During the last two weeks back in London, I felt like I wasn't in London. I didn't feel like studying. I was always depressed by how difficult it is for me to manage to speak English in a satisfactory way. When I attended a seminar, I couldn't concentrate myself, something that had never happened to me before.
Come back to London. I was missing London during the first few days of my stay in Tokyo, but now I am missing Tokyo. I really enjoyed the party last Friday, but I can't throw a party in the same way in London. This fact made me even feel I didn't want to go back to London... I usually don't feel this kind of backward emotions (Is "backward" the right word for this? I don't know how to put this in English). I always look forward, though I sometimes stop moving forward. But never going backwards. So this upset me. Why do I feel like this?
I visit University of Tokyo again, meeting Aoki-kun, Takahashi-san, Kato-san, Kanaya-kun, Kawamoto-kun, and Waki-kun.
For lunch, I take away Yoshinoya's gyu-don (a bowl of rice topped with beef). Just paying for 280 yen (1.4 pounds), you can get your lunch. Unthinkable in London. Another moment I'm impressed about Japan.
In the evening, I throw a London-style party at Bobby's Cafe in Shibuya, inviting my best friends in Tokyo: Mihara-kun, Misao-san, Yoo-chan, Jun-chan, Torolin, Ono-san, Reiko, Tomoko, and Mark. Why is this London-style? Because each of my friends doesn't know each other. It's not uncommon in London to invite your friends from different backgrounds. But that's not true in Japan. We usually go to restaurants or bars with our friends from the same background so all of us know each other in the first place.
So I'm a bit anxious about it. Does a friend of mine enjoy talking to another friend of mine who he or she didn't meet before? But it turns out that everybody seems to enjoy the party more than I expected! Of course I enjoy the party, too, surrounded by my best friends. It's really a good evening.
When the party is over, my last train has already gone. In Tokyo, there's no night bus. So I visit and stay at Mihara-kun's place overnight. Actually, it's good to have a chance to talk to him a lot.
I go to Yodobashi Camera, a consumer electronics chain, at Shinjuku. First, I have my minidisk player fixed. Then I buy Seiko Instruments Inc's IC Dictionary SR-M6000 at around 30,000 yens (about 150 pounds). IC dictionaries (mobile electronic dictionaries) seem very popular now in Japan. What's good about this product is that it contains Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, my favorite English-English dictionary. Cool!
When I walk around the store, I find the same wireless ADSL modem router as the one we got in London (see 5th November). I check the price. 15,000 yen. About 75 pounds. Less than half as much as we paid for it in London. Oh, my God.
This is what's good about living in Japan. Electronics products are of high quality and available at reasonable prices.
I visit Reiko working at a boutique called Agosto Shop in Laforet Harajuku, Tokyo's counterpart of Topshop. The last time I saw Reiko was last July, when she left London (see 4th July). Since then, we exchanged some e-mail messages, getting along with each other.
Her shop is mainly for ladieswear. Unless she works there, I'll never visit this shop. It's really different from menswear boutiques. The fitting room is really huge, like a hotel lounge. Reiko shows me some clothes that men can also wear. They are really different from what's available in menswear stores. Actually I get one pair of trousers, though it's not for winter. Thanks to Reiko, I can peep at a different world.
Then I head for Shibuya, where three other Marui department stores are located. I finally get two nice winter trousers of Morgan Homme and Michel Klein Homme. I also buy a green and black mohair scarf of 58 Goya By Jun Men. Shopping menswear in Tokyho is fun!
I visit the Department of Economics at University of Tokyo, where I got my master's degree. I meet Shoji-kun and Uochi-san, both of them are writing their master theses due this Friday. Then I attend the Microeconomics Seminar, where Hanaki-san presents his joint research on experimental economics. After the seminar, I talk to my ex-supervisor Yanagawa-sensei for one minute. He says, "When you write a paper, send me a copy." I hope this will happen soon...
I still have a cold. But I'm tired of sleeping. So I'm watching Japanese women's pro-wrestling on satellite tv all day. (See 29 March and 6 April last year for my passion for it.) Last year I always checked what was happening in the world of Japanese women's pro-wrestling via the internet. But I didn't watch the actual battles. So it's fun to connect the real images to what I knew. Among the bouts I watch, the best single match is Hotta Yumiko vs Akino (at Kawasaki Taiikukan on 25th July 2003), and the best tag match is Tamura Yoshiko, Ohmukai Michiko, Hyuga Azumi, and Nakanishi Momoe vs Inoue Kyoko, Inoue Takako, Mita Etsuko, and Ito Kaoru (at Korakuen Hall on 3rd November 2003).
I catch cold. I have a sore throat. I'm too used to life in London. Winter in London is not so cold as in Tokyo, and it's very warm inside the house owing to central-heating during the night. But my bedroom in my parents' house in Tokyo has an air-conditioner. During my 25 years of life in Tokyo, I'd turn it off when I went to bed. So I followed this habit last night. I was wrong. It got really cold during the night. As I didn't sleep on New Year's Eve, got worn out by the 13-hour flight from London, and walked around a lot yesterday, I gave way to the flu virus... So I'm on bed all day today. What a waste of time in Tokyo!
