Time

I have been in Japan for four months now. Still, I feel like I am brand new to the country.

What should I make of this?

Festivus (Thanksgiving 2009)

On a somewhat odd note, I was more excited for Thanksgiving this year than I was for Thanksgiving last year. Though I am not in a country where people actually celebrate Thanksgiving, teaching the holiday to my students has helped--dare I say it--whet my appetite for the occasion.

More than anything, I realized tonight that I have developed--and am still developing--a community here. They're not all Japanese people. And they're not all other English teachers either. Until tonight, there has been relatively little mixing among these different people that I know, these different people who are my friends. But in actually having time to think about Thanksgiving while I was teaching this year, I had time to think about how I wanted to spend it, and I wanted to spend it with these people I know who have helped make Japan what it is for me.

I admit, I was a bit concerned about how this Thanksgiving of people-who-know-only-some-other-people-and-might-be-weary-of-other-people might turn out. Prior to Thanksgiving, a friend reassured me that it would be just like Festivus and not to worry. And I knew that it would be fine. But I guess this being a country that's not my home country and there being many different people and me, well, being the only one knowing some of these other people...it all just made me wonder.

But, as my friend predicted, the dinner was indeed a Festivus. And oishii. =)

My other blog...

...among many. But I guess now is as good a time as any to start promoting this.

Tales of the Typhoon

Greetings.

It's been some time since I have last written--nearly three months, in fact.  A lot has happened since then.  Namely, I moved to Japan.  I am now writing this entry at the cusp of my first Japanese typhoon, although I must admit, my naive mind does not really know what that means quite yet.

The rain is coming down pretty hard though.  A lot of people are making a fuss about it; it's all the rage on the news, and even the teachers at my school have taken to interrupting their busy schedules to check the weather reports.  Even earlier this evening--when it actually wasn't raining--the downtown area of the city was eerily quiet, as if people had paused their lives so that the typhoon's passage wouldn't necessarily be a disruption to them.

The typhoon's reportedly the strongest one in ten years, which I guess is why people are taking extra precautions.  With all the damage that's happened in other parts of the world recently, nervousness seems to be a trait of the moment.  And I admit, now that I am hearing the beat of the wind against my windows, the hairs on my arms are raising a bit.  But, I'm more excited than nervous.

Ironically, it's been during this time--just before the typhoon--that people have finally been able to view Mount Fuji in all its height and glory.  Before, the clouds and humidity had made this impossible.  Even though I climbed Fuji-san at the end of August--which is itself a magnificent, though tiring, experience--and stood at the summit itself, my eyes hadn't gotten the chance to take in the full view of the mountain.  And I still haven't seen it.  But I'm looking.

In a sense, this typhoon is pretty much analogous to the way my life has been since I got here.   And that's about the best I can do at recapping the last three months. 

The Final Countdown

*Edited: I actually wrote this last week.  For some reason, it didn't post.  Oh well, it doesn't change the substance of the post.

I just got my first goodbye messages today.  Granted, they were just emails, but considering they were from people I didn't know three months ago--people I can honestly say only know me on a superficial level--I was touched at the sincerity behind the messages.

I've had my fair share of good-bye gatherings.  And they're always sad.  But those good-bye gatherings have also always been with people whom were already my friends.  I had known them for a while.  We had shared experiences together, both good and bad.  The sadness at these good-bye gatherings, then, had more to do with the loss of the physical presence of my friends rather than the loss of any friendships themselves.

But what about the people who aren't your friends yet?  The people you meet and think, "wow, I really think you're cool and would like to get to know you better..."  But you just can't because the timing is all wrong.  I've been thinking about those people lately.  There are a lot of them in my life right now.

The countdown to Japan is beginning...

Something to Remember

I am generally not inclined to document my days, action-wise, but I feel like today should be an exception.

It was honestly just a great day.

I had the day off due to the July 4th holiday, so I woke up at 8:30 am instead of 6.  And the sun was shining.  It was one of those corny indicators that the day would be good, waking up well-rested and anticipating great weather.  

Normally, there might be a caveat to this.  "Yeah, it started out great, but then _____ happened."  But nope. 

