tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71500224166767577422024-03-14T12:09:57.489+09:00zolo-tTanyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05573320021723802680noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150022416676757742.post-73073794085866414802014-07-04T18:33:00.000+09:002014-07-07T23:03:21.065+09:00Where I Find Myself in Life: June/July 2014 Edition<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Just a few
months ago, I was considering the possibility of staying on the JET Programme
for the full 5 years. I now think it’s strange I could have ever felt like
staying 5 years, but if I remember correctly, that seed was first planted
during a night out with a few people, one of whom used to be a JET years ago and
whose words of wisdom were basically: stay on JET for as long as you can, it’s
wonderful, I have never been paid as well in the (xx) amount of years since
leaving the program.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So I
thought: maybe I should. Maybe I should stay here for the full 5 years, pay off
as much of my student loan mountain as I can, etc. My student loan mountain is
incredibly huge, and in all reality, not even half of it would be paid off by
the time I left JET after 5 years, but at least close to half of it would be
paid off. And that felt like the responsible thing to do, maybe the right thing
to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> I try not
to think about my student loan mountain very often, but whenever I do, I don’t
(reference to <a href="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/cd/1e/b6/cd1eb6dd4fb11b74a67ac878003f971f.jpg" target="_blank">this</a></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/cd/1e/b6/cd1eb6dd4fb11b74a67ac878003f971f.jpg" target="_blank">)</a>. Not really – whenever I do, it
does make me feel pretty stressed out. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like
to not have it always there, looming behind me, or what it would be like to not
have to pay rent like some of the other JETs, and how it would allow me to send
more money back home, but then I remember the very specific things and
experiences for which I am grateful, and those stirring anxieties find a way to
quiet back down.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Anyway, I
thought that staying 5 years would be my responsibility in a way. And in the
meantime, I would gain even more experience, I would do even more traveling – I
would be able to go to the 2016 Setouchi Art Triennale, I would be able to go
on that Southeast Asian motorbike tour, etc. All those things that I could not
really do as easily if I were to leave Japan.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">(All those things involved a motorbike, it seems.)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Then, at
some point, I realized (as obvious as it is) that I don’t have to stay in
Sendai, I don’t have to continue being a “Coordinator for International
Relations.” In fact, there had been a growing desire in me to experience a
different side of Japan than the one I know working at the office. (As a side
note here, I will add that, for as much as some people’s souls have been
destroyed by the bureaucratic setting in Japan, or just Japan in general, I
have so far managed to avoid being crushed in a similar way. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kencho</i>, or Prefectural Office, is
actually a fascinating organism in a way – a sort of Wonderland in which
everyone gets rotated every few years and thus learns many different lines of
work. But I think I survive because I stay an outsider.) I started looking into
other job opportunities – freelance translation, interpreting, eikaiwa, etc. I
thought: should I eventually do something diplomatic? Should I work for an
art-related organization? Many things I found were strictly full-time; if they
weren’t, they wouldn’t make enough money to support me and quell the raging student
loan mountain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Shortly
after all this, maybe the next month, I had a period of time in which my life
flashed before me and I thought I could end up being “Forever Miyagi” – one of
those among our JET community who join lives with a local Japanese specimen and
