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J O U R N A L
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Friday, January 28
[Save the husk]posted by peter at 16:58 .......Today's highlight: organic chai at Brown Rice Cafe.
I know I am boring people with my talk of unrefined carbohydrates, but I am such a convert. Since incorporating a larger percentage of whole foods into my diet (must admit I became a bit lazy there for a bit) I am experiencing far less hypoglycaemic shock and finding it much easier to concentrate at work for longer stretches. One relatively expensive bread with carraway seed (four slices for 200 yen) forms the basis of a particularly good lunch.
A recent obsession of mine has been combinations of avocado, cumin, salad vegetables and sea salt.
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In music news, I attended an Okinawan folk concert on Wednesday night and I am about to board a train to Kichijoji for a punk gig of some description.
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[Kitchen]posted by peter at 00:33 .......I found out Banana Yoshimoto used to live in my suburb. One of my students met/saw (ambiguous translation) her at a local cafe a couple of times.
Apparently Banana moved elsewhere last October.
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[So I wanted to ask you]posted by peter at 21:38 .......I definitely do not enjoy being attacked with questions like "Do you think living as a foreigner in Japan frees you from the responsibilities of the indigenous [this is a fucking QUOTE, more or less] community and allows you freedom from obligation and responsibility in your own country and..." trail off quote and paraphrase with any number of terms conveying unsubtle and cruel insinuations.
Every now and then you get a student clever-clever who chooses to use their gift for language in hostile and, fuck it, antisocial ways.
By nature I am not that argumentative and tend to deflect things rather than engage in verbal battle, but tiny particles break off and sink in through my skin, like quarks and leptons falling through your skull at night, and this process wears me down sometimes.
Wonderful, wonderful things have happened, but brevity is of essence. Benefit gig for Amnesty International and other charities in Ebisu on Friday, which attracted the presence of such luminaries as Momo and Sarah among others, lovely funk and electroclash but lots of desperate people came out of the woodwork towards the end, worked on very little sleep, out to hideous Roppongi for another party on Saturday, left my scarf in the taxi (you wouldn't believe how wonderfully futuristic Tokyo's highways are at night), worked on even less sleep, coffee, sleep, work, Frente! punk bar, sleep, work, now.
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Marc's latest posts have cracked me up and I am linking to Sachiko's blog because I have loved it thus far.
So help yourself.
[Thanx, but]posted by peter at 10:02 .......This is bizarre.
No, I am not a DJ and I already said I am not a 'punk rocker'.
Just a lowly English instructor. That's all.
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[Could have had]posted by peter at 14:39 .......The lightest snow is as if nine million bloodless birds have been shredded in the sky.
That and more which stirs on these streets.
Fuck you, the city is mine now.
For a time.
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[Two train journeys later]posted by peter at 17:09 .......What part of "No, I am not with the band" don't you understand?
Nor, for that matter, am I involved in the organisation of an electroclash night at some multinational nightclub.
I must be somebody's doppelganger. It's either that or the hair.
And why do people think they can strike up conversation with weird questions like that?
Back from the beach after an evening of chatty hilarity at Lisa's (who got mistaken for Ani DiFranco recently) comfy abode. The night before at Nadia's was similarly chatty and hilarious... I played the Tibetan singing bowl and even got hooked up to a computer to measure the rhythms and consistency of my pulse (it was better than I expected).
Great plans for the evening but I think it is easier to write about them afterwards.
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[At the beach]posted by peter at 21:23 .......From the shore we could see Fuji. The sea looked sepia. Clouds threw shadows, an island lurked and armed guards chatted idly on the spit (for the emperor comes here sometimes).
I love the old pines best. Twisting up from the seaside, they somehow erase the sea walls, the vending machines, the plastic tide, but they don't halt the breeze from the snow caps across the bay.
Transparency.
Sifting.
When I meet 19-year-olds I know they are 19. Am I that old already?
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[One day, a conversation, in Tokyo]posted by peter at 13:37 .......Hesitantly, the old lady formed the difficult English. "I want to ask you... and it's ok if you don't want to answer... but... where are your ancestors from?".
"Poland," I replied, realising that this was never going to be an actual English lesson. "From the area between Berlin and Warsaw."
