Best of 2009, Music

Let me say first off, 2009 was a great year for really good music. There were a lot of solidly good albums out there to choose from. Sure, not all that many were GREAT, but still, it's hard to pick out who then makes a top ten list and who doesn't. For the time I spent with them, I suppose it's fairer to call this list "My favorites of '09".

1.Neko Case Middle Cyclone
Neko Case's latest record edges out the competition by the sheer number of times I listened to it this year. While it may not be the most complex or new-sounding album of the year, it is simply the album I found myself putting on above all others. A beautiful country/folk sound with smart lyrics, both sweet and smoky, this is Neko Case at her best. The 30 minutes of field noises at the end might not suit everyone, but it's at the end for a reason, and I think it's a perfect closer for an album that is at times powerful and openly relaxed at others.

2. St. Vincent Actor
Not only do I have a woman at number one for the first time, but I had two competing for the top spot on my list. Where Neko Case is warm and familiar, Annie Clark is bold and original (This record should probably be my number 1, as it is more innovative a record, but I simply listened to Neko Case more). The album is a little top-heavy, with the most striking songs up front and losing a little momentum closer to the end, but when the amazing songs are THIS amazing, you'd want them front and center too.

3. Andrew Bird Noble Beast
While originally I felt this album didn't live up to the standard Bird set for himself with Armchair Apocrypha, the album grew on me steadily and strongly over the year. Who else can write songs about sea anemones and Alan Turing, and with such a vast vocabulary? When coupled with the bonus disc of instrumental work, Useless Creatures, it's an engrossing offering from the whistling violinist.

4. The Antlers Hospice
I didn't get this album til the very end of the year, but it blew me over once I played it. Painful in a very real and heart-wrenching way, it makes Sufjan Stevens' "Casimir Pulaski Day" seem like a happy lullaby. Those listening to the words will be moved to tears. Those listening to the music will be uplifted. Somewhere between the two there is a breath-taking and heart-breaking beauty. This is not a put it on in the background kind of record. This is pay attention and bring tissues kind of record. Worthy of all the praise it's received, definitely.

5. Sunset Rubdown Dragonslayer
I'll grant, not everyone loves Spencer Krug the way I do, and few give as much credit to his "Wolf Parade side-project" (despite the fact he's put out twice as much material under the SR title). I myself was a little mixed on Random Spirit Lover, but Dragonslayer pulled me back in. His singing and lyrical style remind me of a Berlin-era Bowie, even if the music isn't quite so Eno-y. While I have a problem with some of the song lengths (clocking at 10:28, Dragon's Lair is just too long for a single track), I feel the music and narratives here are tighter than his previous record. Sure, Krug can still be dense and impenetrable at times, but there's plenty of cutup-style poetry that anyone who's willing to pay a little attention can pull out and really sink their teeth into. I could still listen to songs like "You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)" another hundred times and not feel discontent.

6. The Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca
I've honestly never paid The Dirty Projectors the proper amount of attention. After seeing them in concert this year on tour for Bitte Orca, I can assure you that attitude has changed. These guys are amazing with the vocal acrobatics. What you'd attribute to cool studio production is actually what they do live. Each track is enjoyable time after time. It's bizarre yet danceable, artistic without being inaccessible. I'll have to go back through their catalog now to see what other gems I've missed.

7. The Mountain Goats The Life of the World to Come
I'm really surprised not to see this album on more year-end best-of lists. Did it pass under everyone's radar? Or did they simply not appreciate the complexity of the biblically-inspired titles/themes? John Darnielle has said he's not a Christian but interested in the ideas of the biblical text. As a person raised in a Christian household who would not define myself as Christian, I have enough familiarity with the subject to find this album intriguing. Sometimes the songs take directly from the text mentioned by the titular verse, other times simply the sentiments are shared between two otherwise unrelated stories. Then, there are a few that are so different, I haven't any idea how Darnielle ties the verse and song mentally, but I find those some of the most interesting. It causes my toes to tap and pulls my heartstrings. Definitely the best Mountain Goats record since The Sunset Tree.