choose to remain here. That time came when, at the beginning of March, I got a
Japanese “boyfriend,” right after I decisively sank to the bottom about all
things relationship-related in this country that commoditized human interaction
and didn’t seem to approach relationships in the same way I was shaped to
approach them. Acquiring a Japanese boyfriend was definitely not on the agenda
or even the possibility list, but when it happened, I thought, “Hmmm this must
be the guy that fortune teller in Shinjuku told me about at 5 a.m. the morning
of the CIR Conference last year after I got off the night bus, better make it
work,” and so I tried to make it work and marched on bravely into this new
territory of my life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">It was
great for a couple of weeks, and then it just wasn’t. At the same time I met
this magical fellow who was like a rare unicorn to me among Japanese “men,” I
also bought a blue guitar that I named Lulu. In fact, it was the act of
deciding to buy that guitar that, through a series of linked events, led to
that chance meeting. A few months later, Lulu has proved to be a much better
companion and is still with me.</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">After being
Forever Miyagi didn’t work out for me, I realized that the emotional stress of
dealing with this person had re-oriented me to enter into overdrive within my
own life, to straighten myself out – if he somehow couldn’t make more time for
me than just once or twice a month because he was “busy with work,” well, I
thought I should make myself super busy, too. And I also took some time to
remember all those great things I can do with my life while I don’t have people
(or pet) obligations to worry about. </span><br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">However,
despite those “great things” and despite my constant gratitude at leading a
relatively safe and comfortable life, <u>sometimes it doesn’t feel like
anything is really worth doing</u>. Sometimes, everything just seems really
pointless. And in a way, if you detach yourself enough from everything, I
really think it is.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">I think
that is why I sometimes just feel this incredible need to get away from society
– whether in real life or on the Internet. It becomes too overwhelming, and too
many things seem unnecessary. Something that occurred during the course of my
failure to be Forever Miyagi is my further withdrawal from social networking. The
magical Japanese unicorn did not have Facebook (or maybe just didn’t want to
disclose it), and getting to know someone without a “profile” to refer to was a
little bit scary, but also refreshing.<span style="color: #bfbfbf; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;"></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">I used to
post photos of concerts or art exhibitions I went to, but I’ve stopped. It feels
like a bother, it feels like too much, and I would rather not have it be
another thing on the to-do list that ends up tangling my mind. I used to kind
of like editing photos that were meaningful to me and posting them in their
square format glory on Instagram, which then linked to Facebook. But who am I
really posting things for? On the one hand, I liked having a directory of images,
something to document those meaningful moments and experiences. But when it
became a chore, I stopped.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURfCzXCvXRF-U4bsKUFZpTRyVvE16U3iSMvkvtJCgD1M9eaKREyAEVrbl5Z2NMl5VU0tw4h9nm4vjRMEyj82kzGHf6jgF0Z0I0YlLKwI3IfAQ89NfcPwZILANvzFDVhRZwdT9NJ_enKiN/s1600/009.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURfCzXCvXRF-U4bsKUFZpTRyVvE16U3iSMvkvtJCgD1M9eaKREyAEVrbl5Z2NMl5VU0tw4h9nm4vjRMEyj82kzGHf6jgF0Z0I0YlLKwI3IfAQ89NfcPwZILANvzFDVhRZwdT9NJ_enKiN/s1600/009.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kG1pcBXShrsGIj940Cc1UWydnXuN7xhyphenhyphenAQ5hZ2ovGmMdPvHR1xBo-aNwR5T8Uuag3LOUUx5UgAHtNbIpoxQhL9rTp33A3_su5-dpnG4vmf5D96MXT70_qq7O9bchR6nK6XYf1xXCi6Y3/s1600/009.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">I want to
share some experiences with people, but I noticed I would much rather do so the
next time we see each other, over a cup of coffee, or if that is not possible,
