!
*not really my seat number ** not really my camera, it's on loan from Nic

The drive was beautiful from the start. Hokkaido was dressed in full autumn colors...all visible from the road. We wound through mountains and down into valleys. It was as if I'd never seen trees changing colors before although I grew up in Northeastern North America where we're no stranger to reds, oranges, browns, and golds. There just aren't enough trees or fresh air in Tokyo to satisfy my autumnal needs. We stopped in Esashi, ate some soba, and then found a little island called Kamome Island (Seagull Island). Looking down into the light blue green water, we saw dozens of sea urchin ("uni")... Hokkaido is known for its fresh uni... I'm not a fan though it wasn't terrible. The water was so clear and pools of ocean water gathered in the rocks. I saw brilliant blue and orange starfish, hermit crabs, and barnacles. Makoto and I took off exploring in different directions but met up again at the top of a cliff. There was a wide open field and a lighthouse. After frolicking in the autumn mist, we climbed down about 200 stairs, passed a quaint cottage, an old stooped grandma burning leaves, and a lonely looking dog. Makoto bought some ika (squid) and hokke (white fish) and we both bought some hotate (scallops) to eat on the go.

Hotel Toyako Manseikaku, our destination for day 1, was surrounded by gorgeous trees in full color and sat next to the pristine lake Toyako. The skinny bellhop was eager to carry our bulky bags to our room. As we stood in our tatami hotel room, the bellhop went through a litany of directions and invitations (I smiled, nodded, and grunted occasionally to show I understood though my thoughts were wandering) bowed respectfully several times and continued bowing while backing out of the door. Again, Makoto and I parted ways as we mosied down to the onsen baths (mineral hot spring baths). Sinking into the water was incredible! It was night time and this outside bath was adjacent to a pond. I peered into the dark shadows deepened by the lamps dotting the shore. The more I stared, the more I imagined shapes moving in the dark behind the trees. It was eerie but my little nightmares were put to rest when two ruddy obachans (grandmas) entered the bath and began their noisy but welcome chatter. A moment of "true Japan". That night we opened our hotel window to the crisp night air...we could hear the repetitious tinkling music of the lake ferry boat's music. It was reminiscent of the ice cream trucks of my youth. Anyway, we waited and waited and were finally awarded with a spectacular fireworks show over the lake. We could see everything from our hotel window. This first hotel was my favorite of the whole trip. The second day, we took advantage of the baths one more time before leaving for our next adventure. This particular bath was right on Lake Toyako. I sat in the outside bath looking out over a pond and gazing down at the koi (carp) swimming slowly and languorously several feet below my fingers.

"Good morning! Today is Thursday November 1st. Where would you like to go?" Our friendly bodacious digital navigator greeted us as we fastened our seat belts. Next stop was Usuzan (Mt. Usu). It was cold a rainy but we rode slowly over the tops of trees on a cable car to the top of the beast anyway. We were the only people up there in the middle of hell. It was a kind of hell that you'd like to visit though. The steam rose up and mingled with the fog bearing down on the mountain. It seemed timeless and ancient but this mountain is just a wee baby in terms of large rock formations. Only about 80 years ago a volcano burst up from underground and created the huge mound we stood on. Scary to think about. I imagined having the earth explode beneath my feet. I don't know that I'll ever trust the ground again since I've moved to Japan.
After conquering Usuzan we made our way back down the mountain and into the Toyota Carola, popped some Joanna Newsom (one of 3 cds I had with me.. the others being American Highlights bluegrass and a mix by Megumi) into the cd player. The road took us to a secretive onsen off the beaten track and finally to Onuma Quasi National Park. There, we walked in the crisp air admiring the colorful trees and the strangely peaked mountain that is Onuma. Here, my memory gets a little hazy and my fingers a little lazy... more onsens, delicious kani (crab), some izakaiyas aka "dive bars" (Makoto should seriously write a book about the izakaiyas of Japan.. he's visited more of them than anyone I know), nice hotels, and walking around aimlessly.. We traveled to the top of Hakodate Mountain, froze off our tookases, and took in the famous night lights of the city. Riding down the mountain in the car took some time (it's a very popular destination) so we passed the time listening to NHK radio broadcast featuring a very dated English lesson. New English phrases included "Hey Annette, let's go to the sock hop" and "Sorry Mark, dancing bores me. Studying is my only joy in life."
Our last day marked our last sip of Hokkaido milk (Makoto's "favorite part" of the whole trip he says), our last walk around Hakodate, a visit to the Ainu museum, and a dip in a local sento (public bath house). The local obachan's showed me how to cool the scalding bath water while they silently tisked tisked at my lack of soap. They saw through my charade of pretending my shaving gel was actually soap... no lather.

Summer was...

2007-09-23T01:34:00.000-07:00

kakigori in Asakusa
heat waves and oscillating fans, aircon at night, public swimming pools, street festivals, frozen sake, misplaced bike keys, shortcuts (and longcuts) to the library, improv singing at the wine bar, street performing, Kamakura, a rainy beach party, fireworks, a night time picnic in Yoyogi, carrot cake, kakigori, japanese gardens, outdoor onsens, yaki tori, spoon markets...all over before it began.

This year in Japan is moving too quickly. I was hoping it would buy me some time before I have to make the inevitable big decisions for my future. I've never been much of a "planner" which is precisely why I've enjoyed this summer despite its brevity. I'm continually amazed by the spontaneity around me. Some of the best moments in the past few months have been unplanned.. impossible to reproduce again. Thus, I've been a slacker with the blogging. I've taken lots of photos though so I'm stickin em up here in place of my words because you know what they say about pictures and how many words they're worth. (Summer Photos)

Awadori Festival, Koenji

Summer Fireworks, Futako Tamagawa

Summer Time

Birthday #27

2007-09-03T04:17:00.000-07:00

It's the eve of the eve of my 27th birthday. The birthday week began yesterday when my phone rang. It was Makoto saying that he was almost at my apartment. I asked, "should I wait for you downstairs?" and he replied "yes." Upon opening the door, I was pleasantly surprised to find my favorite Nihonjin already standing outside my door holding an orange rose. Once again Makoto has proven just how well he knows me by giving me an ORANGE rose and not one of the classic red variety. Since dinner reservations were made for two hours later we passed our time playing dress up... I dressed up and he patiently commented on my choices. I changed my shirt about 5 or 6 times (I have so many clothes and nothing to wear) before Makoto said, "sono jitsu..." As I was completely perplexed as usual when presented with most words in Japanese, he whipped out his handy dandy cell phone dictionary to look up the English translation.... "In fact," he continued "I have something for you to wear." This "something" was a blue silky button-down shirt with white daisies on it. He explained that this was the style of shirt that he thinks looks "cool." I thought I looked like a grandma in it but was charmed nonetheless and decided to wear it to dinner.