8. At Dusk Small Light
Here's a gem I know won't be on any lists outside the Portland, OR music scene, which really is a pity. Small Light is the final product of At Dusk, I've been told, which is another real pity. There was a period in the fall where this was the only record I could play in the car. This disc is a treasure chest of well-crafted and enjoyable songs with a wide variety of sounds and great lyrics. Bouncy one minute and contemplative the next, there's something for everyone here, but it all comes together for a consistent, solid (and happily long!) album. It epitomizes everything positive coming from the prodigious Portland hotspot these days.

9. K'naan Troubadour
Anyone who knows me knows that I don't listen to a tremendous amount of hip-hop. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that my silly folk records speak to me, a lyric nut, more loudly. It takes a lot for a hip-hop record to really grab my attention, and it needs to be lyrical in doing so. K'naan's album does just that. It's difficult to argue with a person that not only survived growing up in a war-torn Somalia, but taught himself English in order to express the stories of his life. AND he managed to write a rhyme with "Connecticut". A great record that's caught on with everyone I've shown it to, not my usual cup of tea, so all the more respect for it.

10. Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavillion
The only surprise here is probably how low I've placed the latest Animal Collective offering on my list. This is the album that's graced the top spot on nearly every list I've seen for 2009. But while we are in the minority, I know there are those of us out there who just don't agree (these people tend to be big Animal Collective fans as well, so it's certainly not out of spite). Partly, it's too poppy for me. Partly it's that most of the songs feel a little too repetitive for me. And partly it's that it's just not as good as a number of their previous recent albums. I know that's just, like, my opinion, man, but that's what this list is about! And granted, a lesser Animal Collective is better than a helluvalotta other music out there (and it IS in my top ten, afterall). It's just not the end-all-be-all it's been made out to be. Enjoyable, obviously. But I'd still rather have another Feels, Sung Tongs or even Strawberry Jam.

R&J

If you've never been in theater, you wouldn't understand.

Going backstage, reading actors' notes, seeing the lighting grid, smelling plywood and grease paint...ah, how it floods the senses with nostalgia.

I used to be one of these people. You work hard and you play hard. You put it all out there for everyone else, being someone else. If you're smart, you appreciate everyone else working around you. It's fantasy made real, the art of playing.

I sort of grew out of it. I knew I would never be the leading lady, only best friends and villains. So I left that world.

But damn, are there ever times when I miss it.

Winter

My mom asked me what I missed about Japan this time of year. Here's what I came up with:

-Onsen, especially in the snow
-The Kobe Illuminiarie
-End of the year parties (Bounenkai)
-Nabe pot dinners
-My kotatsu
-Celebrating Christmas without the massive consumerism or, in my family, mandatory church services
-New Years' celebrations
-Celebrating friends' birthdays (I have at least 10 friends with birth dates in Dec.)

But, in fairness, I do not miss:

-Working in a freezing school
-Returning to a freezing apartment (no central heating anywhere!)
-The train commute to work packed to smothering with high school boys (more ride the train in the winter rather than ride bikes)
-Teaching the same Christmas vocabulary each year
-JLPT first weekend of December
-Not having a proper Christmas tree in my home

Things I am Awesome at (that cannot go on my resume):

giving gifts
baking quiche
recognizing voices/voice actors
recovering other people's trains of thought that went astray
collage
making cute faces
some yoga
remembering song lyrics
choosing t-shirts
playing the "sugar mama"
getting ready quickly in the morning
Star Trek trivia
quick tongue movements

it hasn't hit me yet i'm not simply on summer vacation. and i don't think that will hit me until about october.

Adjusting

Day one in America, these were the things that seemed weird to me:

No tray to put my money in at cash registers. Where do I put the money?!

All the choices I had to make ordering dinner at a restaurant. What kind of salad? Which two side dishes? How did I want the steak cooked?...it was like a frakking interview!

Strangers talking to me/not being terrified to talk to me.

How small American cellphones are.

Happily, America has:

Shoes that fit me in womens' styles.

Cheap, delicious pizza.

PBS.

Hugh Manatee.

a few more little things...

I will miss...

The Shinkansen. Best way to travel, period.

Amemura, or America Town, in Osaka. It's to America what our Chinatowns are to China.

The hideous things Japanese McDonald's come up with. The breakfast McHotDog. The Egg Double Mac. The list could go on and on. You don't need to eat them to enjoy the ridiculousness.

Buying sushi at the convenience store.