the next time we talk over Skype. I can tell who listens to my stories and who
spaces out. I know a few people who do not use Facebook, and one of them said
something that stuck with me: “I love being able to meet someone and honestly
ask them – what’s up? How have you been? Because I don’t know.”</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibe__YnI9KvWar5TWcV9ZCeKmg6XT6QrF5lhcl3iljsBvYdruqC4MFCr1IUmmfZgfQ75lPSv_NqBG7Ug_NbzYPWQe1Y9qH8W7U6F9wXy7gMlj6ujdHwDYxTVje-950PYC-036uzgWpOi1N/s1600/010.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The only
thing I still feel 100% alright with posting online is the art I occasionally
do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">No, I am
not happy with where I am with my art currently. No, I am not spending as much
time on it as I should be. But I am incredibly thankful I have it. I am
thankful that it is an instinct for me to create even when I feel very
depressed. And no, I will not be a professional guitarist or singer, but it
gives me great joy to look up the tabs to songs I like and try to figure them
out without having any prior musical experience. Every day when I leave my
apartment and when I come back, I give my scooter Birdie a kiss or a little pat
(while looking around to make sure no one sees me doing so) and look forward to
the next adventure we have – I say, “Don’t worry, Birdie, we’re going somewhere
this weekend.” (I finally bought my scooter, a Suzuki Birdie 50cc, in April.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">With this
attitude, being the person I am realizing I am, I am not sure where I will end
up. I cannot write timely e-mails, I cannot be dishonest, I cannot pretend to
like what I do not like, I cannot force myself to care about things I do not
care about. I can see the value in and be fascinated by pretty much anything,
but when it comes to what I would like to spend my life doing in terms of work,
a job, a career – I know I have to move on from what I am currently doing. I am
also really tired of the cliché of “being a bridge” between two countries. I
cannot, and do not want to, “be a bridge” between countries. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6-kUYqqWuH5H6TyhlwdUMu7j_rZLftUFBlV3_ULv0CLtt3I11aujItwc5CNKEHBQTnTI08vdPS02geJIm8tMiNqSSqCsyOvISSHdZyhvxZYvV5rYRxHubQx_y3OyILk6t8xg5MAY82Me/s1600/012.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6-kUYqqWuH5H6TyhlwdUMu7j_rZLftUFBlV3_ULv0CLtt3I11aujItwc5CNKEHBQTnTI08vdPS02geJIm8tMiNqSSqCsyOvISSHdZyhvxZYvV5rYRxHubQx_y3OyILk6t8xg5MAY82Me/s1600/012.png" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWTyCt5GhPjro554Na23ZBJHkLqc3IDKDUioiQoqXBjCBoubKAoKhmb2tb9Wm4t-iy1rl4vcuZFt87-OTxopNNLGFqIE0i1TMjCe9MC1XDuD8tsmhvsWn30TjUsQicpv4aPvJh6VoqIZ7/s1600/013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWTyCt5GhPjro554Na23ZBJHkLqc3IDKDUioiQoqXBjCBoubKAoKhmb2tb9Wm4t-iy1rl4vcuZFt87-OTxopNNLGFqIE0i1TMjCe9MC1XDuD8tsmhvsWn30TjUsQicpv4aPvJh6VoqIZ7/s1600/013.png" /></a></span></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">I don’t
want to think about the commercial application of art, about “my role” in the
world or “the role of the artist” in general, about what has been done already and
what I can do differently, about “the audience,” “the necessity” of whatever I
do, etc. Those are all things that I like studying and exploring, but when it
comes to applying them to myself, I want to throw it all away and just follow
my intuition for a while.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">In
making art, I would like to associate with people who are equally as honest</span></u><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">, people who are not jealous, people
who do not manipulate for their own gain.<span style="color: #bfbfbf; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 191;"> </span>I am not a competitive person, and I
don’t think I am an ambitious person. I don’t like comparing myself to others
(though sometimes it happens). I don’t care to climb up “to the top” of
whatever perceivable climbable social thing there is. (I do enjoy mountain
climbing, however.)</span><br />