First, I enjoyed a refreshing cup of iced Peet's coffee as I drove into San Francisco to meet up with a friend.  Yes, that Peet's coffee is indeed part of the greatness that is today.  My friend and I met up at the Chinatown Kite Shop in order to satisfy a not-so-secret desire that we both have had for some time--to fly (which means that we needed to buy) a kite.  And the mission--at least, the first part of it--was accomplished!

A yummy lunch at a Chinese eatery followed, and then I made my way from San Francisco to San Jose to take care of some business at the 2009 North American Bengali Conference.  Though I started out incredibly nervous and slightly afraid because this is the first time I am working on a piece individually for my internship, I am happy to report that things went well, and I can't wait to work on the material that I gathered.  I just hope I can make something of it!

From San Jose, I drove back home, where I had a three-way phone conversation with my brother and my grandmother over Skype.  Well, my grandmother was on her landline, but the fact that we had a three-way conversation was really nice, because my brother is actually in Rome right now.  It made me hopeful of keeping in contact with my family in the future.  And the conversation itself was just hilarious.

Then, I cleaned my car.  I feel compelled to add that the sun was still shining, because this made cleaning a much nicer activity for me--I got to be out in the sun again!  And having my car spick and span again is great.  I am not much for dirt, but it had been piling up for a while simply because I have been so busy.  So, the greater implication here is that I have time, which (speaking from the perspective of never having enough time) is amazing.

From there, my sister drove my dad and me to  Tilden Park so that we could have a breather out in nature.  I hadn't been to Tilden in years, and neither had my father.  Needless to say, we had a great time walking and hiking along the paths.  I wish I had my recording equipment with me then because the sounds of nature, from the trees creaking to the deer we saw hopping, were quite amazing.

After Tilden, the three of us did a bit of grocery shopping at Raley's.  This is going to sound terrible, but I honestly haven't been in a grocery store in months.  I think I have gone once in all the time I have been living at home.  And let me tell you, when you look at a grocery store with fresh eyes, everything about it--from the items the store sells to its employees to just its very concept--is kind of mind-blowing.

So after this exciting (for me) trip to the grocery store, we came home.  I finally ate my dinner, and then I watched a terrible, but appropriate, movie with my family:  Bride Wars.  I call it appropriate because my parents are obsessed with marriage, and my sister wants to be a bride.  And as that kind of terribly appropriate movie, it was not so bad.

And then, while chillin up in my room, I skyped with my two friends who are in Mumbai right now.  Due to poor connectivity, they sounded pretty robotic, but it was good enough for me.  And they had their camera on, which made the call a lot more fun.  There is this thing about the Indian head nod, and at one point, they both did it.  Seeing the two of them shake their heads like that was a definite highlight of my day.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

And that's basically it.  Really, if I were to think about this day from a different perspective, it might not seem that special.  But it's a good day to me because it incorporated a lot of different things that I care about.  And that's why it's something to remember.

Happy 4th of July, friends.

Keep it in yo pants!

I'm watching Larry King Live with my father right now.  Larry, of course, is discussing the big news of the day: Governor Mark Sanford's infidelity.  My father's reaction?

"This is really a disease...Such a disturbing thing, f*** b*********."

In case you were wondering, that b-word is an extremely bad word in Hindi and Punjabi.  Essentially, my dad called the Governor a f***ing motherf***er.  Now you know where I get my potty mouth from.

But really, it has to make you wonder.  John Edwards did it.  So did Eliot Spitzer.  And remember Bill Clinton back in the '90s?  And I am sure there are more whom I have failed to mention.  I tend to overlook these highly public revelations of infidelity just because they are exactly that--highly public.  There are tons of people who cheat on their significant others; we just don't have the media hopping on these cases to really know about them.

But as a counterpart to my father's reaction, this is what my mother had to say:

Mom: "I feel sorry for the guy."

Me: "Why?"

Mom: "Because he got caught!"

I guess my mother's point is well taken.  If you are in public office and you decide to cheat, you sure as hell shouldn't get caught.  The mere fact that you are already in the spotlight makes media hype inevitable, so much so that people feel sorry for you when you blow your cover.

It's funny how much of a reaction the situation as elicited from my parents, however.  They are not what you would call news junkies.  I wonder what the citizens of South Carolina are thinking.