The restaurant he took me to is called "Tofu Yaukai" (there was some kanji so this may be a little wrong). It's a gorgeous wooden structure with dozens of fountains and impeccable Japanese gardens. The place is designed to make you feel like you and your date (or family of 6) are the only ones there. I only noticed the family of 6 because the children ran through the gardens screaming like banshees... this, however, only added to the charm. Each table is in its own room which looks out into the central garden. When the doors are opened, you can hear the hum of the cicadas and the trickling of fountains (and the screaming of banshees). We also had a view of a spindly spider tirelessly winding and winding its dinner plate. I tested its strength by throwing a bit of tempora crumb into it. The spider pounced on it, checked it out, decided it was not edible for a spider, and flicked it off its web... once again, its trap was invisible. Unlike the spider, my plate was constantly replenished. I counted about 7 or 8 courses of tofu, soup, tempura, sashimi, rice, sake, dessert... each course looked so tiny and perfect but I could barely move by the end of the night... onaka ga ippai deshita! (I was full) I don't know how it's done but Japanese food is magically nourishing and fulfilling. It reminds me of a tiny clown car with an endless line of passengers streaming out of it... but much more elegant of course. Speaking of courses.. I've uploaded pictures from dinner here.

Onsen

2007-07-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how feelings of inadequacy, jealousy, and bad luck can melt away simply by immersing yourself in a tub of hot water. Today I locked up my work clothes and lingering bad mood in locker number 22111, donned a too-tight rented bathing suit and padded out to the outdoor communal onsen bath (an onsen, for those who don't know, is a Japanese bath). This particular bath is located in Futako Tamagawa and is most unusual. My dear Makoto spent a good 15 minutes trying to explain to me that, yes, you CAN wear your bathing suit in this onsen. At most traditional onsens you must remove every stitch of clothing and scrub yourself silly before you dare setting foot in its mineral goodness. After the bathing suit thing finally clicked it was easy for me to sink into the bubbly waters with my good friends Makoto, Aki, and Sakurai.. all men. Onsen with men! It was a first for me but my breath-denying bathing suit covered me up modestly. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Aki, stretched out like a Greek sleeping satyr along side of the bath without having to contend with constricting nylon gathering in folds of skin and squishing out the not so firm bits. To put it not so poetically.. getting older sucks.. take notes my fresh faced 15 year olds. Anyway, this isn't what I meant to share. Did I mention that you could drink beer in the baths?!? pure bliss after a day of correcting English grammar.

After the communal outdoor bath, I wandered inside to take part in the more traditional onsen. I washed and then sunk into the steaming water... my skin wrinkled up like a pickled plum (ume boshi). I rejoined the boys downstairs for some more beer and snacks and then I took a little nap on the softest couch ever. After Sakurai and Aki left, Makoto and I sat on the tatami mats and smiled at a little baby boy who was flirting with us. Our mutual amusement had a lasting impression on my mood and I felt like I was exactly where the universe intended me to be. When we finally got up to leave the little babe, who was being diapered by a patient mommy, let out a gleeful shreik in our direction... what a marvelous little creature!

Makoto and I, slightly buzzed and hungry for real food, decided that a trip to Futako Tamagawa wasn't complete without a visit to Midori Sushi. We waited about 30 minutes but it was worth it. The toro (fatty tuna) was incredible and I didn't even wince when I ate the uni (sea urchin). I'll be paying both the onsen and Midori atleast two more visits when Kim and Kerry come to Japan in September.

Bridges

2007-06-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

Walking through Harajuku.. it seems like everyone is dancing. A man in black lipsyncs all the words to a Sting song, his face estatic, his body swaying... he looks a little ridiculous at the mouth of Yoyogi park with no other dancers to fill in the curvy spaces his body makes in the air. I admire him. Teen youths with black raccoon eyes, red velvet, and laces beg to be pictured but I refuse.. partly out of stubborness (I refuse to do what I am expected to do) and partly because the effort of digging through my purse for my camera seems colossal at the moment. It's me, the Linzer Cookie, my beer and a half, and pepper chips that concern me at the moment. Linzer and I pass through the gates of Yoyogi.. the Japanese greasers are there as usual but today they seem more animated, more drunk, and younger! Their hair has reached new altitudes and their numbers have grown but the song remains the same. They twist and shake drunkenly, I'm not so impressed as I was a year ago but the strange schoolgirl dancing off in the distance has caught my eye. She dances alone but is unconcerned... upon closer inspection Lindsay and I decide that she is, in fact, not a school girl but a middle aged man. Nice legs. As we reach the fountain a feeling of deja vu occurs to me. Lindsay's eyes meet mine and I know she feels the same thing. We sit by the stagnant water, drinking our "disappointment remedies" and take in our surroundings. The drum circle has become smaller and tighter, a little boy/girl in a pink shirt waves at us, some sweet little children point at us and smile, and a young woman drags her boyfriend from flower to flower admiring each petal... we imagine what people are thinking and imagine that we'll be doing the same thing when we are old cronies. "It's amazing how many akward and strange looking foreign men wind up with beautiful young Japanese girlfriends."

Slightly beyond the fountain there is a bridge. Upon crossing it, the innocent techno sounds of dance music vibrate beneath us and we dance our way across... I feel exhilerated and free!

Rainy Day

2007-05-31T00:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a rainy day so my plans for a picnic in Shinjuku Gyoen with friends were postponed. Instead, Dan and Alyssa came to my ku (my "hood"). We took a stroll through the back streets and wound up on a sweet little brick path. There were colorful decorated tiles on either side of the walkway. A stray cat slunk around avoiding my camera as he flitted from one great photo opp to another but hardly pausing long enough for me to snap a shot. Typical of a cat! I finally got one of him sitting on a shark tile but it wasn't nearly as nice as the one I could have gotten of him sitting next to a cat tile. A short time later, we came across a statue of Tanuki. He's a shape shifting character from Japanese folklore who is supposed to be a kind of raccoon dog (what!? I know, but it's what the dictionary says) This statue must have been somewhat old because it depicted his, ahem, um rather large "appendages" which are omitted from most of the more recent Tanuki statues. Look him up on wikipedia and you'll know what I mean, it's fun.

As we walked along, I had some inner sense that this path was there for a reason. I figured there would probably be some kind of neighborhood shrine up ahead and I wasn't disappointed. After about 10-15 minutes of walking, we found ourselves at the base of an Inari Shrine. At the time I had no idea what kind of shrine it was but it piqued my interest and I went home and did my research. Inari Shrines were built to pay respect to the god, Inari, who is the Kami (Shinto god) of rice. The shrine is guarded by foxes who are typically represented as the messengers of Inari. Before you arrive at the torii (orange/black/or red gates in front of the shrine) you are usually greeted by some ferocious looking statues (komainu).. usually lions or dogs. The guardians of this shrine were lions. This tree shaded area was so peaceful, I felt very calm and quiet as I looked at the various statues and paper crane offerings. I feel happy that there is something like this in my neighborhood. Good "thinking places" are hard to find.

Visions of Sancha

2007-05-28T05:44:00.001-07:00

Before the loss of my camera, there was Chichibu.. and after, there was my keitai (cell phone) camera. I have uploaded some pictures to show you what I've been up to now and again.