Japanese convenience stores in general.

No tipping but still having service twice as good as the States.

Streets filled with paper lanterns during festival season.

The cuteness of Japanese kids. Sometimes I think the dopamine rush they give is the reason I stayed so long.

Onsens. Public baths are just not something Americans do, but it's really pretty delightful. Especially if you get to drink beer and eat ice cream in the nude. Oh yeah.

Seasonal Kit-Kat flavors. Salty watermelon, green tea, blood orange, and so forth. Some are better than others, but it's like Pokemon, gotta try 'em all!

Capsule machine toys. Way cooler than the bouncy balls and cheap rings we had as kids.

Puri-kura photo booths. Sometimes you DO need that much glitter in your life.

adrift...

and now, i am homeless and wandering. Achan has been kind enough to offer me her home when i need it, and it turns out that it was sooner than i anticipated.

when i had originally planned on leaving Japan the 16th of August, it was under the impression I would be in my home until the end of my contract, August 5th. But the new folks moved in a week earlier than that. While in most cases this would mean the board of education would put the new folks up in a hotel til their predecessor was prepared to leave, MY board of education basically said "well...good luck getting out!" and that was that. it does reconfirm for me that i really can't work with them any longer, nice as they are most of the time, because the level of cluelessness is just astounding.

anyway, what i had planned on having as a little over a week of wandering is now a little over two weeks. i have plans for some of those days, places to be and people to see for the last time...but others are just blanks in my daily planner. no clue where i'll be or where i will stay. i really feel like i can only rely on one person's hospitality for so long before i become a nuisance. thankfully, i'm not a penniless wanderer. should i need, i can get a hotel or catch a train someplace. but having spent more in 4 days than i normally do in a month when my friends were visiting makes me hesitate to spend more than i need.

really, this post is just me bitching. nobody really wants to hear that, i suppose. but i think i can sum up what i really want to say in a few words that everyone can agree upon.

being homeless sucks.

More things I will miss...

Watching the bats flying around the glow of the all-night gas station below my window.

My orange bicycle. It's been my trusty steed through rain and shine. Mostly rain, these days.

The old ramen shop up the road, run by the guy who always wears galoshes and his daughter who practices her English when she pours us water.

Live shows in Japan. Even for big acts, the spaces are much more intimate.

Uni Qlo. Way better than Old Navy.

Cheap cigarettes. Then again, maybe not.

Capsule hotels and love hotels. The best ways to crash after late night fun with friends in the city. The U.S. is sadly lacking in these options.

My keitai. More like a beloved pet than a simple device, canceling it is like having it put down.

going home means leaving home

one of the things i will miss most about Japan is my apartment. the actual living space i've had for the last three years.

aside from the home i grew up in, this is the place i have lived the longest. it's also the only space that i've had that's totally and completely mine.

i've loved this place from day one. the smell of the warm tatami, the sliding paper doors, the western-facing windows looking over the town...these were part of it's natural beauty. The sloping wall in the living room, the weird little hallways that were there for no reason, the cork-covered kitchen walls, the balcony you had to go through the shower to find...how could i not fall for such a cozy, kooky space?. it suited me so perfectly. i wouldn't have wanted to live anywhere else, even if i'd had the choice.

i worked to make it my home, to share the comfortable feeling it gave me with others who came to visit. art filled the walls, music and incense shared the air. i was once told by a friend that he hadn't been in a place so welcoming and relaxing in a long time. that was exactly what i was going for.

memories of good times here are plentiful. movie nights where every space was filled with people and conversation. sunday morning jam sessions with coffee and open, breezy windows. spontaneous waltzes in the kitchen. cold nights snuggled under the kotatsu's electric glow. throwing mikans out the window onto the empty highway late at night. they are particular to this place, to this time in my life.

each summer when it was time for other JETs to move out of their homes, they came to stay with me. last summer i put up a sign that said "Welcome to Hotel Mellen - We're happy to have you". i never took it down. it's on my door and will be until the day i leave. the day i need someone to share the same hospitality with me as i am displaced from my home.

this apartment truly is home to me, just as much as my family's house in america is. maybe even more so, as it has been mine alone to create.

and leaving my home is very, very hard. i will miss it dearly.

http://www.blogotheque.net/-Concerts-a-emporter-

to remember when i'm not manically trying to pack and sort my life.