I go shopping at Marui Men Shinjuku, the eight-story department store for menswear only (see 4 April 2003). Can you believe this? This reflects how fashionable Japanese young men are.
I'm looking for nice-looking winter trousers, but I fail to find any. It's a bargain sale season. Good stuff flies away soon. I get PPFM's fancy black leather belt, Comme Ca Du Mode Men's socks, and 5351 Pour Les Hommes's thick t-shirt.
In the evening I have dinner with Takeshi at To The Herbs, a budget Italian restaurant, at Harajuku. I order Japanese-style Italian pizza (topped with seaweed) and spaghetti (with soy-sauce).
Takeshi is a fledgling lawyer. He passed the bar exam two years ago, and is now under training at Hakodate, a northern port town of Japan. We share the idea of pursuing our respective careers as far as possible. He says, "Most of my friends don't understand this outlook on life. In this sense, you're one of my precious friends."
I arrive at the Narita Airport at 10 am. My parents are waiting for me there. My dad got his driver's license last year. So he drove to the airport. I get an impression that both of my parents have a different air than before. Do they get old?
When I arrive at my parents' home, I feel like I get taller. This happened last April when I went back to Japan, too. As Japanese people are generally shorter than Western people, the height of every piece of furniture is lower. So I feel like I'm a tall guy.
Nyanko, our pet cat, still remembers me. She's a good-looking cat, but she looks a bit older. Time has passed.
From 11 to 12, Neil's pronunciation workshop. For the first time in my life, I learn the meaning of intonation for questions. If you ask a question with a rising intonation (this is the way I learned in Japan), this means that you don't want to hear answers and give signs to the audience that you will continue speaking. It even gives an impression that you are superior to the audience because this way of asking a question is used by policemen and sergeants.
If you want to give a chance of answering to the audience, you should ask a question with a faling intonation. In Japan, I learned that this way of asking meant you didn't want to hear answers or you asked a rhetorical question...
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I prepare for teaching all day. One of this week's questions is really difficult to explain its answer, so I drop by Oriana's office to ask for help. I learn I shouldn't give the precisely correct answer to undergrads if it's too complicated. If students ask for it in class, it's okay to tell them. But on the answer sheet, I should refrain from explaining sophisticatedly. That's the way of teaching undergrads.
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After I come home, I set up a wireless LAN network with Netgear DG824M (all-in-one equipment--DSL modem, router, and access point-- for wireless networking), which we bought at Inmac, an online computer shop in UK. After setting up my own laptop, I try to help my two housemates' computer setup. But it doesn't work at all. Why not?
Reiko's farewell party part two at Japanese restaurant Asakusa in Camden Town (This restaurant is perfectly Japanese. The atmospher inside is exactly the same as Japanese usual restaurants. Food is also authentic Japanese and not bad though I wouldn't say "excellent!" because they don't know how to cook rice. My bowl of steamed rice is too sticky).
Reiko's going to leave London tonight. She shows up with a huge and heavy trunk and a huge and heavy backpack. It's totally not what a girl should carry around. So when she leaves for the Heathrow Airport, I decide to go with her carrying her huge and heavy trunk until Leicester Square station (Tomoko also asks me to do so as I'm one of the two guys at the party). Once she gets on the Piccadilly Line at that station, then for the rest of journey she can drag her trunk (there's no stairs at the Heathrow Airport). As a man, I feel right and complete when I help girls like this way.
Then I go back to the Asakusa restaurant. Fortunately the rest of guys are still there. Then we walk to a bar called Bartok. On the way I have a chat with Mark, a British guy. I met him last December. This is the second time we meet. He says, "You don't have British friends, do you?" Bingo! At my school, there's no British student as far as I know. I ask him, "How do you know that?" He replies, "'Cause your English is the same as when we met before."
Oh, my God.
He's right. I didn't learn English much for the past six months. I was totally busy studying economics. There was no time or energy for learning English.
I really thank him for pointing out this fact. At the same time it's tough to know reality...
Then we arrive at the bar, which is Carola's favorite. All the seats are cosy sofas. And the music played by a DJ is ranging from Baroque to drum & bass of the Good Looking type. Not bad, not bad.
I enjoy talking to Mark and Carola at this bar. They are the kind of people I like. Speaking in a thoughtful and reflective manner. They've been to various countries around the world, so their views are quite flexible. Finally, I meet someone I can share things with.
Also I learn one thing from Mark. He says, "I feel happy when Tomoko (his Japanese girlfriend) talks in her own language." He doesn't understand Japanese. So he doesn't understand what she's talking about. Then why is he happy?
I remember a Vietnamese friend of mine told me the same thing about his Japanese girlfriend. He doesn't understand Japanese, either. Again why?
Mark says, "I'm happy because I can see her feel confident while she's talking in Japanese." Talking in a foreign language makes people feel anxious. That's what he doesn't like. That's how men feel about their girlfriends from other countries. Hmmm....