I'm finally getting to a point where I feel settled in my tiny Sangenjaya room. Sangenjaya, or "Sancha" as the locals say, is becoming like home to me. I'm starting to recognize faces on the morning commute. The bakery near my subway stop continually pumps out delicious odors and I always kick myself for leaving only enough time to skate through the turnstyle and make it to the train as the doors slide open. I often curse the city planners for being so darn polite because I'm always stumbling over the raised yellow pathways which cover the sidewalks like the yellowbrick road. They're meant to help the blind.. but I've yet to see anyone make proper use of them. My neighborhood, Kamiuma (yes, the neighborhoods have names), has atleast 3 competing discount stores and each one has it's special allure. One is great for cheap beer, one stocks my favored pineapple gum, and one provides me with my veggies for a decent sum. I live about 5-10 minutes from the station and I pass 2 really unique neighborhood bars everyday, Tamagata and Junko. The proprietors could probably set their clocks based on my morning and evening passings though I doubt my passing is all that special. I think there are some gaijin (foreign) models who live nearby who are much more interesting to look at. I've been to Yamagata several times with Makoto. It's very rustic looking. They serve yakitori (meat and vegetables on sticks), Hoppy (the blue collar man's drink), and various kinds of tofu, daikon, and, Makoto's favorite, konyaku (a zero calorie jelly-like substance that is supposed to come from potatoes I think). The atmosphere is very intimate and it's a great place to chat (or mime in my case) with locals. Junko appeals to my sense of curiosity as there are no windows, the shape of the building is like a triangle, and the only feeling of welcome comes from the handmade curtain over the door which has a cat raising his paw to entice people to come in. I haven't mustered up the courage to go in yet but I will soon. Sancha is a haven for music lovers and there are many livehouses and rehearsal studios. I feel like it's the perfect place for me, being equidistant from work in Aobadai and Makoto in Ogikubo. Now if only I could import my family and friends from home over here...

Basically, I feel as though I've just only scratched the surface of the surface here and there is so much to explore. I'll have a red bicycle in a few weeks to expediate my explorations and I'm sure to be updating this here blogger now that I've got some things to say and some pictures to share.

Lazy Owl

2007-04-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends, it's me again. I'm back in Japan and have been for almost 2 months now. Much has happened and yet not much has happened. Seasons are changing from a luke warm Winter to a tempermental Spring. The cherry blossoms have bloomed and tiny green leaves are poking out, sending the pale petals to the ground in a belated "snow" shower. I'll be inserting some pictures here once I manage to have a long luxurious moment... trouble is, I don't enjoy spending those rare moments on the computer. I apologize. I also only have a handful of photos taken since the unfortunate event of having my camera stolen from the site of our hanami party (Cherry blossom viewing party). Before you become too shocked "you mean there's CRIME in JAPAN!!" please understand that it was my unfortunate bad habit of tending to forget where I put things that led the future theif to my camera in the first place. In the past I've lost favorite sweat pants, sweaters, water bottles, capos, hats, toothbrushes.. you name it. This, however, is the first time I've lost something expensive... damn damn damn! I guess when I'm in Japan I become even more lax because there is very little crime here. I probably should have learned from that bicycle seat switcheroo that occurred last year. There are sticky fingers all over the world. Anyway, the optimist in me still feels that it will turn up and some good samaritan will finally turn it in to the police station. For now, I rely on my new keitai with the wood-grain facing (how ironic! a wooden cell phone!) for any and all photographs.

I have once again joined the ranks of the eigo sensei (English teacher). This time I'm working for a very different company... more teachers, different students each time, fuller days, and TWO DAYS OFF! So far I have been spending my days off with old friends and new friends. Yasuko chan and I have started a little knitting/crafting group we call "The Lazy Owls." It's not quite a group yet but the two of us get together, I knit the legwarmer (note the single noun here) that I've been working on since January and Yasuko makes adorable felt pins and things. Her wonderful mom makes us traditional Japanese food and always wraps up leftovers to take home "for Makoto". Speaking of the boy... he works some crazy over night hours and we mostly have time to drink some coffee together for an hour before I go to work. He's usually so tired! Poor guy. We do get a day off together every now and again but he's in a band and sometimes has practices... we're hoping to make plans to go to Hakone in a week or so. This year I plan on seeing alot of the touristy things I missed out on last year. I also want to go to Hokkaido and Okinawa while I'm here. The best experiences though are interacting with Japanese people. I've made many friends just by chance and, despite my terrible Japanese ability, I've learned so much from our meetings.

A few weeks ago I was wandering around lost in Ogikubo looking for my friend Jen's apartment (no street signs or grid patter to aid me) and was helped by a lovely young Japanese couple who happened to have a map of the area. They led me right to Jen's doorstep. Kimiko, the female half of the couple, gave me her card and said she'd like to photograph me as she is a photographer. I assumed it would be an amateur shoot but a few weeks later I met with her and her stylists. It was strange to be scrutinized and asked questions about my measurements and favorite colors. All the while, the 3 of them had such big smiles on their faces and would shoot back comments to eachother in Japanese and saying "kawaii!" (cute!) emphatically. I just had a big goofy grin on my face the whole time. I didn't know where to look or what to do. I felt like a bug under a looking glass. We'll be shooting in a week or two. I'm nervous! I'm not the model type.

Ok, the lazy owl in me is getting restless and I must get off of this computer. I'll fill you in on the adventures of Chichibu, Zuiho the neighborhood Taiwanese meeting place, dirty jokes from an old ojiisan, and the drunken student later on. Oyasumi! (good night!)

Golden Week!

2006-05-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

The first week of May in Japan is known as "Golden Week." During this time, most people take a much needed vacation. The only problem is that when the entire country takes a vacation, the roads are predictably crowded and spaces are limited on buses, trains, and planes. Once again, Makoto has proven that having a Japanese boyfriend in Japan is quite helpful. He was able to book 3 seats on an overnight bus from Shinjuku to Osaka for my friend Lindsay, Mako, and myself. This is probabaly the cheapest way to travel although not the most comfortable.

On Tuesday, May 2, 2006, we set out for Osaka. The bus ride was long and winding at times. The bus driver's voice sounded like sandpaper on rusty iron probably due to emphazema but that didn't stop him from lighting up during pit stops. Although this wasn't the highlight of my Golden Week experience, visiting Japanese rest stops was on my mental list of things I wanted to do before I left Japan. For the most part, they aren't much different than US rest stops but I thought the electronic map of the bathroom was fascinating...

11 hours later we arrived in Osaka. We checked out the takoyaki (octopus balls...mmm) stands for future eating reference and met up with my friend Kebin from the band "Panda, No Panda." He took us to his pad and we said hello to Dabey who was just waking up...must have been nice to sleep until 2pm. Thanks to Kebin and Dabey we had a nice place to rest our weary heads and our wallets during golden week.
(from top to bottom) Dabey and Kebin

Our first meal in Osaka consisted of takoyaki and Chu-HIs. Chu-HIs (Chooo-Highs) are fruity alcoholic drinks which are yummy and refreshing. If you're not careful, you forget they have alcohol and can get quite drunk. I had my reservations about eating takoyaki (a mixture of octopus, flour, and egg rolled into a ball)..I'm not a big fan of octopus...but it wasn't bad. I've been pretty adventurous about trying new food. I'm sure I've eaten some things I would never had though about eating before I came to Japan. I put my foot down about eating horse, sea urchin, or ika sashimi (although I have tried ika..it's gross). Sitting in the sunshine with Makoto and Lindsay after such a long trip was perfect.