Little things I will miss...(one of surely more to come)

I will miss...

七夕、or Tanabata, the Star Festival. Kids write their wishes for the year on strips of paper and tie them bamboo trees around the school. It's cute and pretty at the same time.

the perfect western view I get of the setting sun over the mountains in my apartment.

salmon eggs, eel, and fermented soy beans in my regular diet. Foods I'd never thought I'd love but now can't get enough of.

my yoga class. I don't know if I'll ever find a class that suits me better than Hideyo's.

the smell of tatami in the summer.

Japanese trains. Even the slow local ones.

being called "メリー先生”

Notes on the year so far

Musically speaking, this year has been much better than last year, and we're only half way through. At the end of the year I'm always scratching my head to remember what came out before the summer hit, so I'm jotting down some notes on great music we've received so far.

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
While I was down on this album at first for not being as good as I thought Armchair Apocrypha was, it's won me over now. Who else can write songs about sea anemones, really? Coupled with the bonus disc of instrumentals (Useless Creatures), it upholds the Andrew Bird tradition of great music with violin, whistling, and awesome lyric.

Passion Pit - Manners
When it's time to get moving, be it running, biking to work or doing dishes, my first choice these days is Passion Pit. Maybe not the most ground-breaking album, but unstoppably groovy. I just have to shake it a little when any of these songs come on. Occasionally it sounds a little like TV on the Radio, Animal Collective, or Ratatat, and I mean that as a compliment. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
Another album I just can't put down. Less murky than Random Spirit Lover, it still has songs that go on long, but they change and break down enough to keep them interesting rather than dragging on. The instrumentation is tightened up a bit, and the lyrics are sharper too. I could listen to "You Go On Ahead (Trumpet, Trumpet II)" all day, really. A much more solid success in my opinion.

St. Vincent - Actor
Another can't-put-it-down album. While Annie Clark has again top-loaded her album (all the best songs are at the front, slowing down towards the end a bit), these songs explode with so much awesome you'd want them front and center too. Gorgeous music, lyric and singing make everything on this album worth listening to over and over and over.

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
This album is hard to separate from the idea of summer, so I need to mark it down to remember when summer has passed. The usual from Case, folk/country sounds with a great voice and good lyric. 30 minutes of field sounds at the end might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I find it the perfect end to a soothing summer album.

K'naan - Troubadour
As an English teacher in Japan, I have to have respect for K'naan, who not only taught himself English partly through rap and hip hop, but has also gone on to make his own music and lyric quite successfully. Way better than my students probably ever will be able to grasp, and they have a "proper" education. I admit I'm not well versed in hip hop, but after getting this record I couldn't put it down for weeks, which says a lot for it.

Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Kinda like Tori Amos meets Bjork with a twist of The Knife. And can you really argue with a combination like that? Surprisingly NOT Scandinavian, though it certainly has that vibe to me. Pretty but not TOO pretty, and that's something I like about it.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
It's Animal Collective, need I say more?

A beautiful day.

I cleaned my dishes and the kitchen counters. I worked on a cover letter for a job possibility in Boston. I probably won't get it, but it feels good to have some ideas about what I can do when I get back. Talked to family and friends on Skype. Talking about my insecurities, one friend said, "Knowing you, you'll find yourself sucked into a new life right away." That was actually kind of reassuring, that I could be interesting and desirable enough to find a new start.

I sat out on the window in my boxers and t-shirt with my cigarette and coffee. I spotted my four year-old neighbor Tenma down by the parking lot. I watched as he ran over to the drainage ditch, pulled down his pants and peed. He pulled up his pants, turned around, then saw me up in the high window. He waved and yelled "MERII-SENSEI!" I waved back as he ran to get his dad, telling him to look up. I politely waved to Mr. Aota, who had Tenma's 6 month-old brother in his arms. He laughs as Temna tries to yell to me where the family is going for the day. I laugh at the adorableness of the scene.

I left my window perch to then figure out the train schedules for the day. Found there is a Hamakaze rapid service to Takeno, where there summer's kick-off beach party is happening. Leaving exactly an hour from now, the perfect amount of time.

