HAPPY NEW YEAR

気がついたら年が明けていた・・・　コレを読んでくれているみんなに「明けましておめでとうございます。今年も良い一年を！」

by the time I realized, it was already the year 2010... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

妹と with my sister

早速、週末に妹と渋谷のハチ公前で待ち合わせ。１年ぶりの再会なんだけど、お互いあまり変化なしかな？おかしかったのが、待ち合わせ場所はいつものごとく込み合っていて、パッと見回しても妹の姿は見当たらず…　仕方なしにまだ不慣れな携帯を片手に、四苦八苦しながらメールを製作中にフト顔を上げると、真横に同じく携帯を片手に私にメール中の彼女と目があう。結局、ひと一人間にはさんで立ち止まったものの、間に立っていた人が退くまでお互いに気がつかなかったみたい。でもまさか、お互いよりに寄ってまったく同じ場所に立つとは…　笑える瞬間でした…

好み・発想が意外と一緒と確信したもう一つの出来事が、カメラ。購入したカメラケースが偶然にも全く同じと知ったのが２年前のこと。私の新しいカメラを見せるため、鞄から取り出すとともに、彼女の表情が固まる。なんと３日前に、同じモノを買ったそう…　偶然すぎでこわいかも。なんだかんだで、今回は仲良く色違いの新しいカメラケースを購入する事になりました〜

ブラついた後は、オーガニック・カフェ「Bio Cafe」で休憩。かわいいカフェでした。ちなみに私は「イカスミのシュークリーム」、妹は「イタリア塩のシュークリーム」。文字道理少し塩気があるんだけど、甘すぎずユニークな味がおいしかった。

I met up with my sister front of the Shibuya Hachi-ko this past weekend. As expected, the place was packed with people who were also waiting for others, and I wasn't able to spot her out from the crowd. As I lifted my head while I was texting to my sister, I noticed a set of eyes looking at me. It was my sister who was also about to text me. We were actually standing side by side but didn't notice each other until a person standing between us walked away. It was funny to realize we both decided to stand at the same spot to text each other... I guess we are related after all...

Another incident of thinking in the same way is that it turned out that we both just bought the same camera, too. Also it was only 2 years ago that we found out that we both have the exactly same camera case... What a coincidence!

The photos are from Bio Cafe, an organic cafe, in Shibuya. The cream puff I had had squid ink (in the puff, it's not chocolate.) and the one she had was named "cream puff with Italian salt". It indeed had a hint of salt, but very delicious!

departure day @DWT

As I sit at the corner of DWT, I finally started to feel nervous as the reality sets in. It reminds me of how I felt when I left Japan to move to the US almost 14 years ago. Not knowing what to expect in the new environment is such a scary thing. The ironic part of is that I'm going back to my home country where I was born and grown up. I should be more excited than being nervous and scared, especially since it's is my own decision unlike when I moved to the US.

People are surprised when I tell them that I feel more comfortable moving to a new city in the US than moving back to Japan. However, the reality is that I was just a kid when I left home and the longest I stayed there was only 3 weeks. Also I know how to live my own in the US, but not in Japan. In the recent years, I haven't been speaking Japanese on the regular base neither since I work and live with English natives. So my Japanese are getting rusty.

Knowing that I didn't speak English at all nor liked studying it, it's somewhat funny to me that now I have easier time with English than my native language. The time is such a powerful thing. As matter of the fact, this past Thanksgiving I caught myself talking to my father in English when I was a half sleep when I was taking a nap at their house. I wonder how my father felt about his daughter speaking English instead of Japanese at the subconscious level.

I guess it will be an interesting how things will be in Japan since I'm a Japanese, but not really... too Americanized. I'm expecting many reversed cultural shocks..