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.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
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”
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”
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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?
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?
Friday, June 5, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
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.
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