Keito and Mako (with Chu-HIs) Takoyaki

After lunch, we were off to Kobe where Lindsay and I would be playing later that night. Our first stop was Helluva Lounge, the live house where we had our show. We had some time before sound check so we walked around Kobe looking for kintsuba, a local treat made from beans.

even Colonel Sanders gets into the holiday spirit

"Joan" goofing off"

strange placement of statue

We returned to Helluva Lounge for what was a crappy sound check...it had me worried that we were too worn out for our show that evening. Poor Lindsay's voice was tired, my head was pounding, and the keyboard was hissing. The spirit of "Joan" (our band) was with us for our show, luckily, and everyone seemed to really like us. We were invited to play there again and I sold 3 cds.
The next day we headed to Nara to see the Great Buddha (Daibutsu) in Todaiji Temple. First we cut through a matsuri (festival) looking for Iori, a cafe/restaurant Makoto looked up. We ate there for lunch. It was the best place! I wish it was close to where I live. It was an old style wooden building..cozy..with a black cat wandering around and a small group of people having a ceramics class. The food was also incredible! There was a stage where bands play, presumabley they have music at night. If I ever get a chance to go back that way I'm going to book a show at Iori. Afterward, we sought out the temple. Unfortunately my cameras batteries crapped out so the rest of my pictures were either taken by Lindsay or taken by me with Lindsay's camera. The Temple claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world...and certainly it seemed like it although the next day Makoto and I went to another temple in Kyoto which boasted the same thing. In any case, it was incredible to behold. My American eyes aren't used to seeing such old or intricate structures and it made me jealous of Makoto's culture. To think that Japanese high school students go on a field trip to Nara while I went to the Morris museum seems unfair. One of my students, a businessman, told me that he could not appreciate the wonder of what he was seeing when he went there as a student. Maybe all teenagers are the same?

Later that day we headed to Shin Sekai, which, as far as I know doesn't have any famous touristy sites but we went there anyway because Mako has a thing for dive bars which, in Japan, translates to mean "Ojisan bars" (old man bars). I have to admit, I'm quite fond of them myself. Since I've met Makoto, we've gone to several ojisan bars around Tokyo but Lindsay had yet to go to one. I really feel like eating and drinking at one is essential for a traveller to fully experience Japan. Anyway, Shin Sekai is full of ojisan bars but they close rather early and the ones that were open had a line out the door. We finally found one to our liking and didn't have to wait too long. The waitress, an older woman, looked stressed out running back and forth. That didn't stop Mako, normally the sweet polite type, from shouting out "Sumimasen! Sumimasen! Beeru!" I guess when he wants a beer, he wants a beer! We san nin (3 people) enjoyed our beers and the local cuisine (aka bar food) kushi katsu (fried food).Obasans (old women) shouldn't work this hard...

Billiken (god), Shin Sekai

Later that night we met up with our friends Kebin and Dabey for 200yen drinks at the Moonwalk bar. We treated our hosts (the least we could do) and the bill, for 5 people was only about $50! We were completely exhausted from our ramblings but Lindsay and I stayed up with Kebin and Dabey watching "Cheaters." If you've never seen it, I don't really recommend watching the show unless you are amused by poorly educated people shouting at other ridiculous people because they cheated on them or unless you're with Dabey and Kebin... They picked out the highlights for us. The two of them always make me laugh and I'll never forget their air guitar/air drum rendition of the longest and most ridiculous rock song ever by a killer band called "Newport"...the drum solo was the best!

On our last day of vacation, we went to Osaka station with Lindsay to bid her farewell. She took the Shinkansen home. Makoto and I didn't have to head back until later because we had booked a flight for that night. We went to Kyoto and spent most of our time looking for a locker to stow our baggage (mostly my baggage because he's a boy and knows how to pack light). I also learned about the convenience store postal service. You can send anything by mail and it will get to its destination the next day. My guitar had become my albatross so we send it by mail back to Mako's apartment. I was really worried about that but it turned out to be great and it freed me up so I could walk around Kyoto. We rambled around back streets and took a bus to Kiyomizu-Dera. We wound our way through the crowd, up the hill, and past the many shops leading up to the temple. Like most of the tourists there, I took lots of pictures with Lindsay's camera until the sun started to set and the bells rang out telling us it was time to head home.

Heading home was an adventure all on its own. We took the train back to Osaka where we managed to find a magical Ojisan bar within Osaka station. Weird. We were hungry and thirsty and assumed we had time for a quick beer and some bar food. We soon found out that our little detour cost us some precious time and we had to run to catch the train and then run again to catch our plane. We made it with not a minute to spare and some silly mishaps including Mako falling on his butt as we raced into an elevator...awwwwww! Quite the adventure, this week was my last real vacation before my roommate got mono and was hospitalized, the cat pooped on my bed, and my work load doubled but that's another story for another day.

Sikora Sakura

2006-04-03T05:27:00.000-07:00

Oh hanami matsuri you are so good to me. Last weekend was a nice break from the 6 day work week.Makoto (some of you may know him as Tsuji) and I went to our favorite little wine bar (Bar Le Matin) in Nishiogikubo on Thursday. I gave Hiroko, the cool gal who owns the place, a copy of my cd. She played it and some guy next to me inquired as to who the artist was. Hiroko told him it was my cd and he bought one from me. Yeah! The bar is smaller than my bedroom (which is pretty darn small) and only about 4-5 people can actually sit in there at a time. There is a back room too but it's not as intimate. I seriously love that place. She's always playing great music and I'm happy that my album is now part of the collection.

The next day, Mako and I headed to Guma prefecture to a little ryokan (inn) called Shima. I could be wrong about the name but I'm pretty sure it's called Shima. This area is known for it's many onsens (hot spring baths). That's about all there is to do there. The place we stayed at was really old and very cool. Despite the slight "Shining-esque" feeling I experienced walking through the winding halways and up and down the many stairways, I thought the place was amazing. There are 3 different baths. A beautiful indoor/outdoor one, a private one, and a really old indoor one with about 5 scalding hot baths. The indoor/outdoor one was my favorite. The outside bath was surrounded by many rocks and a japanese garden. Serene. The really old bath kind of scared me. For one thing, we went there at night. Men and women have seperate baths so I was alone. When I got there, a woman and her young daughters were rinsing off and getting ready to leave. I thought I was alone until I saw a skinny little girl crawl out of a tiny door, pour some water into a bowl, and crawl back through the door. Intrigued, I watched as a different scrawny little girl came out another door. A few moments passed and then both girls came out, chattering to eachother in Japanese. After they left the bath, I crouched down next to one of the doors and opened it feeling very Alice-in-wonderland-ish . It was a dark, steamy little room with just enough space for one person to recline on some dingy looking tiles. No thank you... I knew for sure I'd be claustrophobic in that space and anyway it didn't look too sanitary. Later on, Mako and I dined on Japanese bento-box dinners that were quite delicious and drank sake from the local liquer store. For dessert, we feasted our eyes on "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" which was dubbed in Japanese. Luckily I've seen it before. Despite my terrible Japanese and Mako's less than fluent English, we always manage to have a great time together. Could it be the sake? haha. I seriously don't know how we do it but we have pretty in-depth conversations without too much confusion.

