Planning for home…not sure where home is…

The Tim Tams I found on my desk this morning made me a little 懐かしい、and the open window means I have to wear a scarf at my desk (I shouldn’t have decided against the jacket this morning), add that to the general fatigue related ennui, I was pleased to flip open my diary and find that I will be on my way back to Australia in seven and a half weeks.

But that number is bigger than I thought.

I keep saying I’m going home but home is a slippery concept, considering I live and work here, and have for the past year and a bit, which is about as long as I’ve lived in any single house since high school. Without dragging out tired cliches (wow, I just did then) I don’t actually know where my heart is now. Shimizu? Kochi? Shimokitazawa? Perth? Somewhere else? But I have been gathering a list of things I miss, things I will be hoping to spend my 16 days in Western Australia doing.

First is the list of things I want to do in Melbourne:

Shopping- Genki, that vegan shoe store I’ve never been able to find, Chapel St, basically anywhere.

Coffee- my first port of call will be a cafe, any cafe. I’ll get to Flinders St (nerdy side point; my favourite train station in the world) walk up to federation square, get coffee and then search out Dad’s apartment.

Drinking- The Girsch Institute (I hope it’s as dead-quiet as last time, that was awesome. It really added to the atmosphere of the bar to be the only ones there. All night. We were the only people out on the stormiest January night in Melbourne history, except for a bunch of backpackers who of course had no idea about this bar)

People watching- can be done anywhere.

Public transport- although this will be more of an unavoidable fact of life than anything I’ll go out of my way to do.

The on to Perth for more of the same. Plus:

The boxing day test

Beer and Pizza at Little Creatures

Actual vegetarian food at Analakshmi, That Hare Krishna restaurant whose name I forget, Lotus, Maoz, possibly even a trip out to Curtin just for kebabs

Beer and Frits at the Belgian Beer Cafe

Maybe Pizza at Centrepoint, and I might make a mix CD of Japanese experimental music for John

Beer and…food, I guess, at the Parky

Coffee, shopping and indy film in Leederville.

Coffee, shopping and maybe more indy film in Mt Lawley

Burgers at Alfred’s

Burgers and a $5 shake at Retro Betty’s

Crepes, cherries, shopping at Fremantle Markets

Picnic in King’s Park, with cheese, olives, sundried tomatoes, bread, Tim Tams, Ocean Spray Red Grapefruit juice!!!

Rottnest and the Pinnacles, because it’s been a while

Margaret River for Southbound, and hopefully a day at the beach

Swapping of books (I’m thinking of reading Crime and Punishment on the way, giving it to Dad in Melbourne because I will have finished it during my ten hour transit in Thailand, and picking up other books as I go along, leaving ones I’ve read behind to save space in my suitcase)

 

I will make a similar list of things to do during my four day return transit in Thailand. And maybe one for me eight hours in Fukuoka. Although that will either be spent meeting old friends or relaxing in a public bath. Next week in Tokyo I will set out a detailed plan so I can probably not actually follow it and just spend the whole time doing whatever. I’ll try to get a phone so people can contact me. Although of course every time it rings I’ll have to say もしもし just because I’m a real Japanese Salary Man now.

 

A (school) year draws to a close

I’m having mixed feelings about this teaching thing- seeing my favourite third year JHS students leaving for the big city- kids I’ve only seen two or three times. Being in a country where no-one seems to speak the language I learnt in university- they all speak a weird mumbly, gutteral version of it (and to make matters worse it’s a different weird mumbly gutteral version in each area) I’ve determined to make these things all a challenge. Determined, like Yoshio Kojima, to just punch the air and yell ‘そんなの関係ねぇ’ (‘What does it matter anyway?’) It’s all a challenge- just like the Taiwanese movie I hired, figuring I could watch it on my computer with downloaded subtitles, until my computer died and I watched the whole thing with Japanese subtitles- a challenge. And the actress looks like Audrey Tautou and speaks Japanese, so I’ve decided we’re getting married. As soon as I can find her.

So aside from a computer that just shows the mac logo and a flashing question mark every time I try to turn it on, a language I can’t speak or understand and a pile of books to read and things to do that grows much faster than I can ever get through it, things are going well. I’m still setting goals for this year, I’ve divided them into three (although I may add a fourth and possibly a fifth- a sixth to do with teaching probably couldn’t hurt either) categories. For the sake of sounding cool, I’ll call them ‘operations’

Operation the First: Operation 二級。Considering my dismal showing at level two last December, I’ll have another crack this year, with more preparation.

Operation the Second: Operation Nouvelle Novel(lette) which mainly involves me writing in my little black book every day until I get a new computer/structured inspiration.

Operation the Third: Operation 富士山, which someone else has actually started planning for me, so it won’t be a solitary hike up Japan’s tallest mountain, but a whole group of Perth JETs walking up a big hill. I’m getting fit for it now. If Operation Fuji-San is successful, I’ll couple it with Operation Fuji-Rock, a trek to the other side of Honshu to see Japan’s biggest three-day music festival. I’ve already entered the ticket lottery.

 Operations the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth involve getting the most out of my JET experience, becoming a PA, travelling (goals for this year: Tokyo, Okinawa, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan & Australia. I should get at least four of those done no sweat) teaching, working out the future and just keeping on like I am.

To close, here’s a list of things I want to do when I get back to Perth:

• Brush my teeth (I miss flouridated toothpaste sooo much)
• Go into a closed building and be able to breathe
• Eat pizza and drink beer at Little Creatures
• Eat nachos and drink long island iced tea while listening to Jazz at The Moon
• Have a long black at Cafe 130 then be buzzed for a Monday double at Luna
• See either The Lucksmiths or Darren Hanlon (ideally both at the same time)
• Drop in on people working
• Ride the train to Mandurah, have an ice cream, then ride it back to Perth
• Try out my Japanese on people at the Hyogo Prefectural cultural centre- it’ll be great saying I’m on holiday from Japan.
• Eat vegetarian food without the possibility of 吃驚肉 (’surprise meat’)

(Incidentally, there’s a chain of hamburger restaurants in Japan called びっくりドンキ、or surprise donkey. There’s one in the love-hotel area behind Tennoji Station in Osaka. There’s also a chicken restaurant called びっくり鳥. Which makes me wonder what the surprise is)

And also, I’ll have a big picnic of sushi in King’s Park. Everyone’s invited. See you then (sometime in December…)