The last week has been full of panic. But today, so far, has been perfect--a mix of productive and relaxed time. And I see this is how the days should be enjoyed from here on out. Appreciating the things I will miss, soaking them in like the sunshine. Preparing slowly to move onto the next phase, to reunite with the people back home.

Despite what it's been like in my headspace these days, today I actually believe things are going to be okay.

two-headed boy

This little gem sent to me by the dearest of old friends reminded me that, really, there are just two kinds of music people--those who love Neutral Milk Hotel and those who don't. And it is a rift that is difficult to mend.

May, come what may

It's May. Seems I barely blinked and April was over.

May brings good things. The warmer weather is a boon to any and everyone. Golden Week, a week with 5 consecutive national holidays, starts in just half an hour from the time of me writing this. My sister will be coming tomorrow, and for once without one of our parents slowing us down or holding us back from enjoying time together in Japan. Travel, good food, and a bit of craziness surely await.

May is also coming with some foreboding this year though. Now is the time for me to start getting ready to leave. I'm sending winter clothes home with my sister. Debating what else I should weigh her down with to save me the shipping...my scanner? My guitar? What will go back and what will stay here? What things should I be preparing to part with? The answer to that, of course, is everything. My home, my work, my friends, my LIFE for the past three years...it's all going to change.

The opposite side of separation anxiety is the re-entry anxiety. Where will I live? What will I do for money? Will I still have any friends stateside?

May is here, full of golden glory but with a cold panic at the edges, slowly beginning to seep in. I'm uncertain how much attention I should pay those two opposing feelings. I want desperately to ignore the panic, but I know that will make it grow that much faster. Yet, I don't want it taking over the final times I have to enjoy what I have here.

Current coping strategy:
One day at a time.
Breathe.
Repeat.

Okay, time for another rant about the Japanese education system. Skip over this one if you don't care about how infuriating it can be.

The Ministry of Education has started making English textbooks for elementary school 5th and 6th graders. While they won't be mandatory for a couple more years, my town's elementary schools have elected to start using them. Sounds good, right? Getting the kids to get into English officially earlier on in their education should be a good thing, right? It would be, except that the textbook is an absolute total fucking disaster.

How bad can it be? Let me illuminate you.

Problem 1: The text has no appropriate target teacher.
Almost the entire teacher's manual is written in Japanese. This is great, if you can READ JAPANESE. Many ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers, read: native speaker) can't easily read large textbook passages in Japanese, even those who speak Japanese well. Meanwhile, the Japanese homeroom teacher (JHT) sees the tiny bit of English in the textbook and flips out at the thought of having to try and teach it. So the instructions for the activities are useless for both the ALT who isn't fluent in Japanese and the JHT who utterly terrified at teaching a subject they can't understand themselves.

Katie has been trying to say this to the teachers at her schools. Without Japanese, she can't read the textbook explinations or understand when the Japanese teachers read it to her. They respond by showing her all the flashcards and things that have English writing on them, but no context. So far they have gotten nowhere, and have been unable to start using the textbook.

Problem 2: It's totally disorganized.
This is a problem with most Japanese textbooks that I've encountered. The set up makes no sense from the perspective of a native speaker, or hell, anyone who can speak some English. The first lesson for 6th graders is upper case letters of the alphabet. Okay, not so bad. The second lesson is about counting. THEN, it goes back to lower case letters for the third lesson. I'm sorry, what? We can't do the sections on the alphabet together because...?? This is just one example.

Problem 3: It's below the students' ability level.
I've been upset with the first year Jr. High textbooks for years because they have been undoing the progress in English my elementary students had been making. They come in with the ability to answer questions like "What's your hobby?" or "What's your favorite ~?", and these things are striped out by the Jr. High textbooks and teachers. This takes the degredation of their English ability one step further. What I would normally be teaching to my 1st and 2nd graders is now the topic for my 5th and 6th graders. Not only that, but each lesson is broken down into 3 or 4 classes for material I know they could learn in 1, maybe 2 max. The Japanese teachers even agree with me looking through the book that it is "簡単すぎる"--too easy. The target grammar? Too easy. The textbooks activities? Too easy. And if that's not enough, they're boring too. My teachers have already asked me what activity I would choose instead, because the ones the book comes with are dull. They point to what the textbook calls a "game" and say "ゲームと言うよりクイズ。面白くない。" "Rather than a game, this is like a quiz. It's not fun". I have to agree with them. They are belittling and uninteresting activities.