Over the weekend, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. We returned Saturday afternoon and went to a hanami party in Shimokitazawa. Our friend Takachiho, from the band SF, was hosting a picnic under one of the many beautiful Sakura trees there. It was amazing! There were people all over the place having picnics under the trees, drinking, laughing, and playing music. Children were playing games and showing off doing cartwheels for the adults and, I'm sure, downloading unforgettable memories into their impressionable minds. I know I won't ever forget Japanese spring. When it got dark, we packed everything up and went out for more festivities at an Izakaiya. I had a great time talking to Takachiho's friends.. I wish I could speak better Japanese! I went to another hanami party on Sunday but the weather was cloudy and rainy. We were also in Yoyogi park where all the Harajuku and Shibuya boys and girls hang out. They were loud and rambunctious with their glaring orange skin, dyed and fried hair, and expensive (and rain soaked) shoes. Atleast the people I was with brightened the day. My pal Lindsay was there as well as our friends Jonathan and Yukiko. Yukiko's girlfriends were really sweet too. We went to a bar afterward to see some art display but I didn't stick around long enough to really see any of it. Some of us went to see a friend perform at a bar nearby. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the evening and headed home sorry to see the end of such an enjoyable weekend. I almost took the wrong train home which would have really messed things up but I managed to get one of the last trains back. I wish we had Sakura trees lining the streets of New Jersey. I guess I'll just have to come back to Japan next hanami season (and the next, and the next..)

Hiroko "Bar Le Matin"

bus ride to Shima Onsen

bento dinner

the love corridor (actually kind of creepy)

Makoto was cold

really cold

Shima onsen

the water was crystal clear

view of the bridge

Makoto wishes there was such a place...

a town in Guma... (name?)

one of us is always making a face

Shimokitazawa Hanami Party...... (funky people)

The Big Flush

2006-02-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last post and I can't think of a good enough excuse for not writing. Maybe you haven't even noticed and, in that case, I'm safe. I HAVE been writing alot in my journal which is a lot easier for me than typing and uploading pictures but I guess that doesn't help any of you who might be interested in how I'm doing. Well, I'm doing just fine. The weather can't decide if it's spring yet or winter. Everytime I experience a beautiful sunny springy day, I try to put my winter coat away and end up freezing my buns off later in the day. I've said it before and I'll say it again, thank god for heated toilet seats. Speaking of toilets...I just found out about the big flush. "The big flush?" you say... well I'd been having difficulty figuring out the toilet in my apartment. For some reason, it just wouldn't flush completely no matter how long I held the handle down or jiggled it. Atleast it's a western style toilet. I don't think I could handle having to squat precariously while making sure my feet are well out of firing range. Japanese toilets are basically just a hole in the ground that you can flush..I really don't think they were made with women in mind. Anyway, David solved the mystery of the big flush for me. There are 2 flushes..one for wee wee and one for poo poo... now I know that the little flush doesn't do shit! hahah..god I'm hilarious. Well mom, you said you wanted me to write about something other than drinking! You'd think that all I did here was drink and poop..well, you're wrong! That's just what I feel like talking about.

So, what have I been up to lately? I've been working the usual random hours. Sometimes I don't have class until 3pm and other times I'm working at 9am and finishing at 9pm. It's the one thing I haven't been able to get used to here. Luckily, I love my students. The little ones amaze me with their spirit and laughter and the older ones teach me about Japanese culture and life in Japan. Even when I gripe all the way to the train station about having to drag my butt out of bed and go to work, I end up feeling happy I came to class. I wish there was something I could do about the 6 day work week but I'm resigned to the fact it isn't going to change. It sure makes travelling hard to do. I hope to go to Osaka during Golden Week (a brief vacation we get in May) and I might even be able to squeeze in a snowboarding trip before the winter is officially over. I've also been asked to play an outdoor festival in June called "Concert on the Rock." It sounds amazing! It's in Fukuoka which is really far from where I live so I'll have to fly there. I might have to con my way out of working on Saturday as well.

I'm trying to save money which I'm finding very difficult. There is a serious lack of things to do where I live and an abundance of stores and restaurants. Sometimes I'll have a long break of 2 hours in between classes and I end up buying a hat I don't need or salivating over some shoes I know won't fit into my bag when I return home this summer. Also, I've been going to shows lately. Shows put a big dent in the wallet. Entrance is usually about 2,000yen ($20) or more (including a drink ticket) even for unknown bands. My friend Matt's band, Jisatsu.... (it's a really really long name which essentially translates to mean "I'd commit suicide but I have work in the morning" or something like that), played last weekend. They were great and the other two bands, The Warm, and SF were awesome too. Many friends came out to see the show and we all went to uchiage afterward. Uchiage is the afterparty held after a live event. It usually takes place at an Izakaiya, a restaurant that accomodates large groups and has deals like all you can drink and eat for 2,ooo yen (for a few hours). I wasn't really into the drinking (see MOM!) that night but I thoroughly enjoyed the company. It was a nice mix of Japanese and gaijin 20 somethings. By the end of the night, it felt like we were all speaking the same language. Matt and his roommate put us up at their apartment. Unlike the Izakaiya, the apartment isn't meant for large groups but we made it work. Not everyone slept over. We played music into the wee hours of the morning and, before we knew it, it was 6am! The next day was mind numbingly cold and I spent it stumbling around Tokyo with my friend Tsuji, trying to find a warm place to sit down and not spend money. Eventually we gave up and went home.

This weekend I kept it mellow. Tsuji taught me how to make Kim-chi nabe (I'm sure I'm misspelling it) and we had a Nabe party. Kim chi is a Korean soup. It's made with cabbage, spices, tofu, pork, seafood, onions...whatever you want to throw in the pot. It was great! I hope I can find the ingredients when I'm back in the states so I can impress everyone with how worldy I am (haw haw). Today I thought I'd walk around Chiba City in the hopes to find some cool places to go nearby. My quest wasn't too successful. Apparently the only thing people like to do in Chiba is eat and shop. So here I am, parked in front of the computer..as always.. missing everyone and finishing off the last of the nabe. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Gizmo and Lisa

Tony and Yasuko (the Bad Spellers)

Uchiage

SF

me and Tsuji (he always makes that face)

found this sign in Sengenjaiya

Matt "Rockstar" Guay

I love this couple (Tony and Yasuko)

Jonathan, Doug, and the lovely Yukiko

Lindsay Leuders captivate Jonathan (and us all)

Shibuya (Hachiko gate)

Nikko is Nippon

2006-01-06T00:39:00.000-08:00

Sigh...vacation is over and it's back to work for me. I had a lovely week and a half and it all started in Nikko with Jenny sensei. Finished with our holiday parties and most of our packing (we've moved to Takahama), Jenny and I set off for the mountains of Nikko. It took us about 3 hours to get there but the view from the train was scenic and the seats were comfortable. I thought I had packed a light bag but looks can be deceiving. The thing felt like it weighed a ton and I was not looking forward to hiking up to the hotel with it. The town of Nikko is quaint and surrounded by mountain peaks and snow. SNOW! It finally felt like winter. The air was crisp and despite the people milling about, it felt so quiet and pure. As soon as we walked out of the station and we looked around, my eyes were immediately drawn to signs that read "coffee" and "beer." I guess that's all the advertising you really need. Funny how those simple words can get me motivated. We didn't stop for drinks though since we were looking forward to a soak in the hot springs (onsen) at the ryokan. Ryokans are traditional Japanese inns or hotels. We booked two nights plus dinner and breakfast at Hotel Kosho. A taxi took us to the hotel. It was a little run down but the staff was pleasant and our room was comfortable. It had traditonal tatami matting and we slept on futons. As soon as we checked into our room, Jenny and I put on our yukata robes (with nary a stitch underneath!) and headed down to the baths.