<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPZjSI6D6P6VNnhLNyFc-uGm6BGbroo-wTY0t3OhJayRVTY7IniYB4pgfMfWqXgmH-IWJVBCz1qnLEa60ThOESH1d2l9mVZVFSyFzBKSY3k86Fo8IazuASmabQVlDmdwfjD1jj4PnQJt0/s1600/014.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPZjSI6D6P6VNnhLNyFc-uGm6BGbroo-wTY0t3OhJayRVTY7IniYB4pgfMfWqXgmH-IWJVBCz1qnLEa60ThOESH1d2l9mVZVFSyFzBKSY3k86Fo8IazuASmabQVlDmdwfjD1jj4PnQJt0/s1600/014.png" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">I have also
decided to stop creating tentative plans for my future. They used to provide
stability and reassurance and rationalization that whatever I am currently
doing is okay, but after going through many potential scenarios for how I would
like the next few years to play out, I am done. So for now, I still think it
could be a cool experience to move to Osaka and find a tattooing apprenticeship
there (as of several months ago, I actually could not even picture myself
moving to Osaka), and I still think I would like to launch my own line of screen-printed
tights – so I will work to make those things happen. As far as the other
factors in my life are concerned – “whatever happens, happens” and I will do
what feels right at the time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Creating
art is one of the most basic instincts I consciously have, the only thing that has
genuinely stayed with me for years and years. I don’t want to coordinate, plan,
manage, or promote. I just want to create.</span></div>
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Tanyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05573320021723802680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150022416676757742.post-59877354605474027142013-09-03T01:48:00.000+09:002013-09-03T01:48:18.598+09:00Mediatheque Pilgrimages and My First Silkscreen Printing Class<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last
Wednesday after work, I finally got the chance to go to the silkscreen printing
class held by the Sendai Silkscreen Association every week at the Aoba Culture
Center.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is not
the easiest thing to find an artistic community after moving to a new place
(which also happens to be a different country), and so after first moving to
Japan, I struggled a little with this. In the US, I had my dear friends Ashley
and Sasha, who provided me with the artistic comradeship I needed. In Sendai, I
had no one. I came home, I wanted to be a drawing machine, I failed. For a
while. I thought at first that maybe I should try joining a university art club
(like the one at Tohoku University), but that never really happened, and
despite going to Design Festa both as a visitor and as an exhibitor, I have
gone the majority of this year without really bonding with any fellow artistic
souls.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At a certain
point earlier in the year, after I had come back from Chicago and after Sendai
had turned green, I had a small awakening – I decided to start going to the
Mediatheque every week. The Mediatheque is probably the only obviously “modern”
piece of architecture in Sendai, and it serves as a 7-floor facility for activities
related to art, film, and other media. There is a museum shop and café on the 1st
floor, as well as the Open Square, which can be used for performances, presentations,
lectures, showroom set-ups, etc.; the 2nd and 3rd floors house a library, which
I have not really explored yet; the 5th and 6th floors are used as gallery
space; the 7th floor has a small theater. Usually the exhibitions are rotated
on a weekly basis around Wednesday/Thursday, and it tends to be the case that
smaller ones are on the 5th floor and the larger ones on the 6th. The
exhibitions are usually organized by local associations and groups, who pay to
reserve the gallery space for the week. A nice bonus for the interested visitors
is that some of these groups and more experienced artists offer classes –
sometimes the information is written on the pamphlets/programs they hand out;
sometimes you need to ask.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After I
started making my weekly 10-minute pilgrimage to the Mediatheque every Monday
or Tuesday after work and dedicating an hour (sometimes less, sometimes more) to
circling the 5th and 6th floors, I thought: “Why have I not been doing this all
along, for the past nine months?” I knew the sad, somewhat disappointing answer.