Problem 4: It's racist.
This is my biggest problem with the textbook, obviously. It irritates me all the more because it's racist under the guise of "internationalization". The first lesson for the 5th graders is Greetings from Around the World. This is where I, the foreigner, am supposed to speak Russian, Chinese, Korean, Portugese, Hindi, etc. I cannot read Russian or Chinese, I can't pronounce words written in Cyrillic or Chinese kanji, and I don't want to katakana my way through them. There isn't even a Western alphabetic spelling of these words...it's the native language or katakana. I don't feel comfortable talking about cultures that are not my own without great amounts of study. I do not want to misrepresent any other country or any other language. Other lessons are things like "Look what people wear in other countries! Look what people in other countries eat!" I know the text is aiming for "Internationalization", but I only come from one country, America. I only speak English, Japanese, and a little Spanish (which, by the way, is the one language the textbook seems to have skipped; not like it's one of the most widely spoken in the world or anything). Mine is the only language/culture I feel comfortable representing. Expecting a single ALT to be the world is unrealistic. It's just as racist and isolationist to think anyone from a single foreign country can do all this as not having us at all...it's still "us Japanese as opposed to those crazy foreigners". I won't stand for it. I'm going to ask at the next meeting that we minimize this aspect of the textbook as much as possible.

I'm up to my neck in work as it is, having to teach Japanese teachers how to do their job is not exactly high on my list of things I want to do. Teaching a textbook I greatly dislike isn't helping either. Venting helps a little though, so if you made it this far, thanks for easing my burden a little.

I've recently become obsessed with photographing electric lines, cables, towers and signals. Particularly where they intersect.

I think I shall call this one-off project Electric Corners. Stay tuned.

Yokohama Blues

Sunday, Day 1:
The warm embrace of spring was just starting to encircle Hyogo when I left this afternoon. Winter still has it's grip around Kanazawa though. Yokohama is cold and grey. As of yet, it strikes me as simply a northern version of Kobe. Looking up what food this city is known for, I find just like Kobe that foreign food is the way to go, say Mexican or Thai. I'm told I'll have to go to Chinatown, as it's the only one in Japan larger than Kobe's, but I'm in no mood to try it tonight. Stereotypcially, I sit in a Starbucks, as it's the only reliably decent coffee in this country, and watch the people walking by. Nothing that interesting. Huge bags and cell phones in everyone's hands. Winter coats and furry boots make me feel chilly in the lighter coat and tennis shoes I have on. It puts me right back into the winter funk I'd finally been emerging from at home.
So far I say bahumbug to Yokohama. We'll see if it gets better with the arrival of friends.

Monday, Day 2:
The first day of the conference for returning JETs. Until running into some friends at lunch near the venue, I was feeling lost in a sea of foreigners, clearly other JETs here for the conference. The highlight of the day was definitely riding the little roller coaster in the little amusement park before registering at the Pacifico. How often do you get to ride a roller coaster between skyscrapers, after all?

The first day of conference itself was rather depressing. Being confronted with the difficulty of finding a job in the current world market, dealing with reverse culture shock and thinking about what one's leaving impressions will be weren't exactly light-hearted subjects, despite the excellence of those presenting each subject. I felt the acute tightening of my stomach and heart muscles at the thought of leaving what has been my life for the last three years. While in December and January nothing seemed as appealing as going home, the reality of leaving everything I have here, forever, is pretty terrifying at times. I know my reverse culture shock will really be reverse lifestyle shock. I will miss my home. I will miss my friends. I will miss my job. I will miss my kids. The thought that it may all go on to someone else is strange. My friends will all be distant, while the old friends at home will probably be even less existent. The knowledge I probably won't have anything as reliable and enjoyable for employment at at home doesn't help with the separation anxiety. Maybe some of the discontent I'm feeling here in Yokohama has to do with that fear rather than the reality of the city itself.