This was my first experience at an onsen. There are rules to be followed before setting foot in a Japanese bath. First, remove every stitch of clothing. Next, seat yourself on a little stool and rinse your body. Then, scrub every little (or big heh heh) part of yourself until you are clean....repeat a few more times. Rinse..and then you are ready for the bath. Hotel Kosho has an indoor bath and outdoor. There are women's and men's baths but no mingling between the two. Sinking into the hot water was amazing. I felt the stress from the last few weeks melt away. The outdoor bath was small but nice because we were surrounded by snow.

After onsen, we were ready for our traditional Japanese dinner. We were taken to our own private dining room where everything was laid out. What a spread! Sashimi, miso, smoked fish, some kind of delicious stew, rice, tempura, fresh strawberries and cream....and Nikko beer. Each piece of food had its own beautiful dish and none of it matched but went together so well. I was starving but I didn't want to ruin the layout. Oishi desu! Breakfast the next day wasn't as exciting for me however. I can experiment and eat just about anything for dinner but I like my eggs, toast, and coffee in the morning. Breakfast consisted of tea, rice, fish (of course), salad, and some unidentifiable squishy things. I didn't eat too much.

We spent our first full day exploring the shrines of Nikko. We saw the Shinkyo bridge which is one of the oldest drawbridges still remaining in Japan. Jenny and I also went shrine hopping. Among my favorites were the Toshogu shrine, famous for the "hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" monkey carvings and the mausoleum for the first shogun, Tokugawa, and the Rinnoji Shrine which houses the 3 buddhas. They were magnificent! So large and intricate, I felt like I was in the presense of gods. During our wanderings, it began to snow. The flakes were big and floated to the ground with barely any wind. It was magical.

Back in town, Jenny and I checked out some of the shops. We tried on some kimonos and I had a cup of coffee at a little cafe. I was the only customer and the owner made me little origami swans out of cigarette box foil. She said they were for luck. We were so tired that we really looked forward to our nighttime onsen session and dinner #2. Again, I was very impressed. We missed out on the waterfalls of Nikko but not for lack of trying. It was a little difficult to read the signs and we were tired from hiking up and down shrine steps anyway.

Before we left Nikko, we shopped around for mementos. Jenny bought some local pottery and I bought sake glasses. I reccommend checking out Nikko if you ever get the chance to visit Japan. The locals are very friendly to foreigners and the scenery is unforgettable. Geez, I sound like a tour guide.

The holidays were a little lonely without family and friends. I'm glad I had Jenny here to keep me company. I played a show on the 28th at the Pink Cow in Shibuya and met some really nice, and attractive, Japanese boys. Don't worry mom...I'm not getting any ideas. New Years was a night of boozing and dancing. We went back to the Pink Cow for a disco party but, it turns out, that the disco party fell through and we ended up doing a Vienna waltz with a bunch of strangers from all over the globe. Very interesting. I went to a big shrine in Asakusa with my friends Tsuji and Hayato. We pulled our fortunes out of a box and I drew daikichi, "the best fortune." Hayato also got the best one and was so thrilled that he treated us to lunch. Tsuji's was the second best so we were all very happy. We had yakiniku (grilled meat and veggies). It was my first time eating raw egg. I was hesitant at first but it was delicious. The boys wanted to continue my Japanese dining lesson so we went for soba (buckwheat noodles) afterwards where we met an older couple. They generously shared their sake with us (a little too generously I think). The conversation was all in Japanese but I understood bits and pieces. Tsuji and Hayato explained that the woman was a genuine Tokyoite from Asakusa. She was so upbeat and told me I was very intelligent. I don't know what gave her that idea! Must have been the sake.

So that was my vacation in a nutshell. Can't wait for the next one.

Yamanote for idiots

2005-12-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

"What's a Yamanote?" you may be asking yourself? It's a light green train that runs in a circle around the main stops in Tokyo. There is a Japanese drinking game where you have to name all the stations on the Yamanote line in order. If you mess up you have to drink. That's no easy feat and I wouldn't want to compete against a Japanese businessman for sure. The Yamanote is a blessing for us gaijin who need train info in English and it's especially a blessing for us night owls who drink too much, stay out too late, and have to wait for the trains to start up in the early a.m. (kinda reminds me of the "drunk bus" in college except this ride is smooth and sleep inducing) The seats are heated...what a novel idea! Japanese people are really concerned about keeping their bums warm apparently. Not only are the train seats heated but many of the toilet seats are heated as well. Now if only they could work out some better heating for our apartment! (PS. Mom, please send my sleeping bag!)

A few weeks ago my friend David and I were heading to Tokyo station from Shibuya after a night of drinking and dancing at the Ruby Room. We fell asleep and must have gone around in circles for atleast an hour. Luckily we woke up just in time to get off at Tokyo. Last night we weren't so lucky. We fell asleep immediately after sitting down. The ride to Tokyo usually takes 30 minutes from Shibuya. We missed Tokyo the first time and had to reverse. Then we missed it again and went back the other day. Then, you guessed it, we slept through our stop again and ended up in Ueno (another 20mins from Tokyo). Finally we decided to stand up so we wouldn't miss our stop for a 4th time...sheesh!

Once on the Keiyo line (red line that takes me back to Kahimmakuhari), I fell asleep again. David woke me up in Soga which is about 4 stops past where I needed to be. He got off there and I headed back home in the other direction. I can't pull these allnighters. I don't know how people do it all the time. I think this is a sign that I'm getting old.

Oishi desu! (It's delicious!)

2005-11-29T06:16:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving came and went and there I was with no leftover turkey sandwiches...no reheated mashed potatoes with gravy...no pumpkin pie for breakfast. I thought that Japan was strange but what's really strange is not stuffing myself silly on the third Thursday of November. What's strange is not having 3 sink fulls of dishes to wash before taking the obligatory triptophan induced nap on the couch....what's strange is that I actually miss that.

Don't worry friends and family...this story has a happy ending or should I say beginning? I don't know if I believe in luck but if it exists, I've been very lucky since I came to Japan three months ago. A great roommate, a good job, a sweet bicycle (it has a bell and basket), a few shows, and great new friends...let me emphasize that GREAT NEW FRIENDS. On Sunday the 27..a few days after the real Turkey day, my friends Lindsay and Sarah invited us (David, Jenny, and me) to their house in Yokohama for a home cooked American Thanksgiving. The only thing they had not planned on making was mashed potatoes (about the only thing I care about on Thanksgiving) so I volunteered. I made them the way Dad makes em...loads of butter and milk..he would have been proud. I carried those heavy potatoes the whole way...my biceps are huge. Jenny made a superb avocado and feta salad...yeah it's not typical Turkey Day fare but it was delicious. Sarah and Lindsay pulled out the stops...they cooked up real homemade stuffing, sweet potatoes, pies, whipped cream, and chicken (churkey). Turkies are hard to come by in this country. If I was a turkey I'd move here for sure..much safer than the US.