Although I had been to the Mediatheque a couple times in the months right after
I had gotten here, I had forgotten about its existence by temporarily shifting
my priorities – it happens. Either way, I felt like I had opened up a
completely new world for myself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sometimes
the exhibits are honestly intriguing; other times there is almost nothing which
really catches my eye. I have already experienced a fair number of traditional
landscape paintings in my visits to the Mediatheque. Sometimes it makes me half-fondly
recall the staleness of the DuPage Art League in Wheaton (my Chicago suburb),
with its myriad of painted flowers and horses (which tended to show up
unrelated to the actual theme for the month). Of course at the Mediatheque the
landscape scenery is different – instead of the American plains and forests, it
is Zao, Matsushima, Jozenji-dori, and other both famous and relatively
anonymous parts of Japan. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If my
schedule physically allows it, I make a point of coming every week. Because
every week, even if it is something small, there is something that makes it
worth coming. I have seen beautiful stained glass, striking and atmospheric
photography, countless interesting painting techniques, and have smelled many
fragrant lilies at the frequently put on <i>shodo</i>
(Japanese calligraphy) exhibitions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was
during my first decided Mediatheque pilgrimage back in late May that I came
across what I distinctly sensed could become my “artistic community involvement”
– a silkscreen exhibition put on by a local association. In my ten or so years
of drawing, I had never done any kind of actual print work. A few pieces in the
gallery stood out to me, and upon walking out, I started a conversation with
the lady at the table. She pointed out which pieces were hers, told me more about
the Wednesday classes, and handed me one of her prints. Holding the program
booklet and the print (pearly ink and thin, nicely textured paper), I walked
away with a warm fuzzy feeling.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Two weeks
later on a rainy afternoon, I made my way down to the Aoba Culture Center only
to find that the class was over and everyone had gone home. The classes are
scheduled for 1-8 p.m., but because of my work schedule, I cannot make it until
about 5:30 p.m. even if I leave straight away. The next couple of months got
very busy – Oshima Leavers Party, Miyagi International Art & Culture Show,
traveling down to Tokyo twice for Group A and B Orientations (and being a Tokyo
Orientation Assistant for Group B), then Miyagi Orientation. It was not until last
week that I finally felt like I had the time and determination to go, this time
calling in advance to make sure there would still be someone there when I
stopped by.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I got to
the classroom, Koide-sensei was there along with a few students – a few Miyagi <i>obaachan</i> and one <i>ojiichan</i>, who were all glad to show me how it was done. I walked around, watched, asked questions,
learned. In another week, I will hopefully be trying it out myself. Part of my
motivation involves a secret project, which I hope will be not-so-secret by the
time November comes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Tanyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05573320021723802680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150022416676757742.post-91726260169825172532013-08-29T12:50:00.000+09:002013-08-29T13:38:38.699+09:00A year after moving to Sendai...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A little over a year after arriving in Sendai, I notice
that I have developed a soft spot for this place. </span>I like living here.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I like the skies above me and the streets I walk through.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like the memories I have made here,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">attached to and hidden
in specific places and things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like rushing through the bent alleyway of Sendai Asakusa, lined
with little restaurants and snack bars, when going out of town. I like my night
bus journeys which land me in Tokyo at 5:35 a.m., and I like the scenery along the
way whenever I can see it in daylight or the early evening. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like discovering new spaces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like the adventures I get
to have here, both alone and with other people.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last August, I came here thinking I would stay on JET for a
year, maybe two years at most, then move on to something else. But this
original vision has been revised; I decided to do what I thought was best for me
when I signed my recontracting papers at the beginning of the year, and now I
feel that I might make the same decision next February.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is still so much I haven’t seen or experienced here,
and I do not want to leave until I break out of more old patterns, explore
beyond the well-treaded paths of this past year, and feel like I have made the
most of my time here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Whatever time I have lost for working on my art in the
adjustment process, the switch to a completely different lifestyle, and the general tosses and turns of these
thirteen months, I have made up for in terms of personal development, which I
feel will be crucial to my work from now on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the longest time, I felt like I was floating around,
unable to connect to my life here and the people around me. As long as I kept
feeling like that, I knew my growth would be stunted, and I would not be able
to thrive. It took me a year to feel genuinely comfortable here, to start
feeling like I can put down some kind of roots, even if temporary, and grow. That
is an investment I do not want to waste.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When the time comes to move on, I will know it. For now, I am
quite happy to be where I am. Plus, in some way, I feel like it would not be
right to leave until I use up the spices and tea I have brought here from the
US.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Tanyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05573320021723802680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150022416676757742.post-74374907884103378292013-08-28T22:34:00.000+09:002013-08-29T09:09:19.905+09:00Welcome Back<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After a two-year absence from Blogger, I decided to return. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As I felt a vague urge to document some of my experiences, I realized I have things I would like to share in written form now. While I prefer other channels for uploading my art, I would like to use this little corner of the Internet to write about various occurrences in my life with the hope that it is even a little informative/useful/interesting/entertaining to whoever stops by.</span></div>
Tanyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05573320021723802680noreply@blogger.com0