A night out in Chinatown with friends didn't cheer me up as much as I'd hoped. So-so Japanese-style Chinese food in portions I could have eaten twice over was again something I could have had in Kobe. Had I wanted, I could have spent even more money and gone out to Shinjuku for drinks at the over-priced Lost in Translation bar, but opted instead to go back to the hotel and share cheap beers with a couple friends staying the same hotel as me. While this was a good time, it was again nothing I needed to come to Yokohama for. Went back to my room at about 11 for a fitful, unrestful sleep, dry electric heat on full blast to keep me remotely comfortable.

Tuesday, Day 3:
Another day full of depressing thoughts presented as workshops and conferences. A few helpful tips in what for me is a mounting sea of indecision and panic. Grad school? I'm qualified to continue the Asian Studies route but find myself repulsed at the thought of continuing in that purely academic field. Teaching is a possibility, but I have a lot of educational catching-up to do if I want to go that route. Graphic design is totally and completely unrelated to both my degree and my experience on JET. Still, I take the packets, I take notes, and I try to take it easy. The embassy panel with the Foreign Service folks is pretty interesting, though it's clear that's not an easy field to get into either. It is an option I did find a bit more appealing though, and I take it into consideration.

That's the last workshop of the day, and I find at the end nearly all the people I would have hung out with are leaving to head back to Hyogo. I planned on just going back to my hotel for a night of Discovery Channel and reading. Thankfully, I ran into Nate instead. Only someone with the 1000-watt personality he has could bring me out of my funk. Having bitched about Yokohama, he insists I should at least see it from the water. We go down to the pier and catch a boat around the harbor. While it's no Hong Kong (a city for which I have previously expressed great affection), I must admit it's not a bad view. The Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan, the giant illuminated ferris wheel and a striking full moon make lovely night photos. Having read his travel brochures, he points out to me all the interesting and famous sites along the harbor. We disembark at one end to get right on another boat and travel back to the opposite side of the harbor. There we get off and find some dinner in a cool refurbished turn-of-the-century warehouse. We chat about this and that. It's extremely comforting to me to talk to someone else who has no clue what's going to happen next in life, but still stays positive. We walk along the harbor and over to the Sakuragicho train station, where we part ways.

The cold still bites a bit on the walk home, but I am finally slightly less grumpy about it.

Wednesday, Day 4:
Some milky sunshine has managed to peek through the clouds at last. Thankfully this is the one day where we could really enjoy it. The last day of the conference is only 9-12:30. Again, some is useful, some is not. I'm leaving this conference with mostly the same ideas, questions and worries I came in with, but with a few extra pounds of paper that are supposed to help me figure out what to do (though the answer seems to be network, network, network, for the record).

For this, I missed my Jr. High school's graduation, which is a bit upsetting. The kids graduating now were first-year Jr. High students when I came in, and now they're "all grown up". I have actually had tears come to my eyes thinking about it. Still, I was scheduled for elementary school this week...I would have missed it even if I was at home.

I had planned to head straight home, or maybe wander on my own for a bit, but I ran into yet another group of people I knew and ended up once again going to the amusement park, this time for a ferris wheel ride. Shortly after that the clouds came back in, and our group split between those going to Kamakura for the afternoon to see the big bronze Buddha and those going back to Hyogo on the shinkansen. With little cash left and a dead camera battery, I decided not to reunite with my second-favorite Buddha, but rather to head home. From Nagoya onward the weather perked up again, and I napped pleasantly in my window seat, book open on my lap and acoustic songs in my ears. Best rest I've had the whole trip.

Back at home at last, and while I didn't do much, I find myself ready for bed at 9:00. Happy to be home though, for the remaining time that it is home.

Blatant Idea Theft: Review of Zooooom! Tour in Kobe

I've been packing my weekends full of live music recently, usually hitting one or two shows every weekend for the last month. Only one of these was a big foreign act (My Morning Jacket @ Club Quattro), the rest being smaller clubs and venues. Last Sunday there was a show at Varit in Kobe, and since I'm bored at work, I'm gonna do a little write-up on it here.

Varit is all you could ask for in a small Japanese club. You wouldn't expect it to be so large when you decend the stairs from street level to get inside, but it's definitely bigger than your average basement club. You don't even see the stage when you first enter, as it's down another set of stairs facing the dancefloor. The second level where you enter has the bar and a balcony to see the show below. There are tables and chairs for those who want to sip drinks and listen casually, and plenty of room below by the stage for those who want to dance away the night. You can see and hear perfectly well from just about anywhere in the club. The walls are covered with interesting posters of bands you've never heard of.