Then we leave the bar. On the way home, I talk to Carola. It turns out that she lives close to my place. We enjoy having a chat all the way. I'm able to be joking to her. It's weird. It's very unusual. I'm not a droll. I'm very bad at saying jokes. Why?
I was supposed to go back to London today. But the Virgin Atlantic canceled today's flight probably because there aren't enough passengers due to SARS.
Anyway, this one-month stay in Tokyo (with a trip to Cambodia) has refreshed me totally. I found Tokyo is really a cool city. Things are continuously changing for the better. That gives me new energy.
Now I'm all set for studying in London for exams in June!
I have yakiniku (Japanese-style indoor barbeque) dinner with my parents in Azabu-Juban.
Then we head for newly opened Roppongi Hills. I'm really impressed. It's so cool! I wanna live here! Roppongi Hills is one of the urban redevelopment projects that have been going on all over Tokyo now. If you visit Tokyo, check this one out, then you'll feel the huge potential that Tokyo has.
I have lunch with Aoki-kun at Darjeeling (a reasonable and tasty Indian curry restaurant) in Hongo. He's my man since my master study at University of Tokyo.
In the evening I have dinner with Mihara-kun at Ken's Dining in Shinjuku. Later his girlfriend joins us. They are yet another ideal couple. I envy you guys. :-)
I say goodbye to them and then I go clubbing with Hanh and her friend Hang. They are Vietnamese girls living in Tokyo. None of my Japanese friends in Tokyo showed any interest in clubbing. This is Japan. It's really difficult to find someone who you can go clubbing together with.
Anyway, the reason I go clubbing tonight is DJ Fergie from Britain was supposed to be on the decks at Code in Shinjuku. But he doesn't show up probably because of SARS. Damn it!
When we get bored with house music, we leave the club and go to a karaoke box. Unlike in London, we've got no night bus in Tokyo. So we need to kill the time until the first train around half past four in the morning. (For Hanh and Hang, karaoke is much more fun than clubbing, though.) It's been more than four years since the last time I went to karaoke. I try to sing some English songs, but I can't. Singing in English without practice is totally impossible...
I have lunch with Mitsuru-san at Pariya in Aoyama. He's doing internship at the United Nations University, whose headquarters is located in Aoyama. We enjoy having a chat for more than four hours. When we say goodbye, it's like a really hard thing.
I have lunch with Takagi-san, one of the few rational-choice political science graduate students in Japan.
In the evening I have dinner in Ochanomizu with Japanese graduate students interested in development economics. With them I've set up a mailing list in which we discuss development issues from the perspective of economics. So this dinner is an "off-line meeting" of this mailing list. We have Okinawa (a southern island of Japan) cuisine. It's really good.
I watch King Crimson's live performance with Ono-san at Showa-Joshi College Hitomi Memorial Hall. As I wrote on 25th Februrary, I didn't like their latest album The Power To Belive. But their live performance completely reverses my impression on their latest tunes. Their stage is really complete. I have no complaint at all. It goes as far as I want to see today's gig again! I respect their live performance skills. It's really amazing. No other rock band in this world does something like this: live performance is better than tunes recorded in the studio.
Without falling asleep last night, I say goodbye to Naomi-san, Tory-san, and Toshi-san in the morning in Kobe and take a railway to Kyoto. There I meet Tororin. We have lunch at Scorpione (they serve Italian cuisine at a Japanese traditional house - a wicked combination), visit the Shoren-in temple (it has a really nice garden - a must-see when you visit Kyoto), then walk through Maruyama Park to see cherry blossoms and eat takoyaki (octopus balls) at a stall.
I really enjoy having a chat with Tororin. I'm joking all the time, which is very rare for me.
In the evening I have a dinner with Tsuchida-kun at Sol Club Varadero (a Cuban restaurant) in Osaka. Why Cuban cuisine in Japan? 'Cause we met each other on the flight from Japan to Cuba three years ago! The food this restaurant serves is not Cuban. It's rather Spanish or Mexican. But the interior is incredibly Cuban.
Then he drives me with his super-car (wow!) to his favorite bar. I have four shots of tequila, which is very rare for me as I'm not a hard drinker.
I go back to Tokyo by night coach. I enjoy my two-day stay in Kansai. I'm finally able to feel relaxed, which was not possible in London or Tokyo.
I take the Shinkansen train to the Kansai area. There I spend the whole night with Naomi-san (her weblog in Japanese), her "knights" Tory-san and Toshi-san.
I got to know Naomi-san first at the beginning of the year 2001 via the Internet. Since then, she's influenced me a lot. She's changed me from an introverted person to an outgoing guy, which I'd always been hoping to realise since I was a kindergartener. I really appreciate that.
I wanted to tell her this appreciation, but I can't do that. I get a sense of a huge distance between us, both geographically and psychologically. I really like her but at the same time I'm really tired of trying to get in touch with her. I wish she lived in Tokyo or London...
