Friday, December 19, 2003
On Dec 20, 1990, we landed at Kansai Airport.
A long non-stop flight, not our first-
My son had a passport at 9 mos.
But this time,
it was one way...
I remember first the smell of mikans,
and the cold in the small room we stayed in.
I remember crying because I could see my breath in the cold room
after a long flight from a radiator/ steam heated apt in New Jersey.
My husband and my in-laws are from a Jingya-
Which is the Shinto version of a church.
Akio left this obligation as the oldest son
to take over the shrine gig,
to become a student of music; theory,& composition
at Berklee College of Music.
He became a tenor man, composer, and teacher instead.
I think he made the right choice.
Jingya life doesn't suit him-
It sure didn't suit me.
We stayed in Osaka about a month before we moved to Tokyo.
We had a cargo plane carry our stuff over from the US.
It was difficult to get accustomed to sharing life in a place so different from my home.
Akio's family tryed very hard to be hospitable.
It wasn't anything they did wrong,
it was mainly adjustment issues...
I was afraid to sleep at night with the kerosene heaters,
and baths were only taken at night,
no morning showers...
And don't get me started on the toilet issue.
But, we made it.
1 month later,
we drove a big moving van from Osaka
to our new mansion apartment,
in the burbs of Tokyo,
that we have lived in for the duration...
Time has passed-
Events connect.
Careers move, seasons change...
My son started kindergarten the year we came,
now he is in high school.
Someday, I will write more about my life and times here,
pre-weblog
but not today...
Today is for acknowledging the end of the 13th
and beginning of my 14th year in Japan.
I feel like we are like the bonsai tree.
Twisted and grizzled into shape-
But beautiful...
Love is funny or it's sad
it's quiet or it's mad
It's a good thing or it's bad
But Beautiful
Beautiful to take a chance and if you fall, you fall
And I'm thinking I wouldn't mind at all
Love is tearful or it's gay
It's a problem or it's play
It's a heartache either way
But Beautiful
-Johnny Burke/ James Van Heusen
Till next time... 'Mela
6:33 PM
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Photo: Michio Yves Ueda
