Hard times, good friends

Again a lot has happened since the last post. As the temperatures rise and the weather gets warmer, so does Tokyo and the Japanese.

I have been trying to get a job in Tokyo these last weeks, which proved to be much more difficult and frustrating than I expected, even with an university degree and more than 10 years of working experience. This whole thing has been so intense, that I kind of forgot the real reasons I came to Japan. I think I got a little carried away by the Japanese way of being productive, identifying with your job and sacrificing your own needs for something, that I don't even understand what exactly it is. In this aspect, I learned, I will never be Japanese enough, which is good, as I am European, and trying to be something else will consequently make me unhappy. That is why I choose not to think about it too much and focus more on the important things in life.







I have also finally found a good place for Cappuccino around Meguro and have been going to Chums appartment (http://chum-apt.net/) on almost daily bases for some time now and they seem to have finally accepted me there, greeting me now every time with big smiles and a Cappuccino without weird toppings like chocolate or cinnamon. The food looks really nice too, allthough I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet, since I'm cooking at home a lot and saving my money because I still haven't found a job. It is also at Chums that I met some really nice people which I have been enjoying some really great time with lately.

Being in a Café/restaurant for the most part of the day can be quite enlightening for an observant... Observer! Japanese social interactions are still somewhat eluding me, and therefore always a source of great pleasure to witness. The other day, I sat facing a woman sitting alone at a table, having lunch. She seemed completely absorbed by the sole action of eating, completely focused on every bite, every ingredient she took on her chopsticks, not directing her gaze away from her food once during the whole time, carefully chewing her food. I don't think I have ever seen such dedication to a meal in my whole life. Her attention seemed completely turned inwards, completely fading out her surrounding. And yet, in all this dedication, all this devotion for her nurrishment, her face was absolutely expressionless. Not one muscle twitch, not one emotion passed over her face. It was absolutely impossible to say whether she liked what she was eating so perfectly disciplined or not.

I have also expanded my knowledge on Tokyo nighlife going to Air (http://www.air-tokyo.com/) and En-sof (http://en-sof.jp/) for some pretty good electro... Finally!!! Air is a club underneath a restaurant with 2 dancefloors, not overpopulated with gaijins and (for Tokyo) reasonnable pricing even though it was François K (NY). At this occasion I learned that in Japan there is actually a law that prohibits dancing. En-sof on the other hand was more a bar with a dancefloor in Shibuya, as Rubyroom, but not as overflowing with gaijins. In fact I was the only foreigner there, which felt really good, as it felt like being completely immersed into Japan for the first time... Like swimming for the first time without holding on to the borders of a swimmingpool.

Dragons, Ramen and Swallows

I have been a bit negligent these last days, but as far as excuses go, I have quite a lot! The most important probably being my Japanese lessons having started and turning out to be surprisingly demanding!
Anyways, let's not get ahead of ourselves and start where we left off. I went back to Asakusa to see a golden dragon dance and to visit the adjacent garden, which both turned out to be unusual sights since the dragon dance doesn't take place that often, and the garden isn't always open. That same day I ate my first japanese curry, which tasted... Alright. I mean it was good, but not that good! Indian and especially thaicurry remain until now my favorites. I would never have thought, I could actually spend half a day at Asakusa, but with a little local guidance, it turns out to be a very nice place, apart from the touristic, souvenirshop and Yukata wearing gaijin infested marketstreet leading to the temple.

Later that day I went to Musashikoyama, a really really nice place at night to go out for F&B! i have never seen so many little bars and restaurants right next to each other, with so many different things to eat. Famished I ended up in a ramen restaurant, suggested by some yakitori chefs. They indeed didn't promise too much! The yakitori I ate while they were explaining was fresh, hot and delicious, and the ramen was the best ramen I had so far! In fact it was so good, that I forgot to take a picture!

I tried out the Tokyo nightlife again, going to Bonobo (http://bonobo.jp/) close to Harajuku. The bar reminded me a lot of Bohnengold in Berlin, but again, looking for electro... In vain. The bar in itself is really nice and laid back, just my style of bar, with a dancing room on the first floor, and a big chillout area on top.

I also did a lot of research concerning dojos, the results will in time be posted in a seperate section of this blog. Suffice it to say here, that it is quite a pain to find them if you are not fluent in Japanese. Most of the web pages are out of date, so that I ended up at the wrong adress more than once.
On another notice, the Baseball season started yesterday!!! But here again, not as easy as one would expect in order to watch a game. Apparently there are no sportsbars, where you can watch a game, have a beer and snacks while studying for your Japanese classes. Go figure! People either watch it at home or in the stadium. So right now I'm at home, a little sad because there is just sweet sunny springtime weather outside and I want to see the games on my small home tv and can't find the Tokyo Swallows game on any channel. On the other hand stadium tickets are only around 1800 yen! So, again, more about this in die time!

Shibuya

Yesterday was my first night out in Tokyo! And it was a blast! I met with a friend I met in Berlin last year and her (now) husband at the Hachiko statue in Shibuya and went to the ruby room (http://rubyroomtokyo.com/). Since I heard nice electrobeats while coming in, I felt like at home right away, since in Berlin I usually go out on electro parties. The clubs music was alterning between Jrock, singer/songwriter and something really beautiful I have never heard before and no clue of what name ist bares (see video at the end). Between the different artists the DJs always played electro for a while. Besides the room being a little to small for the sound it is a very nice place to go for music lovers (as it says in the door).
As we met there with one of the artists (Tonbo) which is a friend of the newly wed couple and sit at a table with him, 2 gaijins come in who apparently know Tonbo and start talking with him right away in Japanese. Turns out that they are from Berlin as well and, although I actually don't want to mingle too much with gaijins, we start sympathizing right away. Later that night we talk and it turns out we have a common Japanese friend in Berlin. Talk about coincidence huh?!

If anyone knows who and what it is, please tell me!