Not only was the food amazing but the vibe was warm and inviting. The minute we stepped into their foyer I felt right at home. There was some Robert Johnson on the cd player, the boys (Errol and Fumi)were watching the boob tube (no football game though) while the ladies fussed in the kitchen. The wine flowed. Lindsay and Sarah's boss, Andrea, showed up later on. It was her and her brother Craig's first Thanksgiving (they're australian mate). Our friend Akito's 15 year old sister was brave enough to join us even though her English was very limited and she was very shy. I hope she had a good time! We gave thanks, we ate, I played the guitar, we had coffee and pie, we watched the sunset over the rooftops and shrine...it was beautiful. The only thing missing was seeing my family and going out to Johnnies afterward to get drunk and listen to gossip about old high school classmates. That will have to wait for next year I guess.

Afterward we went out to karaoke. Beer after beer, song after song, we kept it up for 2 hours and could have gone on for more if we'd paid for more time. I sang so much that my voice went hoarse the next day. We took alot of pictures (I only have a few at the moment..Lindsay is sending me some more). After karaoke, we got some Japanese food...not the same as Thanksgiving leftovers but still delicious.

This day definately rates as one of the best days I've spent here in Japan. I've met some great people and I'm looking forward to more intimate gatherings like this. I am thankful for friends who make me feel at home in a far away place. THANKS!

Do I look like a deer hunter to you?

2005-10-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

Anonymous said...
"I was just browsing and found your blog. Very Nice! I
have a deer hunting supplies site. You can find everything about deer hunting supplies as well as info hunting rifles, scopes, bows, feeders, stands and more. Please visit, check it out and enjoy!
Rod"

Ok "Rod" if that's even your name...I seriously doubt you read any of my blogs or you would know that I'm not the kind of person to need deer hunting supplies. There are just so many deer in Japan! really! I'm sorry but you are dumb. What's with the anonymous comments containing adds for stupid products no body wants? I use this blog "spot" as a place for my own ramblings..I have no desire to click on links to useless sites which will probably give me some kind of virus. You tricky tricky tricksters...

Here's another one,

Anonymous said...
"Nice Blog!!! I thought I'd tell you about a site that will let give you places where you can make extra cash! I made over $800 last month. Not bad for not doing much. Just put in your zip code and up will pop up a list of places that are available. I live in a small area and found quite a few. MAKE MONEY NOW"

Honestly, if I had a dollar for every one of these messages I would be making money.

Let's Pretend We're in Antarctica...

2005-10-17T00:33:00.000-07:00

How do we make things light again?
Yours truly with the man behind the madness, Kevin Barnes
How do I say this without sounding like a gushing fan...? "I met Of Montreal last night OMG!!!" ok, that's totally out of my system now. The really great part of the experience was that I felt like I was just talking to nice people..I guess because I was.

I have to say the show last night was a little surreal. I got to On @ Off (a terrible name for a club...shouldn't it be "On & Off?" or "On or Off?"--I like the second one better) I was the only gaijin (non Japanese person) there at first. I sat at the bar next to a sweet Japanese girl. We wrote notes to eachother since she couldn't speak much English and I couldn't speak much Japanese not to mention the music was too loud for conversation. I can only imagine what it would be like to find random pieces of paper that say, "I liked to watch the swimmers" and "Sometimes I smoke, cigarrettes are BAD!!!" This went on for a while until I spotted Dan, the sound guy who tours with Of Montreal. We spoke for a while about overalls vs. coveralls and how terrible the opening band at the North 6 (Brooklyn) show in April was. Later on, I met Matt, the bassist for Of Montreal. It was great to not only be talking to someone who I respect musically but to also be speaking in English. Matt reminds me of a friend from home..that's another bonus I guess. I went outside to escape the sensory overload I was experiencing inside the club. The place is wall to wall movie screens..flashing lights..loud music...

It was raining outside..make that 'pouring' Luckily there was an awning to hang out under. Most of the evening was spent under this awning talking with the members of 'Of Montreal' and their friends. My friend, Lindsay, showed up a while later with her friend and roomie Sarah (with an 'h'). They were soon to find out why I have such love for this band...

The set was acoustic. Kevin played some brand spankin new songs solo style and was joined later on by the other members of the band. It was great to hear some of my favorite songs stripped down like that. Actually, "stripped down" may not be a good description considering that the songs still sounded so full and pure. Kevin Barnes really has a way with words that so few people do. I got to stand so close to the band and I could hear every single line thanks to the skill of my new friend, Dan the overalled sound man.

Eventually, I couldn't overcome my urge to have my picture taken with Kevin...I don't deny that I am a fan. I said, "Would it be really cheesy if I asked to take a picture with you?" and he said, "Is it going to involve cheese?" and I said "Probably." (See my myspace pics).

After we said our goodbyes (the band had to fly back to Georgia this morning), Lindsay, Sarah and I walked to the Ruby Room to hang out until the trains started up again (5am yikes!). Lindsday's bartender friend bought us a round which we drank while avoiding eye contact with a guy Lindsay dubbed, "Radiohead boy" (he had a Radiohead tee-shirt on). Then our stomachs got the better of us and we headed back out into the misty Shibuya streets to search out some late night Japanese cuisine. We sure found it and some drunken American airforce guys too. I could have done without the airforce guys personally. I've been pretty good at avoiding culture shock up til now. Two of the men were extremely loud and obnoxious, trying to impress us with stories of their drunken escapades and cursing up a storm. The other two guys weren't so bad. I kept my eyes downcast and tried to place my full concentration on my rice and miso. Sarah kept up conversation with the guys which was just as well for me and Lindsay who couldn't help but notice that the Japanese patrons didn't stick around too long. It's times like that where there is no wonder that Americans get the reputation they do. Think about it, I'm not dissing people in the military but they travel all over the world and represent the American people more than anyone else wherever they go. I know some guys in the military who are great people but the two loud guys didn't seem very bright and they certainly weren't interested in respecting Japanese culture. To be fair, they did pay for our food... nice southern hospitality. Also, the two quiter guys did respectfully apologize for their obnoxious drunken friends.

The train ride home at 5:30am was a long and drawn out one. Last weekend I ended up falling asleep and going around the Yamanote line 1 or 2 times before catching my stop. This time, I struggled to stay awake. Finally I heard the sweet twinkling notes of the Kaihimmakuhari stop...never did that song sound sweeter...got off the train, unlocked my bicycle, wiped off the rain spattered seat and biked myself home to bed.

I can't help but wonder if my magnificent luck was do to my "favorite cute Laura Ingles Wilder" dress.