"Aaaah," she gasped. "I'd guessed Britain, but now that I think about it, twenty years ago I visited Auschwitz and saw many photographs of people who looked just like you."
I concealed a facial expression which would have revealed my true reaction to the comment.
"But without the inside information," she continued, "I would never have guessed that your ancestors weren't British."
No, indeed.
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[Glazing]posted by peter at 02:21 .......From the train at night, when the subway ends and the aisles run clear, between thick dead glass and sparks on the horizon, everything floats.
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[Hot chocolate head spin]posted by peter at 13:57 .......Embarrassing LPs is running now. I cannot believe that the concept started in July last year, but thanks to Marc, it's all go now.
How many CDs by each band should a prospective life partner have in their collection? Find out for yourself!
The dinner party still plays on my consciousness. I tried to analyse the awkwardness and put it down to the fact that they all arrived early (a cardinal sin in my book) and that I allowed them to wear shoes in the house given that the temperature was hovering in the region of, um, ZERO and our house is inadequately heated.
Language barriers play a secondary role because everyone knows enough to get by.
My visibly manifested stress at having to entertain AND manage two gas hobs probably put a dampener on things. And the fact that the second fridge (which I have now defrosted and turned off) froze the 6pack of beer that I bought.
Strange, all very strange. But fun.
As for everything else, not sure really. Work was work, I found out you can get fair trade coffee at Starbucks (although the staff don't seem to like the extra work) and I have decided that I love Shinjuku. Have met some new people and stuck fairly well to my unrefined carbohydrate life plan. Thinking about Europe in May. As in, moving. Really really really want to go to Jess' wedding in Australia in March but the flight prices are ridiculous and I just don't know if I can... :(
I think I need to chill out down at the beach next week. Got a random email from Nadia this morning (I don't think she actually knows who I am) telling me to come down and bring friends, so maybe that I will.
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[Give a party]posted by peter at 10:52 .......Although (and my flatmates will attest to this) at one point I did feel a bit like Meryl Streep in The Hours, the party was basically a success. No major unravelling on my part.
I think the Nihonjin were bemused by some of my hippie offerings though.
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[Food]posted by peter at 14:58 .......I'm actually terrified about the dinner party I'm throwing tonight for a bunch of Japanese people.
I just don't know what their expectations are. I mean their subtle expectations. They will enjoy anything but what do they actually want?
I've already made hommus and babaganoush (sp?), and will assemble a selection of informal snacky things.
I know in some ways I am the foreign vegetarian oddity, so I don't want to disappoint.
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[Not here you won't]posted by peter at 14:59 .......Japan is bizarre.
The first drycleaner refused to accept my coat because the fabric was unknown, not to mention the mysterious stain.
At the second, a smiling old lady with a vacuum cleaner told me (and I think I'm offended by this) that her shop was expensive. She totalled the cost, smiled at me and said the Japanese equivalent of "expensive, hey?"
And then directed me to another dry cleaner.
It wasn't that costly.
So I visited as directed and was warmly received by a lovely lady who sorted it all out AND gave me a 20 percent discount.
Now I'm on my way to the travel agent.
Oh, and last night I commenced a language exchange with a guy who lived in a tree in Tasmania for 6 months.
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[Things to say, but...]posted by peter at 13:10 .......In Tokyo again. Got back on New Year's Eve in fact, to the falling of snow. Our house was very cold. We went to La Fabrique and then to Garage Land. I was glad to make the move... dancing is all well and good but chatting is that much better again I think.
And what since then? Well the streets have been busy, but I forgot about the whole "get money out of ATMs beforehand" thing so am currently very grateful to Mel who has spotted me through these dark days. Why would you need ATM access at New Year?
Lots of time spent in Shibuya, Harajuku, Koenji, Shimokitazawa... new and interesting people, depressing movies (which I love), subterranean bars lined with red carpet, lots of music, cake, coffee and herbal tea.
I must start cooking again.
And do not say the word "gym". It is hideous to my ears and must never ever be said. (Have I disguised my non-attendance guilt well?)
One last travel post, in case you care. I start work on Saturday. What could be more vile?
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