Unlike the friends I'm arriving with, I've been to Varit before. I'm confident I've hit the right note with my brown felt dress, black sweater and knee-high socks. Dancey, cute and casual. I have to keep up with Atsuko after all, and she's just about the coolest girl I know. We've come to this show on her recommendation, and her recommendations are never wrong. Naturally, she's there to meet us, wearing an outfit that would put her equally at home in Osaka, Japan or Olympia, Washington. After exchanging our mandatory 500 yen drink tickets for tequilla sunrises, we head downstairs to the stage.

The band Atsuko wants to see is up first, a group called Valva. While their name comes a little too close to the English for parts of the female anatomy for me to want to buy a t-shirt, it's hard not to fall instantly in love with them. The bass player is also the lead singer, with hair down to his midsection, cheetah-print pants and a voice that sounds like it belongs to a girl half his age. The drummer is quite the sight to behold too, as he blazes away, either counting or singing quite visibly to himself. There's no question these guys rock though. Atsuko and I are up at the front dancing away, when the bass player sits down on the ground for a while. Atsuko whispers to me that this is the best song, and that it will speed up. I don't doubt for a second it'll be worth the build. When they're finished, I go straight to the mech table and get their album.

Next up is Analog Jidai (アナログ時代). While there was no question Valva rocked, they were rather hippish compared to the boys in this band, leather jackets and jeans. The guitarist and bassist switched off on vocals. Not as "interesting" as Valva, but definitely fun to listen too. Again, I found myself dancing happily away.

After a longer break, The 48s are up. Suddenly a gaggle of girls in matching t-shirts are up at the front of the stage, positioned in two rows, ready for what is clearly their favorite band. The only band of the night to feature just 3 memebers (the rest are 4-piece), Atsuko tells me the lead singer had a previous band that was really popular. A big mop of hair and black rimmed glasses make it clear he is definitely the darling of the fanclub's hearts. He knows it too. He chats up the fans between songs, which invariably results in squeals of delight from them. It's the bass player's last tour with the band, but no one seems to care that much about him. The fangirls have choreographed moves for certain parts of each song, which my friends and I try to pick up for fun, usually a beat behind. Their set is bouncy, by far the poppiest band of the night, which doesn't surprise me. Still, it's enjoyable enough for all us non-fangirls too.

Between The 48s and the last act, The Keys, I start chatting with Analog Jidai's bass player, who'd come over to thank me for buying their album. After the usual formalities of "oh, your Japanese is so good" "no no no, it's not", he tells me The Keys sing songs in English. I'm thinking he means they have one or two songs in English, or that they have pieces of English in a lot of their songs. It's only when they come out and start playing that I realize he meant ALL of their songs are ALL in English. This is definitely a first for a me at a Japanese rock show. The lead singer's English is clearly not native, he has the stereotypical nasal sound of Japanese-English. Still, the grammar is surprisingly good compared to what you usually find in the J-pop mainstream (clearly, I'm thinking like an English teacher, hehe). Though it's not perfect, it's a hell of a lot better than what you normally find, and that in itself is pretty impressive. The music isn't bad either--not as poppy as The 48s, though also not as interesting as Valva. They encore with "There She Goes," which is the best cover I've seen since I saw Shonen Knife play "Daydream Believer". House lights come up, and that's a wrap for the Zooooom! Tour.

Like most shows here in Japan, this one gets out early enough for me to catch my last train home with time to spare. In fact, there is even enough time for a quick bowl of ramen with Atsuko and Clay. On the platform at the station, Atsuko and I sift through the stack of flyers and promos we were handed at the door. You get these at every show, and they are stuffed in bags and lockers, often forgotten on purpose. But Atsuko and I always look through to see what gig might be worth going out to next. As we wait for her train, we mark a few interesting looking shows, and plan to set something up. We've already got plans for Calvin Johnson and Karl Blau in Kyoto next month, we'll see if we can fit a couple more in. I hug Atsuko goodbye and she dashes off as her train arrives.

Ten minutes later on my own train home, I finally have a quiet moment to enjoy the ringing in my ears. Yup, it's been a good night.