My Dream is Relaxed

2005-09-19T01:52:00.000-07:00

Sapporo food
Karaoke, Hidemi and Jenny
Owen, Lindsay, and me

Much has happened since my last post. I don't really expect that I'll always write about everything but I'm hoping once I get pictures up, I'll have to do less talking. This weekend was truly wonderful I must say. On Saturay, Jenny, David, Ryuta,Hidemi, and I went out for Hidemi's birthday. We went to the Sapporo restaurant which is right next to the Sapporo brewery. We didn't catch the tour but we did have a beautiful view of the bay and sunset. Dinner was ridiculous! We got the buffet meal and had all you can eat and drink. The tables had bbq grills in the center of them. The five of us definately ate and drank our money's worth and managed to play several drinking games (Pin, Pom, Pan/ Fuzzy Duck/ and 31) in between mouthfuls of Sapporo, lamb (sorry little lambs!), and veggies. After dinner it was off to icecream and karaoke...the pictures are worth a 1,000 words! On Sunday, I met up with Martine, she worked with my brother at a cafe in our home town of Boonton. She is teaching English with GEOS and I gather it's very different than my work situation. It's a bigger company with more teachers and is spread out over a much larger area in Japan. The teachers come from all over the world. I met many of them on Saturday when Martine invited me to a Jamaican BBQ at her friend's house in Machida. Her friend, Greg, is thinking of opening a Jamaican restaurant in Tokyo and I sure hope he does because the food was delicious! Before we got to his house we came face to face with a festival. There were women, men, and children dressed in bright costumes. They were singing, dancing, and playing the drums...it was amazing to see! Of course I took pictures! The party was nice but the real partying happened afterwards. Around 6-ish, most of us trekked to the station to go to Fujisawa for some bar hopping. There were about 20 of us in the group. My friend Lindsay, a gal from Minnesota whom I met in Tokyo on the birthday weekend, met up with us there. I didn't go too crazy drinking..for one, I'm making a half-hearted attempt to save money...hah! For two, I drank entirely too much Sapporo the night before on Hidemi's birthday. I did manage to lose an earing and a headband..I'm learning to accept this handicap of mine. Martine's friend, Corinne, was sweet enough to let us sleep at her place in Fugisawa. The next day, Martine, her friend Owen, and I made a semi-epic voyage to the train station to go home. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast in a Denny's/Friendly's style restaurant. The food was very strange and un-breakfast like by our western standards but the coffee was amazing the the music playing made us feel like muppet babies. Actually, it was quite similar to the song you'd hear when Pee Wee Herman would get on his magic red bicycle and fly off to the credits of his TV show back in the 80's...man I miss that show! Anyway, we all felt like we were dreaming somehow...especially when we walked by a motorcycle shop that had real spider monkeys and Tucans dancing around in cages. We walked further until I spied a sweet little puppy staring out of a store front window at me. I had to go in and say hello...so cute! After a quick hello, we left only to discover a vintage guitar shop. Vintage guitars are right up there with cute puppies so, once again, I had to go in. I couldn't resist! We met the coolest Japanese man named, Kenichi Kamei. He played the banjo for us and showed me a mini koto. I ended up buying a Tai Sho Koto for about $100. It is small like a dulcimer but you press buttons (which make chords) and you strum the strings. I have no idea how to tune it but I hope to find out somehow. Kenichi Kamei plays in a surf style rock band (think, the Ventures)and I plan on seeing him perform in the future. I would go see him on Oct. 8th but I have managed to book a show that night! My first show in Tokyo will be at a venue called Bar Drop. I'll be playing with some other Japanese bands I met through myspace. I'm really excited. I'm going to try posting some pictures now!

Ku-wai-eeeeeee

2005-09-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Kuwaii (left)
Kowai (right)

I think I've finally figured out the difference between "Ku-wai-e"(sounds like Hawaii) and "Ko-wai" (please excuse the misspellings) The first means cute, atleast I hope it does because a few Japanese boys said I was "Kuwaiee" tonight. They were drunk. The second means "scary"..I believe I accidently told a student that her shoes were scary yesterday. Kate-sensei when will you ever get it right? Tomorrow I go to Tokyo! Yea birthday fun!

Ohhh Benny Hawaii!!!

2005-08-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Today was pretty awesome I must say. I had to work but not too much and work isn't really like work yet anyway. I really enjoy my students so far..although I'm kind of new at the whole ESL teacher thang. The other teachers, David and Jenny, are great! We've gone out to eat a few times and they are super at helping me with the menus and such. We also got drunk on sake and sang karaoke which makes for fast friendships. I met their two Japanese friends, Hidemi and Ryuta, today and we went to a baseball game. I haven't been to a baseball game in ages because..well..I usually find baseball to be boring as hell. This was totally different. Hidemi showed me the wonders of what we call, "the Lemon girl" because she makes these lemony alcoholic drinks which are yummy and half the price of a beer. She (Hidemi) also explained how "Benny" (a ball player on the Marines team)was her favorite because he's from Hawaii and cute but kind of ugly. We made friends with the people all around us and they supplied us with snacks, balloons, and signs which made for a proper baseball experience. Everyday I am seeing new things and interacting with people like I haven't before. It's only been a week but I am really getting to like this place. Next week we'll be celebrating my 25th birthday in Tokyo and meeting up with various friends of friends. It should be a crazy night!

When in Chiba...

2005-08-23T01:34:00.000-07:00

Well I'm here and in one piece. It's more humid than heck and the wind howls at night...I kind of like the howling. Speaking of howling...the cat I live with, Doc (short for Doc Holiday) meows constantly. If he wasn't so cute, we'd have problems.

The city of Chiba is really cool! There is anything you could want in a small city...cafes, restaurants, train station, a bay, shops, parks...but I haven't checked out the night life. I don't really have any friends yet although my boss and her sister have been very accomodating and generous.

I've been a bit of a hermit so I don't have too much to say at this time. I'll post some pictures soon and some stories too! I just wanted to let you know I'm doing fine and I miss you! Please feel free to write, I should be getting internet service soon.

Grace in Rotation

2005-08-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

to buy my album go here

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/katesikora

to read press on the album go here

http://www.nj.com/weblogs/music/

My address in Japan

2005-08-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Kate Sikora c/o Motoyama
2-601 Grand Patios Nishi-no-machi
2-1-2 Utase Mihama-ku
Chiba-shi, Chiba-ken
Japan 261-0013

email: k8sikora@msn.com

It's the Final Count Down...

2005-08-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

I've decided that the best way for me to keep my friends posted about my travels to Japan would be to start an e-journal or blog or whatever. I think this is better than forcing people to read about it by sending out giant emails. Who knows, maybe I'll send out the monstrous emails anyway. Now on to Japan...

It's Tuesday, August 16th and I'll be blasting off to Japan on Friday, August 19th..9am. I don't really know how I feel. I am certainly excited but not the jump up and down kind of excited. I think this is because I'm going to miss so many people, especially my family and my cats. I'm also afraid that I'll be interrupting the momentum I've had with the release of my album. I don't know how people are going to respond to my music in Japan and I don't know where to start with booking and promoting myself. I'm going to be teaching at a school in Chiba-ken called "Hands on English." They'll be setting me up with an apartment nearby and there is a train station within walking distance. Not that I'm so good with the geography, but Chiba is about a 30minute train ride into Tokyo. My knowledge of Japanese is embarrassing and I've soaked in as much prior knowledge about the culture as I can glean from friends who've been there and books from the library...which isn't much. I'm not good at preparing for this and I think I won't really learn what I need to until I'm there. I'm thinking it will be the equivalent of jumping into a freezing cold pool. You know it's going to be cold but you don't really know how cold until you jump in.

Tonight is my little "See you later" party. It's actually not really a party but a bonfire/gathering of close friends and people I want to see before I go. If there are pictures I will definately put some up...if only for me to look back on them when I'm feeling lonely in Japan.

See you later,

Kate